Reviews

A World of Keflings was developed by NinjaBee and published by Xbox Live Arcade.  It was released on XBLA on December 22nd.

With games like Cloning Clyde, Band of Bugs and Ancients of Ooga under their belt, NinjaBee has become one of the most beloved XBLA developers to date.  In 2008, the release of A Kingdom for Keflings solidified their spot as an XBLA powerhouse.   After the success of the first installment, A Kefling sequel was evident.  As one of the most anticipated XBLA games of 2010, A World of Keflings generated high expectations from both the fans and the developers.  With a ton of new additions and upgrades, the difference between A Kingdom for Keflings and A World of Keflings is clear.  The game has improved in nearly every area. Read More

Ubergridder was developed by BadgerPunch Games, and is available for 80 Microsoft Points ($1) under the Indie Games section of the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Xbox Live Indie Games are quickly becoming one of the best places to find retro-inspired games from the arcade and NES era. One of these latest games is Ubergridder, a maze-chaser that features gameplay mechanics similar to Pac-Man, which was a clear influence here for BadgerPunch Games. As Robert the robot, players must move along grid lines to repair a busted ship, all while being chased by aliens. It’s not the most original idea, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do.

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The game was designed originally by Konami and then brought to XBLA by Backbone Entertainment, a division of Foundation 9 Entertainment.  The player chooses one of six X-Men:  Cyclops,  Colossus,  Wolverine,  Storm,  Nightcrawler, or Dazzler. Their objective is to stop the villain Magneto from wreaking havoc on human civilization. They must fight through an army of hundreds of Sentinels and supervillains such as Pyro, Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, The White Queen, Juggernaut, and Mystique.  Later, Magneto kidnaps Professor X and Kitty Pryde, prompting the heroes to go on a rescue mission. The heroes fight their way to Island M and ultimately to Magneto’s base on Asteroid M where the final battle with the Master of Magnetism takes place.

If you were lucky your arcade had the full on 6-player mode, and if you didn’t have the nice arcade, you had the cheesy 4-player cabinet.   The question is, how well did this classic age?   Is it worth spending the 800 MS Points ($10 US)?

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Drizzle is a game that is damn hard to assign to any specific genre.  You could call it a puzzle game, a strategy game or a casual/family game.  It was developed by Annihilated Games although the marketplace lists the developer as AnonymousDevs.  This game has been well over a year in the making after many setbacks.  It sells for 240MS points ($3) on the Indie games section of the Xbox marketplace.

Drizzle places you in charge of riding the world of pollution.  You control a robot hand that places cups under acid rain clouds in order to filter and recycle the rain water.  Different colored clouds require different colored cups to collect the rain.  The water is used to grow trees and make the world a better place.  A few unlockable robot friends will help you along the way while evil corporate robots will try to stop your progress.  It sounds like a terrible idea but it’s actually pretty fun. Read More

Score Rush is a mix between a schmup and a dual-stick shooter.  It’s the latest installment from seasoned XBLIG developer, Xona Games.  It sells for 80MS points ($1) on the XBLIG section of the marketplace. Read More

Decimation X3 is a 4 player shoot ’em up and thrilling sequel to the #1 Japan hit, Decimation X, and proud member of the Indie Games Winter Uprising. Back with intensified gameplay, extra power-ups, more firepower, improved retro graphics, huge bosses, and a beautifully remixed Imphenzia soundtrack. Developed by the “empower the player” philosophy of Xona Games, award-winning creators of Duality ZF and Score Rush.  It currently is selling for 80MS Points (1 USD) in the Indie Games section of the marketplace.

How does it hold up to my rigorous tests?  Well you know you have to click read more to find out.

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Harm’s Way was created by Justin Carpenter, developed by BongFish, and published Doritos/Microsoft Game Studios. Doritos Crash Course was developed by Wanako Studios, and published by Doritos/Microsoft Game Studios. They were released 12/8/10 on the XBLA Marketplace for $0.00

Every year we seem to get at least one free XBLA game. First it was Yaris, then Undertow, and then last year Doritos launched a game titled Dash of Destruction. It wasn’t the best game, but it was free and pretty fun. That was about a year ago, this year things have changed. Focusing on releasing quality games we get two titles for the Unlock Xbox contest, and both are definitely above the bar set by their predecessors.

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Let’s just make a shooter where you have to go really, really fast…

Break Limit by Zombie Monkey Games is an indie game title that combines the old school challenge of a space shooter with a strong emphasis on performing a “speed run” (aka go as fast as possible without dying).  Your ship flies through space shooting anything and everything in its way, but weapons aren’t enough.  You can also use a speed boost that makes you invincible, but hurls you through space so fast it can give you whiplash.  Motion sick prone people take note…
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Epic Dungeon is the latest release from Eyehook Games, and it was released during the Indie Games Winter Uprising.

Epic Dungeon boasts 4 playable classes, dozens of monsters, loads of glittering loot, unique encounter system, 50 deadly dungeon levels and the low price point of 80MS Points ($1 US).   Upgrade your skills, stats, and equipments as you forge your path to victory in this rougelike RPG.

So how does it fare?  Click read more to find out of course. Read More

The highly anticipated DLC for Monday Night Combat has been released at the great price of free.  The question is, is it worth your time to download the 492.8MB update?  Click Read more to find out.

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