I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES Review

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 by Ska Studios – Just 80 MS points

This games is creating quiet a buzz in XBLIG circles and for very good reason, if you haven’t heard of I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 yet, shame on you.

Ska Studios is the one man outfit responsible for the XBLA smash hit The Dishwasher: Dead Samurai. James Silva is the man behind the mask.

James is a bit of a legend after winning Microsoft’s 2007 Dream Build Play competition to get an XBLA contract for The Dishwasher and this is his third release on XBLIG. James is well known for his opinions on people releasing shabby games and apps onto the service and you get the feeling that I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1(IMAGWZ) is a bit of a dig at the guilty developers, but at the same time showing them how it should be done.

In fact I have heard it said that after the introduction of user ratings, IMAGWZ is the most important thing to appear on XBLIG because of the buzz it is creating and the new customers it is bringing to the service.

The game is a twin stick shooter that will appeal to a massive audience, not just fans of the genre. There are several reasons for this and strangely enough the music is one of them. The song that accompanies the game, just has to be heard, it is worth you dollar alone, I defy anyone not to laugh as they are playing. Not only that, but it’ll get into your head and you will find yourself humming it all day. I can see it getting a release on I Tunes.

The gameplay starts with zombies wandering in from the sides of the screen, you have a small gun to fend them off, but it is not long before you start to get the most glorious choice of over the top weapon power ups at your disposal. From Lazers to Rocket launchers, all killing the enemies with satisfying explosions and effects.

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As the game goes on, the background song changes like an epic rock track, moving from it’s quiet moments to trash metal then back to the original verse and the gameplay changes to match the mood of the song. In the different periods of the game I felt like there were influences of Geometry Wars, Asteroids and Centipede.

In the game you encounter a wide verity of enemies all fitting in well with the backgound music that definitely dictates the pace of the game.

I had a blast with IMAGWZ and still am.

There is a multiplayer mode and local leaderboard to keep you coming back for more, it is a shame there is not online play or online leaderbord, but this game does only cost $1 – 80 MS points.

So don’t bother trying the demo, buy the game, it deserves your $1. Or are you too tight to experience a piece of programming genius.

We give I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES 5 joysticks – excellent

Download the game and see other user reviews here.

Puzzle Pandemonium review

Review by Lollyblast

Puzzle Pandemonium is a classic brick game in which you have to stop you area filling up with bricks. To do this you must match 3 blocks either horizontally or vertically by switching the block that they are next to. You can send extra bricks to opposing players by matching 4 or more bricks or forming chains. These bricks are unplayable until you make a match with a brick that is touching it which then turns the bricks into colours and makes them playable.

The controls are basic and easy to use. The background has flying shapes which get bigger and move towards the screen. It doesn’t draw your attention away from the game but makes it more interesting then a block colour background.

The music reminded me of the music in the Sims 2 when you build a house. It was light music very basic and doesn’t draw your attention away from the game, it blends in well.

The only faults I have with this game are that you can only switch blocks horizontally therefore making it difficult to get vertical matches, but anyone who has played Poker Smash will be familiar with the controls.

To change the difficulty level that you are playing in single player you have to go in to the options menu, this interrupts the flow of the game as you have to stop and start to change the difficulty levels, this became very tedious after a while.

I would definitely recommend this game to be played in multiplayer mode rather than single as is more interesting playing against other people and the game has flows better because you are not changing the difficulty of the CPU all the time. Up to 4 people can play in Multiplayer mode and the added incentive of beating a friend lifts the game and is much more fun than the single player mode.

I give Puzzle Pandemonium 3 joystick

Download a free trial of the game here.

Double Vision review

Double Vision from Aztec Games

Think you have good vision? Put it to the test! Spot the differences in the pictures. Arcade has you race the clock to get the top score. In freeplay you can relax by yourself or compete with a friend. Want something different? Try PuzzleJunk and put your mind to the test! There are over 150 different puzzles!

Anyone who has played a spot the difference machine in their local pub will know what to expect from Double Vision. Spot the difference is a popular genre and Double Vision does it well.

You can download

With three game modes and competitive multiplayer this game brings something new to your Xbox. I personally liked the PuzzleJunk mode where rather than spot the difference in a picture you have to find certain shapes, this works well and gives a very different challenge from the arcade or freeplay mode.

With local leaderboards and awards for you to unlock, Aztec Games have again provided the XBLIG marketplace with a game that shows other developers how to deliver a comprehensive gaming experience ,all for the new low price of 240 Misoft points.

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XboxHornet rates Double Vision as 4 Joysticks – Good

You can download a free trial of the game here.

The Collector review

The Collector from Aztec Games – Available on XBLIG

Compete for the highscore and unlock awards in fast paced and addictive game. Play with or against up to 3 other people or cpu opponents locally!

