Nov 16, 2019
Blue Estate #10 (2012)
Art by: Viktor Kalvachev
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seen from United States
Blue Estate #10 (2012)
Art by: Viktor Kalvachev
2017 Wrap up
Welcome to the closest thing I do to a award show. Here are the rules of this list;
1. These are all games that I’ve played and reviewed this year. 2. There isn’t an order to this list, its not a top 10, these all feature because of how good they are. 3. The games don’t have to have been released this year, merely played by me.
Now that the formalities are done lets get on with it!
Devil Daggers
A fever dream, that’s what this game is. Horrific, fast paced, stressful and highly addictive. All your deaths blur together. Are you on run 16 or 60? Who knows, and who cares?
Blue Estate; The Game
For a while there it looked like on-rail shooters were consigned to the past. But it seems the world of indie development has us covered. This game is irreverent and a ton of fun, if a little on the short side.
Stories: The Path of Destinies
An anthropomorphised fox hacking and slashing in a choose your own adventure? SOLD! It’s a bit of a flawed gem but it’s just so interesting and unique that it deserves a spot here.
Reigns
Imagine playing a game where the main mechanic is the same as Tinders. That game is Reigns and it has far more depth to it than you’d expect given the core mechanic.
Riptale
This game sucked up way more of my life than I care to think about. I know it doesn’t look like much but like with many indie games graphical fidelity takes a backseat to mechanics and the mechanics of this game are rock solid.
Dead Space 2
This is the only triple A title in this list and its published by EA no less. The now defunct development team Visceral Games had done a fine job with the Dead Space series (except arguably Dead Space 3 that has EA’s dirty money grabbing all over it) and they deserved a better fate than they got. Either way some sci-fi horror is always appreciated!
Valley
When is a Walking Simulator not a Walking Simulator? When it’s Valley. This was a big departure for the developers who had previously made Slender: The Arrival and I have to say it paid off because this game is memorable for all the right reasons.
Cuphead
I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t at least heard of Cuphead. With it’s Fleischer-esq art style and animation this game has had no trouble in capturing the attention of the games media and general public alike. Throw in that the game is actually challenging and good and you get why this game appears here. Style and substance.
Cat Quest
One of two games I have where you play as a cat. It’s a fun little romp filled with cat related puns, something that I appreciate.
OneShot
RPG maker games are often given a bad rap, in many cases this is with good reason, however once every so often one appears that is very different from the rest. This is one of those. I highly recommend playing this one, I can’t tell you much about it because this game goes a little bit meta. It’s also the second game where you play as a cat... sort of.
It seems that this year has been a year of independent games for me. But then given the state of the triple A side of the industry and some of its bullshit (especially in recent months) I’ve been wanting to play more indies. And you know what? I’ve had a great time overall. Here’s to hoping that the big boys of the industry sort their shit out and stop trying to nickle and dime us next year, and if they don’t? Well the indies are always there with something new and fresh.
Blue Estate #6 (2011)
Art by: Viktor Kalvachev
Blue Estate #7 (2011)
Art by: Viktor Kalvachev
Blue Estate: The Game
Developer: Hesaw Publisher: Hesaw Rrp: £9.99 (Steam and Humblebundle) Released: 8th April 2015 Available on: Steam and Humblebundle Played Using: Mouse Sometimes the disclaimer that precedes a game can really be telling of the experience you're about to have. Blue Estate: The Game is definitely one of those games, it's not sensitive about race at all (not saying any racial slurs, at least I don't remember any, but well... lets just say it has a lot of caricatures of race), its not afraid to make jokes about sexuality and sexism and it even covers a little on drugs. So if you can't find humour in any of those subjects whatsoever, you may wish to avoid this game. Blue Estate: The Game is an on-rails shooter that's based on a comic series that was published by Image. You play through the game as two characters. The first being Tony Luciano, the hot-headed, loudmouthed and frankly vile son of a crime family, who's on the hunt for his stripper girlfriend Cherry Popz. The second is Clarance, an Ex-Navy Seal who’s now turned hit-man out of his desperation to alleviate his poverty.
The basic controls are simple enough, the left mouse button shoots and the right reloads with a click and if held it puts you in cover (if the option is available).This game includes 'gestures' which are performed by quickly moving the mouse in the appropriate direction. These gestures can mean a few things but usually allow the player to interact with a scene (such as open a door) or collect a pick up.
In classic arcade shooter style you get a limited number of lives which act as continues if your health should run out. Both of these are fully regenerated with the beginning of a new level.
Each level within the story mode has an intro which is done in a way that resembles the artwork of the comics series, I love the style of them so much so that I've actually ordered a few issues of the comic series to check out. These levels are also narrated by a low rent private eye, who very much fills the role of the 'unreliable narrator', and gets regularly cut off by the game itself. I hate to say it but the story mode is a little disappointing because it kinda just ends with no real conclusion, but the journey it takes you is one of great stupidity and fun. For the most part this is a score attack style game and as is typical of these types of games its quite short, standing at approximately four hours long. The levels that are completed within the story mode become available to play in the arcade mode, which I will touch upon next.
As I mentioned previously, there's an arcade mode with levels that become unlocked as you complete them in the Story mode. Things work a bit differently in this mode. For starters there are no lives or health, you can get shot endlessly and never die. However in their stead is a timer. If the timer hits zero before you kill an enemy you die and the higher the difficulty the shorter the time you're given to make the kills. There are also no power-ups to pickup. Instead there's a single slow-mo power-up which you can use anytime you like, so long as it's charged. To charge it you need to make headshots, and only headshots. Finally there's your weapon, after a certain number of kills your weapon gets changed. Eventually leading to a ultimate golden weapon if you manage to kill enough enemies.
It's something of a sad affair that as I'm writing this I'm struggling to think of other on-rail shooters that exist on the PC, at least ones that are good anyway. Blue Estate has more in common with Time Crisis than House of the Dead when it comes to the gameplay and sadly on-rail shooters aren't exactly plentiful. I recommend this, simply because its something so different from what we're usually given, it doesn't pull its punches and is quite often genuinely humorous, if in poor taste. Give this game a go if you fancy a change or just wish Time Crisis were on PC (without an emulator). If this appeals to you perhaps try;
The Typing of the Dead: Overkill
Shoot that guy in the head. Shoot that guy in the balls. Pop that balloon for 700 points, then shoot another few guys in the head.
This looked interesting, so I tried the free demo for PlayStation4. It’s a “darkly funny on-rail shooter,” based on the graphic novel from Viktor Kalvachev.
FIRST WATCH: XO-MANOWAR BARBARIANS & MUCH MORE!
Prepare to witness the landmark episode that forged the heir to the Visigoth nation into the world-smashing, interstellar champion now known as X-O Manowar! An ALL-NEW ARC and FEROCIOUS NEW JUMPING-ON POINT for X-O MANOWAR!
Valiant is proud to present X-O MANOWAR #15 – “BARBARIANS,” an ALL-NEW ARC and FEROCIOUS NEW JUMPING-ON POINT from New York Times best-selling writer Matt Kindt (HARBINGER WARS 2, Mind MGMT) and blockbuster artist Trevor Hairsine(DIVINITY)! Prepare to witness the landmark episode that forged the heir to the Visigoth nation into the world-smashing, interstellar champion now known as X-O Manowar!…
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