IOS Spotlight #14: Project '88

Title: Project '88
Developer: Routa Games
Platforms: IOS Universal
Price: $2.99
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The title Project '88 reveals about this recently released IOS game than you might think. The developers hoped to create an experience of "fast paced minimal action games" common throughout the eighties and while the game may not revolutionize the genre, it certainly is fun, fast, and challenging.

Project '88 could probably best described as Super Hexagon by way of Impossible Road. You control your fragile craft down a procedurally generated Mobius Strip-esque lane, rotating left and right to stay on the track and tapping both sides to flip to. Obstacles, gaps, split tracks, inverted sections, as well just the inherent difficulty of remaining on the winding track makes '88 a challenging game and that's only the easy '2012' difficulty. Three more difficulty levels await: 2000 (Hard), 1988 (Extreme), and a locked fourth difficulty. Achievements and leaderboards add replay value and of course, like the best games in the genre, an instant restart helps foster that "one more go" appeal.

You can purchase Project '88 for $2.99 here.

PC Spotlight #22: Rktcr

Title: Rktcr
Developer: tchow
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: $9.99 (currently on sale on IGS, pay what you want)
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Rktcr ("rocketcar") is not just about tricky physics-based platforming. Sure that's the core gameplay but Rktcr's true focus is perfection. It's all about refining and honing your runs to achieve that single perfect attempt and thanks to some of the coolest time control mechanics I've seen in a game, that pursuit of perfection remains fun and satisfying throughout.

A description of Rktcr probably sounds like an abstract Fringe episode. You control a rocket propelled vehicle through twisting environments to reach portals to new levels, and must consider possible futures and move back and forth through the timeline of your run to perfect your route. That may sound complicated but in practice, the gameplay is easy to grasp, a challenge to master. You control your rocket's thrust with the arrow keys and move back and forth through time, as well as slow and speed up time with A,D, Shift, and Ctrl. A real-time path extending from your rocketcar shows you exactly where your vehicle will end up and how every change in thrust and momentum will affect your movement. This allows you to correct a failed jump in mid-air or figure out how to best conserve your momentum upon landing. You can even save and share your paths online. Reaching portals lead to new levels and in my opinion, the level transitions just never get old.

Rktcr isn't an easy game; in fact it's more complex than I expected. There are numerous factors and special maneuvers to consider and utilize from simply conserving momentum to using the spring that connects your wheels like a rubber band to catapult you over large gaps to alternating wheels for better traction up inclines. You'll have to utilize these skills in conjunction with your ability to control and change time to succeed across an expansive campaign filled with open twisting levels and a challenge mode. There's even a story, connected to the gems you collect throughout the campaign, but it's more a humorous aside than anything else.

Rktcr may be too frustrating or difficult for some players, but I found the challenge fun and rewarding and there's no other game quite like Rktcr. You can purchase the game from Desura or the developer's site and vote for it on Steam Greenlight. (Rktcr is also IGS' featured Pay What You Want game deal for a limited time.)

The Watchlist: SuperHOT

Title: SuperHOT
Developer: Blue Brick
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Release N/A, in development
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SUPERHOT is an FPS game where time moves only when you move. This innovative yet remarkably intuitive time control mechanism crates gamplay that has never been seen before. Take your time! Get rid of aggressive enemies with grace, style and the intense satisfaction of watching them fall while you're dancing in a hail of bullets. With limited ammunition and unforgiving foes every level of SUPERHOT becomes a deadly puzzle. Short and intense action scenes. Dodging bullets. Taking down armed enemies with your bare hands. That’s the essence of SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT.

Originally created for the 2013 Seven Day FPS challenge, SuperHOT promises to take the concept that so enamored indie gamers (it hold the title for the fastest Greenlit title) and expand it into a full-length experience. The game's key mechanic is that your movement and the passage of time are linked: run around and time moves at a normal pace, move slow or stand still and time inches to a crawl.

