Tag Archives: Free Stuff

WIN FREE STUFF! Two Tiny Troopers Steam Codes Up For Grabs!

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 UPDATE: CONTEST CLOSED!  WINNERS PICKED!  CODES SENT!  WHEE!
Hey! You look like you could use a game break, so here’s a quick giveaway for two lucky readers. Tiny Troopers for PC is a fun action/real-time strategy hybrid from Kukouri Mobile Entertainment and Iceberg Interactive that’s been getting some pretty solid reviews for the iOS and Android versions.

Now, lucky PC and Mac gamers can give this enhanced version of the game a shot through Valve’s always rockin’ Steam download service, where the game is normally $9.99, but is on sale until September 7, 2012 through the Steam store for 20% off. That, by the way, is what they call a STEAL in this day and age.

Here’s a peek at the game (and of course, gameplay) for you:

Looks pretty cool, huh?  I say go make yourself and the developer happy and buy this game.  Or, you could luck out and be one of two winners here simply by being the first two folks to post a note below. Don’t get too giddy now and put your email address in that note, now – I know how to track you down without it.  Anyway, RULES: you DO need a Steam account to enter, the game is PC and Mac compatible and there’s only ONE code per winner, so don’t get grabby, now!  Winners will be emailed their codes, so yes, having an actual email address will help as well. Also, even if you don’t win, the game is a good enough deal at either the full or reduced price to make a great purchase for yourself or someone else.

Anyway, if you’ve read this far and haven’t replied, you might not be a winner, so get cracking!

(Another) Random Indie Game of the Week: Space Funeral

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Yeah, yeah, I’m late to the whole Space Funeral appreciation party, but hey, I was kind of busy. Actually, I’d heard about the game a while ago from some friends, but I finally just got around to downloading and playing it over the past week and yes, it’s an instant RPGMaker classic. While the gameplay is pretty standard RPG 101 fare all the way (using an Active or Wait time-based system common to the older Final Fantasy games), it’s the amazingly strange art style and general weirdness that makes the game so special. If you recall the more bizarre alternative comics from the 80’s by Gary Panter, Charles Burns, kaz and more, all filtered through a David Lynch lens with a shot of Suda 51 on the side, the game will grab you from the moment you hit BLOOD on the title screen. RPGMaker.net user catmitts must own a time machine or still get videos on his MTV channel on cable or something, as he’s managed to tap into the new wave vibe perfectly, creating an original game that manages to feel as if it was made for a Bizarro World NES.

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Random Indie Game of the Week: Epic Elf

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While it’s got a few pesky typos (and is yet ANOTHER game that’s making me wonder if I should join the fine folks over at RPGMaker.net and ask people to send me their scripts to proofread), spirit_young‘s very cool and often crudely funny RPG, Epic Elf manages to be well worth checking out for a few reasons. His spin on the treasure hunting rogue and his slime minion is a fun one, complete with modern day cursing (hey, it made me laugh) and plenty of increasingly challenging battles. I liked that the game wasn’t a complete walk in the park and some of the dungeons past the first area require your party to be properly leveled, packing some powerful gear and spells in order to take out enemies and much more brutal bosses. You can swap your trusty slime out with another useful minion once you find it, but be sure to level the new one up a bit or it will constantly be dying in combat.

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Random Game of the Week: Starless Umbra – A Work In Progress Indie RPG Worth Paying For

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I’ve been playing and enjoying many RPG Maker games since about 2001 (and far too many JRPGs to count in general since the 1980’s), but Starless Umbra is turning into one of my new favorites and it’s not even completed yet. RPGmaker.net user Andrew Keturi (aka dragonheartman) has been slowly working on this game since 2002 (!) and it’s shaping up into quite an epic that’s going beyond simply working with the basic RTP assets or being yet another shameless Final Fantasy meets Dragon Quest clone. Not that there’s anything wrong at all with a great FF or DQ clone at all (I’ll name two awesome ones next week from the site you should grab). Based on the dramatic prologue and few hours of gameplay I’ve squeezed in alone, there’s a sharpness to the project that’s welcome in everything from the battle system to choice of music and sound effects. In the build I played, the mix of challenging combat and interesting use of stamina (where choosing whether to walk and run actually makes a difference) kept me glued to my monitor for longer than I expected..

