Tag Archives: action

Game of the Week: Super Adventure Pals

Posted by Chad Knick on

*dusts off the old manuscript*

Oh gosh, how long have you folks been sitting here without a good game to get your hands on? Well, for the record, I just want to apologize for that. It’s summer, and despite popular belief, I am not a vampire who writes game blogs every day. I like to feel the warmth of the sun on my pixelated skin tone. Well now I’m back, and I’m rolling up my sleeve to deliver a pretty awesome game from developers, Jay Armstrong and Julian Wilton, called Super Adventure Pals.

Now close your eyes and picture this:

You are a young boy. You have a pet giraffe and a pet rock. You’re having a peaceful picnic in the forest, when out of nowhere an evil villain STEALS your PET ROCK! Now it is up to you to save your pet rock [ and vicariously your village ] from the likes of evil genius mastermind: Mr. B. You’re an action hero. A superhero – oh, and did I mention he has a giraffe?! YES. He does. Save the rock, get the girl, and save the town in this adorably addictive Action/Platform/RPG.

‘This picnic ROCKS Giraffe!” “Murrrruuu!”

If the concept is hilarious to you, well then all that’s holding you back from seeing this gem is playing it. In light of this though, I suppose we should be talking about accessibility. OK! Armstrong and Wilton did a lot of small tweaks to the game’s overall design which I feel really make this game enjoyable and I hope you do too – so here goes nothing folks! Hoo!

Pros:

  • Optional control scheme at the start of the game. Left and Right handed schemes.
  • All text/dialogue is written out or symbolic. No audio is necessary to complete levels.
  • Color scheme and art animations are clear and sharp enough to be distinguishable.
  • Simple gameplay makes the platforming enjoyable and the quests engaging.
  • A humorous storyline combined with a plethora of levels to play through makes S.A.P. a joyful and unique platforming experience.
  • Health kits are automatically used making traveling and healing simple.
  • 75 levels, 4 bosses, and 3 towns full of content gives this game quality time.

This level feels so slow – oh. It must be the sloths!

Cons:

  • The text is only available in English, so international gamers may have issues if they’re not proficient in reading English.
  • The control schemes may be simplistic, but they often times require both hands.
  • Motion-impaired gamers may have difficulty with the platforming in further levels.
  • The game doesn’t have a mouse-only option for movement, so one-handed gamers will have extreme difficulty in accomplishing levels.

“Muhahahaha! ALL YOUR ROCKS ARE MINE!”

Overall, while the game has challenging platforming that may make some gamers frustrated, the appeal of the quirky artwork, humorous storyline and engaging levels makes Super Adventure Pals a definite ‘must see‘. Save your pet rock, ride your giraffe, save the world from evil masterminds! Armstrong and Wilton have done an impressive job with this game and I tip my hat to their genius Flash designs. You can play Super Adventure Pals NOW on Kongregate. It’s an accessible little blast of challenging fun and one of the best I’ve seen Armstrong release!

Way to go gentlemen! Now, if you’ll excuse me – I have a giraffe waiting to fight aggressive sloth monsters. He gets cranky when I don’t feed him.

Game of The Week: Choice of Zombies

Posted by Chad Knick on

Well, as I work hard on trying to get my Zombi-U impressions together, I figure I should actually give you folks a game to play today huh? It’s been a while. Well I’m kind of in love with the idea of text adventures right now. I know. They may not seem like much but, truth be told, they’re the building blocks of many of your favorite games you play today. Text adventures employ one fundamental game design technique that’s necessary to all games:

Choice. 

Look at how the pretty choice bubbles float around my head!

Choices. Choices. Choices. Ok – umm THIS ONE!

Providing the user choice over their actions gives a sense of meaning and interactivity to any action that players take within the game. It allows game characters to become more life like and real, stories to become more emotionally tense, and gamers wanting to continue with each passing moment. So without further adieu, considering I’m in a zombie mood, I present to you: Choice of Zombies

Note: I haven’t played through the whole thing. They’re rather extensive [which is nice.] but folks should be aware that it does contain some language and of course violence in this piece, so just use caution when playing.

“Brrrraaaaaaaiiiiinnnnssss”

It’s a text adventure game that drops you into, well an infected zombie world. You wake up  one morning and discover a human leg in your kitchen, and then it’s up to you how to react to the scenario. The game is entirely multiple choice and incredibly easy to play, but what I love is that it’s kind of addictive. You start with one question, but find yourself thrown head long into trying to figure out when everyone started becoming zombies, trying to survive, etc.

One little, two little, three little zombies… four little… fiv-grraah!

There are plenty more games designed by a company called Choice of Games. They have a plethora of multiple choice text adventure titles to choose from. They even have an open source text adventure script that can be used to design your own text adventure games in the future. You can write your own story and Choice of Games will even help you host it on their site.

So, if you’re interested in text adventure games, if you long for the days of Zerg, and you just happen to have an affinity for zombies I’d give this game a look. Between Call of Duty: Black Ops II, Zombi-U, and Resident Evil 6 on the horizon there’s plenty of zombies to look forward to – I just figured you all could use a little bite to tie you over. Enjoy my minions!

E3 Impressions: Beyond. Two Souls.

Posted by Chad Knick on

If you’ve been a fan of my blog, or followed me for any length of time, you’ll know I’m an avid fan of Quantic Dream. Their game designs are phenomenal, and they’ve managed to push the boundaries of graphics capabilities on the PS3 time and time again. If you’ve never played Heavy Rain, or if you haven’t seen that tech demo for their short film, Kara, that I covered earlier in the year – I insist you check them out. It will most definitely help you grasp why I’m on the seat of my pants for Quantic Dream’s newest IP: Beyond. 

Two Souls. One Adventure.

In the Kara demo, I described how Dream’s new graphics engine was going to expand the capabilities of what a gaming system can deliver emotionally, and this time it’s no different. Before I carry on, I would like to ask you all to please watch this trailer. I won’t say anything about it until you’re finished, because I don’t want to talk about details until you’re done. I would also definitely recommend watching it in FULL screen to get the best effect.

Now, what’s so amazing about that? Well, let me just start off by saying: ELLEN PAGE! I got goosebumps when they announced that the Inception actress was going to be playing the lead role in this new IP! Seeing that kind of star power start to come to video games is so intriguing and warranted. Let’s focus on the game though shall we? Here’s what I know:

You play the game as Jodie Holmes, brought to life by Page’s performance. According to David Cage, the game’s creative director, you follow the progression of her life and her interactions with this being. I caught a name in the trailer, so I assume this entity is named, Ivan. Now there are no details to how they are linked together, but with a game that states “Two Souls” as it’s tag line, I can only imagine the possibilities as to how these two are interconnected.

It seems to me Quantic Dream has really pushed the envelope this time around. They’re going from having one of the most unexpected successes in Heavy Rain, to now trying their hand at an action-drama. I can’t wait to see how it unfolds, but it looks like there will be tons of off-your-seat action, explosives, escaping, and that constant guise of mystery with this game as I try my hardest to figure out what’s going on in this game! It seems to me that Ivan might be some sort of poltergeist, maybe an imaginary friend come to life, I’m not sure – but I’m eager to find out!

I’ll keep you all posted as I find out more, but definitely Quantic Dream and their love-child: Beyond, is one to definitely keep watch on, and I will just for you guys. Anything new I’ll report as soon as I get word, but for now just let your mind’s be boggled and your thumbs twitch to play this, what looks like it will be, remarkable game! I’m certain that this game will probably be rated M for Mature, but that’s just my guess. The game should be out sometime in 2013 EXCLUSIVELY to the PS3.

I can’t wait for a full release date!