PC Spotlight #73: Overgrowth

Title: Overgrowth
Developer: Wolfire
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Price: $29.95
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Overgrowth has been in development since late 2008. That's almost six years. For a small indie team developing such an ambitious title, Wolfire should be commended for staying true to their vision for the game and maintaining regular builds and progress updates for such an extended period of time. But the question is whether Overgrowth is worth playing and I'd say it's become my most-played indie in months.

Now Overgrowth isn't complete by a long shot. It's still lacking a real campaign or story and the available content consists of a few challenges, several maps ranging from parkour-friendly courses to open areas with enemies and an arena. There's a robust user-friendly editor and a growing library of user content and mods. However that's not what makes Overgrowth so fun, so addicting, and challenging. In my opinion, gameplay itself is paramount to making or breaking a game, and Overgrowth delivers in spades. The combat is up there with Arkham Asylum as my favorite fighting system in a game, simple to control yet complex in its execution and endlessly satisfying to watch. From agile evasion to smooth judo counters to tense knife fights or rolling under a swinging blade and digging a spear into an enemy's chest, the combat is just glorious fun.

The movement alone offers some of the best 3D platforming I've played since Prince of Persia in 2003. You're fast and insanely maneuverable, able to jump huge distances, wall run with ease, bounce between walls and roll under obstacles. Speed running through the community parkour maps is so entertaining. But Overgrowth isn't just great in its execution, but as a whole package inside and out. The anthropomorphic animal warriors and the semi-realistic atmosphere bring to mind classics like Redwall and Watership Down, and the brutality only cements those associations. A fight isn't just a simple exchange of blows; blades and hard hits leave bloody wounds across the body, blood that drips and stains in physics-accurate patterns. Fatal impacts against hard surfaces are accompanied by crunching bone. A stealthy neck slice sends arterial spray everywhere. A tough fight leaves you bloody and battered. Dodge at the wrong time and a kick will impact your head with a tangible sense of weight and momentum. It's these details and aspects that make the game such an enjoyable experience

But there's more to come, from the proper integration of species like dogs, rats, and cats, and a full story. The backstory of the world has already been fleshed out in Lugaru and this fascinating digital comic and if the game's story is as engrossing as the stories in those pages, Overgrowth could truly be the Redwall of gaming. You can purchase Overgrowth from the developer's site or from Steam.

PC Spotlight #72: The Floor Is Jelly

Title: The Floor Is Jelly
Developer: Ian Snyder
Platforms: PC, Mac
Price: $10 (currently 10% for $9)
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There's a fine line between gimmick and innovation. Stray too far to one side, and the mechanic meant as a hook seems uninspired, boring. Watching The Floor Is Jelly, it's hard to tell if its physics-based amorphous world is one or the other, but once I played the game, I can safely say that its titular idea influences all aspects of the game for the better.

The Floor Is Jelly is set in a weird abstract world where everything from the ground to water is made of the malleable substance. On the surface, The Floor Is Jelly is a standard platformer, run and jump over gaps, and dangerous spikes, wall-jump up narrow tunnels. The controls are responsive and simple. On that note, it' isn't the most challenging game, certainly not in the spectrum of difficulty of games like Super Meat Boy or even Braid. But those points aren't negatives; The Floor Is Jelly is a fun game, and the difficulty comes not from frustrating challenge but from the gradual layering of new interesting puzzle mechanics. From flowers that bloom in rain and those only sprout without rain (because they're part cat of course) to switches that rotate entire levels, and then switches that rotate only singular platforms, and later Guacamelee-style dimension swapping, The Floor Is Jelly constantly introduces new mechanics that add to the core gameplay in fun ways.

But the game wouldn't be as fun or enjoyable without its artstyle and fluid environments. More than just a simple art style, the jelly world enhances and adds to the gameplay and offers platforming opportunities that solid levels can't. The floor can act as a trampoline, boosting you to great height depending on the distance you fell. You can bounce under spikes by pushing the ground with your momentum. Not only that, the constantly moving worlds, affected by your every movement, is just a joy to watch and never got old over my playthrough.

