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VVVVVV Demo Avvvvvvailable Now

Nabeel Burney Leave a comment

VVVVVVTerry Cavanagh, indie developer behind gems such as Judith and Don’t Look Back, has returned with a new, non-free quirky game. VVVVVV is an 8-bit-like platformer, and is hard as nails. In a nutshell, you navigate a strange spaceship to find your companions, and the only controls you have are left, right, and changing gravity. The concept is a little reminiscent of the mechanics in games like Shift and And Yet It Moves, but it’s kept extremely simple here: you’re either falling down or falling up. You have to switch between running along floors and ceilings to get across rooms. There are spiked floors and strange creatures to impede your progress – and impede they will. I wasn’t kidding about how difficult it is. As mentioned, the game is not free like Cavanagh’s previous titles, it is being sold for $15 directly from his site. That’s a hefty price for an indie game, so there’s a demo to give an idea of how it is, playable either on Kongregate or as a direct download for Windows and Mac.

The chiptune soundtrack is also available to buy, for $4 from composer Souleye’s site.

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Irrational Games, Formerly 2K Boston, Formerly Irrational Games

Nabeel Burney Leave a comment

2K Boston Logo Irrational Games Old LogoIt was with some trepidation, two summers ago, that fans of developer Irrational Games received the news that the company was to undergo a name change, and come under the 2K Games umbrella with the new label 2K Boston. It stank of borg; the absorption into a faceless corporation and loss of individuality and identity. The company risked losing the prestige and reputation in the name that it had built up over the years with an almost impeccable gameography 1)http://apps.metacritic.com/search/process?ty=3&ts=irrational+games&tfs=game_developer&sb=5&release_date_s=&release_date_e=&metascore_s=&metascore_e=&x=33&y=15.

Irrational Games New LogoSo it was a pleasant surprise to wake up today to the announcement that the studio is going back to their old name. Well, I lie a little when I say it was a surprise. There were rumblings of something going on with the trademark back in October, so I expected it to surface again eventually in some form or other. It would probably be safe to say there hasn’t been much damage done from the first switch, seeing as how any mention of ‘2K Boston’ was usually followed by the reminder ‘(formerly Irrational Games)’. It’s clear the old name held some value to them as it does to us, and they intend to respect their legacy as well as uphold it with their upcoming new game.

The studio has been out of the limelight for the past two years since the release of their seminal game, BioShock (its sequel being taken up by sister studio 2K Marin), and there has been no information on the title they are currently working on now. The rumour is that it’s a new X-COM game, but all we really know is that it is a “substantially more ambitious” undertaking than their previous efforts. But it looks like things will change this year: studio head Ken Levine promised with his new year wishes that they would finally come out of hiding. Things have started off with the launch of a new website, which currently has nothing but a countdown timer (at 3 days at the time of this post). Game Informer has, unsurprisingly, snagged the exclusive yet again and have an article in their upcoming February issue about Irrational’s rebirth. They have also set up an online hub page for news updates and articles, apparently to explore the “past, present and future” of Irrational Games. So there’s more to this relaunch than just an image or branding issue – by acknowledging their history they retain goodwill with the fanbase. It will be an interesting month for fans, that’s for sure, and I’ll be tweeting or posting the updates as they come.

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The Cat Lady

Martyn Zachary 1 Comment

Remigiusz Michalski’s Downfall remains by far the curiousest adventure title of yesteryear, a psycho-horror point and click that I personally spent considerable time with, trying to adequately wrap my head around its subtleties and twists. In delightful if surprising news, the Russian publisher Akella has picked up the game for release in mid-January.

The Cat Lady Promo 01

After completing his first game, Michalski quickly turned his attention onto a thematic follow-up to his first game. The new game, then, is titled The Cat Lady and looks to be, once again, an atmospheric, macabre adventure game developed on the AGS platform.

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Depth

Martyn Zachary Leave a comment

I’ve just come across the most absolutely terrifying game concept in the long history of the gaming medium: Depth, an underwater, team- and class-based sharks versus divers multiplayer mod to be released on Epic’s Unreal Development Kit.

Okay, I admit, it’s probably just me and my fear of the final frontier: I was scared to death even with No One Lives Forever’s sharks. Luckily, there is a quantum of solace to be found in the game – I can always play as sharks only! That shouldn’t be so bad, right? …right?

That being said, the project looks fantastic and deviously simple. It is also being worked on by former Killing Floor lead, Alex Quick. Check out this new, awful, awful UDK game at Mod DB!

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Cry of Fear

Martyn Zachary 1 Comment

From the makers of the horror crown jewel of Half-Life 1 comes a new single-player game, Cry of Fear. No, not from the industrious They Hunger developer Neil Manke of Black Widow Studios, who is unfortunately rumoured to be ill 1)http://www.moddb.com/games/they-hunger-lost-souls#948083, but the Afraid of Monsters developers “ruMpel” & co! The team very recently published a highly effective if off-beat Christmas-themed gameplay video and boy, color me impressed – the game is looking nothing short of phenomenal for a GoldSource game.

I cannot recall any such high-quality work exhibited on the Half-Life 1 engine since Paranoia, the suspenseful Russian shooter that went so far as to incorporate low-level enhancements to the very engine.

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