Indie Watch 2011

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Fallen Frontier
http://www.moonshotgames.com/2011/03/we ... -frontier/


It does have some former Bungie developers working on the project, so they have that going for them.

Hmmm, that art style seems to be a bit reminiscent of the Marathon series. Will definitely keep an eye on it.

[MrHealthy]

Really want to pick it up but not sure if I want to pick it up for more then 5 dollars. Will wait for the summer sale to see if it gets a 50% off.

It's worth it IMO. Short campaign, but there is a ton of replay value.

Problem is I have a really shitty bandwidth cap (60 gigs), with a ton of stuff in line to be downloaded first. So I probably wouldn't get to it right away. So no point paying full price for it I think.

[J T]

Spelunky (XBLA version)



If you haven't played the Windows version before, click on the image above and go download it right now. It's free, it's easy to run, and it's awesome. The XBLA version is coming soon with updated graphics, new environments, and new enemies. You can see from this trailer that the new Spelunky is looking mighty good. Well the graphics are still pretty simple as they have always been, but they've updated a lot with bursting explosions and sloshing water. The stand out feature of this game will always be the endlessly creative, procedurally generated levels.

[jfe2]

Spelunky (XBLA version)



If you haven't played the Windows version before, click on the image above and go download it right now. It's free, it's easy to run, and it's awesome. The XBLA version is coming soon with updated graphics, new environments, and new enemies. You can see from this trailer that the new Spelunky is looking mighty good. Well the graphics are still pretty simple as they have always been, but they've updated a lot with bursting explosions and sloshing water. The stand out feature of this game will always be the endlessly creative, procedurally generated levels.

Spelunky is a wonderful game! I'm not very good at it, but it's so addictive. It's like video game crack. Can't wait for the XBLA version.

This reminds me, anyone ever try Cave Story on the Wii? The free version was great, but I don't know if the Wii improved on anything. The upcoming 3DS version is supposed to be a complete remake. Would have rather seen a sequel...

[J T]

Here is a video covering some of the indie titles found at E3 this year.

[J T]

Nitronic Rush


*click for gameplay video*

This is a futuristic looking driving game. It looks more like an obstacle course than a racer though, which sets it apart from other driving games. Also, NEON!

[J T]

Card Hunter



Jonathan Chey, co-founder of Irrational Games (System Shock, Bioshock) has teamed up with Richard Garfield, the creator of the Magic: The Gathering series. They are set to release this new card-based videogame, Card Hunter. Normally, I am only minimally interested in card based videogames, but those two together could do big things.

Trailer Video

[Ivo]

Card Hunter



Jonathan Chey, co-founder of Irrational Games (System Shock, Bioshock) has teamed up with Richard Garfield, the creator of the Magic: The Gathering series. They are set to release this new card-based videogame, Card Hunter. Normally, I am only minimally interested in card based videogames, but those two together could do big things.

Trailer Video

I'm interested, but not completely hyped up. Garfield also helped create this other game Spectromancer in 2008 which I got quite hyped up for but didn't yet manage to get into, at least no in the free trial. Maybe I'm just too ingrained in Magic and that trips me up as I don't manage to get the strategy.

Ivo.

[J T]

From Dust
http://www.fromdustgame.com/



This is not technically an Indie game because it has Ubisoft backing it. I'm willing to include it here though because it is the latest game from Eric Chahi who is legendary for creating Another World (aka Out of This World) pretty much single handedly, which paved a path for many future indie developers.

Anyway, From Dust is sort of like Populous from what I understand of it. There are these ancient tribes that worship volcanoes. You have a god-like ability to alter the terrain in which they live. I read awhile back that Eric Chahi wasn't even making games for awhile and just got obsessed with volcanoes and visited several of them. His research should help make this an interesting game.

Good news! From Dust will be released later this month on Steam, D2D, and XboxLive and it will only be $14.99! I was expecting a much higher price tage. This might be a day one purchase for me then.

[J T]

Sideway


*click for trailer w/ gameplay*

Sideway is a platformer with a clever gameplay gimmick. You are a graffitti artist in a 3D world, but you have been magically trapped into wall art, so you now exist only on one plane at a time. If you're having a hard time imagining what that looks like, click to the trailer for visuals. Those of you that follow my browser game thread will recognize this mechanic as being similar to the excellent Cardboard Box Assembler. So, maybe Sideway isn't a 100% original, but it's a fun frame story for the idea, and I really loved Cardboard Box Assembler, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the idea in Sideway.