Who am I and why am I here?
A few folks (some real, some imagined) have asked me why do you do this column? What's your fascination with independent gaming? Well the answer isn't all that complex, but part of it can be summed up by something Manifesto Games CEO Greg Kostikyan alluded to in an
interview in the last issue
: that big budget Hollywood-leaning publishers are not delivering games with genres that still have a following but are considered no longer commercially viable.
The indie game development space fills a need that many gamers have to play the kinds of games they love. From open-source to casual game portal fodder, to commercial quality independently developed games on a multitude of portals (Game Trove, TotalGaming.net, Garage Games, Manifesto Games, etc.), there are games for everyone to enjoy, so I have a need to highlight what I think is the best of the best.
The other part of the answer is that I truly respect game developers of all stripes. I wish that I had the intellectual acumen to create anything even resembling a game and the intestinal fortitude to see it through to the end. Developers don't get the respect they deserve -- not from the fans and certainly not from the enthusiast press that covers them. Sure it's easy to bag on a developer for dropping the ball, and it's necessary to do a lot of the time, but let's not overlook the hard work that goes into developing a game.
So why do I write this column? To put a spotlight on individuals that have the guts to put their asses on the line for the sake of creating something - whether it's art or complete crap...
'nuff said! Onto this week's highlight reel!
Sixty Seconds With...
Some might say that Pumpkin Studios deserved to close (I am not one of those people, for the record). It's first offering, Warzone 2100 was met with equal amounts of cheers and jeers, but managed to maintain a very healthy and enthusiastic community - mostly through a multitude of free upgrades to the game post launch. While Pumpkin Studios may have given up the ghost, fans of its first and last game did not. The fans wanted to continue development the game and managed to get Eidos to give them the right to do so, making it open-sourced. Today the game is in the hands of a few dedicated gamers (see
wz2100.net
) who have added some nice new features and refinements to the game, but the most important think these fans did was made the game free to everyone.
The free version of the game is being developed with lots of new features like multiplayer unit-limits, support for OpenGL, several compatibility fixes for Windows XP, and more. The game is also available Windows, Linux and Mac. Downloads can be found below (courtesy of Gamer's Hell):
Project Xenoclone
isn't your ordinary top-down shooter. Not only does it look pretty decent by anyone's standards, it features a unique gameplay mechanic: guns that shoot different colored bullets. Why, in the name of Zeus, would that be considered innovative? Because only certain types of bullets can kill certain colored monsters (for example, red bullets kill blue monsters). While that element might not seem so important, it makes for a challenging combat situation as waves of different colored monsters come at you in droves, challenging you to fire the right weapon at the right times to stay alive. Throw in a layer of comic-book style storytelling and a decent looking game world, and you can see why this title is worth checking out. You can get the demo or purchase the full game by visiting
www.manifestogames.com
.
While
HALO: Hell on Earth
isn't new, the game is now being made available free of charge. While this is just your basic side scrolling shooter, the game does give you some more quality time with the Master Chief and his greatest foes - hoards of alien invaders. In fact, this isn't just one game based on Bungie's hit franchise but three - Hell on earth 1, Hell on earth 2 and Hell on earth 3. It is pretty hard to argue with this much entertainment, even if it isn't all that fancy and all three games (built using the Halo Zero Engine) look pretty nice.
The
Battle for Wesnoth
is a pretty decent turn-based strategy game with set in a fantasy world. The game is better served with a comparison to Shrapnel Games' Lands of Legend - with a lot more sophistication and larger, more graphically enhanced worlds. In the game you take on the role of a hero who must defeat an opposing force of similar strength. You earn gold every turn by occupying villages, which in turn is used to buy units at your keep, which are then strategically shifted to do ranged or melee combat against armies of foes. That's the boiled down description of the game, but it is a lot of fun and very challenging at times.
The full game features 200 unit types, 16 races, 6 major factions, single-player and multiplayer support. If you like tactical focused fantasy strategy games, this one is worth taking a good hard look at. Oh, and did I mention it is completely free?
Zamby and the Mystical Crystals
is a platformer where puzzle solving almost takes a back seat to cool graphics. In the game you help cute little Zamby gather mystical light crystals scattered within 150 different levels using objects and other level elements to overcome a bunch of different types of hazards. There are even a few bonus levels that can be unlocked for kids and those willing to put a little effort into designing a level with the level editor can certainly amuse themselves by creating some freaky and perplexing locales. Zamby isn't rocket science, but it's a cute little casual game that is worth taking a look at.
Battle Tanks
is a cute tank battle game that lets you choose one of three vehicles and eliminate your enemy using the whole arsenal of weapons. The game features cartoon themed graphics, tons of multiplayer options and cross platform play (Linux and Windows). If you're looking for some free mindless fun, then Battle Tanks may very well be your ticket to ride. Oh and again, this game is free and open-sourced.