The Floor Is Jelly is a charming fun puzzle platformer that uses its unique style to great artistic effect. You can purchase the game from the official site and the Humble Store. (Now available on Humble)

The Watchlist: Kill The Bad Guy

Title: Kill The Bad Guy
Developer: Exkee
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
2014
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Join a secret and mysterious society whose members have sworn to get rid of war criminals, former mafia members, and other criminals, going incognito among us. Hiding behind the appearance of a simple ‘man in the street’, the Bad Guys feel untouchable. They don’t expect you to track them and make evil plans. “Kill The Bad Guy” will stress and test your mental skills through a puzzle game where physics plays an important role.

I've been following Kill The Bad Guy's progress on Twitter for a while now and I was lucky enough to get a press demo to try an early version of the game. At its core, Kill The Bad Guy is a puzzle game about killing; I've been describing it as "Hitman: Final Destination edition" and I think that phrase sums up the games's mechanics quite nicely. In each level, a target roams the level and it's up to you to manipulate and sabotage the environment to execute him. Like the Hitman games, each level is a big puzzle of interlocking parts, and you can alter them to set up the perfect kill. And like the Final Destination series, those kills are wonderfully over-the-top Rude Goldberg scenarios of failing machinery and traps.

Executing those kills are easier said than done, revolving around timing and even some stealth mechanics. Viewed from an isometric perspective, you can set items in locations to disrupt behaviors and patterns in the level, maybe stopping traffic with a roadblock so you can alter your target's path past a leg-chopping air conditioning fan. You need to act fast and time when to sabotage items and place objects as not to tip off your target. But in the end, it's satisfying to see your plan come together in a spray of blood and flailing corpse. The stark white minimalist environments offers a stylish contrast to the red blood.

Kill The Bad Guy is still in development, with a Kickstarter and Steam Greenlight page planned for mid-February. You can learn more about the game on its official site and on Twitter.

PC Spotlight #71: Dungeon of the Endless

Title: Dungeon of the Endless
Developer: Amplitude Studios
Platforms: PC
Price: $9.74/$14.99 (discounted)
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When I first heard about Dungeon of the Endless, I was hesitant. The graphics looked lovely, the story interested, but the gameplay seemed so hands-off. But after reading other impressions, I finally gave the game a chance and Dungeon of the Endless does not disappoint.

Now it must be remembered that Dungeon of the Endless is Early Access, and in many ways feels less like a fully realized experience and more like a promising framework. But that framework is polished and very fun to play. Your vessel has crashed, and now your small team of survivors must venture into the halls and corridors of an ominous sci-fi dungeon where mutated terrors and mechanical foes lurk. Like the best roguelikes, danger is always present and you never feel safe. The atmospheric pixel art greatly adds to that tone, creating a tense environment to explore. Each door could reveal any manner of ruthless horrors.

Actually, I mean that quite literally. Dungeon of the Endless is a tactical game, and doors play a key part in your strategies. While I was worried that the hands-off nature of the gameplay would be detrimental to the experience, I found that it instead added to the game and gave Dungeon its own style. Here, pre-planning is everything. The mechanics feel more in-line with a tower defense game; place your squad, know their skills and strengths, their weapons and buffs, and strategize accordingly, because when you open that next door, all your planned tactics will determine whether your team survives or suffers a quick painful death. Protecting your energy generated Crystal, managing your scant resources properly, it all factors into your strategies.

Dungeon of the Endless is a challenging tactical take on the sci-fi roguelike with a fantastic pixel art style that oozes atmosphere. While the game has a long way to go before feeling complete, the current state is very playable. You can purchase Dungeon of the Endless on Steam; the game is available in two forms; the base Pixel Pack and the Founder Pack, which will grants the player access to upcoming DLC, the game's soundtrack, and other bonuses.

