Retro Revisits - Strife: Veteran Edition

Strife: Veteran Edition

Now Available on Steam 

Published by Night Dive Studios

Back in the 90's when First Person Shooters were gaining the most momentum there was an abundance of ingenious and ambitious usages of the legendary Doom engine, and while titles like Quake and Duke Nukem were the most talked about at the time there was one debut title from the great Rogue Entertainment whose mechanics influenced an emergence of now familiar and relied on mechanics. Strife finally marks its comeback in a more modern and accessible package for both fans old and new.

Most importantly, this is an incredibly solid port that is consistent with the quality you'd expect from Night Dive and then some. All modern resolutions are included here as well as graphical improvements in the form of dynamic lighting, bloom, and customizable motion blur. Controls have been tweaked to fit the playstyle of modern shooters, and objectives now glow with a circle on the minimap creating a much smoother and seamless quest hunt. Night Dive Studios has given Strife all of the needed customization to allow players of any background enjoy the game however they please, be it in its original intended form or with all the new bells and whistles.

An extraterrestrial meteorite strikes your planet, unleashing a mysterious virus ravaging the brains of those it infects. Society has been split into two, the infected who have become cruel and barbaric rulers over the uninfected and powerless civilians. You are one of the uninfected who have banded together to create their own rebel community and fight this infected authority that reigns over your lives known only as The Order.

Strife features a large and detailed town hub unlike any FPS before it due to its population of many colorful, grizzled citizens and their connected questlines with fully voiced dialogue trees, the exploration within this community feeling fluid and engaging even after all these years. Here you've got all the staple establishments used throughout the RPG medium. The tavern provides you with side quests to perform for cash as well as tidbits of valuable info that comes at a price, the hospital sells valuable potions to heal during combat, and the weapon and armor shop sell the valuable equipment needed to advance through the harder levels found throughout the world.

Once you've met up with your underground resistance group of rebels the game opens up, as you take quests and carry out important mission from the various NPCs you'll find scattered around the sprawling town. Different strongholds and hidden corridors throughout the outskirts of the town play host to these missions following classic FPS action, and will reward you with scavenged loot and money in the form of quest rewards to purchase new equipment or much needed medical kits before delving into newer, harder territory.

While it certainly isn't the first FPS/RPG hybrid to ever be created, I feel it was the best original attempt to really get it right with a user friendly combination of addictive role playing progression within a fast and furious world of Doom-like violence. Fans of the engine and of the era in general will be drawn to the reminiscent visuals and their application to a unique fantasy world, an extremely pleasant departure from the usual bleak and gray environments we're used to from shooters of that period. The nostalgic Roland powered music is especially delightful here, and takes an extremely adventurous turn in composition.

If you've never played Strife there is no better time to discover and enjoy a legend, and if you're an old fan of Strife this is the perfect excuse to go back and experience it again in its most polished form to date.

Indie Impressions - Metrocide

Metrocide

Now Available on Steam

Developed by Flat Earth Games

The streets are brutal and lives seem disposable in a bleak metropolis of the future, and the only ticket out of this town is a high commodity with an even higher price. Armed at first with only a slow blaster only slightly more useful than a toaster and your wits, you'll seek out each contracted kill amongst the likes of paranoid vigilantes, loose cannon gangsters, and the buzzing drones of a totalitarian police state from above.

Metrocide is a gritty top-down trip into the dystopic streets of an open cyberpunk world of stylish minimal visuals with pulp noir flair, the city around you living and breathing with its own unique population. All of the residents of this drab environment have their own personality, their owns faults, and their own routines they carry out and you never know which of these unsuspecting people will be your next paid hit.

Contractors can be found throughout the open map each offering different hits on personalities of the city in exchange for cash, with armed and timed targets earning you more money. Money earned can then either be saved for your ticket into the next area or used on arsenal and tools that will make or break your attempted assassinations. Weapons come in a variety of shotguns, SMGs, and pistols with tools ranging from lures to distract pedestrians, jammers to disrupt police drones, and explosives to remotely cause havoc.