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Phantasy Star III2K: This RPG Maker Remake Is Better Than The Original In A Few Ways

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While poking around over on RPGmaker.net the other day looking for smaller games to download for my weekly feature on Random Indie Games, I stumbled upon this pretty interesting fan-made remake of what some call the “black sheep” of Sega’s Phantasy Star series. Programmed by Lys86 (who also made A Blurred Line, one of my old favorite RPGM games), this version keeps the same story as the original, but adds in a ton of new dialog (with a nice sense of humor in spots where its needed) and a completely reworked battle system that takes a bit of getting used to. Like the original game, there’s still  the need to grind quite a bit before you can fetch Nei from her waiting spot in the forest, then grind some more before tackling the desert area and so forth and so on. But I rather like the mix of enemy sprites based on the original, redesigned maps (some with fun puzzles added) and completely different RTP backgrounds.

The game also adds collecting creature parts, plants, relics and other items which can be traded for Meseta or cool gear, trainers for certain character skills and lots more that make it a lot less dry than the game it’s based on.  Visually, as this one’s a bit long in the tooth, it hasn’t aged all that well, but still gets the job done. While it’s not perfect and you may find a minor bug here and there that can take you out of the fun for a tiny bit, this is one of those games that will make you appreciate the third installment all the more because it manages to be quite enjoyable while hitting all the right nostalgic marks. It’s too bad Sega isn’t planning to revisit the older PS games any time soon, as I’d actually love to see Lys’ beefed up translation get the nod as an “official” rewrite of the game’s story. I’ve still got a ways to go before I’m done with this one, but from what I’ve played thus far, the game kept my smiling away and reminiscing for a bit. Give this one a look and definitely a play if you’re a Phantasy Star fan looking for a new take on an old friend…

Random Really Short Indie Game Of The Week: Wither

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While you can complete Wither in well under an hour (or about an hour if you get stuck), the game will linger in your mind for quite a bit longer. This RPG Maker gem from Rastek is a creepy little exploration game that focuses on mood and manages to be unsettling despite the cute Game Boy style visuals. In the game you’re a guy who’s been in an accident tasked with collecting sixteen flowers to lay at a grave. As you explore your surroundings, you’ll run across assorted citizens who can help you out on your quest. Some know where flowers can be had, others have flowers you need to acquire in a few different ways.

There’s some fine writing here, some logical clues to help you find a few of the trickier to get flowers and some interesting bits of morbid humor throughout to keep the occasional grin going when needed. You might see the ending coming about halfway through, but I’d say that’s just how Rastek wants it. Telling any more would spoil the fun (well, as much fun as can be had by being mildly freaked out by some of the more unsettling content here). Go download this one, play it with the lights down low and prepare to have a few hairs standing up  on assorted body parts. I was going to post a gameplay video I found on YouTube, but it gives pretty much the entire game away. Click that link at your own risk! Better yet – just get the game. It’s FREE, it’s a small, quick download and I’d bet you’ll tell someone else about this one once you’re done playing…

Capcom Keeps Dragon’s Dogma Going With New PS3 Demo, Content and Contest

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Now this is how you make a great game even greater. In addition to the recent announcements that a sequel is in the works and the company is looking at turning the series into a franchise (I want a Vita side story!) Capcom is turning its sleeper smash action/RPG Dragon’s Dogma into even more of an “evergreen” title thanks to more cool content coming soon.  Fans can expect a new PS3 demo, an Easy Mode update for both PS3 and Xbox 360 owners and a fun contest using the game’s photo sharing feature over at the hugely popular fan community site, The Gran Soren Times.

The new PS3 demo, which features the Prologue, full character creation and a bit of play time (up to the Hydra boss battle) will also allow save data to be transferred to the full retail version. PSN users can expect to see the demo soon on the PlayStation Store starting from from August 15th in Europe and in North America on August 21st. I’ve already sunk a few hundred hours into the Xbox 360 version of the game, but now I want to dive into the PS3 version at some point, as DD is one of my favorite game experiences of 2012.  I’d say it’s going to be one of yours as well once you give the game a play.

Random Incomplete Indie Game of the Week: Dungeon Crawl

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Yeah, that title is as generic as they come, and it needs a bit more work, but don’t let that stop you from trying out this cool little free game. What’s cool about it is how developer Liberty has tweaked the extremely familiar anime/manga style RPGMaker 2003 visuals to a simpler top-down viewpoint while limiting the cute stuff down to some well-written dialog sections between characters.There’s also a lengthy intro sequence that’s well done, pulling you into the story and game world, making you eager to jump in and experience the challenge ahead.

