(11/12/14 3:30pm)
By Graham TaylorThere’s no time to explain, but this game is really worth buying!Okay, maybe that was a bit of an overstatement. I have some time, so allow me explain.No Time to Explain is a 2D platforming game about time travel developed by tinyBuildGames. It was originally available through Newgrounds, but eventually got a full Steam release on PC, Mac, and Linux.The game stars “You”. While you are home one day, a man bursts through the wall. “I am you from the future!” he proclaims “There is no time to explain. Follow me to-” he is quickly cut off and captured by what appears to be a giant crab claw. As he’s whisked away, he drops a lasergun-jetpack-future thing, and the game begins.Right from the start, it’s clear that this will be an obviously bizarre adventure, and that was only the first ten seconds of starting a new game. From this point on, things get weirder and weirder. Aliens, cyborg-dinosaurs, sharktopuses (sharktopi?), alternate dimensions and more get involved in this tale, and just when you think that there might finally be enough time to explain, something even more convoluted gets thrown in your face. The goal of the game is to get to point A to point B, but it isn’t as simple as that; No Time to Explain is a seriously punishing platformer. You are free to walk and jump around, using the various weaponry you pick up to aid you. The staple of your arsenal is the jetpack-lasergun. Firing it creates a powerful beam that can be used to levitate and direct the player. As the game progresses, the player will obtain different tools to use. A single-shot canon and psychic powers are among many abilities that will be acquired over the course of the game. Environmental elements also factor in, ranging from destructible blocks and bounce pads to deadly fire and edible cake that makes you heavier.With all of this, players have to navigate tight, tough obstacle courses. Precision is necessary, and the game can be unforgiving. Falling out of the stage and landing on spikes will be the main cause of death. Upon death, players will respawn at the last point the player was touching solid ground. In some cases, this will mean restarting entire stages.Each level is composed of smaller stages, each stage containing one puzzle. The objective is simply get from the start of the stage to the portal at the end. At the end of each level is a boss battle, which are creative, combining both the silly story elements and different tools at your disposal to make some really exciting fights.The game is a lot of fun. The outlandish story and solid gameplay work well together, and the difficulty is trying at times, but usually fair. You know when you made a mistake, but that just makes completing the levels that much more rewarding.However, the game is far from perfect. Dying comes with no real penalty. There are no lives, meaning the player can respawn as much as he or she wants. While this is okay for the platforming segments, because otherwise it would be insanely challenging, it makes the boss battles laughably easy. The majority of the time, standing still and continuously firing up will beat most of the baddies. Which is a shame, because this waters down some otherwise unique portions of the game.The battles are not a major portion of the game though, so while disappointing, they do not detract that much from the overall experience. It is a silly, nonsensical, and paradoxical, and I mean that in the best of ways. The main mode is enjoyable, and collectible hats and a level editor (with publishing capabilities) mean there is a reason to keep coming back for more. No Time to Explain is easily a romp worth five bucks and at least some of your valuable time.Images: Small-Games Info, GameoPC
(09/29/14 6:49pm)
By Graham TaylorGenerally speaking, indie games come and go. Sure, some stick around every once in a while, but for the most part, they get their fifteen minutes, then fade back into their respective niches. When the let’s plays are over, many of us forget they even existed.There isn't anything wrong with this; it happens all the time: Slender, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, The Stanley Parable, Surgeon Simulator, and Goat Simulator, just to name a few. Recently we have been graced with Five Nights at Freddy’s, continuing the trend.First released on Aug. 8, Five Nights at Freddy’s brought something unique to the indie-horror genre, and, rightfully, it gained popularity fast. Players assume control of a night watchman at the titular Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a Chuck E. Cheese-esque arcade and eatery. Given a limited power supply and zero movement, players are tasked with surviving while the pizzerias mascot characters roam the restaurant freely.The simplicity of the game and the surprising amount of horror it generated lead it to becoming an instant hit with the Internet. Popular YouTube personalities (Markiplier, Achievement Hunter, Cr1tikal, and many more) further propelled the game from its obscurity. Before long, everyone was playing Five Nights.Just as the game was coming off its peak, the developer, Scott Cawthon, made two announcements. One, the game would be making the jump to mobile devices, both Android and iOS. Two, there will be a sequel.Now, sequels have almost become a staple of gaming. If a good game is made, especially if a big name studio makes it, a follow up is almost expected nowadays. But when it comes to indie games, the story is a little bit different.There are a handful of indie sequels—Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is one recent example— and they are usually few and far between. For the most part, after one of these games hit the big time, the developers will either focus on improving and updating the game, or go straight to working on a new IP. Interest in sequels is not often expressed.The growing popularity of indie games, has lead to some new trends emerging. Porting games, for example, has become wildly popular, but just a few years ago, it was something that was done sparingly. It would seem that indie game sequels could also start following this pattern: starting slowly at first, and then becoming the norm. But what is causing these changes?To answer that, we must look to gaming as a whole. No longer are games just meant to be played. With the rise of let’s plays and streaming services like Twitch, gaming has also become a spectator sport. In an effort to be fresh and timely, many let’s players and streamers seek out little-known games that others haven’t played before. Consequently, this has led to the followers of these personalities to purchase the same games. This has made indie development seem more lucrative and has led to the spike in indie games and sequels.Gaming channels on YouTube produce weekly, if not daily, content. And with these many games being played for the entertainment of others, seeing the same AAA games across different sources would get stale quickly. This is where indie games come in: in order to broaden the channels’ horizons and keep viewers interested, content creators had to branch out, and look towards the indie scene.With millions of unique viewers watching their favorite gaming personalities play these indie games, the games now become mainstream. Small-time developers start getting noticed, and with the spotlight on them, they begin to create more and expand (as in porting the game to different consoles). If the demand is high enough, as we saw with the first Amnesia’s popularity, then a sequel is made.So could this lead to us seeing Freddy and other indie titles releasing yearly entries, a la Call of Duty? We won’t know that for sure until it happens, but we do know that a shift in the indie dynamic is around the corner. Indie games don’t usually spawn franchises after they make it big, but that could change. From here on out, the fleeting fame that these games may amount to more.Images: Steam, GameSpot