Whispering Willows: A Haunting You Will Go (On Even More Platforms)

Posted on August 15, 2015 by geelw

Abstraction Games and Night Light Interactive have a nice and spooky surprise coming soon for Xbox One, Wii U, iOS and Android owners. Although the game is already out for a few platforms (PC, PS4, Vita and OUYA), I’d actually never heard of Whispering Willows until an email about the latest version popped up in my inbox. Initially set for an August 12 launch at $9.99, Xbox One owners will be seeing the game as part of Microsoft’s Deals With Gold promotion starting Friday, August 28th at 30% off ($6.99) for two weeks only (through Friday, September 11).

iOS and Android versions will also be available on the 28th with the Wii U version following shortly thereafter. The horror-themed puzzle adventure has you playing as Elena, a young girl with the ability to use astral projection. The talent comes to good use thanks to her father going missing in a creepy mansion and yes, Elena heads into that haunted palace set on finding out just where he is and what’s happened to him. I’d say more, but I’ll need to play the game and get back to you on how it turned out. I’d gather all those plaudits on the official site mean the game is worth the price and more. A half dozen screens to ogle are below.

Zelda: Sword of Moria Update: Western Calatia’s Pretty, But Not A Nice Vacation Spot

Posted on August 11, 2015 by geelw

When last we ventured into the land of Western Calatia (a few weeks ago), ever-questing hero Link had just died at the hands of a boss, but upon his revival was wondering when he’d see more of the rather well-made fan game he was starring in, The Legend of Zelda: Sword of Moria. Actually, the game’s creator, Jessica Brown has been busy working on it in between her writing for a few gaming sites and other things like life in general. So it’s a case of her own patience and persistence overcoming any sort of burnout and boredom that tends to set in when working on something for such a long period of time. My experience with the last couple of demo builds has been nothing but total fun because here’s a case of someone who’s dedicated to making a game that’s worthy of the Zelda lineage and canon while not rushing it out just to say it’s “finished”.

That map above seems as if it’s huge (and it is indeed!). And as note, it’s not a nice vacation spot because it’s got monsters that will keep Link from enjoying his stay by constantly trying to kill him. But it also seems likely that it’s not the entire game world Brown has planned for the final release. Excellent. Even more excellent, she’s just posted a nifty article over at Zero Friction that details some of her thoughts on developer fatigue and how to deal with it. If you follow the fan game scene (whether it be ROM translation efforts or full-on games being created from scratch), you know many projects flame out and vanish or move from person to person sometimes for years until they disappear for good or actually get completed. brown touches on that and more as she lays out some ideas on how her game may or may not be chapter-based along with some other stuff I’ll let you get to on your own.

Humble Bandai Namco Bundle: The Good, The Dark and The (Very Little) Money

Posted on August 4, 2015 by geelw

Here’s a deal that’s hard to pass up, particularly if you’ve always been curious about the Souls series, have never touched the games and have a decent gaming PC set up. Sure, you can go for the minimum purchase and NOT get Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition. But for a measly tenner you get that and six other games with MORE dropping into your Steam library next week for FREE. Yeah, I can hear your eyes popping and ears perking up from here. keep it down and go BUY this bundle. Save the Children gets some of that money you’ll spend as well, so be generous if you roll that way. Bandai Namco will certainly appreciate it and you’ll appreciate the cool games you’re getting even more I bet.

Dark Souls III: The Eyes Have It And You’ll Get It, Alright

Posted on August 4, 2015 by geelw

As in expect to PREPARE TO DIE a lot more than before thanks to FromSoftware’s latest entry in its not at all casual RPG franchise. Not at all for the weak-kneed player who wants some hand-holds and footholds through its gloomy and deadly dungeons, the Souls series packs in death by everything from environmental hazards to many enemy types looking to kick your frightened ass all over those environments. I tend to play these games just to survive the experience and not be a speed-running expert at them. But I know of some extremely talented players who relish the challenge of making double time through the maps as they face danger head on and die a lot as a learning process.

Of course, speed, accuracy and learning each enemy’s strengths and weaknesses is a huge key to enjoying the ride. That said, the geniuses at FromSoft have packed the series with everything from AI that follows you relentlessly to enemies and bosses that are bigger than the areas they try to kill you in and seemingly indestructible to novice players. Nope, nothing casual at all here, kids. In fact, there’s a terrifying element to all the games that borders on horror in some areas, but I’m not calling this a “horror” game series by any means. Just a note that if you’re not playing with a tiny bit of fright creeping into your bones, you’re a better man or woman than I. Anyway, DSIII is coming in 2016. Prepare to… yeah, you know.

