As you are no doubt already aware, Portal was recently made free for a limited time by Valve in celebration of the launch of Steam on the Mac. Which is a great deal as this is really a fantastic game.
I won't talk too much about the game here as, to be honest, there's not much point in doing so. Considering how famous this game is, if you don't know about the gameplay by now, then its probably something you wouldn't be interested in.
Anyway, I was actually over at my brothers place when we found out that it was free for download. We immediately fired up Steam to verify (my bro, being the cynical git that he is was convinced that it was only free to play for the weekend) and then downloaded it. We managed to get to around testchamber 18 (out of 19) while I was there but I promptly finished off the game after I got home.
As already noted in reviews, the game is incredibly short (although a bit longer than the 19 testchambers which I thought it initially consisted of). However, considering the type of game it is, the length is probably just right. The short length gives you just enough time to get familiar with the gameplay elements and then apply that knowledge in a variety of fiendishly designed levels.
But what makes this game stand out is the superb level of humour prevalent throughout the game. From the moment you wake up in the very first chamber through to the end of the game, you are accompanied by the disembodied voice of GLaDOS. Her various comments throughout the game fit the mood perfectly as you try and puzzle your way out of the various rooms and traps and is topped off with a fantastic song during the end credits.
PS if you liked the song Still Alive, then you should also check out Re Your Brains (also by Jonathon Coulton).
Showing posts with label Puzzle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Puzzle. Show all posts
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Sunday, April 5, 2009
World of Goo
The second indie game I've been playing recently is World of Goo. I purchased World of Goo on Steam several weeks ago for a pittance during one of the weekend deals (quick aside - I love that Steam gives a heavy discount to a different game every weekend!). As with all the best indie games, World of Goo is a puzzle game (in my experience, the best indie games are generally in the puzzle genre where creativity can make up for less resources to spend on flashy graphics and special effects) based on physics and was highly rated according to metacritic.
The objective of the game is to guide your Goo balls through the level and, in most cases, to the waiting pipe at the end of the level. The difficulty is that between you and the waiting pipe are a host of hazardous traps which are instantly lethal to your Goo balls. Your only advantage is the uncanny ability of your Goo balls to shoot out strands of Goo which they can use to stick to each other. The end result is you trying to build gravity defying structures with your Goo balls in an attempt to get them to the waiting pipe.
After a couple of levels, the game starts to introduce special Goo balls with different abilities. Some Goo balls can be picked up and repositioned after you place them down while others can float. Some Goo balls will stick to surfaces like glue while others have a hard body and won't be destroyed by spikes.
To be honest, World of Goo is so unlike every other game that its hard to describe this game in words. If you really want to understand what this game is like, your best bet is to jump onto Youtube and scope out some videos of the game in action.
What really makes this game stand out is the incredibly creative situations and puzzles you find yourself facing over the course of the game. Unlike Braid, the game never feels too challenging in that you rarely ever get completely stuck. Very often, even when you fail and your Goo structure collapses upon its own weight, you learn enough to try again using a slightly different structure or technique. And even if you do get completely stuck, the game offers you 12 level skips so you can just keep going even if you do have trouble with the odd level.
A fantastic game which is well worth checking out if you like stretching your grey matter when you play games.
The objective of the game is to guide your Goo balls through the level and, in most cases, to the waiting pipe at the end of the level. The difficulty is that between you and the waiting pipe are a host of hazardous traps which are instantly lethal to your Goo balls. Your only advantage is the uncanny ability of your Goo balls to shoot out strands of Goo which they can use to stick to each other. The end result is you trying to build gravity defying structures with your Goo balls in an attempt to get them to the waiting pipe.
After a couple of levels, the game starts to introduce special Goo balls with different abilities. Some Goo balls can be picked up and repositioned after you place them down while others can float. Some Goo balls will stick to surfaces like glue while others have a hard body and won't be destroyed by spikes.
To be honest, World of Goo is so unlike every other game that its hard to describe this game in words. If you really want to understand what this game is like, your best bet is to jump onto Youtube and scope out some videos of the game in action.
What really makes this game stand out is the incredibly creative situations and puzzles you find yourself facing over the course of the game. Unlike Braid, the game never feels too challenging in that you rarely ever get completely stuck. Very often, even when you fail and your Goo structure collapses upon its own weight, you learn enough to try again using a slightly different structure or technique. And even if you do get completely stuck, the game offers you 12 level skips so you can just keep going even if you do have trouble with the odd level.
A fantastic game which is well worth checking out if you like stretching your grey matter when you play games.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Braid
I've been spending a lot of time playing casual/indie games recently, mainly as its hard to play "hardcore" games when you can only game in 10-15 minute increments. The first of these games I've been playing is Braid which was on sale on Xbox live recently.
Braid is a casual 2D platform puzzler developed by Jonathon Blow. In Braid, you play the role of Tim who is searching for his princess. Tim's relationship with the princess is never fully explained - all you really know is that Tim made a mistake which resulted in the princess being snatched.
In some ways, the game is reminiscent of Mario Bros. Enemies are comprised of goombas which you can kill by jumping on their heads, man eating plants which rise from sewer tunnels, deadly traps which you need to jump over and even the infamous "the princess is in another castle" line at the end of each world. However, the key differentiator and key gameplay element in this game is the ability to control time. At any stage in the game, you can rewind time so death isn't much of an impediment in this game. Which isn't to say the game is easy.
Navigating your way through the various levels is not hard. In fact, most of the time, you can skip all the puzzles and run straight through to the exit. However, if you want to complete the game (and trust me, you will want to see the incredible yet bittersweet final level), you will need to collect all the jigsaw pieces by solving all the puzzles. And, boy oh boy, are the puzzles hard!
The words "fiendishly difficult" don't even begin to describe how challenging the puzzles are. Each of the worlds has a different take on the time mechanic and trying to solve all the puzzles seems near impossible without the help of youtube and game FAQs. But despite the difficulty of the puzzles, once you work out the solution, you can't help but be amazed by the creativity of the designer.
The game doesn't boast much in the way of replayability. Despite this, the game was well worth the $80 I spent on it. A definite recommend if you are looking for something to stretch the old gray matter.
Braid is a casual 2D platform puzzler developed by Jonathon Blow. In Braid, you play the role of Tim who is searching for his princess. Tim's relationship with the princess is never fully explained - all you really know is that Tim made a mistake which resulted in the princess being snatched.
In some ways, the game is reminiscent of Mario Bros. Enemies are comprised of goombas which you can kill by jumping on their heads, man eating plants which rise from sewer tunnels, deadly traps which you need to jump over and even the infamous "the princess is in another castle" line at the end of each world. However, the key differentiator and key gameplay element in this game is the ability to control time. At any stage in the game, you can rewind time so death isn't much of an impediment in this game. Which isn't to say the game is easy.
Navigating your way through the various levels is not hard. In fact, most of the time, you can skip all the puzzles and run straight through to the exit. However, if you want to complete the game (and trust me, you will want to see the incredible yet bittersweet final level), you will need to collect all the jigsaw pieces by solving all the puzzles. And, boy oh boy, are the puzzles hard!
The words "fiendishly difficult" don't even begin to describe how challenging the puzzles are. Each of the worlds has a different take on the time mechanic and trying to solve all the puzzles seems near impossible without the help of youtube and game FAQs. But despite the difficulty of the puzzles, once you work out the solution, you can't help but be amazed by the creativity of the designer.
The game doesn't boast much in the way of replayability. Despite this, the game was well worth the $80 I spent on it. A definite recommend if you are looking for something to stretch the old gray matter.
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