Showing posts with label Indie Pub. Show all posts
6/27/13 2:30PM |
Developer- IndiePub
Publishers- NAMCO BANDAI Games
Release Date- June 14th, 2013
Price- $9.99 MSRP
Review Platform- Xbox Live Arcade
Storm tasks players with indirectly navigating seeds to fertile ground as they transition into trees. The way to accomplish this is to control three elements of nature: rain, wind, and lightning. These elements must be controlled in various ways as you play through the four seasons of the year -- the concept is simple, but as you progress through the game, the difficulty factor increases and creates for an easy-going, but challenging puzzle game.
This unique title is accompanied by some vibrant and well done visuals that almost feel like you're viewing a painting of nature as you make your way through the seasons. Aside from aesthetic differences in each season's style, elements of each are also varied in terms of the gameplay.
One example of this difference would include playing in the Summer. In this season, fire plays an important role as you're able to utilize wind to move fire ignited by lightning, allowing you then to burn objects that hinder the seed's movement, whereas Spring is fairly calm, allowing you to only think about the three elements you can use to the gameplay.
Like with many puzzle games that I have played in the past, Storm required me to take a break a few times, as I would occasionally sit there with my head scratching as I tried to utilize the three natural effects to move the seeds. After taking these breaks and coming back to the game, I found that I was able to look at the levels in a different light, and then I simply breezed through parts that before had me stumped for a while.
In most of these cases, things that had bothered me turned out to be really simple to solve, which was always gave me a nice feeling when I got through them. What's great about Storm is that you're given the ability to restart levels from the pause menu, so if something happened that would make moving the seeds too difficult, you could easily restart and try another approach at the level. Special seeds can also be unlocked that allow you to skip levels altogether, so you can go back at a later time while still being able to see more of the game.
The game should take most players about 5+ hours to complete, and you can see how you stack up against friends and other players via the game's leaderboards afterward, or try out the game's spirit mode, where you must move the seed through various obstacles while trying to maintain a specific time frame.
Puzzle titles are fairly common on Xbox Live Arcade, but Storm contains a unique approach to the genre while still being challenging at times, as well as maintaining the concepts that are learned when you start the game. 800 Microsoft Points is a fair asking price for this game, and one that puzzle fans will be sure to enjoy.
Review Disclaimer: A copy of the game was provided for reviewing purposes by IndiePub.
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Developer- IndiePubPublishers- NAMCO BANDAI Games
Release Date- June 14th, 2013
Price- $9.99 MSRP
Review Platform- Xbox Live Arcade
Taking control of Nature
Storm tasks players with indirectly navigating seeds to fertile ground as they transition into trees. The way to accomplish this is to control three elements of nature: rain, wind, and lightning. These elements must be controlled in various ways as you play through the four seasons of the year -- the concept is simple, but as you progress through the game, the difficulty factor increases and creates for an easy-going, but challenging puzzle game.
This unique title is accompanied by some vibrant and well done visuals that almost feel like you're viewing a painting of nature as you make your way through the seasons. Aside from aesthetic differences in each season's style, elements of each are also varied in terms of the gameplay.
One example of this difference would include playing in the Summer. In this season, fire plays an important role as you're able to utilize wind to move fire ignited by lightning, allowing you then to burn objects that hinder the seed's movement, whereas Spring is fairly calm, allowing you to only think about the three elements you can use to the gameplay.
Like with many puzzle games that I have played in the past, Storm required me to take a break a few times, as I would occasionally sit there with my head scratching as I tried to utilize the three natural effects to move the seeds. After taking these breaks and coming back to the game, I found that I was able to look at the levels in a different light, and then I simply breezed through parts that before had me stumped for a while.
In most of these cases, things that had bothered me turned out to be really simple to solve, which was always gave me a nice feeling when I got through them. What's great about Storm is that you're given the ability to restart levels from the pause menu, so if something happened that would make moving the seeds too difficult, you could easily restart and try another approach at the level. Special seeds can also be unlocked that allow you to skip levels altogether, so you can go back at a later time while still being able to see more of the game.
Recent Reviews
The game should take most players about 5+ hours to complete, and you can see how you stack up against friends and other players via the game's leaderboards afterward, or try out the game's spirit mode, where you must move the seed through various obstacles while trying to maintain a specific time frame.
Puzzle titles are fairly common on Xbox Live Arcade, but Storm contains a unique approach to the genre while still being challenging at times, as well as maintaining the concepts that are learned when you start the game. 800 Microsoft Points is a fair asking price for this game, and one that puzzle fans will be sure to enjoy.
