Super Meat Boy – Quick Look
Today marks the one year anniversary of the steam release of Super Meat Boy. To mark this, Steam had released a special anniversary bundle which included eight other indie games for a great price. Despite having played this title some time ago on the 360, I could not resist getting my hands on the PC version in anticipation of the soon to be level editor and portal.
On the game level, Super Meat Boy still persists as one of my favorite platformer of all time. It still plays and feels like a classic game, but uses many new technologies to complement it at the same time. Elements like the controls are somewhat simple, but they are also very tight and responsive. The overall game is quite difficult and challenging like most classic games, but at the same time it’s not extremely punishing about it. Another nice touch is just how smooth and sharp the graphics are which are combined with a great soundtrack.
I could continue going into detail on how well Super Meat Boy nails the old school platformer genre, but what’s the point if this game is a must play?
Saints Row: The Third – Quick Look
Now that Saints Row: The Third is finally out, we’ve had a chance to play it a bit and give you our initial impressions of the game. Here, I talk about my main gripes and also what I like most about the game so far. I haven’t played enough yet to warrant a full review, but that will come eventually. In any case, enjoy the video, and free free to leave any comments for more stuff you’d like to see.
Custom Craft Ep.14 – Desert Strike
This week we play Desert Strike, a tug of war custom map that has been enjoying the front page for quite some time. This 3v3 tug of war map is quite simple to play, but it does require some strategy to start getting good at it. The aim of the game is to beat the oppositions army, so you have several building choices which each have their own specific units. The challenge here is that you have a steady income rate and a limited amount of space to place these structures, so being space efficient is very important on this map. Beyond that, the rest of the game is all about finding a good build that will counter both the wave you are attacking into and the wave following that. Since all the other players are essentially doing the same thing, you will need to come up with some clever strategies to win the game. Read on for further information concerning this map. Read more
Custom Craft Ep.13 – Gem TD
In the past few episodes I have tried to avoid tower defense games as they don’t tend to be very original. However Gem TD has climbed up the ranks has been sitting among the top five most popular custom maps for some time now. To be in such a position, most games need to be fun, challenging and most importantly original. Starting with that last point, the first three rounds I played where quite rough as most tower defense games tend to concentrate on the maze creation or the tower combinations. While Gem TD merges these two together quite well, it must be said that the maze portion becomes very easy once you adopt the standard strategy that most use. In terms of fun and challenge you have three modes along with five difficulties to choose from. Now the choices are not actually votes because this is not a PvP tower defense game, instead its entirely based on a persistent high score which you can show off when joining new games. It’s an interesting take on the tower defense style of game, but overall it is quite enjoyable and well done. Read more
Custom Craft Ep.12 – HotS Custom – Metalopolis
Last week Blizzard previewed the changes to come in Heart Of The Swarm to all BlizzConn attendees. As you can imagine, many people including us could not attend the event. While the special build of the game was not made available outside of BlizzCon, there is a close alternative available right now. I will be going over the changes shown at BlizzCon on this custom Heart Of The Swarm map. Read on for more details on this set of custom maps. Read more
Battlefield 3 Multiplayer – First Impressions
One of the biggest and most anticipated shooters has been released today. I had to stay up late for this one, but the last three hours spent on Battlefield 3 where quite interesting.
After a rough showing from the beta, the final release does deliver the refined and polished gameplay, graphics and sound effects we have been expecting. As a BF2 veteran, this latest Battlefield certainly deserves its sequel title. While the core part of the game is quite brilliant, the whole website based server browser and party system leaves much to be desired. Like the beta, three of us at Fraxial still had intermittent issues with getting the server browser working. Even more disappointing is the party system that still does not work, leaving us with the option to manually join a game and hope that we can auto-join the same squad once loaded up.
Many of these issues seem to be browser centric as the three of us where getting mixed results from one browser to another. This is a case where sticking with the common in-game platform would eliminate most of these problems. While we are not thrilled with these issues, the overall gameplay experience remains excellent. Expect more updates as we will also be giving the single-player and co-op modes a try.
Custom Craft Ep.11 – Last Stand Alpha
Another episode of Custom Craft and this week I play a map named Last Stand. Despite being in beta, this wave based survival map has managed to climb among the ten most popular custom maps. To defend from the multiple waves of enemies, you have a wide choice of units and structures to choose from. To further fortify your defenses, you also have several research levels and options you will need to perform. However it is worth mentioning that the balance isn’t quite right at this moment which makes most of these choices less then ideal. Similar to other survival maps, this balance issue ends up removing the need for any strategy as you can easily defend with two types of units. This has a secondary effect of dragging on the games for much too long while the incoming waves slowly erode your forces. Keep in mind that this game is just a proof of concept alpha build, so it does show some potential once things start getting balanced out.
If this map interests you, read on for more information and how to find it.
Custom Craft Ep.10 – Special Forces: Elite
This week on Custom Craft, I start the video about a quarter of the way into a game of Special Forces: Elite. The idea behind this custom map is fairly simple and straightforward, you have to defend your base and clear out the zerg infested map. Right when you and your teammates start with a random low tier unit, the steady flow of zerg units are already making their way to your base. Read on for more more information.
Best Games Series – Announcement
A recent post on Reddit had brought up this post from RPS which is a list of the 122 best PC games. The list in question covers games from 1989 all the way up to last year. While going over the list, I started to realize how many of these great games I had been missing over the years. This new series will be covering what are arguably some of the best PC games of all time. Read on for some details on this new series.
Custom Craft Ep.9 – MineralZ Evolution
How does a game with eight player co-op which combines both base building and tower defense elements sound? Well if you like the idea of such a game, MineralZ Evolution is possibly what you are looking for. Along with those elements, players need to balance four different types of resources which are required for various structures and upgrades. This is where you will need to start working as a team and have certain people dedicated to certain tasks. If this kind of game sounds interesting to you, read on for more information on how to find it. Read more