Posted by Guest Reviewer
Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:19:00 GMT
[Guest Review by FishyBoy]
Cubes is an excellent online game. It can be summed up as a 3D version of the Tron lightcycles game. [Note: it’s essentially a multiplayer version of nenad’s Counterclockwise. -Derek]
You fly around, leaving a trail behind you. Hitting a trail kills you. You can move along any axis. You can also shoot at enemies, although it’s not too effective. Several power-ups are available, and you also have a boost. The world wraps around, so if you just keep going in a straight line, you’ll eventually crash. The default level is empty, although there are a few other levels with some trails already added. That’s about all of the game.
The game is simple, but it’s good fun zooming along colorful corridors, twisting about in a convoluted path and desperately hoping you don’t smash into a wall. When you first start playing it’s rather disorienting, but you get used to it pretty fast. The learning curve was only about 5 minutes for me, and in about 20 minutes I was doing pretty well. Rounds are done survival-style, and the field is pretty small, so games are fast-paced and short.
The game doesn’t have very complicated graphics, but the twisted multicolored architecture when you’re well into a round looks pretty cool. It doesn’t take a very fancy computer, either. My awful computer ran it nicely, with occasional frame rate drops.
The community is very friendly, helping out all the new and confused players. The menu mirrors the main game in simplicity, so it takes less than a minute to set your name and join a server. When there’re about 6-8 people in a room, it’s great fun, although it’s still pretty enjoyable with 2 people.
In short, it’s a fun and unique game, enjoyable on all accounts. I highly recommend it.
It would also probably be great for Game Night.
Posted in Multiplayer, Windows, Action / Arcade, Freeware | Tags DarkCastleSoftware | 15 comments
Posted by Jared
Fri, 27 Jun 2008 12:10:00 GMT
Mtp Target is a simple enough concept: In most maps, the penguin you control rolls down a hill, goes off a jump, and then must be put into gliding mode (CTRL) in order to be maneuvered over to the target area, usually some sort of platform. Your first few attempts at Mtp Target will most likely result in frustrating falls into the water, but if you stick with the game you’ll be landing on target in no time.
As I got better at Mtp Target, I picked up on some strategies that reveal a more competitive aspect of the game. For example, instead of racing to the landing area, more experienced players will glide in circles until everyone lands and then zoom over and knock everybody into the water, proving that even the cutest of games can provoke vulgar (not to mention hilarious) exchanges of insults.
My main problem with most multiplayer games is how long it takes to start playing; loading, finding a good server, more loading, waiting for players to join, getting utterly ravished by people who devote their lives to playing, etc. So it’s nice to see that there’s an online game out there that doesn’t take itself too seriously and instead aims for a laid-back, quick experience.
See a trailer for Mtp Target after the jump.
Read more...
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Macintosh, Multiplayer, Linux, Windows, Freeware | 12 comments
Posted by Alehkhs
Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT
Take the weapons from the Quake and Unreal Series (the shotguns, the grenade-launchers, the laser-cannons), throw in swords, over-sized wooden mallets, and grapple-hooks for good measure and give the whole arsenal to a tiny, round, and colorful race of giggling cuteness that one might come across if say… Tribbles got into a large stash of food. Now force these creatures to fight each other in battles ranging from death matches to rounds of capture-the-flag.
Well, actually, don’t do that – it’s already been done, and turned into an surprisingly polished and addictive experience.
Officially, Teeworlds (originally titled “Teewars“) is a 2d multiplayer-only platform shooter available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and with its gunning and grappling cuteness it recalls memories of games like Soldat, Liero, and the cute-but-brutal landscapes of the Worms Series. Although it’s only in version 0.4.2, Teeworlds has already shown amazing progress and is perfectly playable right now.
The controls of Teeworlds are standard controls for and big-title FPS (WASD for movement, number keys for weapons, click to fire, etc) and fit the gameplay very well. Of course, the player can remap any of these keys if need be. The customization doesn’t stop there though; each player can customize the shape and color of their individual character or even make their own maps via the map maker. Another aspect of the controls I really thought was innovative for a game of this type was the emoticon system: just push leftShift, and a circular menu will appear with several choices. Simply move the mouse over the emoticon you want to appear over your character, and release shift. Simple as that.
