Flywrench

Website: http://messhof.com/flywrench/
Developer: Messhof
Platform: PC

All you need to know about Flywrench is that one, it is one of the hardest games you will ever play and two,
when you finally complete it, you will feel like a god among mortals. It's hard to describe what it is exactly. You pilot a ship that is a flywrench and you navigate through traps in solar systems. The story really isn't the strongest part of the game but the bizarre text in between levels serve as a sort of entertaining intermission.

The controls are very simple. When you press up, your flywrench flaps its wings once, turning into a red vertical line until you release the key. Holding down turns your ship into a spinning green line. It loses altitude and can bounce off the yellow walls of the level. Pressing left or right makes your ship glide in that direction in its default white horizontal state.

The catch is that the controls are "slippery" which makes the flywrench insanely difficult to control. Pressing up propels your ship a short distance upwards but when you press the same key again, it drives the ship upwards with a much greater force. This means that it is impossible to control your movement precisely. There isn't a "safe" way of playing, i.e. tapping a key a few times to nudge the ship's movement. Instead, you're expected to go with the ship's inertia, timing your keys right to achieve your intended trajectory.

Adding to the game's difficulty are the differently colored gates in the levels. A green gate could only be passed through if your ship is green. Therefore, holding the up key gets you through red gates, spinning the ship gets your through green gates and gliding gets you through white gates. When the levels have a bunch of different gates, the player has to quickly decide which ship behavior to use and switch to it.

Add in spinning cross-shaped obstacles, mud slides that force your ship downwards, switch-activated gates to the narrow passages in the levels and you have a game that is fantastically challenging. It takes more than a few tries to finish a level but fortunately, your ship is instantly respawned at the starting point when it crashes, saving you time from wiping your tears. It's amazing how much you will learn after dying a few times -- it seems as though your mind subconsciously learns to time your keys slightly faster or slower to navigate around that seemingly impossible corner. And when you finally complete a level on your 50th attempt, the satisfaction is immense. Pat yourself on the back and do a little victory dance on your swivel chair because you deserve it!

The very minimalistic graphical style doesn't distract from the gameplay which is the main focus anyway. Adding more might actually detract from the gameplay since it relies on colors and lines to define boundaries. Flywrench feels like a unique, almost alien experience. The up/down/left/right keys are the most commonly used keys in games to control movement. Here, the controls move the ship but not in the way that is familiar to the player. It takes a kind of re-learning of the controls which I find gives the game its unique edge.

-- Benjamin

Developer: Double Fine Productions

Platform: PC & Xbox

Release: 2005

Psychonauts is a platform game that is filled with charming characters and a really whacked out storyline that kept the game extremely compelling for me. The game has you taking control of a boy named Razputin who escaped from his father’s circus and decided to take part in a summer camp. The summer camp, which was a secret government training program in disguise, took in special children with psychic abilities and trained them into special agents called the Psychonauts. The game starts right when you crashed into the program and the plot of the game slowly fleshed out as events happened in the camp.

One very interesting point pertaining to the levels in the game is that all the levels took place inside the mind of various characters in the game, be it the sergeant of the camp or a gigantic lungfish by the name of Linda. The levels are all very imaginative and different from each other which make playing every level a fresh experience.  One memorable level took place in the mind of Linda the lungfish. In its mind, you play as the enormous ‘bad guy’ in the city of lungfish. It’s very similar to the Godzilla movies where you can trample the tiny citizens, climb the buildings and knock down landmarks all while the teeny lungfish army of tanks and planes firing at you. The level ends with you fighting a superhero who really is the sergeant of the summer camp in disguise. In each level, you are able to collect figments of the character’s memories. This allows the game to have deep character development and make each of them relevant to the entire plot of the game. Collecting the figments also allow you to gain new psychic abilities which are crucial in some of the puzzles and boss fights in the game.

The character design in this game is simply brilliant. The characters in the game are interesting and their personalities showed through really well with the well written and quirky dialogue lines. Voice acting for the characters are also very well done and brought out a certain charm to the characters. Not only did the characters speak well in the game, they looked good too. The visual design of the characters is appealing. They have this certain dark yet cartoony look to them, something you would see in a Tim Burton film. They varied in shapes, sizes and colours and each of them has their own certain traits which brought out their unique look.

