Spelunky is the best indiegame I played this year.

I have been liking many "indie" titles, whether it is a kickstarter project such as Shadowrun Returns, or a goofy game like Binding of Isaac, or something simple yet satisfying such as Chivalry: Medieval Warfare. My problem with most of those games is that there is always a rough edge, even slightly, one can feel an indie title works on a limited budget or other ideas that have not been completely polished.

I feel however that Spelunky is the first actual indiegame that I have played that is polished, has good working mechanics and gameplay, as well as charming graphics and soundtrack. It is an effective hommage to classic games while being its own thing, a rogue-like platformer.

The story is simple. You are a spelunker that gets lost in a network of caves. he ends up in some sort of limbo, each time he dies, he is alive.. back at the top, only by defeating the mystical Olmec, he can escape this living hell.

The graphics are an upgrade from the original game, which you can play for free at www.spelunkyworld.com , it is 2d HD graphics with some neat lighting effects. They are sharp, clear, and do the job. The sound is pretty standard, it does the job and is not buggy. The music is this pseudo chiptune music from the Sega Megadrive/Genesis era, especially some of the "secret" tunes you can find throughout the game.

The gameplay however is the high note for me. The basic premise of Spelunky is simple,  for 4 (or if you know how to, 5) worlds you need to get down from the top of one level to the next. each world exists out of 4 levels. You encounter all kinds of enemies. bats, spiders, crazy tribesmen, bees, mummies, yetis and even aliens, the list goes on for quite a bit. But your worst enemy is probably the environment, treacherous spikes and pits can be the death of your little Spelunker. You will never die because of the game bugging on you, you will die because it is your own fault, you will die a lot, and learn the game slowly but surely. Even once you get the hang of the game, death still looms over you at the strangest turns due to the game's random level generator. Each time you play, the game is completely different in its levels. The only persistent thing is the the world themes and the final boss.

The way you play the game is where it is really at. Okay, it is not exactly Mass Effect or Dragon Age in its moral choices, but there are quite a few that affect the way you play the game. Most of the levels have a damsel in distress that you can save to get extra health, or, if there is an altar in the level, you bring her to there instead and sacrifice her for the chance on an exclusive item or something else that will help you out.

There are also shopkeepers that are spread throughout the game. They will sell valuable items against pretty large gold prices. gold is a pretty important currency in the game. Gold does not only decide what you buy, it also decides your final score. You can instead of being a good little customer, also walk the path of stealing and anger the shopkeepers. This gives you the option to get a lot of money for killing them, as well as get all their items for free, but the catch is that they will hunt you down for the rest of the game, and there will even be a shopkeeper guarding each exit. My advice: get a shotgun and take care of them, fast!

There are many secrets in Spelunky, warpworms, alien spaceship, golden cities, and even a secret fifth world with a new final boss which is not easy to get to. Spelunky has been out for quite a while on Steam as well as on Xbox Live. If you decide to jump into it, I wish you good luck. If you are not sure if you like the game at all, I once more recommend going to www.spelunkyworld.com and download the free, much simpler version before buying this little gem!

Shadowrun Returns: when man meets magic meets machine and when dwarf just takes it and  augments his own body for divine purposes.

Small Warning: This blog may contain a few minor spoilers, although I do avoid the storyline as much as possible.

I have recently delighted myself in this little gem that was only €17 when I pre-ordered it. The reason of my pre-order was mostly one of pure fangasm, I used to play a little RPG called Shadowrun for the SNES back in 1993. Shadowrun was based upon the PnP roleplaying game of the same name and was set on planet Earth in a cyberpunk future. Magic is reintroduced to the world, and it is inhabited by different races, humans, dwarves, elves, orks and trolls. the mainrole of the character in each game so far is to take on the role of a Shadowrunner, a mercenary that does dirty jobs in the shadows of the big cities in the year 2054. In Shadowrun Returns you take the role of a Shadowrunner that is desperate for some more Nuyen (cash in the world of Shadowrun), he gets a message from a dead friend of him which is was triggered by the Dead Man's Switch. He asks you to find his killer and you take this job and will end up running into one surprise after another.

This is the basic gist, I have not returned to Shadowrun for ages. Shadowrun Returns is a tribute to the snes version partially, as well as finally giving gamers a proper iteration of the original PnP version. mix this in with a turnbased strategy combat reminiscent of XCOM: Enemy Unknown



While I think the game is pretty damn good, let me get two things out of the way that are a sore thumb to the expectations. Firstly, the game is incredibly linear, don't see this game like Shadowrun for the snes or the Genesis/Megadrive, Shadowrun Returns is more like XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The other downside is the inability of saving anywhere. You are forced to finish an area, and sometimes even a mission, to be able to save, if you try to leave in the middle and go back to windows, you will have to start over again the next time you start up. The developers have said they did not have the resources to do it, I believe it is an odd decision.

