Orcs Must Die!

Gaming Genres: RTS, Hack & Slash, Action-Adventure, Action
Story Genres: Fantasy, Adventure
Graphical Styles: 3D, Cartoon, High Resolution
Platforms: Windows, Xbox 360
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Robot Entertainment
Publisher(s): Microsoft Studios
Initial Release Date: October 5, 2011
Website(s): Homepage, Facebook, Twitter
Description:
Orcs Must Die! challenges players to defend fortresses under siege. With a wide variety of traps and weapons to choose from, Orcs Must Die! dares players to find the best ways to hack, launch, flatten, gibletize, and incinerate an endless army of filthy orcs and their vile allies. Orcs Must Die! features a vibrant look, addictive gameplay, and a blatant disregard for the welfare of orcs.

Opinion:
This has got to be my personal favourite commercial indie game of 2011. It is a great mix of action and strategy and I think the best action tower defence yet created. Where Sanctum is, in my opinion, a tower defence game with horrible camera angles and an annoying FPS aspect; Orcs Must Die! is a perfect amalgamation of tower defence strategy and personal action, it feels, more then anything, like an action adventure.

Orcs Must Die! is a great mix of strategy and action. Enemies act quite realistic, with close ones casing after you and other ones further away running past your defences. Additionally, some enemies types target you specifically and others will completely ignore you. In some cases Orcs will attack your walls and in others they will try to find a way around them. You have a wide range of traps types that are placeable at any time (but only removable in between waves). These traps can be placed on the floor, ceiling, and walls, and can be used in conjunction with the acid/lava pits naturally found in the levels. Additionally, you have your trusty crossbow and can choose to bring your bladestaff or any number of magical combat devices. You also unlock three upgrade trees during the campaign and get to choose during each level to upgrade either yourself or your traps.

I exclusively upgraded my traps and, doing this, found that (unlike the early levels) you could just sit back and watch the carnage unfold, and focus on pure strategy. But with a wide range of character upgrading available, you can play the game like a hack and slash action game instead or some combination of both, depending on what you spend your money on.

Images (+):

Related Media (+):

• Launch Trailer
• Announcement Trailer
• Development Dairy
• Interactive Gameplay Trailer
• Trap Spotlight: Arrow Wall
• Trap Spotlight: Boom Barrel
• Trap Spotlight: Spring Trap
• Trap Spotlight: Wind Belt
• Trap Spotlight: Wall Blades
• Trap Spotlight: Fire Bracers
• Trap Spotlight: Steam Trap

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Level Walkthroughs (not complete)
• Wiki

Indieness: Barely Indie
Play?: Must Play

School's Out

Gaming Genres: Hack & Slash, Platformer
Story Genres: Science Fiction
Graphical Styles: 3D, Cartoon
Platforms: Windows
Pricing Model: Free
Developer(s): Lightminded Studios
Publisher(s): Lightminded Studios
Initial Release Date: October 24, 2011
Website(s): Homepage, ModDB Entry
Description:

School's Out is an adventure platformer game developed by Lightminded Studios of Brisbane, Australia. The game follows Danny, a high school student that is shrunk down to a minuscule size by his insane science professor. Danny must now find a way to navigate the classroom and reach the teacher's desk so that he can return himself to his full size. It's not as easy as it sounds though, as his professor has created a number of bizarre traps and pitfalls for Danny to navigate, as well as bizarre living constructs made out of various bits of stationery. While short and sweet, School's Out carries a charming visual style, tried and tested gameplay, and a very tongue in cheek sense of humour.

Opinion:
A rather interesting little title. I particularly like the stylish graphics, and while the combat seemed unpolished at first it soon expanded and got quite interesting. I am not sure if the game is just really short and does not have a real ending, it was a bug I encountered, or I simply could not find the level exit but at least in my playthrough I encountered one of these.

Images (+):

Indieness: Quintessentially Indie
Play?:

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

Bastion

Gaming Genres: Hack & Slash, Role-Playing
Story Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic, Science Fiction
Graphical Styles: 2.5D, Cartoon, Hand-Drawn
Platforms: Windows, Xbox 360, Browser
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Supergiant Games
Publisher(s): Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Initial Release Date: July 20, 2011
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
An action role-playing game set in a lush imaginative world, in which players must create and fight for civilization’s last refuge as a mysterious narrator marks their every move.

Opinion:
An enjoyable hack and slash RPG with some very good narrative and an interesting world. the only real criticism I have is with the final level, where your (most likely) newly levelled up and awesome weaponony is taken away (as well as your ability to run and dodge) and you are instead given an extremely powerful short range battering ram; And the only reason that you are not killed easily from a distance is that eventually even the ranged characters run up to you for some reason.

Images (+):

Related Media (+):

• Launch Trailer
• Reveal Trailer

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Video Walkthrough
• Choice Walkthrough (+)
• Save or Leave Zulf (+)
• If you choose to save Zulf you put down all of your weapons and pick him up. You loose the ability to dodge, block, or attack and must only walk slowly towards the exit.
• After you have saved him, this choice does not really have any other effect then he being around for the tiny amount of remaining game. But it is the far more powerful choice to make in my opinion and the rescue scene was very moving and well done in my opinion.
• If you leave Zulf you simply carry on with your mission like normal, and he ends up dying I assume.
• Restoration or Evacuation(+)
• Both choices only effect the ending cinematic.
• If you chose the Restoration option, the Bastion restores the world to a post calamity state bringing back the land, the people, and erasing all memory of it ever happening in the first place.
• In the Evacuation option, you and your friends evacuate the Bastion and set it for self destruct and travel the world looking for adventure and other survivors.

Indieness: Barely Indie
Play?: Should Play