Retro City Rampage REALLY Goes Retro: 486 – MS-DOS / Windows 3.1 Version Now Available

Posted on July 31, 2015 by geelw

Vblank Entertainment’s head honcho Brian Provinciano is a truly mad genius in the best possible way. His single-minded obsession with his hilarious “retro” game Retro City Rampage has led to it being released on PC, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS over a few short years. Now, he’s gone and reprogrammed the instant classic and has gotten the game onto a 3.5″ floppy disk for 486 computers along with a Windows 3.1 prototype as a free bonus. If you still have an old PC lying around with a floppy drive, you can (and should indeed) snap up one of the limited edition boxed versions (there were only 1000 total made) and prepare for a nostalgic trip down memory lane with a game that probably wouldn’t have existed back then and if it did, it would be hailed as a fine slice of comic genius or something like that.

If you happen to own the more modern PC version of the game already and bought it from the developer directly, guess what? You should probably check your Steam account for a nice freebie surprise. Everyone else, run or click like the wind HERE and hope for the best. Like the PS4 and Vita retail editions, this will probably sell out ridiculously fast. Yes, the game will also run on DOSBOX if you have a newer PC. I almost forgot to mention this, so now you don’t need to hit up eBay looking for some aged system to run RCR 486 on.

Stay Strong With More Heroic Bundles From Bundle Stars

Posted on July 31, 2015 by geelw

Bundle Stars wraps up five days of heroic game deals with a trio of collections under three bucks for a limited time. Everything’s good in this digital buffet, so help yourself to a backlog-worthy set from one, two, or all three deals before they disappear. Just click on those banners above and prepare to be transported to each sale page where you can check out each deal and see what’s what. I won’t tell you which one to buy, but 24 games for about nine bucks is a solid deal any day of the seek (so you should get all three deals and perhaps the other two while you’re at it. But I didn’t tell you that).

RymdResa: Restful Random Roguelike Inbound August 20

Posted on July 30, 2015 by geelw

“We didn’t want to create yet another space-shooter, with laser-beams and exploding aliens. In RymdResa the game play is peaceful, passive and relaxing.”

That’s a nice, bold statement from Stockholm, Sweden-based Morgondag, a pair of developers (Vendela Carlberg Larson and Kim Gunnarsson) whose upcoming game RymdResa sure fulfills on that quote quite well. With the space simulation sub-genre packed to the gills with demanding 4X and real-time strategy games focused on deep exploration and and blowing fleets of ships into space dust, RymdResa is a mellower mood trip that’s a laid back welcome from all that blasting. That’s not to say you won’t get blasted by something if you’re careless, mind you.

As you’ll see in the videos above and below, the game’s retro scan line look and lovely sound mix (by Tom Croke and Pat Jacobs) are blended quite well and there’s even a computer-y voice (Eric Reed) that talks to you as you slip through the stars like a more friendly (but abstract) HAL 9000. The gameplay in the build so far is interesting, mixing arcade-like controls that are easy to pick up with a (so far) intentionally languid mission structure that has you collecting resources and “spacepoints” and avoiding trouble while trying not to run out of said resources. There are nods to Computer Space, Asteroids, and other classics, but the game’s mix of poetic quotes as you drift about and discover are quite interesting.

Thanks to a busy set of things to do this past week, I’ve only spent about a half hour or so with the game so far. But I’ll be going back in to this deep space delight for more because what I’ve played so far has been quite compelling. That half hour got me close to two years in space, two levels and a near destroyed ship when I floated too close to the sun after dinging off a stray asteroid. Memo to self (and other players): RED outlines and highlights around objects mean stay away or else. While currently Steam-bound on August 20, 2015, the game is also set to land on Xbox One, Wii U, iPad and Linux at some point in the future. I’ll be wanting to check out the Wii U version just because that console is getting a load of cool indie love but people seem to be ignoring those games for some reason.

