Xotic - an FPS which isn't brown and looks really quite interesting - Due Sep 16th

[trjp]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/92600

http://wxpgames.com/

I have to admit I'm more than a bit intrigued by this...

[NecroKnight]

Doesn't really look interesting to me.

[Flint]

Looks interesting enough visually but gameplay based on just building up scores isn't particularly exciting to me.

[Ghil]

You can't buy it on Steam? It seems interesting enough.

[trjp]

You can't buy it on Steam? It seems interesting enough.

Out at 6pmish EU time today...

It's not being particularly well promoted tho - if I Google for it I find this thread and I started that!!

[trjp]

Looks interesting enough visually but gameplay based on just building up scores isn't particularly exciting to me.
There are enemies in some levels - the videos then don't show them it seems...

I'm taking it that it's a mixture of a puzzle/best route type game and it certainly seems mighty original - we'll have to see tho.

[somini]

Looks a bit like Oddworld. Not that bad, I suppose.

[trjp]

Well I felt, since it's a measly £5-odd I should leap in and report back on what's contained in here - and...

I've only played the Tutorial thusfar - but I've played it 7 times because I'm trying to better my score! Yes, it's THAT sort of game.

It's basically a score/time attack shooter - you choose whether to get through fast and gain a speed bonus or be a bit more careful and get bonuses for finding everything/getting huge chains etc. etc.

You get points with which you can upgrade your weapons or abilities (there are trees for this) - so obviously there will be much replaying of levels - and there are, of course, Leaderboards to help you with that :)

It looks nice, it sounds good and it plays well - I'm struggling to see what's not to like for £5...

[trjp]

I've played a bit further into this and I'm just enjoying it more and more and more.

It's a fairly basic concept - shoot stuff, collect stuff, get bonuses, shave time etc. etc. - but it has almost endless depth in the way that stuff is arranged - it's the sort of thing which would really appeal to speedrunner types..

It's unique to look at and it does what it claims to do really, really well (FPS platform/puzzle/score attack game).

It doesn't lack for levels either - it's probably the best £5-odd I've spent in a while.

Note to PC purists - It is aimed at XBOX too and they need to tidy the mouse controls a bit (the default are WAY too slow and the max values are probably still a bit too slow) - once that's sorted tho, the mouse/keyboard offers a better control system I think...

[Wulf]

This is so much like Stranger's Wrath in a number of ways! And so colourful! Good grief, if there's any game I'd ever wished had a demo, it's this one, since I'd like to verify how well it would run for me. But still... the gun is a living insect, thematically it's so unusual it's enthralling, and I may pick this up just to support the art direction alone.

Can we have more games that look this exotically unique? Please? Bah... I may just have to pick this up, demo or not, because it's pressing buttons in my brain that's making it more and more compelling the more I think about it.

[Wulf]

So, I bought it on a whim.

Yep, this is a game for Wulf.

- It's beautiful.
- It's really alien and strange.
- It's about curing/healing.
- It has fantastic art direction/ambiance.
- It's just plain bloody fun.

And hey, it actually performs beautifully on my old machine!

Oh, and that intro. I don't know why but that intro sent shivers up my spine. It was amazing. It was also very convincing. Granted it was just a monologue and a bunch of moving pictures, but it was very, very convincing. Set the mood perfectly, it did.

[trjp]

What I love about the intro is the way they pitch-shift the robotic voice - it just adds a tonne of character and atmosphere and it's such a simple trick...

The whole game has a really unique sense of style and it's consistently well done - I find myself playing it just because it feels so 'right'.

My only complaint is that it does seem you need to unlock everything before you can start getting high scores - which is a bit of a chore in some ways but also means you don't need to get bogged-down on one particular level.

Well - it's either that or I suck because I've cleared a couple of levels using what I think is the best path, going as fast as I can and my score is 1/4 what the highest scores are!! :)

[Wulf]

Yeah, it's a shame this isn't getting more attention really. It's a very unusual thing, built upon original ideas. And that's pure gold in this industry.

[Pyronious]

Hey, thanks for checking out Xotic. We did patch the game last week to have better controls for mouse sensitivity.

Also, we just released a demo today. Give it a look!

So far the game is not doing well on Steam, but I'm hoping that the demo will help get it out there to more people. Thanks for supporting us!