9 years ago
Happy Dungeons is coming free to play on Xbox One
From the makers of Happy Wars comes another free to play title arriving on Xbox One called Happy Dungeons. ToyLogic has announced that this title will be a hack and slash RPG that can be played with up to four players online or local couch co-op. Players will need to work as a team to play to their strengths and compensate for other player’s weaknesses. More than 1,000 items exist to customize characters from armor to weapons and more.
After Happy Dungeons releases, regular updates will come with weekly events and new stories will be provided every two month. Features for players of both Happy Wars and Happy Dungeons are also planned as well.
Take a look at the E3 reveal trailer after the jump.
9 years ago
Monster Jam Battlegrounds review (Xbox 360)
Monster Jam Battlegrounds was developed by Team 6 and published by GameMill Entertainment on Xbox 360. It was released on June 10, 2015 for $14.99. XBLA Fans’ Michael Cheng purchased a copy out of pocket for review purposes.
Monster Jam Battlegrounds is easily a contender for the worst game covered by XBLA Fans of 2015 and is possibly the front-runner. Never have I felt as hoodwinked by a game and had as much buyer’s remorse on an Xbox product before as I have now, and I have made many extravagant purchases such as multiple Xboxs and collector’s editions for games from different regions and brand new, out-of-print Xbox 360 games like Dead or Alive 4 and Rumble Roses. I’d venture to say this is a sick and cruel joke by Microsoft to state that the XBLA platform is dead, and everyone should move forward to Xbox One and ID@Xbox. How, in 2015, can anyone justify one minute and 10 seconds of loading time and then having another 15-second period of filler with a stadium cutaway before finally being able to play a level that lasts about 15-45 seconds? As if that isn’t bad enough, there is another 30 seconds of load time after finishing and leaving the level. This is only scratching the surface of Monster Jam Battlegrounds‘s world of problems.
9 years ago
Sparkle Unleashed review (Xbox One)
Sparkle Unleashed was developed and published by 10tons on Xbox One. It was released on June 3, 2015 for $7.99. A copy was provided by 10tons for review purposes.
In a competitive market with many games vying for consumer purchase, I can’t find a single major fault to Sparkle Unleashed. Every feature is well-crafted, and there isn’t a wasted step in its motion. The graphics are aesthetically pleasing, and the music reminds me that a magical world can exist right at home. So can I cut this review short and recommend you buy it right now? Not quite.
Sparkle Unleashed is a puzzle game in which the player shoots colored balls into matching, moving colored balls to remove them from the play area. The balls on the field are constantly moving forward and will try to reach an end (that varies per level) to cause the player to lose. Some level layouts will feature multiple tracks from which moving balls may appear. As you complete levels, you’ll eventually reach scripted locations that allow you to choose to upgrade power-ups. It’s a simple but solid system that invites players to keep, well, playing.
9 years ago
Spy Chameleon review (Xbox One)
Spy Chameleon was developed and published by Unfinished Pixel on Xbox One. It was released on May 21, 2015 for $4.99. A copy was provided for review purposes.
If you would have asked me what kind of game I wanted to play before Spy Chameleon was on my radar, my answer would not have included a chameleon stealth game. So when Unfinished Pixel’s game was announced, it was with a raised eyebrow that I mused, “What is this nonsense?” and expected the worst when it came time to review. To my surprise, Spy Chameleon is unexpectedly fun and well designed (barring moments of chagrin while streaming on the XBLA Fans Twitch channel). I’ll venture to say the game will be underrated; many have been quick to dismiss the title without giving it an opportunity to prove its worth. The stealth genre isn’t for everyone.
Spy Chameleon has the player controlling a chameleon through many levels in the name of completing objectives. Naturally, those objectives don’t factor into the gameplay and are simply excuses to play. Every 15 levels a specific objective ends. Each series introduces more environmental hazards that threaten the safety of the protagonist. Fear not, though, the chameleon has an ability to change into four different colors to blend into the environment and avoid detection. Armed with this talent, the player sets forth to survive another day in the world of corporate espionage. (Note that all of my following comments are tailored to gameplay on hard difficulty; normal difficulty has slower-moving light beams, which makes it feel like a different experience.)
9 years ago
The Swapper review (Xbox One)
The Swapper was developed by Facepalm Games and published by Curve Digital on Xbox One. It will release on June 5, 2015 for $14.99. A copy was provided by Curve Digital for review purposes.
What do you do when one person isn’t enough for the job? Create clones, of course! The Swapper is a story-driven puzzle-platformer experience featuring a protagonist’s desperate attempt to survive a derelict space station. Things aren’t what they appear to be, and the player is drawn farther into the rabbit hole while collecting strange orbs to power up portions of the station. What is going on? What happened here? Where is everyone? And who is that talking? Players will be engrossed by an indirect narrative while attempting to solve the mysteries of space station Theseus. This is definitely an out-of-body experience.
