Ludosity Interactive released the downloadable platform game called Bob Came In Pieces this week which costs $9.89. Here are some screenshots and links to the game. It doesn’t look like they are offering a trial or demo download.
OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
Processor: 2.4 Ghz or equivalent processor
Memory: 1GB System RAM (2GB recommended with Vista/7)
DirectX: DirectX 9.0c
Graphics: 128mb video RAM and Shader Model 2.0
Hard Drive: 500mb or more free space
Sound: Windows compatible sound card
Input: Keyboard and mouse
Note: The GPU need to be at-least as powerful as Geforce 6600
Bob Came in Pieces
Bob Came in Pieces is a physics based puzzle adventure game where you fly through different levels and solve puzzles with your flying ship. You can rebuild your ship and thus get the most elegant solution for the puzzle you stumble upon.
* Endless rebuilding possibilities.
* Use your smartness to get new ship parts and tools.
* Unlockable levels with challenging puzzles.
* Tailor-made music.
Jets and Guns Gold Game Review by Kenneth Andrews
Game Rating = 4/5 Balls
Once upon a time, all action games were like Jets n Guns Gold. Piloting a heavily armed yet highly manoeuvrable starfighter around unlikely structures in outer space and blasting seven shades of starlight out of all manner of alien beasties. Sideways scrolling shooters are back with a vengance.
BrainPipe: Simple, Psychedelic, and Sub-Cerebral
The independent developer Digital Eel has a history of creating games that go beyond the conventional familiarity of gamers’ expectations. After all, this is the company responsible for Weird Worlds, which was known for its “weirdness” (yes, an appropriate title indeed) yet won an Independent Games Festival Award in 2006. Their latest venture, BrainPipe, is another example of visual brilliance and non-traditional subject matter.
Playing BrainPipe is like traveling through the Matrix on acid. In a first-person view, you travel down a psychedelic wormhole, a twisting tunnel into the deepest parts of the mind, rendered in colorful 3-D graphics. You navigate through the levels collecting glyphs and avoiding obstacles. You also have the ability to temporarily slow down time, which is helpful especially as the movement through the wormhole becomes faster. A combination of atmospheric ambient music and classic arcade-style sound effects compliment the trippy visuals perfectly. The gameplay is simple, involving only movement of the mouse and left click to employ the time warp. So, instead of frantically looking down at your keyboard to find the right key to hit, you can focus on the intense theme of self transcendence that the game is strangling your subconscious with. That is perhaps the strange duality of the entire BrainPipe experience. On one side of the coin, it is seemingly a simple game of hand-eye coordination. But if you take the red pill…
As you go through the levels, BrainPipe becomes challenging, both visually and in gameplay. Gaming vets will enjoy the increasing speed; for casual gamers, the possibility of sensory overload may be very real. There is an addiction potential here too, as you restart again and again to beat your last score. Do you need another sensation of reward from the dopamine being released in your brain? Are you truly trapped within the freeway of consciousness in your mind? Who knows? Maybe the fact that you keep restarting is just a result of the game’s replay value (obstacles do not always appear in the same spots) and lasting fun factor. Even the menu was entertaining; the icons are all eyeballs that follow your cursor as you move it around the screen.
BrainPipe is a great experiment and well worth the $14.95 that Shrapnel Games is asking for it. You reach “Confusion” as an achievement in this game – that’s a testament to Digital Eel’s sense of pushing the envelope in game design and content.
Positech released an expansion pack for their latest downloadable strategy game called Gratuitous Space battles. The pack adds an extra playable race to the game, complete with new spaceships to blast apart in gratuitous slow motion. As well as new ship hulls, the game adds two new missions and a scattering of new tribe-specific modules to reflect their emphasis on ’strong hulls and weak shields’. It also introduces
the first use of kinetic weapons.
Here’s a video containing scenes from the expansion pack:
The expansion pack is free for anyone who has already purchased Gratuitous Space Battles which costs $22.99 for new users.
You have to admire a game like Gratuitous Space Battles that doesn’t bother to sugar coat its premise with a fancy name. Players know exactly what they’re getting the moment they load up the demo.
Playing Singularis is a surprisingly enjoyable experience. The game is quite impressive, with a great amount of depth and game play considering it was made by just one man. At certain points, you cannot help but laugh at the humorous story, and at only $14, the price of the game is also just right for multiple hours of fun. Note: The publishers reduced the price to $7.50 as of November 30th 2009.
System Requirements
2.0 Ghz processor, 1 GB RAM
Minimum: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 / ATI Radeon X700
Recommended: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 / ATI Radeon HD 2600 or better.
Grappling Hook will start out as probably one of the most frustrating games you’ve ever played, but hold out. It gets better. In this game, the basic storyline is you are stuck in space, and you are trying to make your way back home.
Game Play
One of the most frustrating things about Grappling Hook is that you start out the game with no real instructions. To start the game, you are stuck in a space station, and you must make your way out. Along the way, you need to collect access codes. These look like gems. Each level has a certain amount that must be collected for you to pass that level. To start with, you can only run and jump your way through the game. Once you find your grappling hook, you can use that to grab onto the green bars which will pull and/or swing you to another location. Make sure that you have collected all of your access codes before you attempt to leave a level, or you will have to go back and get them.
Unless someone explains this game to you, or you somehow figure it out quickly on your own, the game moves really slowly in the beginning. This is one of the game’s greatest weaknesses. A tutorial or some real directions would have improved this game greatly.
Graphics and Sound
I felt like the graphics were a little dated. I felt like I was playing a computer game from twenty years ago rather than one that had recently been made. I enjoyed Grappling Hook’s sounds, though. The background music accurately set the mood for the game. The noises made the game feel more realistic. For example, when you shoot your grappling hook, you can hear it being shot.
Creativity and Innovation
Although I have never played a game where I am space explorer, the game didn’t really feel that unique. I also really felt like the game’s creator did not build upon possible resources properly. To play the game, you have to use your arrow buttons, the space bar, and your mouse. This isn’t too bad most of the game, but when you have to jump, use your grappling hook, and move over all at the same time, it can be pretty difficult.
Although the game did get a little interesting as it progressed, at almost $20, I won’t be buying it, and I would suggest to others that they try the trial before purchasing the game.
BUY GRAPPLING HOOK IF
-You have the patience to learn how to play it
-You like games where you jump around and explore an area
-You want a game that requires you to use both hands simultaneously to accomplish a task
DON’T BUY GRAPPLING HOOK IF
-You need a game that provides clear, easy to follow instruction
-You get frustrated if a computer game task doesn’t work right away
-You don’t like games where you are exploring
What do you get when you mix Japanese school girls, plant-like aliens and RPG elements? Well, you get most of the anime that exists today, really. But you also get Science Girls, a game that roughly resembles said anime in most respects.
Smugglers 4 makes a great first impression by claiming to allow you to choose your profession, outfit your spaceship and venture forth on dangerous missions throughout the vast galaxy. I was intrigued and gave it a try. I didn’t regret it.
The storyline is absolutely wonderful. There are just enough interesting words to keep it fast paced, but it’s also packed with creative details.
We decided to check out Gratuitous Space Battles (GSB for short) currently in beta, the latest game from Positech Games, a UK indie game developer and creator of simulation games like Kudos, Democracy, and Rock Legend. You can pre-order the game through this link.
GSB assigns the game player the task of building a space battle fleet taking into consideration factors like ship design, budget, weapons, defenses, power supplies and staffing levels. Once you complete the fleet you battle the enemy.
