Since PAX Prime 2011, I’ve had my chance to play SQUIDS via a reviewer’s copy. You read (if not, GO READ IT!) my review of SQUIDS when I first was able.
It’s now 4 months later, and The Game Bakers have released two updates, and their soundtrack; I still stand by what I said of the game. It’s a 5/5 game for story with Angry Birds mechanics.
Now, they’re happy to announce via Twitter:
After the release of the OS X version (Apple is officially dropping the Mac in “Mac OS X” in their next OS, 10.8 Mountain Lion), I will get a hold of my copy, and will do another video review of the differences, and upgrades.
The PC and Android versions are still in the works.
It’s about time we jumped on the bandwagon for Minecraft! Below you will see the first video installment of my Minecraft Adventures of my projects that I have worked on in Creative Mode, and you have seen screenshots of on our Lore Hound Facebook page.
As I said in the video, you can download the texture pack either in HD here, or in SD, here. Please make sure you think you can run HD textures, if you’re not sure, grab the SD version instead. I am not held responsible for hard drive failures due to over-clocking RAM. It is a very powerful texture pack.
You also need to download MC Patcher, which you can get the PC version from here; and the OS X version from here.
However, you must also grab the “MCPatcher” file, for whichever OS you’re running, in order for it to work. If you do not, the images will be broken. We will be adding updates to our texture pack periodically, and when it is updated each time officially, a tweet and Facebook status update will be given to let you know, and a text document with a list of changes will be linked. You don’t have to patch the texture pack in, you only need to patch “HD Textures” in for it to work.
How to do all of this is explained after the jump, below the video; enjoy!
Now if that didn’t get you excited, this will: Angry Birds with story; ’nuff said.
However, I find SQUIDS(developed by a French indie game studio, The Game Bakers),brilliantly more of a 5 star game than what it’s based off of, simply because of the story. It’s practically required by me to gain higher than a 4 star rating on a game if you do not have a cohesive story. This game delivers that, and deeper than I first imagined or even ever anticipated.
Read on for a more comprehensive delve into the game.
Independent studios can make games as impressive as the big boys. Sometimes it’s the combined passion, sometimes a fantastic idea clicks or a technological innovation blows away gamers across the globe. Whatever may spark the powder keg, we gamers have seen a few unexpected hits in recent years. iTZKooPA hadn’t heard of The Game Bakers or Squids, the hardcore casual game the company is about to deliver, but we gave the small studio a chance.
Considering how addicting and replayable Squids turned out to be, we’re glad we did. The innocent product has a good chance to become one of the success stories from left field when it’s released next week (iPhone) and later this month (iPad, PC, Mac).
Check out the video to find out what makes Squids a hardcore game, the plans for its future, including content and updates, how to access the bonus map and why you should care. Yeah, a casual game with story!
Cryptozoic, the company that has been responsible for the WoW TCG for over a year, is now Blizzard’s partner for distributing their manga works in digital and printed form for their various franchises.
Notably, the Cryptozoic iPad app can now purchase Blizzard works as they are released and the backlog is updated. The current selection as of the publishing of this post is as follows:
Each of these will run you $5.99. Warcraft Legends Vol #1 is free til June 2, and all of the other comics (except for Legends Vol #2) have a free preview that includes the cover art and first chapter.
When we previously talked about the venerable Golden Sun franchise I was a bit upset. I hadn’t hit any head-scratching puzzles, the staple of the series, yet. What was encountered were distractions. Tasks that any old person could solve. No need to bring an adept wielding untold mental powers to complete. I toughed it out and boy, am I glad I did.
Later in the game you’re tasked with clearing Craggy Peak Ruins. Nestled inside this dungeon is a great machine. Upon entering the area the player is deployed in a circular room full of doors. To make the machine operation we’re tasked with solving a puzzle for each of the zodiac signs, which are emblazoned above the doors. As puzzles are solved, more doors are open. The challenge ends up being the “boss” for the zone and a none too easy one. My brain was tickled more than once. I’m glad to admit that I was flat-out stumped on Capricorn puzzle (ironically, my sign).
In the room, dubbed “The Goat” due to the statues, the player is told that “The Goat Leaves No Trace Behind.” I figured the task was to repeat that old kindergarten game of hitting the circle block through the circle hole. In homage to Ghostbusters (or not), the paths of the statues cannot cross. The challenge is that each statue is on the opposite side of the room from its destination. An artfully-crafted puzzle for an overall challenging area.
Give it a whirl on the screenshot (click for a larger version) before you see my failures and the solution in the video.
The Golden Sun franchise created by Camelot Software Planning is my favorite RPG series to come out of the GBA, a handheld that was chockfullo’qualityRPGtitles. And one of my favorite RPG franchises of all time. Golden Sun introduced me to Djinn, which subsequently lead me to further investigate Middle Eastern mythology (something we’re seeing a lot of in WoW now). The titles tickled my frontal lobe with a story, while cliche at the outset, that grew in to an epic tale spanning multiple continents and told through different perspectives. Most memorable, the franchise racked my brain with increasingly difficult and complex puzzles that coalesced battle mechanics and puzzle-solving spells into a single ability, psyenergy.
Camelot wasn’t stupid enough to remove this award-winning element from Dark Dawn, the recently released third installment. Instead, the title is hamstrung by an incredibly lengthy introduction/tutorial campaign. The opening sees the young protagonists, children of the heroes from Golden Sun, besieged by First Day of School syndrome. You know, those boring first few classes where the only thing you “learn” is the upcoming curriculum and the professor’s name.
Players are told, in great detail, how to battle, use spells, psyenergy, djinn, etc. Instructions for new mechanics and franchise-specific changes to genre staples is fine, but even equipping weapons and using items are explained in great, unskippable detail. It’s as if Nintendo expected a horde of normal people, those that have never played an RPG before, to flock to the third game in a franchise.
Tower Defense games were created on the PC platform. The fundamental gameplay, placing and upgrading structures in rapid-fire succession, necessitated the need of a rapid-fire input, the keyboard and mouse. The genre flourished on the humble PC, from a simple sub-game distraction to a market all of its own, with the now-multi-platform Plants Vs. Zombies leading the charge. Many developers have attempted to transition the genre to the DS, only to discover that the platform’s stylus input offering the same versatility doesn’t necessarily equate to a successful title. Abylight set out to combine the appropriate mix of gameplay depth, challenge and spot-on controls in Dairojo! Samurai Defenders to break the mold.
Dairojo! Samurai Defenders plays like your typical Tower Defense title: enemies approach from various locations and attempt to assault your base. Players, as what one should assume is the overlord to the castle, must defend our stronghold by placing various military units on established areas. Dairojo! Samurai Defenders eschews the recent trend of story-driven TDs for the old-school mentality, securing a High Score.
Breaking the trend further, this defense game features a healthy amount of modes and a splash of customization. Normal, Score Attack, Random and VS modes greet players at the title screen. Don’t get too excited. All three single-player modes are palette swaps of each other. Normal is about finishing the level, Score Attack tasks players with gaining the most points and Random switches up the types of mobs that assault each attempt, leading to ever-changing scenarios. Changing scenarios is key, because there is a limited number of maps shared between the three modes, making the layouts easy to master. The only bit of customization comes from item drops. Players can select how the items are chosen, at random, in a roulette, none, etcetera. The VS mode in a DSiWare TD is a godsend. The ability to play against another human in a survival mode via Download Play is the first feature that sets Dairojo! Samurai Defenders apart from its competition.
Since PAX Prime 2011, I’ve had my chance to play SQUIDS via a reviewer’s copy. You read (if not, GO READ IT!) my review of SQUIDS when I first was able.