The basic premise of The Collector is that you have a mining cart on rails at the bottom of the screen and you collect the falling coloured buttons and off load them into the requisite delivery spot. This may sound simple and it is, but at the same time you have to avoid the falling rocks and also make sure you deliver your load to the correct spot otherwise you will be penalised. You are rewarded for consecutive collections of the same colour with multiplier bonuses.

OK my description may sound a little muddled, but watch the video and you will get the idea.

I found the single player mode to be ok and good for getting used to the game, but I did not find it that gripping and I was about to give up on the game. Then I thought I would give the multiplayer modes a go and all of a sudden I saw the game in a whole new light.
You can play one to four players co-operatively, in battle mode or in team play. The addition of CPU opponents means that you can enjoy the multiplayer games even when you are on your little lonesome.

In multiplayer you not only get to collect the coloured buttons, you also get to sabotage your buddies attempts to beat you by dumping bombs on their collecting bins, which is always great fun and an excellent addition. The multiplayer games really are good fun and the added competitive element is great. Who can resist the attraction of getting one over on your mates.

Aztec Games have made a comprehensive game that includes local leaderboards and awards in the game, something that many new games do not bother with.

So The Collector may be a simple game, but at 80 MS points the mulitiplayer modes makes this game worthy of your $1 and lift the game to an XboxHornet score of 4 joysticks – Good

You can see user reviews and download the game straight to your Xbox here.

SKA Studios bring us the best game in the world ever, well maybe

And who are we to argue with James Silva developer of Dishwasher and general XNA legend.

To download the game and see user reviews click here.

Press release:

Ska Studios LLC today announced a truly epic title in the true tradition of epicness with its latest video game entertainment product release, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1, set for release August 16, 2009 on the Xbox Live Indie Games for 80 Microsoft Points.

Presenting a familiarly themed, engrossing and stylized “game universe,” then adding zombies to that world, I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!1 aims to completely revolutionize the videogames industry, destroy it in fire a thousand times, and resurrect it as a phoenix sitting on a unicorn atop a shiny city of golden gumdrops. As we say at Ska Studios LLC, “our games will pique your interest and defenestrate your cats.”

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!1 represents a culmination of years of intensive psychological research, bleeding edge engineering, and artistic collaboration by over two dozen internationally recognized art houses that may or may not exist, using such technologies as the HYPERMAGIC 3.0 engine to power never-before-seen eye candy and the MEGACORE X parallelization processor for smooth-as-glass presentation.

“You can make a game,” said Ska Studios Lead Engineer Gato Maria Hernando Rodriguez-Rodriguez in an exclusive interview with Chairman Meow Magazine, “but what happens when you put zombies in it? Nobody knows, but they’ll find out soon. We’ll all find out soon.” And, with Xbox Live Indie Games interest flagging under reports of poor sales, difficulty locating the section in the Dashboard while inebriated, and super-smart people saying super-smart things on web forums, the game couldn’t be released at a better time.

“We were following trends and noticed that most people were buying Xbox360s for the DVD player, the Xbox Live Vision Camera, and the Calculator app on XBLIG, but not for games,” Gato continues, “I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES!!1 will change that. You’ll be playing our game. It has zombies in it. Ok bye.”

I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 will arrive on Xbox Live Indie Games on August 16, 2009. It will cost 80 Microsoft Points.

JForce: UNSTOPPABLE – Gameplay

Jermaine Ubenheimer is on a quest to find out
what he values most in life, though he may run into trouble along the way in this action-packed
top-down shooter. Featuring more weapons
than you can imagine and a story you will
never forget.

HIGHLIGHTS:

-EPIC STORY with fully animated cutscenes, copious amounts of blood & gore, crazy plot twists, and PUNS.

Sequence Dream Build Play ’09 HD Trailer

Combining the rich mechanics of an RPG and the frenetic action of a high-octane rhythm title, Sequence is the story of two mysterious people, struggling to discover the secrets of the Tower.

Spirit Whirled review

By Lollyblast

Spirit Whirled official description is as follows:
“What will Spirit find along the way this ghost adventure!? Guide Spirit through seven progressively challenging levels while picking up spiral energy to unlock the Doorway of Light! Avoid hazards and enemies on your way to your friends!”

Spirits Whirled is a basic platform game where you are a blue ghost who has to collect a certain amount of spirits (orb objects) to open the ‘Door of Light’ to progress to the next level. The only enemies you come across are vacuum cleaners which you jump on to kill.

The controls are very basic with ‘A’ to jump, ‘A+A’ to glide and the joystick to move left and right.
The graphics on the game are ok nothing amazing. The background is not very interesting to look at and becomes boring very quickly as does the music with the same notes being played over and over again.

The game play is very basic and with no real story line the games became boring very quickly.

Spirit Whirled is a good game for children or people who enjoy coin collecting games, but with no other objectives
I can’t recommend this game for hard-core gamers or people who get bored of doing the same thing repeatedly.

I give this game an average rating of three joysticks.