The action of Metrocide is steady paced and calculated, requiring a keen eye and a bit of patience. You'll watch your target carefully, following stealthily and strike at only the most opportune moments, and when you take your shot you have to take it quick. The frantic action and split-second tactical decision making here is often compared to Hotline Miami, but I feel this is done in a much more deliberately drawn out and subtle manner of stalking your prey from the undetected shadows of city alleys.

Death comes swiftly and without warning, and once you're gone you're gone for good being forced to restart as a broke hitman yet again. Jumpy vigilantes and gangsters won't hesitate to blow you away at the first sign of aggression and civilians will be quick to report you to deadly authorities who'll quickly have you on the run. This is not an easy game whatsoever, the eyes of the city constantly have the upper hand on you and through a rigorous routine of learning the streets as well as the arsenal available to you will you survive long enough to earn your blood money.

My first hit/victim in this cruel retro/future dystopia is a 30 year old male, a smoker by the name of Dudley Rossman. He's unarmed and tracked making this what should be an easy to find and kill target. I'm not sure why I'm ordered to hunt this civilian but it's a job and anyone living in the harsh reality of this underworld knows money comes before morals, so I take it. Armed with only my slow loading starter pistol I sneak out into the streets attempting to blend in with the crowds as police drones pass overhead. I locate my target and follow from the other side of the street at a slow and steady pace, there are far too many civilians here and merely whipping my gun out would spell my doom via a bullet in the head.

Our silent and hip trenchcoat sporting protagonist calmly takes a puff of his cigarette as I wait for our assassination target, Dudley, to pass by the opening of an alley I've ducked into. As he passes I take aim with my starting blaster and fire, my target is hit and I can almost feel the cash in my hand. Just as I'm stuffing my targets body into a sewage drain to avoid detection, a passerby spots my actions and takes off to notify authorities. Within seconds I'm surrounded, and my fleeting victory is quickly vanquished via the bullet of a cop drone.

After what feels like hours of repeated deaths and failed hits on my well prepared targets I've finally survived a run long enough to scrounge up the cash to get myself a ticket out of the Downtown area. Before even meeting my first quota and leaving this first area I had earned 10 achievements, all of them related to myself dying in some horrific and unique way.

It's an extremely tough and failure ridden road getting there with loads of patience required, but in the end an incredibly satisfying feeling and an experience you'll take new skills away from for your future endeavors on the mean streets of MetroCity. Metrocide is top-down stealth action at its hardest and finest.

Early Access Preview - The Deer God

The Deer God

Now Available on Steam Early Access

Developed by Crescent Moon Games

The Deer God is a relaxing and sometimes puzzling survival platformer with an emphasis on exploring bountiful natural landscapes presented in a most beautiful and crisp pixel style, a combination reminiscent of beloved indie gems like Fez or Sword and Sworcery. Guiding you through each of the different seasons and themed areas is the warm synth, moody piano and nostalgic blips of their respective soundscapes shifting and evolving with each subtle change of the environment around you.

It's an already a gorgeous game by the time the title screen appears, the serene and peaceful imagery eases your vision yet the ominous teetering of the strange hymn that plays tells you not everything is as peaceful as it seems. It is a story of the hunter and the hunted of natural order and balance of life, but who is there to put mankind in our place when we attempt to throw that balance off and cause unnecessary death?

The game starts you off assuming the role of a small and feeble baby deer in a lush world of natural wonder and danger, your health and attack power in this infantile state are minimum so you begin your survival by scouring the land ahead for food and nourishment while avoiding the dangers of the wild.

On top of the elements of survival and growing your deer through the gathering of resources, the game plays like a roguelite. This means the level layout is randomized with each playthrough and when you die, you die for good. Fortunately in a continued effort to emulate life in the wild you can mate with does to produce offspring, which act as very crucial checkpoints becoming the new host for your soul if you perish.

The wilderness around you is shrouded in mystery, the deeper you travel into this meditative setting of seasonal meadows and swamps the stranger the entities you'll come across; An old hermit greets me in an isolated hut giving a small task. Groups of brutish hunters hang around cabins awaiting their prize shot and threatening the surrounding wildlife.