The idea of time moving only you move turns the simple act of shooting into death-dealing art, as you dance around bullets and carefully target your foes. The minimalist visuals only add to the beauty of slow motion killing, as enemies crumple from your gunfire and blood sprays gracefully through the air; the red-white pallet makes every shot, every impact stand out. The gameplay itself is most akin to a first person Hotline Miami. You die in one hit and each gun has limited ammo, so staying mobile is critical to survival. You have you constantly have to be on the move, be counting your shots, be positioning yourself, and be aware of your enemies and surroundings. These factors, combined with rudimentary stealth and melee systems, make SuperHOT feel more like a combat puzzle game than a simple shooter.

The existing version (playable here) only lasts a few levels, but is endlessly replayable and entertaining due to the inherent style and finesse of the mechanics. Blue Bricks has high ambitions for the full game:

SUPERHOT can go many directions and we would like to take all those roads. Imagine a shootout in a hectic car traffic - where you have to avoid cars and bullets. Imagine a shootout in a building being demolished, with everything falling in slow motion. We want more then rooms with people and I hope that we can deliver that.

 SuperHOT doesn't have a release date yet, but can follow its development on the developer's Twitter page. They're also open to feedback so be sure to share your ideas and suggestions with them on Twitter and the game's Greenlight page.

PC Spotlight #21: Eldritch

Title: Eldritch
Developer: Minor Key Games
Platforms: PC
Price: $15
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Beyond 2005's Call of Cthulhu and the more recent Magrunners, it seems that games inspired by the Cthulhu Mythos have been few and far between. (I may be mistaken though). Eldritch plans to change that by combining the otherworldly mythology of Lovecraftian fiction with the tension and thrill of a first-person roguelike.

You begin your journey into the world of Eldritch within a mysterious endless library. This is your hub world, where you can customize your character, choose which level to explore, and just not worry about dying. Levels are represented by mystical books; reading from them pulls you into the procedurally-generated enemy-infested worlds described within their pages.

The elements that make Eldritch stand out from other first person roguelikes is its emphasis on stealth and its varied combat. You can crouch, slide, and lean to peek around corners like in Thief. Footsteps and sprinting make noise and can alert enemies. Bottles and rocks can be thrown to distract enemies. Of the three weapons currently available, your revolver is loud but powerful, your knife is silent, and your crossbow is also silent and can set tripwire traps.

Adding to the stealth mechanics and combat in general is the magic system. Throughout the levels, you collect artifacts that act as both mana and currency. Spells endowed upon you by deity statues require certain amounts of artifacts per use, giving the game a risk-reward element. Do you use your artifacts to cast spells that can distract enemies and unlock doors, create powerful explosion, allow you to teleport, and more, or do you save them to purchase weapons, ammo, and special gear at shopkeepers in each level? Death is final, so choose wisely, although you can save certain amounts of artifacts across attempts by saving them in chests.

Eldritch is still in development so there are kinks and balancing issues to be found. For a game hoping to be a roguelike, I was never lacking ammo or artifacts and some of the enemies, especially those in the first world, are just too easy to kill. Luckily the other worlds up the difficulty with enemies that can't be killed, only temporally stopped and statues that rumble to life in your presence. However for a game inspired by Lovecraftian fiction, I was hoping for more surreal otherworldly enemy designs. The knife and revolver also feel much too overpowered. But these are issues that can easily be remedied as the beta improves and don't detract from the game's overall polish and gameplay.

Eldritch was recently Greenlit and will be available on Steam on October 21st. You can buy the game for beta access here.

No Money, No Problem: Hyper Gauntlet

Title: Hyper Gauntlet
Developer: Udell Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux, Browser
Free
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When immersed in a racing game, it's not uncommon to find yourself leaning your body in anticipation of a sharp turn or moving the controller as if it were a steering wheel. These games become almost a full body experience. Hyper Gauntlet shares that same appeal, with a sense of speed that will have you ducking and letting out a sigh of relief after every close call and near miss.

