System Protocol One is a tower defense game with old-school style vector polygon graphics and a catchy techno soundtrack. Its unique plot is computer related, and everything in the game is in terms of computers. You are a security administrator charged with protecting his company’s system against viruses, which are the enemies that come across. By using cache (resources), you create a number of anti-virus programs (which are the towers you’ll build) to stop them. Just like any good tower defense game, you’ll have a variety of towers to use with a variety of different abilities. The game is quite challenging, and the tutorial is quite lengthy, which may intimidate players. However, the game is easy to pick up and play, and players who have a passing knowledge of Tower Defense games will have no problem playing this. Mastering it however, that’s a whole different story. It’s available for $10 on Steam, and of course they’ll have specials on it frequently.
First starting life as a iphone/android game, Dungeon Defenders has since graduated to an PC/Xbox Live/PSN best seller. This hybrid of action RPG and tower defense has since become a hit with over 600,000 players worldwide. As one of 4 characters, your mission is to defend your crystals against hordes of oncoming invaders, either by your skills or your selection of defenses. Each character class has their own upgradable skills, and unique defenses. Several other classes have been added via downloadable content. The game is even more fun when you join up with other players via co-op. Weather you’re a casual gamer, a fan of tower defense titles, or a fan or RPGs looking for the next big smash, check this out.
Gaming can be deadly. Oh, we’re not preaching about violence in games becoming violence in real life. More about self-inflicted injury — like playing Starcraft in an internet cafe for 36 hours straight until your heart gives out. Sean and Vinnk discuss their narrow brushes with that big game pad in the sky by way of a variety of titles mobile, PC, and console.
Indie games usually come in two varieties: games that introduce an awesome new concept (Flow, Frozen Synapse, Amnesia: The Dark Decent), and games that remain fun while refusing to reinvent the wheel (Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Issac, Everyday Shooter). Demolition Inc falls into the latter category. You play as an alien demolition worker out to destroy Earth’s cities to make the world into a recreation center. You’ll use zany weapons such as oil clouds, wheel glue, and even exploding cows to cause mass destruction and chaos. The game’s physics engine has buildings tumbling down realistically, making things satisfying and allowing you to set up chain explosions. The game’s major weakness is it’s lack of levels. A sandbox mode helps extend the game’s life somewhat, but what this game really could use is a map creator for custom levels. However, the game is cheap, so you can pick it up off Steam. It may be light on plot, but the humor makes up for it.
Years before Halo’s Firefight, Gears of War 2’s Horde mode, and Call of Duty’s Zombie mode made this style of play popular, Killing Floor made co-op survival popular ammongst FPS gamers. Originally conceived as a total conversion mod for Unreal Tournament 2004, The Killing Floor spun off into its own retail game. Playing as one of a group of soldiers, you stave off an invasion of mutated people with a variety of weapons. You must survive each round by any means necessary, be it making it to high ground, barracading yourself in, or simply shooting everything that moves. In between rounds you can buy weapons from the merchant, and you simply play to outdo your score. If you enjoy Left 4 Dead’s brand of co-op survival horror, you’ll love Killing Floor. It’s free to play on Steam this weekend, and if you like what you play, you can purchase it for just $5.
A few of you Poweteers might remember a little known PC game called MAD TV. In it, you played as a TV exec who competed against other execs for TV ratings, TV/Movie licensing deals, lucrative advertising contracts, and the affections of the lovely nature show producer on the top floor. Obviously it wasn’t based on the sketch comedy show of the same name (although they were both inspired by the same satire magazine). Although it received little fanfare, it was unique and fun. Years later, Realmforge and Kalypso Media released M.U.D TV (which stands for Mad, Ugly, Dirty Television), a game that is more than inspired by the classic title, although the developers claimed they never played it. Anyway, the game is just as fun as the game it apparently isn’t based on, even if the game gets a bit too difficult at times. [Read the rest of this entry…]
To the layman’s eye, Terraria may seem like another Minecraft rip off. However, if you give this platformer a chance, you’ll find a bit more to it than that. After customizing your character, you are then given several tools for digging. All you have to go on (beside the game wiki) is a man who offers you a few hints as to what to do. Your task ideally is to build, build, build. Your tools give you the means to gather the materials you need to build houses, weapons, and other supplies. The houses allow people to move in, and before long your empty world is a village full of people who can provide goods and services. Oh, and there are also enemies to fight. The slimes and other small creatures you battle during the day are rough enough, but when it gets to night, you’ll have to deal with zombies, demons, and other strong creatures. Thankfully you can create weapons that will come in handy. The game encourages exploration, but it’s imperative that you concentrate on building. The game also features online multiplayer. The game controls well with a keyboard, but it would benefit from keypad/joystick support. The game is fun and addictive, and you’ll want to go deeper and deeper as you play, and the game’s 16-bit pixelated art style will appeal to old-school gamers.
Despite an infamous history of poor titles to overcome, TellTale Games has pulled Back to the Future out of the movie tie-in gaming doldrums to create a worthy addition to the mythos. SeanOrange and Vinnk talk about their experiences with all of the episodes released so far.
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System Protocol One is a tower defense game with old-school style vector polygon graphics and a catchy techno soundtrack. Its unique plot is computer related, and everything in the game is in terms of computers. You are a security administrator charged with protecting his company’s system against viruses, which are the enemies that come across. By using cache (resources), you create a number of anti-virus programs (which are the towers you’ll build) to stop them. Just like any good tower defense game, you’ll have a variety of towers to use with a variety of different abilities. The game is quite challenging, and the tutorial is quite lengthy, which may intimidate players. However, the game is easy to pick up and play, and players who have a passing knowledge of Tower Defense games will have no problem playing this. Mastering it however, that’s a whole different story. It’s available for $10 on Steam, and of course they’ll have specials on it frequently.
Indie games usually come in two varieties: games that introduce an awesome new concept (Flow, Frozen Synapse, Amnesia: The Dark Decent), and games that remain fun while refusing to reinvent the wheel (Super Meat Boy, The Binding of Issac, Everyday Shooter). Demolition Inc falls into the latter category. You play as an alien demolition worker out to destroy Earth’s cities to make the world into a recreation center. You’ll use zany weapons such as oil clouds, wheel glue, and even exploding cows to cause mass destruction and chaos. The game’s physics engine has buildings tumbling down realistically, making things satisfying and allowing you to set up chain explosions. The game’s major weakness is it’s lack of levels. A sandbox mode helps extend the game’s life somewhat, but what this game really could use is a map creator for custom levels. However, the game is cheap, so you can pick it up off Steam. It may be light on plot, but the humor makes up for it.
A few of you Poweteers might remember a little known PC game called MAD TV. In it, you played as a TV exec who competed against other execs for TV ratings, TV/Movie licensing deals, lucrative advertising contracts, and the affections of the lovely nature show producer on the top floor. Obviously it wasn’t based on the sketch comedy show of the same name (although they were both inspired by the same satire magazine). Although it received little fanfare, it was unique and fun. Years later, Realmforge and Kalypso Media released M.U.D TV (which stands for Mad, Ugly, Dirty Television), a game that is more than inspired by the classic title, although the developers claimed they never played it. Anyway, the game is just as fun as the game it apparently isn’t based on, even if the game gets a bit too difficult at times.
