A while back, I made a list of new-aged, old-school games that gamers should play sometime in their life. This time, I made a list of some up and coming retro-styled games that deserve to be on gamers' radars in the future. Be sure to check up on these unique games as time goes by.
Super T.I.M.E. Force–Xbox 360
Capybara Games, the people that released the critically acclaimed art game Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP are working on the new time manipulation shooter, Super T.I.M.E Force. The game involves a similar rewinding mechanic seen in Braid except it is combined with the death replays in Super Meat Boy.
Players have a short amount of time to make it to the end of a level. If the player dies, time will rewind to a certain point and the player chooses a new character. As the new character continues on, a ghost of the previous character will appear in the background and perform the same actions it performed before its death. If this new character can kill the enemy that killed the last character, then the player will reclaim the life that was lost.
The player also has the ability to pause the game and rewind time if things just are not going as expected. The game releases sometime this year. Given that it is exclusively for Xbox Live Arcade right now, I wouldn't doubt that it shows up as part of their Summer of Arcade promotion.
Mercenary Kings–PC
Mercenary Kings is the next game developed by Tribute Games, the same team that worked with Ubisoft to create Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game. Mercenary Kings is a side-scrolling shooter that focuses extensively on weapon customization and four player co-op. Players will be able to buy items and customize every aspect of their weapons as they fight through the game's 30 to 40 missions. The developer's also promise an intricate story involving conspiracy and assassination. Mercenary Kings is expected to appear on Steam first sometime this year and eventually make its way onto other platforms afterward.
A.N.N.E.–PC
Gamesbymo is working on an ambitious mash-up of all the games that defined the 8 and 16-bit era of video games. The game is called A.N.N.E and it combines Metroid-esque exploration and Gradius-styled action with weapon customization, physics puzzles, and RPG leveling.
The game's little robot protagonist has the ability to jump in and out of his ship Blaster Master style to explore the alien planet that his girlfriend has been taken to. Players can use the ship to move large objects around to create new paths as well as fight in combat. A.N.N.E is set to appear on Steam on PC in early to mid 2014. It's Kickstarter campaign is in its final week and if more goals are met, then it may appear on Mac and Linux as well as OUYA and Wii U.
Chasm–PC, Mac, Linux
Chasm, developed by Discord Games, is another 2D, exploration heavy, action RPG. It is more of a traditional RPG with swords, magic, loot drops, and dungeons. The game is expected to allow players full customization over their style of combat. The player's character can equip both hands with any sword, spell, and shield in the game along with other items.
The game will also include a hardcore mode that involves permadeath and scores players based on their skill. There are also planned leaderboards for hardcore mode that track players times, amount of damage taken, and other stats. Chasm is expected to be released in May of next year for PC, Mac, and Linux, but the team wants to release it for as many platforms as possible. They already released a demo through their Kickstarter page.
Crystal Catacombs–PC, Mac, Linux
Crystal Catacombs is another exploration RPG that also incorporates rouge-like elements. Each dungeon will be randomly generated, and will feature unique themed areas. Along with the wide variety of weapons and spells, special "Magical Artifacts" can be found that give the player special abilities like a double jump or grappling. Crystal Catacombs will initially release for PC, Mac, and Linux, but the developer, Maxwell Jensen, wants to port it to XBLA, iOS, and Android if possible. A beta was released this past April for certain people who backed the game's Kickstarter. The final version should be released around July 31st.
This new age of classically themed games seems to be in full swing. As more and more of these games find larger marketability, the spread will continue to grow. Be sure to check up on these games every once in a while before release and support these awesome indie projects if you want to see more them made.
No comments:
Post a Comment