Various wise and elder deer appear before me periodically throughout the journey to bestow knowledge and sometimes new powers to help clear the path ahead as well as hidden paths that were previously untraversable in an almost metroidvania-like fashion. Ancient statues appear after tasks have been completed and task you with a block puzzle. Fitting the relics to their correct places grants you with the story advancing skills you need.

Players must use the scavenged items of your surroundings wisely in order to help the various struggling souls of the wild and repay their debt to mother nature. In the end traveling far and wide becomes more than rewarding when you're dashing through the deepest of caves crushing rocks with your hooves and hurling balls of fire from your antlers.

A whole lot of heart and soul have clearly been put into The Deer God, it's a game for people who love and respect the animal kingdom and even if you don't it could be the game that makes you care. It's a story about honoring all life around you, and seeking to mend the hardship-filled lives of other creatures we share the planet with.

This is an experience of many sights, sounds, and colorful characters and one I feel should be experienced by all, even if just for the message. With fantastically detailed pixel art and a challenging permadeath adventure of heavy natural exploration, The Deer God is one of those rare breeds in the indie scene that stands not only a work of art but a really damn fun and addictive game.

Indie Impressions - Magnetic by Nature

Magnetic by Nature

Now Available on Steam

Developed by Team Tripleslash

 

 

A lone robot in a dead and unmoving future world, you find yourself amidst the rusted ruins of your robotic peers with only the power of magnetic energy to help you revive these elders to their former glory. Magnetic by Nature is a sidescrolling platformer with a magnetic driven twist, facing the player against complex chains of positive and negative reactions they must properly attract to and repel against in order to reach the end of each thoughtfully crafted stage.

Each of the large robot idols you must revive and unlock play host to a series of refreshingly difficult levels of their own colorful and entrancing environment. Guided by the shimmering melodies echoing with cave-like and natural qualities, droplets of water heard lightly dripping from hanging stalactites in the background. The game has beautiful and engaging surroundings that seem to live and breathe around you, with the glistening surfaces of twisting rock formations with occasional flocks of birds flying by all drawing you into the wonderfully relaxing mood of each differently themed setting.

Mere movement in Magnetic by Nature requires the sharpest wit and the quickest reactions, propelling yourself across wide cavernous gaps and attempting to quickly reverse polarity to catch yourself on another magnet and swing even further. As you learn the ropes of using your magnetic charge to slingshot yourself around each stage with ease, the momentum speeds up and swinging yourself across stages becomes an exhilarating trapeze act.

Often times the game moves far beyond mere platforming and into ingenious and accessible puzzle mechanics, having you push and pull magnetic orbs into proper slots or even through complicated stone mazes. Throughout the entirety of the game I was surprised with how fresh and engaging the new mechanics brought by each level were, never feeling same-y or overstaying its welcome.

The game quickly becomes intensely difficult, but in the best ways possible that offer an accessible challenge which always feels within your grasp.  What starts out as quick and clever manipulations of magnetic force in order to reach a nearby platform soon turns into long and complicated series of chained magnets strung above dangerous obstacles and deadly contraptions.

The retries will come swiftly, as you practice on perfecting the aim and arc of your propelled movements from each magnet to the next, timing your swings between them just right. It doesn't take long to figure out how to wield this unique mechanic, and completing the most puzzling labyrinth of magnets is always an incredibly rewarding feeling.

Magnetic by Nature is a game that deserves to discovered and played by a much wider audience. I'm ashamed I hadn't played it earlier myself, as it has proved to be one of the most pleasantly original platformers of the year. The consistently challenging and unusual mechanic of harnessing magnetic power to slingshot yourself to victory combined with an earthly atmosphere unsurpassed in its natural charm make this absolutely worth the admission.

Indie Impressions - Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions

Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions

Now Available on Steam (Also on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One)

Developed by Lucid Games

After over five years of inactivity, the series that gave twin-stick shooters the reputation they have today for frenetic arcade action in quick sessions makes its comeback. With some new minds behind this fresh installment, does Geometry Wars 3 live up to the standards set by its elders?

