Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Shoot Many Robots has a directness I can appreciate. When I eventually make a game, I’ll call it “Craig Make Gun Bangs”: it will have no story apart from a bit that says “he puts a bullet in his gun” in Comic Sans, and then a few seconds later “bang” spelled out in bullet holes. I reckon Ubisoft will pick it up like they have this four-player Borderlands-esque platform game. Sure, mine won’t have pretty graphics, charm, wit, or be anything more than an idea scribbled in crayon on a cereal packet, but then they already have that in Demiurge’s game.
Read the rest of this entry »

I think you may want to play Dustforce a lot too, after you watch the trailer below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Square Enix’s Scarygirl, formerly a PSP game, has just been confirmed for a Euro/UK release, and it’s definitely happening on PC. It’s an action platformer, and it’s based on the graphic novel by Nathan Jurevicius. Coming out on Xbox Live Arcade on the 18th Jan worldwide, a PC version will follow “shortly after”, whatever that might mean. You can see a trailer for it below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Wow, games are great. Take for instance A Tale By Alex. The game by new indie team Digital Dreams, it’s a side-scrolling platformer played on three separated levels… simultaneously. Because each is a version of a kid, Alex’s, imagination.

It’s an amazingly cute idea, the two higher strips showing a reimagining of the real-world interior Alex is playing in. Jump over a table at the bottom, and it’s a grassy mound. Run past your pet tortoise and it’s a giant, biting monster that must be attacked. An elastic band flung in your front room is a range weapon for Alex the Knight.

Read the rest of this entry »

In October 2009 I very rightly was enormously excited by the lunatic joy of RunMan. Its infectious brightness and unhinged glee were a big part of that. Developer Tom Sennett has picked up on the same vibe in his latest game, the brilliantly named Deepak Fights Robots (if you do nothing else, click on that link). It’s a puzzle platform game, heavily inspired by Bubble Bobble, but, well, brighter.

Read the rest of this entry »

This one’s a cutie. A side-scrolling physics platformer, in which you must negotiate levels with the goal of collecting materials for, well, further exploration. BEEP is a robot. Robots are cool, or cute. BEEP is not cool. He’s programmed to complete basic tasks, such as gather items, shoot baddies, and manipulate the environment. Thank goodness those are the things anyone needs to do in a physics platformer!

Read the rest of this entry »

There’s a point at which looking back on my life can just be humiliating. I was SO rubbish at the classic platformers on the Spectrum. I don’t think I ever got past the third screen of either Manic Miner or Chuckie Egg 2. Honestly, I’m a shame to this entire industry. Orm & Cheep was about my level. So the rather snazzy The Wonderful Towers Of Mr Imp both impresses me and reminds me what a cack-handed buffoon I am. It’s an 8-bit puzzle platformer from Chinese indie dev 8bitattitude, with a sizeable demo.

Read the rest of this entry »

NightSky – the latest game from micro-platforming supremo Nifflas, is out now. And if that’s not exciting enough news for you, there’s a demo to try to get you there. The full game is £10, but the demo – it’s free! Crazy. Once more it’s physics platforming, this time rolling a metal sphere through levels in a peculiar dream world. Knowing that it’s Nifflas, through Nicalis, should be all the information you need. The original trailer is below.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last month I mentioned Lylian, a very strange-looking side-scrolling platformer about a girl in an asylum who imagines her way out. There’s now a demo of it, so you can see what you make of the straight-jacketed oddity. Episode 1 is now released, and there’s no doubt that it’s packed with original ideas. Very, very strange ideas. The big concern does appear to be the combat, which is choppy and unsatisfying. But the environments are certainly intriguing enough to make it worth checking out.

What you need right before going to bed is to watch this creepy-ass trailer for Lylian, made by the excellently named Pixelpickle. It’s properly intriguing. Watching the opening cinematic of an institutionalised girl and her teddy, it’s hard to predict it’s going to be a side-scrolling platformer. But there it goes, with the unfurled long sleeves of her straight jacket used as weapons. Of course. And it looks, like I said, intriguing. Lylian’s poweful imagination – the thing that maybe got her locked up in the first place – means she can reinterpret the miserable interiors of the institution as wild, colourful lands. You can see this in the trailer below.

Read the rest of this entry »

I like the sound of anything zen at the moment. Gosh I’m tired. Fortunately, looking at screenshots of The UnderGarden makes me feel all peaceful and serene. Described as a puzzle exploration game, it boasts relaxing physics challenges, and local co-op so players can, and I swear this is a direct quote, “chill out, work together to solve puzzles and explore the world.” Man. It’s due out on the 10th November, but we should hopefully be taking a look at it before then. In the mean time, “chill out” with these screenshots.

Read the rest of this entry »