You can even go one step further if that level of freedom isn’t enough: Teeworlds is an open-source project, which has led to many, many, custom skins and mods on the part of the community.
Game play is easy to learn, and soon you’ll be a double-jumpin’ grapple-swingin’ gun-wieldin’ machine, so be sure to check this game out.
Download / Game’s Site / Wiki Article
Posted in Platformers, Macintosh, Multiplayer, Highly Recommended, Fighters, Linux, Windows, Physics, Action / Arcade, Freeware | Tags MagnusAuvinen | 25 comments
Posted by Jared
Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:01:00 GMT
I searched for Super Secret Ninja on TIGSource last night and was shocked to discover that it has never been mentioned. For shame!
In Super Secret Ninja, you use a grappling hook to speedily swing past the bad guys and get to the exit (arrow keys to move, up to jump, CTRL to grapple). Death comes if you run out of time or get noticed by too many enemies.
What at first seems like a bland game quickly becomes a frenzied race to the finish as the randomly generated levels get longer and filled with more baddies. Each grapple becomes the difference between a flawless escape and an embarrassing confrontation with the enemy.
PS: Hello everyone! In the (quite probable) event that you have no idea who I am, Derek invited the two writers of Puppy Buckets, Alehkhs and I, to help him out with TIGSource. Hopefully you’ll approve!
Posted in Platformers, Stealth, Windows, Freeware | Tags JuusoSalonen | 9 comments
Posted by Jordan Magnuson
Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:06:00 GMT
Triumph War 2099 is up there with
Gladiator as one of the best cooperative multiplayer on one keyboard games ever made. You and up to three other players take control of 1-4 commandos with legions of troops at your disposal, and one goal in mind: retrieve the Plasma Cannon Energy Crystal from the clutches of an infestation of alien bugs! Easier said than done.
Basically what we have here is a top-down shoot-’em-up/strategy hybrid with a fantastic cooperative element. Pick up a machine gun, flame thrower, plasma cannon and a few grenades, call in some air support, let your troops know what you want from them, and head into the swarm guns blazing with your friends at your sides.
Sounds epic? It is. Do yourself a favor, and download this free gem now from
Home of the Underdogs (sadly-or fortunately-one of the few sites still hosting the game).
Edit:
This game is
only good when played multiplayer. I should have mentioned that before.
Also, if you’d like to check out another game in this vein, take a look at Planet Wars: http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?21000000036522. Poor graphics, and full of bugs, the game can, nonetheless, be more fun than Triumph at times. Again, only multiplayer.
Posted in Multiplayer, Highly Recommended, Shoot-em-ups, Windows, Strategy, Action / Arcade, Freeware | Tags darksun | 24 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:37:00 GMT
Solar Vengeance kicks it Old-School with a capital “O.” Everything from the name, to the graphics, to the website design, is decidedly from a bygone era of PC computing, and that’s fine with me. SV debuted in 1995 as a turn-based strategy game with 3 unit types – 13 years later you can command 24 types of units in real-time, against human or AI opponents, on or offline, in a number of different customizable scenarios. The game has also gone from shareware to freeware.
Like many good strategy games, the basic rules are relatively simple, but open up complex gameplay. The goal of the game is to take over the Capital StarSystems of your opponents while protecting your own. To do this, you must create StarShips and expand your empire by conquering neighboring StarSystems, which will then develop resources and allow you to create more StarShips.
In any game you can create 6 types of StarShips, chosen beforehand out of a possible 24. Each StarShip has two ratings – an Engine rating and a Primary rating – that determine how effective the ship is. For WarShips, the most basic “soldier” unit, the Primary rating is Weapons, and determines how strong the ship is. A WarShip with a higher Weapons rating will always prevail over a weaker one.
Each Scenario in SV is randomly generated based on a few set parameters like “Number of Star Systems” and “Cluster Density,” making this a fitting game to mention as we wrap up our Procedural Generation Competition. But what’s really awesome is that most of the Scenarios and AIs available with the game are developed in C# by the small, but enthusiastic, Solar Vengeance community. And as creator Dion Kurczek continues to work dedicatedly on the game, who knows what we’ll see next?
