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February 2009 Indie Game Round-Up

Posted by Soulskill on from the better-late-than-never dept.

gametunnel1 brings us the February round-up of reviews for recent independent game releases. The top game this time around was Crayon Physics, which was also celebrated at the Independent Games Festival. Also scoring high were Ragdoll Cannon and adventure game Emerald City Confidential, about which they say, "The game is set in the mythical land of Oz, but not quite the same one as the movie/books. Rather than a cheery and fun-filled world, Oz is depicted like a 1940s film noir, so things are much bleaker. ... The highlight of the gameplay would have to be the gathering of information, via investigation of the environment or questioning characters in the game. Talking to characters for leads and clues is fun, especially since sometimes you'll have to figure out if what they're saying has any significance or not."

27 comments

  1. Zomg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I think they got rid of the red color on the new stories to stop spam about the redness.

    Now there is a black outline. Amazing

    1. Re:Zomg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or you can just, you know, log on and set it to the classic style.

      temporaryinbox.com if you don't want to use an email. And always post as AC.

      Tadaaa, problem solved.

    2. Re:Zomg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they should just put a NEW! test inside a jagged lines bubble.

  2. Huh WTF? How young are the reviewers? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    About "Air bandits":

    Air Bandits, from developer Insofta Games, is a side-scrolling airplane-shooter. In other words, it's a clash of two genres that you wouldn't necessarily expect to work together.

    I take it the reviewer has never been to an arcade, or owned an 8 bit micro.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
    1. Re:Huh WTF? How young are the reviewers? by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Or played Sopwith on pc. It's slightly older than I am, but I played it because it was one of the games on my dad's pc when I was younger.

    2. Re:Huh WTF? How young are the reviewers? by bigdady92 · · Score: 1

      A blatant upgrade to Time Pilot. Really come on I was playing this in the 80s and it was better.

      --
      Wheel of Time: Book by Book and Sumview (summary review) Bigdady92 style: http://bigdady92.blogspot.com/
    3. Re:Huh WTF? How young are the reviewers? by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Time Pilot was top down.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    4. Re:Huh WTF? How young are the reviewers? by Bruiser80 · · Score: 1

      Gradius was a side-scroller. Konami code FTW :-)

      --
      Arguing with an engineer is like wrestling a pig in the mud. After a while, you realize the engineer enjoys it.
  3. moonfall land of dreams by musikit · · Score: 1

    here is another awesome idle title definately a check it out.

    http://www.delusions.vg/product_land_of_dreams.php

  4. Geneforge 5 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Windows release of Geneforge 5 is probably worth mentioning.

  5. Where's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    World of Goo?

    1. Re:Where's by kirbysuperstar · · Score: 2, Informative

      This is "February 2009 round-up" not "Late 2008 round-up".

  6. hmm? by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Informative

    No reference to The Unfinished Swan or World of Goo? Or how about The Maw (which is a bit boring after a while, but in a really cute way)?

    Physics seems to be the "next big thing" in games. And those games rely a lot on that. Or are they not "Indy" enough?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:hmm? by Ninnle+Labs,+LLC · · Score: 3, Informative

      No reference to The Unfinished Swan or World of Goo? Or how about The Maw (which is a bit boring after a while, but in a really cute way)?

      Probably because this is a review of games that came out LAST MONTH not LAST YEAR.

    2. Re:hmm? by nedlohs · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The first one isn't released, the second one won their game of the year last year - they can;t put it it in every month for all time, the third one also doesn't seem to be released?

      So you want the monthly games to include stuff from last year and from next year???

    3. Re:hmm? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Old games are old.

    4. Re:hmm? by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Informative

      The Maw was released in January on the XBox 360 and last week or so on Steam so I guess it depends on which system you have which month you'll count it for.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    5. Re:hmm? by nametaken · · Score: 0

      World of Goo is head-and-shoulders above all of these games. No idea why it didn't make the list.

    6. Re:hmm? by Ninnle+Labs,+LLC · · Score: 2, Informative

      Probably because Goo was released last year and would not be in an article about games released in February of this year?

    7. Re:hmm? by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      I was fooled by the site's "STORE" linking being a "coming soon" on mouse over. The "Buy Now" icon on the main image is outside my view area and I didn't scroll right...

  7. They Could Do Better... by Mo0o · · Score: 1

    Lemmings is a little more fun and just like this Crayon Physics game. At least if you get bored you get to see splats of Lemmings and amusing ways of watching them fall to their death and scream.

    1. Re:They Could Do Better... by Cornflake917 · · Score: 1

      I'm not going argue about which game is more fun, since that's a subjective opinion, but Crayon Physics and Lemmings are nothing alike. The only similarity is that there is there is a goal at the end of each level. It's like saying Super Mario Brothers is just like Lemmings because there is also a goal at the end of each SMB level, or football is just like basketball because you're trying to move a ball in to a position such that you get points for it.

      Also, I don't know why you are making an apples to oranges comparison to a non-indie game. Why don't we all just ignore these games because they aren't Half-life, or World of Warcraft? sigh

      --
      Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game
    2. Re:They Could Do Better... by keatonguy · · Score: 1

      Don't forget magicky-steampunk Oz. Didn't you see Tin Man?

      --
      If you aren't angry, you aren't paying attention.
    3. Re:They Could Do Better... by keatonguy · · Score: 1

      Oh god, wrong parent.

      I'm so ashamed of myself.

      --
      If you aren't angry, you aren't paying attention.
  8. Oz Genres by emocomputerjock · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, we've Original OZ, updated 80's OZ, maximum security prison rape Oz, and Oz Noir. All we need now is steampunk Oz and Zombie Oz and we'll have all the bases covered.

    1. Re:Oz Genres by keatonguy · · Score: 1

      Don't forget magicy-steampunk Oz. Didn't you see Tin Man?

      --
      If you aren't angry, you aren't paying attention.