The first thing I notice when starting up Geometry wars 3 for the first time are the stellar production values. The title screen alone with its swirling colored auras and a strange vector grid stretching out infinitely before you, the soothing electronic tones of the background music shimmering in and out like waves. Before even getting into the game I can already tell a tremendous amount of work has gone into the look, the feel, and the sounds of the game and have been focused on much stronger in this iteration of the series.

The progression of adventure mode is much more varied in levels than any of the classic games which will be a welcome addition to new players who craved a more content heavy experience. Across the adventure mode map you'll advance through levels of increasing difficulty and each with an important three star rating based on score. Aside from stars you'll earn points in order to purchase upgrades for your various drones, a newcomer to the Geometry Wars series that offers a number of abilities including back-up fire, mines, or magnetized pickups for the Geoms to keep your score multiplier going and let you focus on the action.

Each new level features a different mode ranging from classic 'Evolved' to new additions like 'Rainbow', with a variation of differently shaped 3D landscapes dotted with rotating pillars, red life stealing walls, and various other obstacles thrown into the mix. Aforementioned stars will be needed to access the various boss stages that break up adventure mode, and they can be quite hard to collect especially if you're not a diehard twin-stick player. Bosses feel like a strange and not very Geometry Wars-like addition, but they are nonetheless very intense and flashy with their chaotic bullet hell-like patterns.

The classic enemies players will remember from the last games are adapted to this new 3D playstyle very well, and their movement patterns flow almost more naturally than before on the spherical landscapes you fight on. The straight-moving arrow enemies wrap around the globe-like levels and criss-cross past each other, while the quick and sporadic square enemies sneak up on you from either side of the rotating stages. In addition to the classic geometrical enemies we've come to love/hate, there are a couple new enemies with unique behavior that spice up your old strategies.

The shapely structure to the stages that changes with each one gives a more strategic and tactical approach to the twin-stick formula forcing you to adapt to the area and its hazards each time, keeping certain players more engaged than before. Old schoolers will likely miss the euphoric rush and focused score attacks missing in this new iteration, but I've more than warmed up to it, come to terms with the differences and have found new excitement in taking my place on the boards for what is a different kind of game.

Geometry Wars 3 has the variation, gamified progression, and massive content that some people felt was missing from the originals but older fans will more than likely miss the pure and calculated arcade action as well as the minimalistic neon visuals that the first two were known for. While Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions may not bring the same-old-same-old that those fans were wanting, it does exactly what it's supposed to by pushing boundaries in the twin-stick medium and setting a new standard just as its predecessors did.

Indie Impressions - Fotonica

Fotonica

Now Available on Steam

Developed by Santa Ragione

 Fotonica is endless runner perfection in a most blissful series of beautifully crafted lightspeed stages, the warm vector lines and hallucinatory neon waves that illuminate from the sides of your vision like some kind of adrenaline induced euphoria. When you finally reach that zen state of focus things begin to speed up even more, the colors and movements are intensified for a wonderful audiovisual overload that sets it apart from the rest.

The music comes from a plethora of incredible artists (including the very talented Baiyon of Pixeljunk Eden fame) and ranges from shimmering, gorgeous soundscapes to heavy pulsing electric rhythms with infectious bass and they compliment the array of different environments and backdrops you'll encounter between each visually shifting level perfectly. The minimalistic yet abstractly complex interconnected series of lines in the classic vector style needs to be seen in motion and lends itself to the very reminiscent feel from the Death Star trench run section of Atari's Star Wars that most endless runners give.

Fotonica moves away from the single boring stretch of hallway players may be used to from other games in the endless runner genre, instead giving us varying heights of platforms. The player character runs at increasingly faster speeds with the holding of a single button, and releasing causes you to bound into the air and leap over gaps in the broken pathways before you.

Aiming and timing your landings is the key to success, and overshooting your jump by even the slightest is enough to ruin a good run. The longer you keep your momentum up the faster you go, and the more complex these breaks and gaps in the trail become as they stretch out to seemingly infinite lengths.

