Hero

Gaming Genres: Retro, Shooter
Story Genres: Science Fiction, Action
Graphical Styles: 2D, Pixel Art, Retro, Minimalist
Series/World: Hero
Platforms: Windows
Pricing Model: Free
Developer(s): Daniel Remar
Publisher(s): Daniel Remar
Initial Release Date: 2005
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
Hero was first released in 2005, and sees Flip Hero fight through six levels of the evil Cruiser Tetron's base, in order to put an end to his mechanical army and plans of world domination. The game has a classic clichéd story, doesn't come with a map, and has a simplistic design, like the games of old.

Hero is a very stylized game; it's best described as a combination of NES, Atari2600 and C64 games but in pure black and white. It strives to recreate the feeling you had when you first played Metroid - you get no map of the game worlds, so you may have to draw your own. Hero includes six levels, eight awkward MIDI songs sequenced in Jazz++, and some bonus features after you beat the game, including an extra difficult level. The game is rather short, but older people may find that it gives them that familiar retro feel. Version 3 increased the speed of the game and gave it a stable framerate, making it far less sluggish to play.

Opinion:
Compared to Hero Core it is very short and simplistic. The entire game is separated into a handful of levels, which are very separate with no stats transfer between them. Also there is only one upgrade and it does not even last past the end of the level or a single death. The entire game is also instant kill, but you get five tries in a row where everything is not reset upon death. Overall, it is enjoyable but nowhere near as amazing as its sequel Hero Core.

Images (+):

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Official Game Guide

Indieness: Quintessentially Indie
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Lugaru: The Rabbit's Foot

Gaming Genres: Hack & Slash
Story Genres: Action, Fantasy
Graphical Styles: 3D, Realism
Series/World: Lugaru
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Wolfire Games
Publisher(s): Wolfire Games
Initial Release Date: January 28, 2005
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
Lugaru is the predecessor to Overgrowth. The main character, Turner, is an anthropomorphic rebel bunny rabbit with impressive combat skills. In his quest to find those responsible for slaughtering his village, he uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy involving the corrupt leaders of the rabbit republic and the starving wolves from a nearby den. Turner takes it upon himself to fight against their plot and save his fellow rabbits from slavery.

Lugaru's primary feature is its unique combat system. Instead of relying on confusing button combinations to perform moves, Lugaru's moves are all logical and context sensitive. For example, if an opponent aims a roundhouse kick at Turner's head, you can crouch and then stand up under the attack to grab your assailant's leg and kick him away. If you try and punch an opponent and he tries to throw you over his shoulder, you can crouch to roll painlessly out of the throw. This new combat system makes fights look and feel much more intense and believable than in any other game. However, if straight close-range combat with hands, knives, swords and staves is not your style, you can also use stealth, but you have to be smart about it.

Opinion:
Lugaru has a extremely steep learning curve and, in my opinion, no matter what difficulty setting you choose you will be very frustrated the first time you play it. When I played it for the first time the controls and gameplay seemed simplistic and the reaction time needed for reversals (read countering/blocking) seemed super-human and unrealistic, leading to much button mashing. But after I finally got the hang of it is actually quite enjoyable and natural.

It is also a very short game, and devoid of much above and beyond arena combat. But the multiple difficulty levels (which provide a very different experience) and the multiple challenge levels adds a lot of post single-player campaign enjoyment. I could nit-pick and mention that the sword controls are quite disappointing, that the game would benefit a lot from a some action-adventure gameplay, and it is annoying that all the really useful attacks are only ever successful against near death enemies. Mostly, I think it could benefit from being less context sensitive and more combat mechanics like Die by the Sword.

Images (+):

Related Media (+):

• Trailer
• Fighting Fundamentals Trailer

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Strategy Guide

Indieness: Quintessentially Indie
Play/Watch?: Should Play

Samorost 2

Gaming Genres: Puzzle Adventure, Graphical Adventure
Story Genres: Science Fiction
Graphical Styles: 2D, Hand-Drawn, Cartoon
Platforms: Windows, MAC OS X, Linux
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Jakub Dvorský
Publisher(s): Amanita Design
Initial Release Date: December 8, 2005
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
Samorost 2, the sequel to Samorost 1, is a “point-and-click” adventure puzzle game. A little space gnome travels to a far-off perilous planet to rescue his dog from an alien abduction and together they travels back home through another adventures.

Opinion:
A short minimalistic and very strange adventure. I would not say that the gameplay or plot are that particularly interesting and it is the fantastical setting and hand drawn graphics that make it worth playing.

Images (+):

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Walkthrough

Indieness: Quintessentially Indie
Play?:

Last Stand

Gaming Genres: FPS, RTS
Story Genres: Science Fiction
Graphical Styles: 3D, Cartoon
Platforms: Windows
Pricing Model: Free
Developer(s): Exodus Games
Publisher(s): DigiPen
Initial Release Date: 2005-2006
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
Last Stand is a hybrid first person shooter and real time strategy game. In the game, you play the part of a lone space marine who must build and defend a base from swarms of oncoming aliens. (more)

The player finds his base under a massive siege by hundreds of aliens. On the surface of barren enemy planets, the player must defend the hatch leading down to the civilian colony at all costs. His quick reaction time and clever base building are the only things that stand between the aliens and the helpless civilians!

The emphasis of the gameplay is on the defensive strategy the player employs against the ruthless, evolving AI. There are four different types of enemy AI units. The Triblits exhibit ant colony behavior to swarm over the player's base. Orbiters do melee damage and Cyclones do ranged damage. Alien Queens lead the Orbiters and Cyclones to the weak points of the player's base to do maximum damage.

The player has a range of methods to fight back against the oncoming aliens. The player must collect resources by killing enemies, which he can use to buy weapons, upgrades, and structures for his base. He can build walls and four different types of turrets. The player must spend his time going back and forth between launching a personal assault on the incoming enemies and strategically building up and maintaining his base to anticipate the enemy's attack.

The environment of Last Stand consists of five alien planets. The terrain is fully deformable. Explosions cause clumps of earth to fly into the air and re-deposit elsewhere. As the battle rages on, the terrain changes. A spectacular, sci-fi graphical style is implemented in shaders using an original specular mapping technique. The sun and moon circle overhead, providing unique lighting situations throughout the game.

Last Stand is a fresh spin on traditional real time strategy and first person shooter games. It is inspired by Warcraft III's tower defense maps, and takes imagery from Starcraft and Natural Selection. Last Stand places the player directly in the action, which is a departure from traditional RTS games. The unique and frantically paced gameplay make Last Stand an exciting experience!

Opinion:
A moderately fun predecessor to Sanctum.

Images (+):

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Official Manual

Indieness: Indie
Play?: