Indivisible: Lab Zero’s Beautiful ARPG Makes My Monday

Posted on October 5, 2015 by geelw

In case you were wondering what Lab Zero (the team behind Skullgirls) has been up to, well click on over to the Indivisible game site and check out their incredible looking and still in early development stages Action/RPG that just so happens to also be an Indiegogo campaign you can participate in. The currently PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One only game set to be published by 505 Games once it’s all completed sure looks like a winner in the early video below. If you want a bit more incentive to whip out that wallet, there’s a free downloadable prototype demo you should try out as soon as possible.

In addition to the gorgeous artwork, animation and fun gameplay reminiscent of titles such as Prince of Persia, Valkyire Profile, Metroid and other influences, gamers who love great music can expect a solid soundtrack from renowned composer/producer Hiroki Kikuta (Secret of Mana, Koudelka, and Sōkaigi among other works). That prototype certainly brightened up my Monday considerably and it looks as if the game’s seemingly somewhat hefty (but reasonable considering it’s coming to PC, consoles, Mac and Linux) funding goal of $1.5 million won’t be a pipe dream for the dev team or publisher.

Anyway, go give that demo a try and if you find your boat floated, let your fingers do the walking and drop a pledge into that fun(d) bucket.

Kromaia Ω: Kraken Empire Sets Its Sights On The PS4

Posted on September 30, 2015 by geelw

Indie developer Kraken Empire‘s formerly PC-only open space shooter, Kromaia, is getting a makeover for the PS4 this fall in the form of Kromaia Ω (Omega). The visually stunning sleeper from last year was one of those games that was well worth tracking down just to get one’s mind blown by the visual style and surprising depth for an arcade-style game.

The game will get both a retail and digital release, which is a bit surprising on the surface. But it seems that the big push to digital-only that’s been going on for a while isn’t the best thing for some niche titles like this that deserve a wider audience, some of whom prefer the choice of how they get their games. Rising Star Games deserves huge thanks for thinking of consumers this way,although it would be even more awesome to see all of their PC games get this console retail/digital treatment a some point. Continue reading →

One More Bundle Is Calling Your Name

Posted on September 22, 2015 by geelw

Do you really need One More Bundle of indie games to dive into? Polish indie game studio One More Level certainly thinks so and for under two bucks (or more if you like), you can grab six digital game codes and dive into them at your leisure. The variety is certainly there, with a WWII flight sim, colorful puzzler, zombie mangling fun and even a strategy game set in the Call of Cthulhu universe. My own backlog is broken and screaming at me to not add another game to it, but I just may do so with this mix.

The offer expires September 29, 2015, so act fast, troops and don’t forget to tell a friend or three if you like what you’re playing. One More Level has a lot more in the works for their new platform and it’s always a good thing to get behind something like this early. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to flip a coin and see what’s next. Given that I got my coin from Two-Face and it’s unmarked, I have the feeling that my backlog is going to grow by six titles sooner than later.

Have A Horror-ble Week Thanks To This IndieGala Monday Bundle

Posted on September 21, 2015 by geelw

More Monday bundle madness for you, this time from the fine folks at IndieGala. This Eerie Monday Bundle provides 100% of a day’s frights for less than a bowl of sugar-bomb laden cereal. Well, okay. Too many bowls of that sugary crap will kill you dead, while the best a decent horror game will ever do is make you pee yourself a little. Hey, I’m NOT speaking from experience at all. I have heard of it happening, though. Anyway, here’s a test for you in the form of a video of one of the games in the bundle.

Are you the tiniest bit freaked out now? Maybe? Not at all? Hey, I tried. Space is pretty scary in general if you think about it, and being stuck on the moon with something unsettling and no easy way off isn’t exactly a situation made for happy times. Okay, get going with the clicking and buying stuff. This eight Steam codes for $1.89 is only good for the next 24 hours.

Go Get Too Many Indie RPGs Thanks To Bundle Stars

Posted on September 21, 2015 by geelw

The bundle-fest continues over at Bundle Stars, who seems to want you to spend an inordinate amount of time stuck in front of your PC or laptop with a goofy grin or grimace on your face as you play a new batch of RPGs they have up for grabs. The RPG Champions 2 Bundle gets you eight Steam games for the ridiculously low price of $2.49 – all you need to do is find the time to play them all.

I can’t help you there with the timey-wimey stuff, but you’ve got two weeks to snap up this deal before it vanishes. Or at least bug one of your buddies who has oodles of free time to go do something with that time and stop popping over randomly to bend your ear with his or her crazy ideas. A decent game or eight is enough distraction to keep them out of your hair. Unless they get stuck in some dungeon and keep calling you for help.

