Will Templeton
PixelJunk Shooter – Review
£20 PSN card, £17.95 (Game cost: £6.29)
by Will Templeton
There’s something about PixelJunk games that distils the absolute best mechanics of a genre down to a seemingly simple experience. It’s a pattern and an ethos that Q-Games have followed for each of the series – take a base mechanic, stretch it to the best of its ability without straying too far from it, build a game around the abilities that are produced and release it, all within the span of an extremely short development cycle.
Interview: Quantic Dream's David Cage
At the Eurogamer Expo last year, we sat down with David Cage to talk about Heavy Rain, the demo at the expo fresh in our minds. As the release of the game next month draws closer, take a look at how Heavy Rain came to be.
The first impression we got from Heavy Rain was that it seems a lot like a spiritual successor to Fahrenheit, in that you’ve taken the ideas you’ve had for the design for that, and built it up. Is that how the design came about?
Well, yes and no. In fact, we see Fahrenheit as the prototype to Heavy Rain. With Fahrenheit we really experimented; we wanted to know if it was possible to tell a story through gameplay and not through cutscenes. We also wanted to see if there was a market for this and if people were interested in seeing what we were doing. We got positive answers to these two questions, so we started really working hard on Heavy Rain, trying to figure out what went well on Fahrenheit, and what didn’t work, and how we could improve it. So we spent some time reading reviews and on forums listening to gamers and what they had to say – what they liked, and what they didn’t like, and designed the game accordingly.
The Maw, XBLA – 400MSP
The Maw, XBLA – 400MSP
This week’s Deal of the Week, only available to Gold members.
Shadow Complex, XBLA – 800MSP
Shadow Complex, XBLA – 800MSP
This week’s Deal of the Week, only available to Gold members.
Tinker, PC – Free
Tinker, PC – Free
In order to celebrate the launch of the new GFW client, Microsoft are offering a free puzzler for the PC. You’ll need to download the GFW client if you don’t already have it, and set up a Gamertag if you don’t already have one. If you have one on the Xbox you can use the same profile.
2100 Microsoft Points – £15.73
2100 Microsoft Points – £15.73
These are Lips-branded but can be used to purchase anything.
Starting on Friday December the 18th through to the 31st Microsoft are running a deal every day on XBLA and DLC content, some of which are bound to be worthwhile, so stock up while you can.
There are also deals on Shadow Complex (down from 1200MSP to 800MSP from the 21st-27th of December) and The Maw (down from 800MSP to 400MSP from the 28th of December to the 4th of January 2010), so make sure to grab these ahead of time if you’re interested.
UPDATE: These are now out of stock, but are even cheaper at 7dayshop. Thanks to Schtee for the tip on that.
iBlast Moki, iPhone/iPod Touch – Free
iBlast Moki, iPhone/iPod Touch – Free
A very cool little puzzler, free today only as part of the Appvent Calendar.
DJ Hero, Xbox 360 – £54.99
DJ Hero, Xbox 360 – £54.99 delivered
Use code “VCCOUK35” to get £5 off. According to @GAMEDigital, stock is limited at this price.
DJ Hero, PS3 – £54.99
DJ Hero, PS3 – £54.99 delivered
Use code “VCCOUK35” to get £5 off. According to @GAMEDigital, stock is limited at this price.
DJ Hero, Wii – £54.99
DJ Hero, Wii – £54.99 delivered
Use code “VCCOUK35” to get £5 off. According to @GAMEDigital, stock is limited at this price.
Mass Effect Galaxy, iPhone – 59p
Mass Effect Galaxy, iPhone – 59p
This is part of a pre-Christmas EA promotion – 80% off a selected EA game for the iPhone or iPod Touch, one per day. I’ve only just seen this for today and it could expire at any moment, so grab it if you want it.
Appvent Calendar – free iPhone/iPod Touch games in December
Every day in December, Appvent Calendar has organised a free game on the App Store for iPhone or iPod Touch.
Today’s is 33rd Division, a simple vision cone-based stealth game in which you control soldiers trying to get past enemy lines. Well worth a look.
Visit Appvent Calendar each day to find out the free game of the day in December 2009. I won’t be posting every deal on the site, but I’ll be trying every game, and if anything stands out it’ll be posted.
Left 4 Dead 2, XBox 360 – £15
Left 4 Dead 2, XBox 360 – £15 delivered
Interview: Chet Faliszek on Left 4 Dead 2
At the Eurogamer Expo, we sat down with Chet Faliszek of Valve, writer on Left 4 Dead 2. We chatted about the new Scavenge mode, the experience of the sequel as compared to the original Left 4 Dead, and got an insight into the design process by way of a Special Infected that was cut. Lewie also probed a little on Episode 3. No, I didn’t expect him to get very far, either.
Wet – Review
Review by Will Templeton (continueorquit.com)
In movies, the best characters are those with which the viewer can sympathise; a character that, while flawed, can be enjoyed and identified with by the viewer. Considering that Wet draws so heavily from cinema, to the extent of running it as a motif throughout the game, it seems somewhat out of place that the protagonist is as blank a slate as she is. Rubi is a humourless, callous bitch, an outcast with only the pursuit of money on her mind and nothing interesting to say, and I simply do not identify with her, nor do I want to.
Peggle, XBLA – Review
Review by Will Templeton
Peggle on PC, for the uninitiated, is the poster child for the casual game that can break through to the hardcore (or vice versa). It’s Positive Reinforcement: The Game, essentially a mash-up of Breakout and Pachinko wrapped up in pretty colours, classical music and characters based entirely on puns.
Rock Band Portable Drum Kit – Review
Review by Will Templeton
When the Rock Band Portable Drum Kit arrived at my door, I was pleasantly surprised at the build quality of the contents – the four pads are exactly the same size as the full Rock Band drum set, and made of good-quality rubber. The drumsticks unscrew for easy transport, and have rubberised ends to dampen sounds. The pedal looks flimsy but feels sturdy, and is mounted with a couple of removable carpet grips to keep it from slipping. It’s clear that MadCatz have put a lot of thought into the failings of the original drum kit and piped those into the design of this portable version – the pedal especially is much upgraded from the rubberised one they initially announced.
Megaman 9 – Review
Review by Will Templeton
Mega Man 9 is a game that shouldn’t really exist. The current climate of videogames tends to be that games should be challenging, but ultimately beatable. This is a philosophy that works best with the majority of gamers – people who play a few rounds of Call of Duty after work, or pull out Wii Sports with the kids. People who use GameFly and expect to be able to whizz through a game and get the full experience, and then swap it for another. Even Ninja Gaiden, widely acclaimed for its unforgiving nature, takes pity on you if you fail too much and offers you an easier option.
Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, XBLA – Review
Review by Will Templeton
Whose side are you on? It’s one or the other. It’s a debate that’s raged for centuries. But do you care?