Up late talking games & writing? You're...

Games: So I've been playing Ms. ‘Splosion Man on XBLA for the past few days now. I've been wanting to mention it earlier, but the embargo was pretty specific about not saying anything, whether positive or negative. Thankfully, that embargo ended at midnight, so now I can spill...


As you can tell from this review, I was pretty high on the first ‘Splosion Man, and for good reason -- it was a fantastic game. When I heard that Twisted Pixel was going back to that well with a female twist, I have to admit that I groaned a little bit. I was having a hard time imagining how such a revisiting could be as interesting or fun as the first one was, but… although I haven't completed the single or multi campaigns, I think they pulled it off.

I'll save further discussion for my full review, but from what I've seen of the game, this is easily an instant-purchase. New mechanics, new music, genuinely funny bits and a co-op campaign that's totally different from the single player… some of the checkpoints are a *wee* bit too far apart, but that's really my only complaint up to this point.

If I was to give it a score RIGHT THIS SECOND, it would be getting pretty great marks.


When I haven't been ‘sploding, I've been putting time into Knights Contract on 360. (There's no apostrophe anywhere in the title? Really?)

I know that the game has been panned almost universally, but I was still intrigued enough to check it out. Although I'm not a fan of escort missions per se, I did like the idea of being an immortal bodyguard tasked with keeping a mortal person safe in a fantasy-styled adventure.


At a point maybe a third of the way through, I can see that it's heavily flawed, but I'm not ready to call it the train wreck that others have.

As a way of explaining its problems in just a few words, it's important to know that the title was developed by now-disbanded Game Republic. If you're familiar with their games (Genji, Folklore, Majin) that pretty much says it all.

To be honest, that studio has always fascinated me because they come up with some brilliant ideas, yet they always managed to completely bungle some aspect of them every single time. They screw up so regularly and so consistently, in fact, it's as if they are intentionally sabotaging themselves. That is certainly the case here.


The good: great concept, fun and powerful magic system, some neat bosses.

The bad: simplistic melee, mazelike levels with maps so bad they’re insulting, frequent load times.

Apparently things get worse as you get further in the game so my opinion could certainly degrade over time, but right now it's just another one of those "almost really good" Game Republic titles. It's a shame, really -- with just a few different design choices, they could have had a string of hits. Instead, they're not even a studio anymore.


PAX Prime 2011 is just around the corner, and the annual picks for the PAX 10 indie competition have been announced.

I think it's fantastic that Penny Arcade takes the time to put such a spotlight on Indies, and it seems like they've got some really good ones this time around. (Like they always do...)