The Distracted Gamer

Yahtzee says what I’ve always thought: GTA 4 sucked, not because it was violent, but because it was boring.

I downloaded the demo of World of Goo from Greenhouse.  This is the fist game from independent game developer 2D Boy.  The basic idea is that you have these goo ‘globs’ that can connect to each other to reach a suction hose that collects them up.  The un-used globs will be sucked up into the hose and each level has a minimum number that you need to collect. The game is based on realistic physics, so if you’re building a structure it’s going to bend and sway depending on how you build it.

If it sounds weird, it’s because it is.  This is a game that is definitely high on the bizarre humour ratings.  It’s essentially a puzzle game, and it gets progressively harder as the levels go on.  You also get new types of goo, such as ones that you can re-use.

Also, each level has an OCD award.  You get this for either collecting the maximum number of globs or finishing in a set number of moves.  I’ve only managed to get a couple of these, it’s pretty hard.

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For those in the mood for a little nostalgia, gog.com (Good Old Games) has just added Battle Chess to their catalogue for US$5.99 (about $9 Australian with the lousy exchange rate).  You’re going to need a beta code to get access, but you can still sign up for one.

I remember playing this game years ago.  The combat scenes are hilarious, I love the lumbering rook monster.  There’s a bunch of references to Monty Python & Indiana Jones too. The game also adapts as you play, so it can be pretty hard. 

This special edition version has Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess (with dragons) and Battle Chess 4000 (with aliens).  I hadn’t seen the other two versions before. The Chinese Chess game is based on the Chinese game called Xiangqi, so its rules & pieces are different, where as Battle Chess 4000 is just regular chess with a sci-fi theme.

If you’re a old-school gamer, I can’t recommend gog.com enough.  There are some great titles on there, all DRM-free and all for either $5.99 or $9.99 for the new(er) games like Colin McRae Rally 2005 & Second Sight.  Get yourself a beta code & check it out.

One of the things that manages to stop me from going completely insane is the existence of flash games.  Kongregate has possibly the best site for them, but there’re countless others out there.  The great thing about flash games is that they usually require very little time commitment, you can stop and start them whenever you like, and they’ve usually got a very shallow learning curve.  So for a gamer with very little time, they’re great. 

So I’ll be including flash games in my reviews and I’m kicking it off with one of the newer games on Kongregate – Hunted Forever by Pixelante

It’s a surprisingly simple side-scrolling platform game.  Very deliberately basic graphics.  The character is basically a silhouette who can run & jump.  That’s it. You can slide down walls and slopes and you can fall from any height without damage.  You can also do wall jumps (jump again while next to a wall) and you’ll grab onto ledges if you don’t quite make it.

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