(Source: Alehkhs, via Puppy Buckets)
Posted in Highly Recommended, Windows, Strategy, Freeware | Tags DionKurczek | 11 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:52:00 GMT
The Doryen Arena
The Chronicles of Doryen is an experimental roguelike-in-development that touts “real-time gameplay” and “2.5d perspective” (i.e. limited z-axis) as two of its biggest features. While some might argue over whether the game’s real-time gameplay discounts the game as a roguelike… well, who really cares! The important thing is that the characters in the game are represented by (very colorful and pretty) letters, numbers, and the ever-present ”@” symbol.
There’s no playable version yet, but you can see a video of the game in action, or follow the blog (which is updated fairly regularly). The developer, J.C. Wilk, has also released a sub-game, called The Doryen Arena, that lets you test out Doryen’s combat system in a gladiatorial setting. In the arena you face off against waves of increasingly stronger opponents until you meet an appropriately grisly demise.
As simple as it is (and still v0.5), TDA definitely shows off some of the potential of the real-time thing. It still feels like a roguelike despite having a basic, timing-based combo system(!). I’m interested to see where it goes from here! A multiplayer roguelike with this system seems like it could work!
(C/C++ roguelike developers may also be interested in The Doryen Library.)
Thanks, Xion!
Posted in Roguelikes, Linux, Windows, Freeware, Previews | 10 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 29 May 2008 18:15:00 GMT
In case you missed it, Ikiki has released two new games this year, and they’re both pretty nifty! The first is Tobioriya, an archery game where you have to shoot people jumping out of a building (naked, obviously). Hold down the mouse button and release to shoot. Try to aim the cursor on the jumpers as the arrow travels nearly instantaneously.
In the second game, Curryki, you have to put curry on rice. The rice appears on the left side, and you have to squirt the curry on the right. Then the machine will flip the right side onto the left (like a page in a book). So the goal is to place the curry so that it ends up in the right place! It’s quite tricky!
Really like both of these, especially Curryki, which I think is pretty novel. You can download them both from Ikiki’s games page. Curryki is at the top, and Tobioriya is the next one down.
(Source: LaughingCrow, via Lithium Leaf. Sweet blog, dude!)
Posted in Highly Recommended, Windows, Action / Arcade, Freeware, Doujin | Tags Ikiki | 15 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sat, 24 May 2008 02:25:00 GMT
I went to Las Vegas with my parents one summer and they took me to an arcade there (I can’t remember which hotel). In the arcade they had this virtual reality headset with Wolfenstein 3d in it that was haphazardly constructed and extremely disorienting, and it made me want to vomit. I haven’t thought about that game in many, many years, but Randy Balma: Municipal Abortionist brought the memories flooding back (out of my mouth).
I believe its creator, messhof, is genuinely trying to hurt us with his games.
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Windows, Action / Arcade, Freeware | Tags messhof | 30 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 20 May 2008 15:23:00 GMT
Thrustburst is the first release from Umlautgames, and it’s definitely a strong start for the fledgling team. Your goal in the game is to fly through a narrowing tunnel to seek out the dark heart of a mostly-barren asteroid. Along the way you’ll contend with various automated defenses deployed by the core, as well as the walls of the asteroid itself.
According to the team, the game is based on Urthworm (scroll down), an old DOS game, which is in turn based on SFCave (Java version). Thrustburst, however, adds some rudimentary combat to the mix, which includes an interesting mechanic – in order to power your Energy Shield and Defender Cannon you must skim the tunnel walls without hitting them. As the walls close in deeper into the asteroid and your ship’s speed increases, this becomes a very nerve-wracking and tense prospect.
The art in this game is also pretty phenomenal, and is filled with little details that belie the game’s relatively sparse approach to visuals. And no wonder, the art/design team is headed by Helm and ptoing, whom, I would venture to say, are two of the leading “academics” in the field of pixel arting today. They also help administrate the well-regarded Pixelation forums. Strangely enough, I think this is the first finished (non-commercial) game project I’ve seen them work on (and hopefully not the last).
So yeah, get ready to thrust and burst! (groan)
(Many thanks to Adam for the news! Definitely a pixel ninja in his own right, so check it out.)
Posted in Highly Recommended, Windows, Action / Arcade, Freeware | Tags Helm, ptoing, Umlautgames | 48 comments