Like XCOM, it gives you some kind of hub where you can fall back. The "Seamstress' Union" will supply you with supplies such as health kits, grenades, new outfits, weapons, cybernetic enhancements, spells, datajack equipment and last but not least Shadowrunners. I felt the cybernetic enhancements was the most fun addition to the standard trope of buying items in RPGs. For the majority in the game (as far as I have experienced it)



Unlike ordinary gear, cybernetics are permanent, you replace your arms and they will stay there. with each cybernetic implant you will lose Essence, Essence will make you cast spells better. I myself picked a dwarf street samurai, and I had no issue with losing Essence. At the moment of writing I am a dwarf with a metal exoskeleton as well as cybernetic arms to enhance my hp and body. Leveling your character up primarily is in the form of Karma, which you will spend similar to talent and skill points in other games.

Most missions have you go in a party, be it NPCs like Shanna and Coyote, or hiring Shadowrunners. combat is done turnbased, the more actionpool you have, the more actions you can perform in one turn.I personally feel the transition from just exploring to combat can be done better as there are plenty of moments where you can freely roam around while there is no enemy visible, yet you are awkwardly still taking turns. One single complaint about the combat itself is the UI, it feels like it is practically made for an iPad or some other touch screen device and it sadly shows.

Despite some of my gripes and frustrations, I have been enjoying Shadowrun Returns thoroughly, and a new CRPG in one form or another is always welcomed on the PC by me. The most impressive adition of the game is the editor, which allows people to create their own campaigns as well as settings. It is too early to tell what great things are able to come from it, but if stuff like the early Alpha version of the SNES remake are any sign, the future for user generated content of Shadowrun is great. With a Berlin campaign in the making, the developer created content will hopefully turn it up a notch and create a more linear experience. All in all, great game.. roleplayingwise, I am a cybernetic enhanced dwarf samurai in the future.. in cyberspace, what more would I want?!

Marvel Heroes, a trip of recognition with some serious flaws

DISCLAIMER: While the format seems like a review, keep in mind this is just my opinion, and above all it is my first piece ever written on the blog.

 

 

Marvelous Memories

This game was released on Steam a short while ago. I am a huge Marvel fan, I own many 80ies and 90ies issues of Spider-man , Wolverine, X-men, Avengers, Iron Man and Fantastic Four comics. 

While I haven't actively followed comics in ages, I have truly enjoyed last decade in the cinema. Many superheroes have found their way to the silver screen. Marvel had many movies released the past decade, the pretty amazing Spider-man films of Sam Raimi, the X-Men movies, as well as fantastic classic characters like the Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor being united in last year's blockbuster movie Marvel's The Avengers. While it is debatable whether they are good transitions, one thing is for sure, these characters have been introduced to many new people. 

But with great fame comes great license milking. While there are plenty of comicbook games that have proven themselves to be more than competent, there is a lot of mediocrity out there as well. Gazillion Entertainment's Marvel Heroes is a Free to Play action RPG blended with a MMO. Is Marvel Heroes an apt title that does the Marvel license justice or is it nothing more than a cash cow, like many licensed videogame titles seem to be?

Marvel Heroes: Brevik's diamond in the rough or "Fuck That Loser" after all?

With a heavy focus on Action and looting, the game can be best described as a Diablo clone that you play with a lot of people on the same server. This is not too strange as the lead developer of the game is no one less than David Brevik, who was responsible for Diablo I and II. For dungeons and other kinds of instances, you can choose to either team up with 4 other heroes, or be brave and go in yourself. When I played the game I did a mix of both, and I can say that the balance seemed to be alright with most of the enemies, however, if you do intend to solo all the way through, expect some heavy resistance by a select few bosses.

