Winter Break part 4

6 games in today's update!



 

Shatter

Developer: Sidhe

Genre: Action puzzle…?

Rundown:

At its core, Shatter is Arkanoid, or Breakout, but prettier and with twists. For example, certain types of blocks will drift around the stage freely if you break their anchor points. Your paddle has the ability to push or pull, which affects the ball, power-ups, free floating blocks, and particles from broken blocks. Some stages take place on circular worlds. You can collect particles to charge a meter that powers a shield for your paddle (prevents it from being knocked away by falling blocks), and unleashes a devastating projectile attack when full. There are boss battles.

Completion Rate:

Finished first world, most of second world

Impressions:

Shatter is actually really cool. I’m not a fan of Arkanoid or Breakout, but Shatter changes things around enough that it’s both fresh and fun. The push/pull mechanic takes some getting used to, and circular stages are absolutely devilish. The boss battles are spectacular. And to top it all off, Shatter is a very pretty game, which feels like it would be unnecessary for this kind of game, but really adds to the experience. Possibly my only complaint is the limited number of continues allowed in ‘story mode’ (there isn’t much of a story at all, as you may expect from a game like this). The game is reasonably difficult, and while limiting the number of lives makes sense in terms of keeping track of score, it doesn’t make sense to force the player to restart the entire world/level after a set number of game overs. Thankfully, the game is pretty generous with extra lives, so with some luck this isn’t a huge problem.

World of Goo

Developer: 2D BOY

Genre: Puzzle

Rundown:

Use goo balls to build structures in order to get a certain number of free goo balls to reach the exit pipe. Different types of goo balls have different properties.

Completion Rate:

Completed World 1 and a few levels of World 2

Impressions:

World of Goo is fun, cute, and charming. The levels are reasonably difficult without being frustrating, for the most part (unless you aim to get OCD on each level), and there are time bugs you can pop to undo mistakes one step at a time. There’s… not really that much more to say about it. World of Goo perfectly balances its simplicity with stellar level design to create one of the best puzzle games I’ve ever played.

Toki Tori

Developer: Two Tribes

Genre: Puzzle platformer

Rundown:

You control Toki Tori in recovering all the eggs from each level. To help Toki Tori get to each egg (the bird can walk in either direction, get up small ledges, fall, and climb ladders), you have tools at your disposal, like bridges you can place, or a teleporter, etc. Your goal is to recover all the eggs using the limited number of tools available.

Completion Rate:

Completed normal levels of first world.

Impressions:

 Toki Tori is simple and easy to learn, but definitely difficult to master. The early levels are extremely easy, but later on managing your available tools properly becomes a necessity, and plotting a successful route through all the eggs becomes increasingly difficult. I had a hard enough time completing the normal levels of the first world, I’m a little scared to see how difficult the hard levels can be.

Audiosurf

Developer: Dylan Fitterer

Genre: Music

Rundown:

Load one of your songs into the game, wait for it to generate your track, and… surf? I’m not really sure how to describe Audiosurf, you’re better off just watching some videos.

Completion Rate:

Several songs out of the infinite universe of music, so I guess 0%.

Impressions:
Whoa. Take an epic song and play it on pro mode. I don’t really understand how points work, I’m not very good at the game, and I’ve only been playing with the simplest ship, but the game is very flashy and pretty. The track generator works extremely well, though I feel like the game is at its best given a really fast, intense, and epic song.

Windosill

Developer: Vectorpark, Inc.

Genre: Adventure?

Rundown:
Experience a bizarre world as you puzzle out how to progress from room to room. Basically a point and click adventure.

Completion Rate:
Several rooms in

Impressions:

I’m not sure what to think of Windosill. It’s certainly unique. There are no enemies, there is no story, there is always just a single room, and the question of how to acquire the cube that unlocks the door to the next room.

Shank

Developer: Klei Entertainment

Genre: Action

Rundown:

You are Shank, and you are out to exact revenge on the ones who killed your beloved. A jumps, B uses your gun, X uses your knife, and Y uses your heavy weapon. L blocks/dodges, R grabs. Simple enough for hack and slash controls.

Completion Rate:

Completed single-player and co-op campaign

Impressions:

I used to not be a fan of the hack and slash genre. It seemed boring and repetitive. But playing through Bayonetta and God of War has shown me that, when the games are done well, it is extremely exhilarating to dance amongst your enemies, extravagantly dealing out death and destruction, and hopefully avoiding their attempts to do the same to you. Unlike Bayonetta or God of War, Shank is only 2D, but it captures the exhilaration perfectly. Also, there's a co-op campaign, which is always a plus in my book. Sometimes the action gets a bit crazy with two players, but it's fun. Also, it's simple enough for my girlfriend, who doesn't play as many video games, to pick up fairly quickly.