Time For A Few Classics, Cheaply: Bundles And Sales Galore This Weekend

Posted on September 19, 2015 by geelw

Yeah, yeah. I’ve been a bit busy with some oddball real world occurrences recently, so I’ve been a bit behind in these bundle posts. Of course, that means there are a LOT of new-ish bundles and sales out there begging for your attention. Here are a few must-buys that have popped into my inbox over the last week:

Retro Legends Bundle ($2.49): Bundle Stars does it again with this excellent mix of a whopping 17 titles for under three bucks. There’s SO much classic gaming in this instant backlog that you’ll need to invent a time machine so you can play everything and then rewind the date back to before you got into everything here. There’s a megaton of Duke Nukem content, two classic Wizardry titles, the FPS/RPG hybrid Strife and many more games that should get fans of the old school grinning. You may also want to peek at the other bundles on the site as this past week there have been some incredible daily bundle and single game deals listed.

Continue reading →

20XX: This Mighty Number’s Going To Be Mega, Man!

Posted on September 10, 2015 by geelw

If you’re a Mega Man fan who’s cranky that Kenji Inafune’s “homage” Mighty No. 9 has been delayed until next year, you might want to poke your mouse over to Steam pronto and check out 20XX, the upcoming 2D side-scrolling rogue-like platformer from Batterystaple Games currently in Early Access on Steam. That alpha version will soon be getting boosted up to beta status next Tuesday, but what’s here is very playable and well on the way to being an instant classic any MM fan would love. 20XX is a mash-up of familiar gameplay with rogue-like randomness to the levels and lots of loot to collect. It’s also old-school tough, great looking and a ton of fun to play.

Continue reading →

OMNIS – The Erias Line: Elyn Studios Needs You To Back Their Dark 2D RPG

Posted on September 9, 2015 by geelw

Some crowd-funded game projects tend to be hit or miss affairs when it comes to getting backers. Get enough (or too much) buzz for a silly little meme game that’s got an much depth as a broken pencil point and you can rake in money like as if the wind is blowing it fiercely through your front door.

On the other hand, work hard at a bigger but not hugely promoted game in a familiar but quite packed genre and you get a slight breeze of contributors that drift in at not a quick enough pace to make that funding target.

Newcastle upon Tyne-based Elyn Studios is hard at work on a pretty cool game called OMNIS – The Erias Line, and you should probably go check out the demo over on Indie DB because while still a work in progress (there’s a fair amount of placeholder art), the game is coming along really nicely.

Continue reading →

Fast Racing NEO: Shin’en Gets 60fps Looking Fine On The Wii U

Posted on September 1, 2015 by geelw

München, Germany-based Shin’en Multimedia has been something of an under-appreciated developer since 1999, producing close to 30 games primarily for Nintendo platforms using proprietary engines. The upcoming Wii U exclusive Fast Racing NEO is not only their best-looking game to date, it’s going to be one that just may make Shin’en a household name if the game plays as great as it looks.

While it’s not a “realistic” racer by any means, the game certainly shows that the Wii U can do fast-paced visually intensive arcade racing under the right hands. The game certainly gets some decent mileage from the F-Zero/WipeOut inspired visuals and great sense of speed on display, both of which may help silence the Wii U naysayers out there. Well, for about the time the video runs. Of course, those haters more than likely missed out on Fast Racing League, to date one of the more incredible programming jobs on the Wii. Fast Racing NEO just shows Shin’en doing what it does best and doing it really well.

Still, gorgeous visuals and all, it’s hard to say how well the game will do as an exclusive on a console with not as large a dedicated user base as others. On the other hand, given that Shin’en’s Nano Assault NEO eventually made it to the PS4, it would be cool to see this new game pop up on both the PS4 and Vita just so those who don’t own a Wii U can see what all the fuss is about. As usual, we shall see.

Humble Weekly Bundle Features Some Great Rising Stars

Posted on August 28, 2015 by geelw

How’s this for a “don’t miss it!” deal? Seven of Rising Star Games‘ best indies for a mere eight dollars (or more if you choose)? yeah, I heard your jaw drop from here, pal. Every single RSG indie up for less than a song. Anyway, what’s in the digital box? Look in the box below and go get your bundle before time expires on this fantastic deal:

Deadly Premonition: The Director’s Cut is worth it for it’s supremely bizarre take on the horror and open world game genres, but everything here is worth your time if you’re one of those open-minded gamers who loves variety and plenty of replay value. Ha – I see that you’re all busy buying and downloading now, so I’ll just silently sneak away and let you get to it.