I’ll run a big 40+ screenshot gallery over the weekend. I’d do it NOW, but I need to tackle some personal stuff. I’d do it sooner than the weekend, but I think I’ll be spending a lot of time in space before that with a nice little indie game you absolutely need to play. Back with more in a bit.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Final Cut: Bury Yourself In This ARPG Come September

Posted on July 29, 2015 by geelw

NeoCore Games’ fun (and old school as heck) Action/RPG trilogy The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing may not be as well-known as Diablo, Torchlight or some of the other games it’s inspired and influenced by. But for a select legion of fans it’s been their go-to game for hours of chase ‘n chop thrills, offbeat humor and a decent enough level of challenge. While part 3 wasn’t as stellar to some players, NeoCore has kept both ears open to fan reaction and is in the process of polishing up the entire trilogy into one package, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing Final Cut. Set for a September release on Steam for $44.99, the game will feature a wealth of old and newly added game content that should keep fans quite busy for some time.

According to the press release:

The game is a standalone product that

combines campaign content from all three games with modified or added content
provides over 50 hours of gameplay in the campaign mode
lets the player choose between 6 playable classes from the beginning
has a reworked and extended skill tree system
contains all the tower defense game modes, all made optional yet highly rewarding

If that’s not enough for you, guess what?

Whether the player has completed the campaign or not, it is possible to

create a new character or get a level 80 character from the beginning
play one of the 20 scenario maps that can randomly assemble terrain, monsters, objectives and conditions
try out the daily quests, challenges and weekly events
join one of the refined multiplayer modes (4-player co-op mode, touchdown, arena, or battle royal)
reach level 100 and evolve further with an endgame featuring a Glory system, rare items and currency, Dreamshards

Even better, those who already own the three games will get Final Cut for FREE. NeoCore is obviously intent of making this final version of the trilogy the one to own, so keep an eyeball peeled for it on Steam if this one’s up your dark and foggy alley.

Bundle Stars Wants You To Be Quite Heroic This Week

Posted on July 28, 2015 by geelw

Oblige them, please (and help out assorted charities in the process). That 7-game +1 Expansion DLC RPG Heroes Bundle is from yesterday, but you can still grab it for $2.49 for about the next 19 hours. Among other gems, that bundle has the legendary Wizardry 8, a blast from the past that’s still quite a killer game experience. Meanwhile, in the future of today, this is what’s up for grabs for a song:

The FPS Heroes Bundle is another $2.49 deal for a nice set of eight Steam keys that will probably melt your PC thanks to all the non-stop action you’re about to get. There’s a nice and weird mix of games including System Shock 2, the star of this particular deal. It’s still an effective blend of sci-fi and horror that will creep under your skin and probably get a few of you new to it curled up under something not wanting to further.

As usual, there are also loads of single and multi-game deals to be found in the Bundle Stars store, so feel free to poke around there and back up your backlog with too many titles to try out. Hey, I just tell you what’s out there, folks. It’s up to you to decide what you need to do with it.

Tembo The Badass Elephant Says: “Don’t Forget Me… OR ELSE!”

Posted on July 20, 2015 by geelw

Is this new Sega-published game out tomorrow equal parts Rambo, Dumbo and Sonic the Hedgehog? Nope, not really… but it’s pretty darn close. But you probably want to buy Tembo the Badass Elephant because if you don’t, Tembo might get mad. And you don’t want to get Tembo mad at you because elephants don’t forget. Ever. Hey, I don’t know about YOU, but I don’t want to be in the shower or walking down the street on an other wise fine and dandy day when all of a sudden I hear a trumpety bellow and a wall comes crashing down on me that Tembo just burst through like a pissed off Kool-Aid Man. Seven and a half tons of fun on my head (not counting the rubble from building that just got crashed through)? Nope, not happening.

Anyway, the game in question SHOULD be bought and played not because of any unveiled threats, but because it’s from the geniuses at Game Freak, who brought Pokemon to the world for Nintendo consoles, a little VERY under-appreciated gem called Pulseman to the Sega Mega Drive back in the 90’s. So, YES. You need a little Tembo in your gaming life tomorrow. Or else you get a LOT of Tembo coming your way when you least expect it. PC, PS4 and Xbox One only. Wii U and handheld system owners? Well, I guess you’ll be getting a little big visit from some very angry elephant soon. And he won’t be playable. Carry a sack of peanuts and a live mouse with you at all times so you can distract him as you make good your escape.