Review Disclaimer: A copy of the game was provided for reviewing purposes by IndiePub.
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6/27/13 2:00PM |
Developer- IndiePub
Publishers- Bigben Interactive
Release Date- June 14th, 2013
Price- $9.99 MSRP
Review Platform- Xbox Live Arcade
Fireburst contains a very interesting nitro mechanic. No matter which character you choose to play as, their vehicle has the ability to utilize nitro boost to gain an edge in terms of speed. This is something most arcade racers possess, but Fireburst is unique because using nitro heats up the vehicle's engine, and too much boosting will result in a fiery crash, knocking you back a few places as your character gets reset in the various races. Add in red barrels that heat your car, and blue ones that cool it down, and Fireburst becomes a racer where you have to tread lightly on the track – all while trying to be in 1st place.
This creates for a fun experience, but one that is a bit more challenging than most racers usual bring to the table.
The bulk of my time with Fireburst was spent in the game's racing league, a mode where challenges are given from the initial cast of 8 players. Successfully completing their specific challenges unlocks an additional character, so in total there can be sixteen racers to choose from. The racers all have bits of unique dialogue that are a bit cheesy, but it goes well with the atmosphere that Fireburst contains.
Racing challenges for each character range from completing tracks in a timely manner, killing a set number of opposing drivers, or other various tasks where you have to manage your nitro usage. The variety is welcome, but no matter which type of challenge you are given, their range in difficulty takes a little getting used to. I was able to breeze through certain challenges, while others got the best of me most of the time I tried to beat them.
Instead of just pushing through with a specific challenge, I would just simply hop to another racer, and then come back later to try again with the other.
If challenges aren't your thing, you can easily hop into races with the quick race option, which puts you into random tracks with a random racer. This was my favorite thing to do, since I could simply sit back and race, which is a great option if you want to play mulitplayer with friends, either online or off via the four player split-screen modes.
Destruction is the other main mode, and it's pretty fun. With this mode the objective is simple, but you'll have to utilize the nitro to gain enough power to destroy cars while being careful to not get your vehicle hot enough to explode.
With an interesting mechanic to go with the fun gameplay, Fireburst is worth checking out if you enjoy arcade style racers with a cast of quirky characters to play with.
Review Disclaimer: A copy of the game was provided for reviewing purposes by IndiePub.
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Developer- IndiePubPublishers- Bigben Interactive
Release Date- June 14th, 2013
Price- $9.99 MSRP
Review Platform- Xbox Live Arcade
Burning Rubber with Flames
Fireburst contains a very interesting nitro mechanic. No matter which character you choose to play as, their vehicle has the ability to utilize nitro boost to gain an edge in terms of speed. This is something most arcade racers possess, but Fireburst is unique because using nitro heats up the vehicle's engine, and too much boosting will result in a fiery crash, knocking you back a few places as your character gets reset in the various races. Add in red barrels that heat your car, and blue ones that cool it down, and Fireburst becomes a racer where you have to tread lightly on the track – all while trying to be in 1st place.
This creates for a fun experience, but one that is a bit more challenging than most racers usual bring to the table.
The bulk of my time with Fireburst was spent in the game's racing league, a mode where challenges are given from the initial cast of 8 players. Successfully completing their specific challenges unlocks an additional character, so in total there can be sixteen racers to choose from. The racers all have bits of unique dialogue that are a bit cheesy, but it goes well with the atmosphere that Fireburst contains.
Racing challenges for each character range from completing tracks in a timely manner, killing a set number of opposing drivers, or other various tasks where you have to manage your nitro usage. The variety is welcome, but no matter which type of challenge you are given, their range in difficulty takes a little getting used to. I was able to breeze through certain challenges, while others got the best of me most of the time I tried to beat them.
Instead of just pushing through with a specific challenge, I would just simply hop to another racer, and then come back later to try again with the other.
Recent Reviews
If challenges aren't your thing, you can easily hop into races with the quick race option, which puts you into random tracks with a random racer. This was my favorite thing to do, since I could simply sit back and race, which is a great option if you want to play mulitplayer with friends, either online or off via the four player split-screen modes.
Destruction is the other main mode, and it's pretty fun. With this mode the objective is simple, but you'll have to utilize the nitro to gain enough power to destroy cars while being careful to not get your vehicle hot enough to explode.
With an interesting mechanic to go with the fun gameplay, Fireburst is worth checking out if you enjoy arcade style racers with a cast of quirky characters to play with.
Review Disclaimer: A copy of the game was provided for reviewing purposes by IndiePub.
comments powered by Disqus
