Rock, Paper, Shotgun

I’m pretty sure the fumes emanating from Indie Royale‘s perpetually whirring bundle factory have finally gone to the shadowy conglomerate’s head. April Fools, after all, was days ago. Or perhaps… no. Perhaps the joke’s on us. Maybe Indie Royale spent the entire year secretly offsetting every calendar in the world by a couple of days. Now countless schedules are in tatters, nations are falling, and no one knows when Game of Thrones will be on again. Or maybe Indie Royale just needed a catchy title. At any rate, Defense Grid: The Awakening, Alien Zombie Megadeath, Explodemon, and Hack, Slash, Loot are up for grabs. Astro Tripper‘s the bonus this time around. Details on each after the break.

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“What did you do during the great bundle wars of Winter 2011, daddy?”
“I posted about them, sweetheart. I posted about them all. I… I’ve seen so much. I’ll always carry that with me.”

We already know about pay-what-you-want charity bundle LittleBigBunch, but until 2pm today we weren’t able to so much as look at its website. Now we can, for it lives and is live. It’s a grand old package of PC games – Frozen Synapse, Explodemon, Serious Sam Double D, Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee and New Star Soccer 5. A pleasantly varied package, I’d say.
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Today I feel like the Sisyphus of games blogging. “You believe you have completed your trial of posting about a pay what you want indie games bundle, mortal? You fool. For now you must immediately post about another one! Ahahahahahaha. Yes, there are worse circles of hell to be in, but I trust you’ll agree this one is slightly annoying.”

Oh well, c’est la news-vie, non? LittleBigBunch – due next week – ups the charity factor, as it’s orchestrated by sterling industry philanthropists GamesAid. And it’s got some pretty cracking contents. Frozen Synapse! Explodemon! Serious Sam Double D! Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee! New Star Soccer 5!
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Taking up my trusty, weatherbeaten pickaxe’o'electronic delights, I chip another gleaming nugget from the mountain of indie games lurking in the RPS inbox. What new gem will I mine this time? It has a fine name indeed. That name is Stealth Bastard: Tactical Espionage Arsehole. It has a core philosophy, and that philosophy is “why does stealth need to be so slow?” Turns out, it doesn’t.
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Deliberate spontaneous combustion would be an incredibly useful tool, provided one could survive the ensuing explosion and that it caused significant propulsion in a direction of choice. Jolly good news for the star of Explodemon! who has such powers and is therefore able to navigate the obstacle-laden levels in which he finds himself. The game is available now, after a prolonged vacation in PSN country, and looks like a cross between Megaman and Splosion Man. There’s an interesting piece on the latter similarity here, and a bright and boomy trailer below.

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I haven’t played well-received PSN platformer Explodemon! as yet, but I have taken note of the fact that it has the best name. Or is it just me who thinks it sounds like someone gleefully detonating Pikachu into a shower of bloody yellow bits? Now, I can also take note of the fact that, as of next month, it will be a PC game.

Curve Studios’ self-exploding minihit is due in August, though a specific date hasn’t been announced as yet. This means it’s potentially up against erstwhile peer/rival Ms. ‘Splosion Man, which may also be PC-bound. You spend ages waiting for one game starring a combustive hero, then two come along at once. TYPICAL. A few facts and some footage of Explodemon! await below. Yes, it does have an exclamation mark in its title. Yes, it does make including its name in sentences incredibly troublesome.
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