The actual gameplay is very standard, platforming kind of game. You control the character in a 3d environment and are able to jump, slide and climb objects as well as attack enemies with a standard punch. The psychic powers do bring some engaging gameplay mechanics into the game. One interesting power is the ability to see from another character’s point of view. It is well implemented in a boss fight in which the light goes out and only the boss had night vision ability. You are thus able to see through the viewpoint of the boss and be able to dodge her attacks while finding a chance to strike. There are also standard platform game elements such as collecting the figments to gain new powers, finding secret items and buying of items to help you get across certain obstacles. Enemy variation in the game is surprisingly limited although there are quite a number of very interesting boss characters.

Graphics of the game are somewhat dated by today’s standard but the animations of the characters make up for it. The game performs very well in a modern machine and running it in high resolution makes the visual decent and workable for its unique design style. The sound effects and music in the game are decent but not very memorable. The voice acting on the other hand shines and is still better than most of the games today.

Overall, Pyschonauts is a very enjoyable experience. Even though the platforming mechanics are good, I find that the main reasons I’m attracted to the game are the interesting cast of characters and the well presented storyline. I love this game.

Rating: 9/10

Weiwen

A must-try for Diablo fanatics.

This game is an RPG game set in Greek mythology. Players control a hero, who rises up to restore peace within the chaotic sphere of co-existence between gods and men.

I bought this game a couple years ago during my army days. I was (but still am) a huge Diablo fanboy. I probably played that game for 2 years, replaying it over and over again on battlenet. So when game reviews mentioned this game was a diablo-esque RPG, I immediately bought it. I completed it, and the original box is collecting dust somewhere at home. Recently, Steam offered this game and it's expansion, titled Immortal Throne, for only 5 USD. So I bought it and replayed it again.

In short, I like this game. It plays like Diablo, it looks like Diablo, just that everything is in a different age. But how does it compare by itself?

Gameplay wise, it plays like a normal RPG game. Players control only 1 character, which will stereotypically rise up from anonymity to become to hero/heroine of the story. There are the two usual bars to watch: the health bar, and the mana bar. Players are allowed to customise the way their character look, and also as the game progresses, they can also choose to specialise in different masteries (whether you want to be a fire mage, ice sorcerer, paladin, rogue, etc). Weapons and armour are of course upgradable through monster drops or through a merchant. They also have a dual slot, where players can choose two weapon sets that the player wields, and is able to swap between these weapons by pressing (W). This functionality, if I recall correctly, first emerged in Diablo II's expansion.

I would have to say that the storyline is quite cheesy, basically a trio of super baddies called the Telkine is trying to take over the Greek world and you have to stop them. Your travels take you to a myraid of places, which include famous places like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, The Great Wall of China, Minotaur's Labyrinth, etc. I guess that's really neat. You get to meet famous people like General Leonidas of 300 fame as well. What I didn't really like though, was how it didn't really depict the actual myths. For instance, the character didn't carry a ball of thread into Minotaur's Labyrinth, nor did he fight Medusa through looking a shield. These bosses just appear as a super monster that has outrageous hit points. This, to me, is quite sad because I was looking forward to reliving the tales of old, becoming like one of the Greek heroes. Removing all these little tidbits just make the game a bit boring.

Art wise, it looks good, even in today's (2010) standards. It doesn't really look outdated. Monsters have their own unique art, and weapons have their own unique look. The maps are really huge, and are very nicely detailed. What I like about this game is that there are very few loading screens. Players are able to traverse the different areas freely. The only times where loading screens are shown is when he teleports to different places within the same realm, or between realms. I also like the neat touch of the weapons emanating this glow whenever the player uses an epic or legendary weapon.

What I have to mention though, is how the weapon drops are a bit IMBA (imbalanced for the game). Early on, I picked up this weapon which allowed me to 2 hit kill most monsters in that realm. I used that weapon for probably half a game, when I picked up another weapon which was not only better, but also allowed me to 2 hit the monsters. While I appreciate the usefulness of the weapon (it meant a shorter game walkthrough for me), I cannot help but think that as a game designer, I would have prevented the player from getting a hold of a weapon such as this. Very evil, I know. Also, another thing that irks me about this game is how the bosses are, as mentioned before, super baddies with outrageous hit points. Whenever I fight a boss, I would just hold down my attack button, and just spam-drink health potions. No tactic is necessary, just a good magazine. Although there were a few bosses with special attacks which could 1 hit-kill the character, most of them can be downed with relatively ease. I just made sure I have enough potions.

Sound design is good, I like how the epic soundtracks mixed in well with the gameplay. The sound changes to something dramatic whenever he enters a special area, which helps because the maps are so big, you wouldn't know where was the right place to go to. For instance, in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, players have to find the right tomb where a Telkine is hiding in. Problem was, there's probably 6 different tombs in that area. But the player can easily find his way to the right tomb when he realises that the music/sound is actually a cue to his bearings.