9 years ago
Rogue Legacy review (Xbox One)
Rogue Legacy was developed and published by Cellar Door Games on Xbox One. It will release on May 27, 2015 for $14.99. A copy was provided by Cellar Door Games for review purposes.
Have you thought to yourself that games have been too easy recently? If you answer yes, Rogue Legacy may be for you. Here is another throwback to the old school era featuring tough enemies with fair tells and many mean and sometimes unforgiving deaths. Levels are randomly generated with death undoing progress made by the player. Heralded as a “rogue-lite,” developer Cellar Door’s game undoes some of the frustrations of rogue-like games by letting players unlock skills and upgrade stats permanently. Many surprises are in-store for players, and you’ll never know what is around the next corner. Through trial and error, you’ll gradually grow stronger and wiser and eventually achieve success. Or not. Welcome to Rogue Legacy.
9 years ago
Badland: Game of the Year Edition arrives on Xbox One on May 29
The tablet game Badland is making its way to consoles using a redesigned control scheme for console play. Badland: Game of the Year Edition is a side-scrolling action adventure with physics based gameplay that totes stunning graphics and audio. The player controls a flying creature named Clony who is trying to survive dangerous traps, puzzles and obstacles. The clones are out there waiting for Clony to save them.
Badland: Game of the Year Edition features 100 single player levels, 100 co-op levels and 27 multiplayer deathmatch stages with up to four player local cooperative play. Launch will feature a discount price of just under $10 before eventually going back to its normal price of $11.99.
Continue below to check out a trailer of the game.
9 years ago
Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark review (Xbox One)
Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark was developed by Italic Pig and published by Team 17 on Xbox One. It was released on May 12, 2015 for $9.99. A copy was provided for review purposes.
On May 17, 2015, I had a chance meeting with developer Italic Pig over at the XBLA Fans Twitch channel while streaming Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark. For the sake of brevity, let’s just say I happened to learn quite a bit of the making process of Schrödinger’s Cat. The message I took away from the impromptu discussion with Italic Pig is that the developer had a vision and set out to create a game around a passion for physics. In Italic Pig’s eyes, each portion of the game was designed with a specific purpose to test players in different ways. Most things in the game have a reason for being there, but not every reference or purpose is obvious. Still, the developer believes there is something for everyone here. Do I fully agree with all of the design implementations? No, but I respect the decisions made during the process. Schrödinger’s Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark took two years to make with an estimated 60-70 percent of the effort coming from Italic Pig alone. Meanwhile, I spent about eight hours across three different days to play through in its entirety. Let’s see how it stacks up.
9 years ago
Slice Zombies for Kinect review (Xbox One)
Slice Zombies for Kinect was developed and published by MADE on Xbox One. It was released on May 7, 2015 for $9.99. A copy was provided by MADE for review purposes.
“I don’t want to play this anymore.” Those are the words of disillusion I started to utter within 30 minutes of playing Slice Zombies for Kinect. This is a painful reminder that for every game that tries to raise the bar from its contemporaries, others are happy to coast along as a sub-par, unoriginal effort. It’s not fun to rate a game poorly, but what else can you do for one that aims to be nothing special?
If you’ve ever played Fruit Ninja Kinect‘s classic mode on any platform, you’ve seen most of what Slice Zombies game has to offer. For the rest of us who have not, the one game mode available in this title features players slicing up zombies. Shocking, I know. The player is given three lives (a fourth is available as an upgrade), and each time a bomb is sliced or a zombie is missed, a life is taken away. When all lives run out, the current game ends. Once the round is over, the player is given the option to play again or to go to the shop to buy upgrades earned from playing. In the store, you can buy power-ups to make the experience easier as well as view the modifiers that make the game slightly more challenging. Unfortunately, that’s all there is to the game. For the sake of this review, I decided to play longer, but after an hour I couldn’t take it anymore. It’s the same thing over and over. No more, please.
9 years ago
Syberia 2 review (Xbox 360)
Syberia 2 was developed by Microids under Anuman Interactive and published by Bandai Namco on Xbox 360. It was released on May 13, 2015 for $9.99. XBLA Fans’ Michael Cheng purchased a copy out of pocket for review purposes.
Gone are the days where point and click adventures were the in-style games. Now it’s a genre that has been relegated to niche status. Benoit Sokoil’s Syberia series attempts to show the glory of the old days and the wonders of simple gameplay with puzzle elements telling engaging stories. Syberia and Syberia 2 were released during the PlayStation 2 and Xbox era well over 10 years ago and have since been brought back to XBLA recently to give the audience another chance to try these titles in preparation for Syberia 3‘s tentative release in 2015.
Syberia features a heroine named Kate Walker and the journey of her everyday life turned completely upside-down through her wild adventuress in search of the fabled land of Syberia. This sequel can be enjoyed without playing the first title, although it’s still highly recommended you do so to get to know the original Kate Walker and some of the characters she encounters in the progenitor. For those that want an interesting story with puzzles without action sequences, this series may be worth looking at.