The game features two main singleplayer modes including Arcade and Endless as well as a split screen Versus mode that makes for some great living room multiplayer. Arcade mode features eight stages of increasing difficulty as shorter, more rapid platforms are thrown at you forcing you to think on your feet.

As you fly and leap past these deadly gaps you collect various score increasing orbs tucked in hard to land spots, spicing up how score chasers will approach the leaderboards. Endless mode is just as it sounds, giving players who have already mastered the several Arcade mode stages and want to put their endurance to the ultimate test.

You'll run again and again, jumping from cascading catwalks to other layers of psychedelically colored platforms, only to watch your arms flail uselessly as you plummet to your death. When you get back up again and check your score against your friends, you'll run again with reinvigorated motivation and eventually find that ultimate "Runner's High".

From the incredibly creative minds behind MirrorMoon EP, Fotonica further proves that Santa Ragione has the potential to craft unique and memorable experiences in a multitude of genres and stands as what is most likely my 'Runner of the Year' due to attractive, straightforward and addictive design.

Indie Impressions - Kromaia

Kromaia

Now Available on Steam

Developed by Kraken Empire 

 

Greeted by the strange embodiment of what seems to be the Mother of an alternate world tinted in neon colors, who has had everything but her thoughts taken by the cruel rulers of this place. You are given a simple task; seek vengeance on the four obscure gods of this alien realm and create chaos in the cosmos.

Kromaia has the fluidity and freedom of a 6DoF shooter like Descent or Terminal Velocity, a beautifully strange and otherworldly setting like Rez, the score-chasing arcade high of a classic rail-shooter like Galaxy Force II, all with incredibly creative and wildly original enemy ship designs unseen since the forgotten PSX gem Omega Boost. It doesn't just use these already perfected mechanics we've come to know and love over the past decades; it pushes them to the limits of modern gaming with dazzlingly bright and bloom-y effects intertwined with extraordinary physics at breakneck speeds.

On your initial run of the core playthrough you'll have each of the four distinctly different ships slowly introduced to you in order of the four base stages. Each stage has the standard goal of collecting 20 Jumpgate Drives before the keeper of the current realm is summoned and an epic boss battle ensues. This formula is spiced up every time thanks to the varying abilities of each the four unique ship

These range from your standard peashooter starting ship, a slower missle-launching ship with lock-on capabilities, a chain-gunning plasma ship with a closer ranged needle laser, and last but definitely not least the insanely fun melee ship with sword swinging capabilities. After completing each of the four ships' respective stages, all levels will be unlocked in order to be played with any specialized ship of choice which is where the real freedom and your journey to the true ending begins.

The heavy and almost tribal beat of the background music drives you as you dash from piece to piece of your Jumpgate Drive, beating back the swarms of geometrical monstrosities that crowd you on every side. odd ancient structures with symbols scrawled across their sides are strewn about each huge world each containing even more secrets to collect. The surreal landscapes bend and twist in to complex patterns in the background and even more strange contraptions and diabolical obstacles are thrown at you the deeper you jet into the heart of this multi-dimensional dreamworld.

All around you is the extraterrestrial, mysterious and alien-like alphabet with cryptic symbols and strange whisperings of the motherly voice guiding your journey. The heavy and ominous electronic dronings of the soundtrack fit the abstract surroundings and hazy retrofuture feel as it builds up towards the climactic final boss encounter of each expansive and open stage. The whole atmosphere is thick with otherworldly wonder and a familiar neon warmth, giving me a feeling of nostalgic bliss not felt since that initial excitement of discovering the world of arcade gaming long ago.

Kromaia pulls off a blissful blend of technical and elegant movements of a modern shooter with intense and chaotic arcade score-chasing flawlessly for what is the most perfect package of abstract action. It feels like some kind of wonderful long lost Dreamcast gem brought back from the dead and given a whole layer of polish and shine, and for people who have fond memories of the era of gaming that I do this is nothing short of a must-buy, must-experience title.