Electronic Super Joy review: Have a joyful death
Run-and-jump platformers with a high learning curve and steep difficulty have become a staple in the indie gaming realm. Games like Splosion Man, Super Meat Boy and Not A Hero …
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Battle High 2 A+ review: More like A- or B+
If I was in High School with super powers, I guess I’d fight too.
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Starpoint Gemini 2 review: Elite opposition
Ever since first playing Elite on the ZX Spectrum as a young boy, I’ve always had a soft spot for vast, daunting space adventures. Such games are rare on consoles, and it’s …
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Polychromatic review: Fifty shades of grey
Polychromatic enters the marketplace at a time when there has probably never been so much competition. Gamers are literally swimming in shoot-em-ups of all kinds, ranging from the sublime to …
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Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones review (Xbox One)
Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones was developed by Carbon and published by Curve Digital. It was released on April 3, 2015 for $14.99. A copy was provided by Curve Digital for review purposes.
One of the most unique things about XBLA Fans is our rating system, which encourages reviewers like me to rate games based on a simple “Buy, Try or Skip” scale. Although this can occasionally make our jobs more difficult, I believe that the system means that the written content of our reviews becomes ever more important in getting the message across about how a game plays.
With this in mind, there has perhaps never been a game more deserving of our “Try It” rating than Stealth Inc. 2: A Game of Clones. This is a game that riffs heavily on other roguelike and metroidvania games (not to mention the extremely popular Portal) but also offers its own brand of gameplay and humour across a very expansive package. Stealth Inc. 2Â is likely to attract a number of diehard stealth fans, but the steep learning curve and a few minor issues might make casual gamers think twice.
We Happy Few preview: Be happy…or else
The bright white face masks of We Happy Few turned heads on the PAX East show floor this year with their sinister gaze and art style. If you played Contrast, you will immediately recognize Compulsion Games’ handiwork. We Happy Few‘s characters wear a look that says, “Be happy, or else.” And that’s what the game is about.
Creative Director Guillaume Provost explained that We Happy Few explores a dystopian alternate history that takes place 20 years after the Nazis won World War II. How might have Hitler’s ideological fantasies manifested themselves over time? What would daily life be like? What would happen if you tried to resist?
It’s these open questions that the team at Compulsion Games put a lot of thought into. They came up with a world in which the government engineered a utopia where every single person is required to be blissfully happy — no exceptions. To accomplish this, the government keeps everybody drugged so that they will never need to worry about anything at all, not even worry itself. Everybody must be happy, and everybody must conform.
Compulsion Games unveil We Happy Few and PAX plans
Compulsion Games have announced their next game, We Happy Few, with an announcement trailer that can be seen below. After their work on Contrast, they have decided to take a new approach to their development cycle. This time they want fans to start playing the game as soon as possible so that they can start collecting feedback and then utilize it to improve the game. Which would also explain why they announced that the game will be playable at PAX East for all who want to stop by and check it out, Booth #6216.
There’s no time frame for a release date yet since the game is still quite early on in development so the announcement trailer and some new artwork will have to hold us over until Compulsion Games decides to reveal new information.
Indie game sale on Xbox One and Xbox 360 today only
TODAY ONLY!
There is currently a sale on five great indie titles on the Xbox One; with two of these titles also discounted on the Xbox 360.
Read on for more game titles, sale information and links to XBLA Fans coverage of the games on sale.
Pinball FX2: Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 review (Xbox One DLC)
On December 4, 2014 an old evil villain was re-awoken in Tokyo when the Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (NGS2) table was released for Pinball FX2 on the Xbox One. You play as Ryu and team up with three other teammates to confront this evil and attempt to “jump” your way to defeat it. Not having played the actual NGS2 game (a PlayStation 3 exclusive title), I at first felt a disconnection with this table. I was “going though the motions” while beginning to play it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still make for one exciting table. The last couple tables that have released for Pinball FX2 (South Park and The Walking Dead) have had intricate, detailed missions to attempt with multiple ramps to try and consistently hit.
In contrast to those examples, the NGS2 table, originally made for Zen Pinball on the PlayStation 3, and it shows. There is a large open middle section in the table where the ball will pick up a lot of speed. With only three short ramps to hit, a much quicker response or more precise timing is required on the flippers to hit them. The NGS2 table also brings a new platform jumping mechanic that is unique to this table and a fresh new aspect and challenge to a game that I have been playing for many, many years.
Deals With Gold games for September 23-29
Major Nelson has announced this week’s Deals With Gold promotional sales. Xbox One owners can get The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Contrast and 1001 Spikes at a 33-percent discount.