The objective is simple: a 3x3 grid of squares rocket towards you (or are you racing towards them) down a endless corridor, aligning yourself with each grid's empty spaces allow you to pass through safely. You can get hit three times until it's game over. Pressing the space bar offers a second of slow motion and power ups grant you abilities such as periods of autopilot, invulnerability and longer slow motion. By itself, the game would be a challenge but the presentation takes the gameplay to another level. You only have mere moments to study the incoming grid and orient yourself and when it passes by, the screen shakes like you dodged a freight train by inches and it's insanely intense. The onslaught of grids come at you so fast in later levels that even that precious second of slow motion feels like such a calming respite.

If you're even remotely a fan of games like Super Hexagon and Pivvot, let Hyper Gauntlet put your reflexes to the test. You can download the game or play it in your browser here. (Requires Unity)

PC Spotlight #20: Gravity Bomb

Title: Gravity Bomb
Developer: Mark Zimmerman
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: $2.49
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What makes a game stand out? Jaw dropping visuals, fun satisfying gameplay, a smart narrative, something more? Personally I've always valued gameplay above all else. Some may overlook Gravity Bomb at a glance, but they'd be missing out. Gravity Bomb is a fun challenging puzzle platformer that uses its mechanics in many varied ways.

At its most basic level, Gravity Bomb might be closest to a game like Inverto, in that you shoot special surfaces to alter gravity and reach each level's exit. But while Inverto is focused on first person spatial puzzles, Gravity Bomb marries its mechanics with 2D precision platforming. Across 69 levels, players must leap, wall jump, fall, and gravity-swap around various hazards and tricky environments. 

Every few levels, new elements are introduced, each one adding more complexity and used in interesting ways. Levels even allow for multiple strategies; through mastery of your abilities and quick reflexes, you can shave entire seconds off your completion times. While Gravity Bomb is not the most visually impressive game, I found using the gravity shot to be quite satisfying. Hard to reach stars and a level editor give the game some replayability.

For only $2.49, I believe Gravity Bomb is a worthwhile purchase. It's an inventive platformer that tests your skills and while it's not the longest game, what's there is polished and just a lot of fun. You can buy Gravity Bomb on Desura and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.

PC Spotlight #19: Subject 9

Title: Subject 9
Developer: Diffusional Arts
Platforms: PC, Mac
Price: $9.99
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When one thinks of arcade shooter, perhaps the games that come to mind are titles such as Geometry Wars or even the more recent Assault Android Cactus, games defined by the chaotic non stop action and hordes of enemies. Subject 9 stands out from its shooter brethren thanks to tactical high-tech gameplay and more strategic pacing.

You play as Subject 9, a Vextech test subject on the warpath to escape his captors. Across a variety of arenas and Campaign and Survival modes, you must fend off waves of increasingly challenging enemies, from grunts to foes with specialized defenses and weaponry. To turn the tide in your favor, the player has a wide range of abilities and skills at their disposal which grant the game its tactical nature.

While evasion and quick movement is key to survival, your host of upgrades and powers is what makes Subject 9 unique. Drop bullet-stopping barriers at key chokepoints. Telekinetically throw explosives at enemies from afar. Rain fire from the sky or fry your foes with electric bolts. Hack turrets and equip different ammo types. You can upgrade these abilities as well as your own weapons between each wave.

However while the powers are fun to use and present the player with numerous options, Subject 9 also suffers in other key areas. I felt the controls were sluggish and could use more refinement. Activating your ability wheel thankfully slows down time but leaves you motionless and vulnerable. Also at times the camera can be detrimental to success, due to enemies attacking from off-screen. I feel that with more control and camera improvements, the game could fulfill its full potential, because Subject 9's core mechanics are a lot of fun.

As a solo effort and a debut project, Subject 9 is a fun if flawed experience. The myriad tactics are fun to use and are a great change of pace from other action shooters, but some control and camera issues hamper the enjoyment.

You can buy Subject 9 from the developer's site or on Desura or vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.