Level design is relatively good, however it can get boring after you enter an 'unknown tomb' with the same layout and assets for the umpteenth time, so much so that from Act 3 onwards I decided not to enter any more 'unknown tombs'. Although I know I could be losing out on a lot of experience points and potentially good item drops, I couldn't stand the fact of seeing the same thing over and over again. However, for the most part of the game, level design is good.

All in all, this is a good game that I would recommend people who likes Diablo to play. But of course, personally, it doesn't really come close to what Diablo has to offer.

Long live Blizzard Entertainment!

Rating: 8/10

Okay come on, who doesn't like adorable little sheepsies? Especially ones that are created by Aardman!

Synopsis:
Based on his animation series Shaun the Sheep, Home Sheep Home allows you to control a flock of sheep; Shaun, Timmy and Shirley. Just like the cartoon, Shirley is the sheep that's built like a tank, Shaun is nice and averaged-sized, and Timmy is the itty bitty baby. Your goal is to get the 3 sheep to the signboard at the end of the puzzle to proceed to the next level, using their different sizes, weights and capabilities to manipulate various objects in each level.


Gameplay:
You control the sheep using either the [WASD] or [arrow] keys. Since you can only move one sheep at a time, you can switch from sheep to sheep by either clicking on them using the mouse or by using the number keys (1 to activate Shirley, 2 for Shaun and 3 for Timmy) to switch sheep. What makes this game interesting is that the various sizes of the sheep make them more suited to do certain tasks than the others. For example, Shirley is tremendously strong and can be used to move heavy objects, Shaun is fast and a good jumper, and Timmy can be used to squeeze through small spaces. The levels are varied, but simple. If you ever get stuck, or lose a sheep by making it fall off the edge, you need to restart again.

Review:
This game is undeniably cute. The scratchy style reminds you of primary school watercolour paintings, and the sheep are packed with individual personality. The timer gives you an incentive to come back and try and beat your previous score. The puzzles are not too difficult, and are suitable for kids of all ages.

The downside is, some of the puzzles are a little too easy, while some seem to depend almost on pure luck and bumbling. There are 15 levels, and since most levels take an average of less than a minute to complete, you'd be done with the game in about 15 minutes; so while this is a fun game, it's just a small snack in terms of gaming pleasure.

Play Home Sheep Home

Sonic the Hedgehog is a platform game developed by Sega and published by for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis system. It is the inaugural game in Sega's flagship Sonic the Hedgehog video game series, and was the first title developed by Sonic Team. The game was released in 1991 in North America, Europe, and Japan. It is sometimes retrospectively referred to as Sonic the Hedgehog 1 or Sonic 1 to differentiate it from both its main character and sequels in the same series.

Gameplay
In the game, Sonic has to prevent Doctor Robotnik from collecting the six Chaos Emeralds in an attempt to rule South Island. The player controls Sonic as he traverses six zones, each of which is split into three "acts". At the end of the third act of each zone, the player faces Dr. Robotnik in one of his vehicles.

The gameplay centers around Sonic's ability to run, jump, and roll at high speeds. Levels include springs, slopes, high falls and loop-de-loops. Hazards the player experiences include a wide variety of "badniks" — animals trapped inside mechanical bodies, which are released the moment the player hits them with an attack. Each badnik takes one hit to destroy, but their movements and methods of attack vary greatly over the course of the game. The player must also avoid rows of sharp spikes, bottomless pits, and elaborate death traps.

Scattered around each level map are numerous gold rings, which became a signature item of the Sonic series. Collecting 100 rings rewards the player with an extra life. Rings act as a layer of protection against hazards — if Sonic possesses at least one ring, an enemy attack will not kill him instantly but will cause his rings to scatter outwards and bounce away from him. Shields and invincibility can also be collected in order to provide additional layers of protection — however, they do not prevent the player losing a life if Sonic is crushed (by a trap or between a wall and a moving platform), drowned, falls into a pit, or goes over each act's ten-minute time limit.

Why i like it?
I pretty much grew up on video games which are console driven such as Nintendo and Sega. For nintendo its clearly Mario, but for Sega it has to be Sonic the Hedgehog. The pure exhilaration from seeing Sonic spin so fast till he can practically slice off trees were a very awesome thing to pull when you were a kid. U just wish that you could run so fast like Sonic and rip things apart. It is from this that i got my running prowess from. Cause I would practically run up to my friend's house to play this game everyday for a brief stint till I completed the stages that is.