Forums > Contributor Zone > Looking out for the little guys -- Indie Takeover.

Halloween is over. I can tell because I've come down from the roof were I sit every year with a high powered super soaker, waging war on greedy kids who want my delicious sweets. We've flooded the site with all things creepy and ghoulish, and celebrated gaming's widely fluctuating attempts to scare us. And now we're going to try something else.

Until the 29/11, I declare Indie Takeover. The mission statement -- to help out the little guys a bit and look to their titles for review source. The reward: who I deem to have produced the best review by the given date will be supplied with a brand spanking new steam code for Nihilumbra, a rather snazzy underground effort you can read about by clicking the pic below if you so chose:



You, the people who are not me, are open to enter as many or as few Indie reviews as you wish within the time frame, which will all be evaluated and ranked by my fair self, complete with flattering feedback or horrible mocking, depending on mood. The winner will then receive their code through HG mail to enjoy on their own time.

So, yeah, go on. Get on with it.
Joe's Blood of the Vampire

For us. For them. For you.

I have some games in mind that have been released within the past few months, but I can't guarantee I'll get reviews up for them, since it's November and all. But I'll try!

Hope my 8 year old computer can run them, too...

I head spaceshit noises.

You can always fall back on XBLI if you get stuck.

Good old more or less killed by Greenlight XBLI....

For us. For them. For you.

Steam codes are more PC than MAC, right? Or are they cool with all forms of downloading, since I've never done anything with it.

And if this isn't a MAC or Live Arcade download, I'm pretty much removed from the equation by default. Even though I could just win this thing to be a big jerk to everyone who wanted to play this game you did a good job of reviewing and making look like a neat experience!

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Not going to lie, OD, I have no idea how Steam works with Mac stuff. BUT! I promise if you or another of the 4 people who use Macs over the age of twelve win this thing, I'll sort you out an acceptable gift.

For us. For them. For you.

I'll try to write something for this. I always have a hard time finding Indy games, though, and I've more or less abandoned my laptop for the consoles (though it's still there). I'll have to do some research, I suppose. Might be something on PSN like Journey or Flower (though those might not be considered Indy anymore).

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

Do I enter in this topic? If so, then here is my offering.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

I just realized your deadline is on Black Friday. This may be unachievable for me now, but we'll see.

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

Here's my review, by the way.

I head spaceshit noises.

Both these reviews were pretty slamming, which is annoying as it means I need to exhort more effort than I’d ideally like to. I’ve read both reviews a couple of times, and I still don’t have a clear winner in mind, so I guess I’ll ramble at a word doc and see what emerges.

Mellowed-out Pick uses several clever hooks to drive his introduction. The comparisons with simmering cult favourite Rastan was clever; the eventual reveal that Volgarr is not just a shiny tribute but is harder that an infamously hard game was brilliant. Check you out with your centred HTMLing to showcase your point. La de da, indeed.

This continues to be the thesis of Pick’s review, comparing Volgarr to the artificially-bloated challenge of games of old, then discussing how this issue is side-stepped, leaving only a healthy dose of difficulty. It’s a strong point that’s well made throughout the body of work, citing solid examples of new and old that doing nothing but wonders for his tone’s creditability. This is important here because when he says that this game is hard in an even handed way we, the reader, need to know that a/ he’s not just some Farmville player struggling at a title that isn’t simply press X to win and that b/ he’s versed well enough in the old ways of challenge bloating to expunge it from the title. It’s as exceptionally strong case made.

So, I really like Picks review. But Joe’s works, too. In a strange twist of fate, he offers a review for a similar game, and delves into what makes Blood of the Werewolf work. It’s a tidy effort, emphasising some of the same traits that Pick did – the fair-handed challenge aided by infinite lives, for instance – but perhaps lacking some of the continuity of his rival. Still, it’s chocked full of good examples, the admitted surprise of how well the title works when the werewolf mechanic is removed works especially well.

So, both fine reviews and it’s only when offered up in direct comparison that Joe’s effort seems a more formulaic attempt; eulogising the game for the majority, working in the cons in the last few paragraphs, the whacking the conclusion. Other little niggles continue like an awful food analogy – didn’t we ban them from site in the same fashion as that one overly innocent mild curse only Jason seems offended by? As a standalone, the review’s pros vastly outweigh the few cons, but Pick’s writing is seriously watertight. It’s a perfectly made argument in favour of Volgarr.

So well done to Joe for a sterling effort, but congrats go to Pick for his winning entry. Expect to see your steam code siting in your inbox by the end of play today.

For us. For them. For you.

It's too bad there wasn't more entries, I was actually eager to see what indie games people would write for. But the competition was still fierce! Joe's choice was a pretty interesting game that I never heard of and would actually like to try out.

Thanks for the pick, and I appreciate the comments about the review. It was really weird how long it took me to crank this one out, but I guess I wanted to make sure I said the right things. Got the code, and I'll be checking this out.

I head spaceshit noises.

Congrats to pickhut on a sound victory!

Also, I shall avoid food analogies. Thank you, EmP!

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

To put some perspective on the food analogy slam (and to wax nostalgic) I believe that during a team tourney which used to take place over the entire summer, a judge panel (which may or may not have included myself that year; memory’s hazy on that) were absolutely flooded with cheesy (pun unintended) food analogies. It seemed like every other review written had some kind of food analogy – probably via Jerec trying to get revenge on me for the Metal Slug incident – so I can’t help but groan now every time I see one anywhere.

The moral of the story – don’t cross Jerec! whoever you are, you’re better than food analogies. Everyone uses them, and there’s always a better way to get your point across.

Thanks to both of you for putting reviews forward. I’m only sorry I had but the one game to award.

For us. For them. For you.

BAHA

I can avoid death by not having a life.

That's some good food for thought.

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Zig's comment was icing on the cake.

I can avoid death by not having a life.

Well, this is getting corny.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

I'm afraid all of the smart comments on the subject are already posted on other forum threads on the Internet, and we just get the leftovers.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

I'll happily keep the food puns if I never have to read someone describing some aspect of a game as a "mixed bag".

The graphics are a mixed bag. What the hell does that even mean? :P

I can avoid death by not having a life.

They clearly had pre-rendered environments, cel shaded weapons, mo-cap characters, and live action FMVs starring Carrot Top.

The only thing my milkshake brings to the yard is a subpoena.

I asked for, and kinda deserved, this roasting.

For us. For them. For you.