SitRep: Door Kickers

Title: Door Kickers
Developer: Killhouse Games
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
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When I first reviewed Door Kickers in August, the game had just been Greenlit on Steam and while still in Alpha, was very playable and great fun. The game has come a long way since those summer impressions and only continues to improve. Like Prison Architect, it's the kind of Early Access game where every update feels significant and game-changing.

The recent Alpha 7 release was Door Kicker's biggest overhauls, offering a plethora of additions and improvements. The visuals and animations have been enhanced and improved greatly; the enemy AI is smarter and mobile, allowing for those wonderful "Oh crap!" moments when an enemy walks in on your team as it prepares to breach. Trooper classes have been added, from assault to breachers to the suppressed weapons-wielding stealth troopers. New maps and mission types have been added, a mission generator provides extra challenge if the other missions aren't enough, and the whole planning interface has been fine tuned.

These additions have made Door Kickers even more fun and satisfying than before, and the game will only be getting bigger in the coming months, with non-lethal options, snipers, shields, and more planned for the next Alpha. Better yet, the success of the game means multiplayer and co-op a definite addition to the developer's to-do list, but those additions will be coming at some undetermined point in the future.

You can purchase Door Kickers from the developer's site or on Steam.

The Watchlist: Hyphen

Title: Hyphen
Developer: FarSpace Studios
Platforms: PC (Mac, Linux, others planned)
Price: £3.99 (~$6.60), currently on sale for 12.5% off)
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Hyphen is a must have addition to any puzzle/action game lover’s collection. Navigate a rotating stick through intricate and fiendish neon mazes while trying to avoid the walls and obstacles. Although it sounds extremely simple, it’s fun and infuriatingly challenging at the same time. Coupled with an awesome soundtrack and gorgeous glowing visuals this game will blow your mind in more ways than one.

In the past few months, it seemed like the rotating evasion style genre were making a comeback, between Duet and Cyro on IOS and the upcoming Roundabout on PC. Now you can add Hyphen to the list. Set against a neon vector background, you guide a rotating line through a gauntlet of obstacles and hazards from narrow tunnels to moving platforms. It's a time-tested mechanic, that frustrates and challenges due to the need for perfect timing and narrow margin for error, and rewards patience and skill. Judging from the trailer and short demo, Hyphen promises to add some extra arcade challenge to the mix, with bullet patterns to rotate between, spiked crushers, lasers, saw blades, and other fiendish dangers. Thankfully the controls work perfectly on either keyboard or gamepad, allowing for precise movement through the tightest gaps, and a pulsing soundtrack complements the action. 

Hyphen is set to release in early 2014 on PC, with additional support for Mac and Linux and ports to Xbox 360, IOS and Android planned post-release. You can preorder Hyphen on the official site and vote for the game on Steam Greenlight.

No Money, No Problem: Zenzizenzic

Title: Zenzizenzic
Developer: Ruud Koorevaar
Platforms: PC, Mac, Linux
Free beta
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From Sine Mora to the recently released Ballpoint Universe, the bullet hell shoot-em-up have been a popular thriving genre. Zenzizenzic gives the projectile-evading mayhem a stylish abstract veneer and fun inventive weapons.

Right off the bat, Zenzizenzic impresses with its minimalist world of geometric enemies and bullets, as everything moves across the screen in crazy patterns like some abstract painting in motion. The game is really a joy to watch in motion, as new hazards flood in from all angles and your own weapons trace patterns across the screen. But Zenzizenzic isn't just a looker; there's great gameplay to back up the visuals. At its core, the game sticks to those tried and true shmup mechanics of hair-width evasion and shooting down enemies, but a number of additions flesh out the gameplay and offer the player numerous tactics. From the varied weapons ranging from time jumping teleportation to black holes to using your explosive shield at the best moment, Zenzizenzic allows the player to equip their favorite weapons, collecting firepower upgrades, and attempt to survive the ensuing onslaught.

The free beta currently contains two levels to play and several weapons to use, with a longer campaign, more weapons, and bonus levels to come. You can also double your firepower by playing co-operatively. Zenzizenzic can be downloaded from the official site, and you can rate the game on its Greenlight Concepts page.