Xbox Live Indie Game Review - Organon
Now this is what I'm talking about. This game is just ... weird. Quirky as hell and equally as hard to describe, but I'll do my best. Among all the crap I've downloaded lately (like that stupid fucking Zombie Mania game and "pebbledash" ... I didn't write one for that technically. I said this on Twitter ... "Xbox Live Indie Game Trial Impressions - pebbledash. Ever played Boulderdash? Enough said."). This game came down in price recently otherwise I would've never noticed it (Thanks XBLARatings btw). It's now 80 points, and while I have to say if it was the next step up 240 points it'd be a hard sell, for 80 there's just enough quirkiness here.
Like I said in the opening paragraph, it's kinda hard to describe. It's a full 3D flying/shooter game. And pretty much everything in the game but your hud is made up blocks. You fly around in 3D space inside a giant ... you guessed it .... box with a huge ... I guess it's a sun in the middle or something. You have to shoot the "Baddie Organisms" (which are red) and try to keep from destroying the "Goodie Organisms". Your hud shows how much health you have, how many baddies are left, a radar to show where the baddies are and your elapsed time. The only thing that damages you are collisions. Which becomes a real bitch because both types of organisms pop up out of nowhere, sometimes right in front of you. And that's what'll get ya past about stage 2. It gets pretty damned hectic, but still a hell of a lot of fun.
The graphics are actually pretty good, they have a real fluid feel to them, the framerate never dips and fit the game's theme nicely. And that ... whatever the hell it is in the center of the screen looks damned cool.
The sound ... there isn't much sound. There's the sound of shots being fired, and explosions ... and the sound you get when you slam into something. The music is this neat sounding kinda technoish style that fits the overall presentation of the game which is kinda zenlike and calming. Then it changes over into this cool dance style stuff in the game. I actually wish I had the music to put on my iPod to listen to. :)
The controls, at least in the default control scheme that I used (there are 6 control schemes) work flawlessly, though I would've liked to have been able to invert them. I never could get used to that flight sim style of looking around. It'll take some time, but I'll get used to it. You look around with the right stick, go faster or slower with the left, and fire your weapon with either of the triggers.
7.5 - There isn't a whole lot to this game to be honest, otherwise the score would be higher. And the difficulty REALLY skyrockets after level 2, which may turn some people off. Both types of organisms pop up VERY frequently and you're bound to smack into quite a few of them. But for only 80 points, it's damned well worth it because it's definitely one of those games you can lose track of time with once you get used to it.
Check out what other people think of it at XBLARatings.
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