Yeah, here’s a different one. A game that is available for both the iPhone AND on Xbox Live Indie Games. The iPhone version costs 99 cents while the Xbox 360 version will run you 240 Microsoft Space Bucks. Read more…
This got released as Office Politics, but for whatever reason (I think copyright crap) the developer had to take it down. Now, I didn’t get it then because quite honestly the game looked like The Sims to me. And I can’t stand that game, I’ve NEVER understood the point with the The Sims.
Thankfully, this … unlike The Sims … is actually a game.
The whole game is basically a satire on what it’s like to work in an office. And, thankfully, it doesn’t take itself very seriously as a result of that.
The first time I ran it, I spent just about an hour with it and didn’t even finish it, which is kind of surprising for an 80 point game, because most of them are either just bad games that don’t last very long or arcade style games that are meant to be played for a few minutes and go. It actually took me about 2 hours to beat this all the way through.
This game is fucking cruel. It’s evil, and it’s quite possibly one of the hardest games in the Indie Games section. It doesn’t screw around. You have one weapon, one life, a shield that hacks away at your score (which is the ultimate point of the game) and no apologies. Most people I’ve seen who play this (including me. Hey, I never said I was good at these games) can’t get past about level 3 or 4. Out of, from what I understand, 32 total levels.
So it’s definitely appropriately titled. It doesn’t matter how good you are, you WILL eventually die.
That doesn’t mean it’s any good though, now does it. We’re going to have to make that determination as we go … well … more like I’ve already made my decision and you’ll just have to read on and see. Read more…
Pretty much the only reason I got this is because I hadn’t played a baseball game in a good 20 years and it looked interesting. Barker’s Crest is known for their earlier titles like Easy Golf and Avatar Golf. Both are awesome games that even people who hate golf should play. This on the other hand isn’t anywhere near as good.
In fact, to be perfectly honest, it’s fucking boring. But it’s not without it’s good points.
It looks GREAT, it’s accessible and easy to play, there are global high scores.
And it definitely makes very good use of the Xbox 360 avatars. In fact, it’s one of the best uses of them I’ve seen out of the system period. But that’s about it.
A neat little 80 point retro inspired shooter … mix the left to right gameplay of Space Invaders and Galaga with bullet hell and you get Decimation X. An insane, fast paced, and sometimes infuriatingly difficult arcade shooter with support for up to four players locally.
Of course, there are a few bullet hell style shooters in the indie games section, but they generally fail miserably. This on the other hand gets it right. But if you’re looking for a walk in the park, this may not be your game.
And this is definitely a game. There’s no storyline anywhere to be seen, you could make one up yourself though. It doesn’t need it. This could easily be in an arcade machine from the 80’s or early 90’s.
What do you get when you mix bullet hell with Space Invaders/Galaga/Galaxian style gameplay. You get Decimation X, a new Xbox Live Indie game that goes for a meager 80 points. What little I’ve played so far is kind of the shooter version of Bayonetta. Just insanity that doesn’t stop. Ever. And from the looks of the video and what I’ve played, the powerups don’t stop either. Go download it, give it a try, the game says online high scores are coming soon. Although from what little time I’ve spent with it I have two complaints … but I’ll save those for later. :P
Just go and fuckin’ try it. Especially if you’re a fan of fast paced over the top shooters. I’m gonna give it some more play time before I say anything solid about it. :) I’m terrible at these types of games, and so far I’ve only made it to level 16.
The original Johnny Platform game was (and still is) a great little platformer, originally designed for the Nintendo DS as a homebrew game that got ported later on to the 360. But it’s main problem was that fact … every level was limited to the middle of the screen because of the DS’ resolution and the way the game was set up for that system. Didn’t stop it from being a good game however.
Now the sequel is out with the potentially damning title of “Johnny Platform Saves Christmas!” … which implies it’s another one of those shovelware seasonal titles that people waste their time with releasing. Thankfully though, the Christmas nonsense seems to have been more of an afterthought than anything and it really is a true sequel bettering the original in every way. Other than the presents you push around and the other slightly holiday related stuff, this could’ve easily NOT have been a holiday game. And I personally would have preferred that. But hey, as I say, you can’t win ‘em all.
Ah, the holidays are FINALLY over. And when I finally started paying attention to Twitter instead of playing Quake (yeah, that’s what I said. The game from 1996. I’m working my way slowly but surely through it on Hard difficulty to get ready for Nightmare) there were some neat looking games out in the indie games section for once. And Mech Gladiator was one of them. The trial honestly isn’t all that great in the fact that it only gives you the first level on Easy … not even 8 minutes worth of gameplay there because you actually have to TRY to die. BUT it is interesting.
The presentation is a mixed bag because even though the graphics are drop dead gorgeous with great character and enemy models (at least from what I’ve seen of the trial and the 4 minute video trailer) the sound is pretty generic, and the music sounds like something out of an old DOS game.
Now, I don’t normally curse a lot in these types of posts, but this is different. All I’ve got to say is holy fucking bloody Jesus in a handbasket. I have a serious feeling this is gonna be one of those games where I lose a controller. If this sucker plays anywhere near as good as it looks we’re going to have one HELL of a shmup on our hands. And from the looks of it they paid attention to the hitboxes as well, which is good because a lot of these Xbox indie games that come out like this, they don’t pay attention to that. And it really kills the game.
Fuck man … I’m having trouble just keeping track of ONE of the ships let alone everything on screen. I wanna play this. Right fucking now.
The reason these are mini reviews is because these don’t even count as games to me. What they DO count as are complete wastes of time and MS Points. Not only that, but they serve to give the Indie Games section on the 360 a bad name. A bad name it already has in the eyes of the 13 year old Halo 3 players out there who look in there and only see these games instead of the great ones. Both of these are from a “studio” called Holographic Dreams, and I will admit they have a cool logo and a cool name. And hopefully they get to coding actual games instead of this garbage. The games are Pilot Test and Christmas Tree 3D.
Wasted Seconds is exactly what the name implies. Ranging from game and movie reviews, celebrity gossip and going back in time to simpler times with computers. Just a mishmash of whatever catches the writers' interest.
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