Gameplay isn’t quite what you’d expect from a game called Dungeon Crawl, but that’s a good thing. Rather than being combat focused, success in the game relies on careful exploration, avoiding traps and using resources you find wisely. You’ll also need to deal with a few other adventurers in the dungeon, some of whom will try to take advantage of you. You can choose to be nice and help them out, or be a total jerk and blow up that bridge you just made or refuse to aid someone who needs a helping hand. Everything you do affects one of (currently) ten different planned endings and each of the three classes plays slightly differently. The save system is a bit quirky, but manageable once you understand you can’t save wherever you’d like and may need to retry some areas if you run out of health.  For a rainy day or if you’ve got a few spare hours to burn, this one’s a charmer that sneaks up on you and keeps you playing longer than you’d probably expect.

Random Film of the Week: Rocketship X-M

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(Thanks, SciFiBMovieGuy!)

Rocketship X-MAmusingly enough, that movie poster on the left calls Rocketship X-M a story about man’s “conquest of space”, but spoiler alert: it’s not quite that triumphant a voyage at all. Yeah, man makes it into space in that fancy silver craft, but if there’s a conquest here, it’s presented in a pretty stark manner that’s not conducive to anything resembling a “happy” ending. That said, this one’s yet another highly recommended classic that’s worth a look if you’ve never seen it before and yes indeed, it’s worth grabbing a few sci-fi loving friends to take along for the ride. Pack that space ice cream, some popcorn and maybe a clean hanky, but leave your thinking cap on that bedpost, buddy…

While the actual “science” in this low-budget 1950 sci-fi flick isn’t exactly realistic and indeed, laughable (hey, we didn’t send a man into space until over a decade later), this is still a pretty powerful film that manages to be memorable for a few reasons. Granted, it was rushed to theaters to beat out the superior (in every technical aspect, at least) Destination Moon, but the anti-nuke/anti-war message presented makes this gem resonate a bit more than George Pal’s classic (which can be seen as the 2001: A Space Odyssey of its time thanks to all that attention to detail). What works in this little film (shot over 18 days for under $100,000) is the script (from an uncredited Dalton Trumbo – look him up if you don’t know who he is) that adds an interesting layer of sentimentality to the characters. Oh, and the acting is first-rate as well all around.

Of course, you’ll probably be too busy rooting for the crew of the X-M to get out of the rather crappy situation they’ve found themselves in after their moon rocket ends up going WAY off course (as in not scientifically possible) rather than look to deeply for hidden messages. Then again, that excellent Ferde Grofe score plus the decent acting are compelling enough reason to sit down and enjoy this one for what it is. In other words, flush the insulting (but yes, quite amusing) Mystery Science Theater 3000 version and watch the original movie instead. Some films deserve to be better remembered for what they were back when they were released and not someone’s bastardized joke-book version that pays no respect to something that tried to bring a certain er, gravity to a formerly not so serious genre.

Yeah, it’s a short review, but this is one of those films that just needs to be seen more and talked about afterward. Enjoy the trip and as the old saying goes: be nice to the people you meet on the way up – you’re going to meet (most of) the same ones on the way back down…

-GW

The Maze of Galious: How Fan-Made Games Should Be Done

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I’ve played and still play a lot of fan-made games and while many are really great, too many are trying to masquerade as unofficial side stories or sequels that fail to do justice to their source materials. On the other hand, sometimes a remake is the best way to go if you’re new to a certain classic you may never have heard of before.

An excellent example can be found over at Santi Ontañón’s Brain Games.  Hop on over for a visit and you’ll find some really cool remakes of classic Konami PC and console games that aren’t (surprise!) Castlevania, Contra, Metal Gear or other games you’d expect. Fortunately, Konami had many other games that became fan favorites outside of those three cash cows and the  amount of care that went into these updated versions is quite impressive. Of all the games there, I currently love The Maze of Galious (aka Knightmare II: The Maze of Galious), a tough side-scrolling action game with a few minor RPG elements that some have called one of Konami’s best games ever.

As I haven’t yet finished the game myself, I can’t say much other than so far, it’s definitely really good (and really hard at times). This remake features a few different custom graphics that can be toggled through as you play (including the original MSX version), some excellent tunes and you’ll definitely want to read up on how to solve a few of the game’s trickier mysteries, as things can get baffling if you aren’t paying attention. If you like MoG and want more, there are some other nifty remakes on the site to check out and they’re all free to download and play at your leisure.