Iconic but not much customisation

The good thing about Marvel Heroes may at the same time be its greatest flaw. This is not a MMO like many other. You have no option to create your character, as a free to play game, it will offer you 5 characters to choose from, you can get recognisable heroes such as blind super-vigilante Daredevil, Thing from the Fantastic Four, Storm of the X-men, the Scarlet Witch and bow-pro Hawkeye. If you want to play any of the other heroes, you will be faced with two choices: pay or be lucky for a drop. The heroes have their iconic looks, if a little sterile, but they are recognisable. When I was playing I recognised nearly all voices from their previous outings in other games.The problem here is their iconic looks, they look like this, and will not change once. like in other loot-hungry Action RPGs, you would expect your character to get cool outfits, have nice shoulderpads. Not here, Iron Man looks like Iron Man, Hulk is Hulk. The only way of customising your look is either with artifacts that you can get lategame, or with character specific cosmetic costumes bought in the cash shop. While there is also a chance of those to drop, the chance is small. While it is hard to blame the game for this, I did lose some incentive to play further, nor did I have that "damn this new epic piece of gear makes me look like a total badass" feeling.

The Story

The story in a nutshell is pretty simple, but tries to be deeper than it actually is. Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom has obtained the Tesseract/Cosmic Cube and if you have seen the movies Captain America: The First Avenger and Marvel's The Avengers, you know bad stuff happens if it falls into the wrong hands. It is a weak excuse to go and beat up iconic villains such as The Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Madame Hydra, M.O.D.O.K. , Magneto, Kingpin and many more. Most of it is told through "motion" comics, which is a bit disappointing because the initial intro is very well presented for a game like this.

The cash shop

Like many Free to Play games, Marvel Heroes has a cash shop. After I went through the introduction I quickly decided to be determined and made the step to pick my favourite Marvel superhero. I wanted to play Spider-Man. And this is the kicker: If you want to play well known characters like Deadpool, Iron Man or Spider-Man, you will have to churn out $20, which translates into €15. Other lesser known heroes are cheaper, ranging from $9 to $12. In my opinion, the prices are a little overkill, given the amount of heroes there are. I will show it with a picture that I took the liberty of borrowing from Zam's The Free Agent, who has also shown his concern about this matter more indepth should you be interested in it, I am merely here to rant about the game in general!

 

The cash shop offers Heroes, Costumes, various booster items, as well as pets and lucky fortune cards. I have not been lucky with fortune cards, but let me know if you have been! 

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a... action RPG character can.

Getting that out of the way, I finally picked Spider-Man, and started my journey through the game, the feel of the combat and physics feels a bit similar to Diablo III rather than Path of Exile, but it still lacks a bit of punch. My character had all his trademark abilities and had a lot of funny lines. Your character levels up and gains power points everytime, you can put those  in 3 different talent trees like many other games of this genre. While it seems interesting at first, there is a lack of customisation in it in the sense that none of the builds actually feels unique. Respeccing can be done through paying for a Retcon Device in the cash shop, or you have to be lucky for a drop, or you get it from a select few quests.

Endgame

After about 17 hours of getting through all 9 chapters, I finally completed the main story at level 25.

After finishing it I was presented with various quests, which are an incentive to play further: the endgame. The intention of the developers is good; I commend them on introducing it this explicitly. However the way endgame is presented is simply boring. You are offered the Green Terminal, and can use this to grind various instances that you played before, except they are harder this time around, and you do not get automatically grouped up like you did in the main game, so if you want to group up, you better have some friends willing to play this game as well. These lead to red terminals, which are more dangerous versions but with supposedly better rewards, and there are purple ones that are challenge modes. 

I have not tested these two other terminals, I knew that this game was not for me. I have no incentive to mindlessly grind without my character getting changed or without anything to look forward to, nor do I have any incentive to level my character up to 30 (and further?) other than seeing what my ultimate is. As a game to play for fun, I actually had quite some fun as Spider-Man, and I look forward to perhaps playing it with another character, I still had the Thing to level up. As a MMO game or die-hard action RPG, where endgame and longevity are an important element, it falls flat on its face. While David Brevik and his team may have planned more in the future, the content that is out right now is simply not enough to keep me entertained, Terminals feel like an easy way out.

The Good

• Iconic characters and recognisable comic book lore.
• Recognisable voice work, some cool soundtracks.
• Fun combat as well as abilities (it is repetitive but such is the nature of the action RPG genre)
• Teaming up with other people is easy.

The Bad

• Environments look a bit sterile.
• Lack of customisation for your chosen character, uninteresting builds and loot does not show.
• Cash shop can be a huge turn-off for many people who wish to start playing as their favourite Marvel character.
• No actual incentive to play the endgame.

The Bear's Verdict

A fun game to play through once, but content-wise it just is insufficient currently. Time will tell whether new content will improve it or it will be a title that will be forgotten. You may be better off playing X-Men Legends or Marvel Ultimate Alliance on your console if you can get a hold of any of these. While I did not regret buying Spider-Man, I have no will to play it further for now. If my mood changes, I will certainly inform you in the future.