Gallery: Lumino City – State of Play’s Handmade Game Is Really Pretty Stuff…

 
Okay, I’d not heard of indie developer State of Play Games or their games until someone sent me a link to their site a while back and I was charmed by the look of Lume, a puzzle/adventure game (currently on sale on the Steam store) with sets made out of paper and cardboard with hand animated characters filmed against and around those lovely locations. While the game was short and some reviewers knocked it for this, the outstanding visual style and fact that everything was handmade made this one quite special. That and the game’s ending seemed to point to a potential follow up at some point.

Well, that follow up is coming and it’s called Lumino City. As you can see above and below, it’s a work in progress and looks gorgeous. The developers promise “a wondrous sprawling puzzle adventure game” and it looks as if they’re going to exceed expectations on a few fronts. Hopefully, those critics and players that beat up on Lume for its brevity will see the craft here and really appreciate all the work that is going into this new adventure. I know I’m eager to give it a go when it’s ready for some play time. It would also be cool to see this on consoles at some point, but I guess that’s up to the developer’s time and if someone gets them a few dev kits…

Lumino City – Teaser from State of Play on Vimeo.

 

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E3 2014: Pavilion Extended Gameplay Trailer: Beautiful Iso-lation Incoming For PS4 and Vita

 
I can’t explain why I happen to love isometric viewpoint games other than to blame BioWare and their Infinity Engine role-playing games (plus others made with the engine by assorted developers), Troika’s flawed by deep Temple of Elemental Evil, Blizzard’s Diablo, a bunch of really well made adventure games like DreamForge’s Sanitarium and RA Images Daemonica among others. Anyway, Pavilion is right up my alley and developer Visiontrick Media has cooked up a pretty sharp looking potential time eater I need to take for a spin. There’s still no release date for this one, but I’m keeping an eye peeled. I’d have an ear to the ground, but whenever I do that, someone trips over my head (ouch)…

The 1984-a-Thon Is Coming! Are Your Ready To Go Back In Time To The Movies?

1984-a-thonSo, thesquonk calls and many have answered! However, there’s still a call out for writers for the upcoming 1984-a-Thon over at Forgotten Films, so if you’re feeling nostalgic and have a favorite film from that year of SO many great films from all over the world, go bug the man and see if you can participate!

I’m tackling a tough-love choice that’s gotten more love over the decades, Sergio Leone’s final (and in its original US theatrical release, VERY flawed) epic, Once Upon A Time In America, a film that I didn’t like at all when I first saw it, but it wasn’t due to the director or cast. I’ll not spoil my impressions because I still haven’t written anything about the film other than a nice opening segment. Hey, I have a good long time to complete that post, as the blogathon isn’t for another two months! Don’t rush me, grrrr. Anyway, if you think you’ve got time to scribble out a decent review, pick three flicks you think you’d like to cover (check the list on the site as well as the links, as there are no duplicate posts allowed, but a bunch of great films still need to be reviewed), zap out an e-mail and get that party started!