I’m also very aware that the XBLA tag in the tag cloud seems to be growing much faster than all the others…

Then, something happened on XBLA.  4 magical knights arrived on the scene, in the form of Castle Crashers.

Man, did that shut me up good and proper. Here it was, the jewel in Behemoths already sparkling crown. I was (as always) filled with doubt as I downloaded the demo from XBLA  as I had seen and heard about this 2d scroller beat em up from the team behind the great Alien Homimid, which don’t get me wrong I did enjoy but felt it lacked a certain something. But Castle Crashers totally exceeded my expectations. With a solid 5+ hours of gameplay which can be thoroughly enjoyed with 3 more friends either there in the room so the banter / insults can flow freely, or over XBL where the same thing can easily occur as you bond and test the boundaries with your new found cyber pals.
The gorgeous 2.5d cartoon animation coupled with genuinely funny moments make this  an absolute treat to play. Collect sandwiches to go all “hulk on yo ass”, an array of weaponry from a stick to something that looks suspiciously like a light sabre and powerups in the form of collectable creatures which float aimlessly above your head randomly raining down all sorts of fire and brimstone on your assailants.  If you want a break from slaying the vastly varied forms of enemies then you can head to either the arena to fight amongst yourselves or prepare for the button bashing spectacle in “all you can Quaff” which reminded me (and my thumbs) of a Mario party mini game.
Since its launch the team have added some downloadable content which gives you access to more playable characters complete with their own special abilities and while there a nice addition I only hope they add some more mini games or side missions.
For a mere 800 points, this is worthy of a place on your hard drive.

Seriously go check out the trailer, it’s amazing – the music and graphics are just out of this world no wonder it’s been nominated for Exellence in Visual Art by the IGF.

Wow that’s a lot of links!

Owlboy is due for release on XBLA and PC at some point…

While at a first glance Greed Corp appears to be fairly simple (compared to other games in it’s genre) with a limited number of units and fairly small maps, a closer inspection reveals a ton of hidden depth. The objective of each game is to be the last man standing and this is no small task as a result of a very interesting and unique gameplay mechanic that means the battlefield is constantly shrinking through the course of the battle.

Each map is a symmetrical arena designed for 2, 3 or 4 players. Each of the four armies, while different in appearance, has exactly the same units giving the game a boardgame like feel. Each turn allows you to move your units or build new ones. You can also build a few buildings – an armoury which lets you build more walkers (essentially your infantry), a canon (which can fire across the level) and harvesters.

It’s the harvesters that, for the most part, create this fantastic mechanic of the shrinking battlefield. For every turn after one is placed the height of the tile it is on and the tiles surrounding it are reduced by one. At the start of the round each hex tile has a height value. When that value is reduced to one the tile becomes critical and when it reaches zero the tile and any buildings or units on it are removed from the game.

Each tile reduced in height by a harvester is converted into currency used to buy new units and means that you must find a balance between gathering resource and ensuring your army still has somewhere to stand on! Additionally you also recieve a certian amount of money each turn automatically. This cash actually increases as the amount of available land decreases meaning that as the map gets smaller and smaller, the armies on it get more and more powerful.

Your armies consist of walkers of which you may have up to 16 per tile. They are cheap to build and can move 1 space in enemy or neutral territory or 3 spaces in your own territory. Moving them onto a space captures that space and any buildings on it. Spaces with enemy walkers on can also be taken provided you have an equal or greater number of walkers moving onto it. This means that if you both have the full 16 walkers the attacker has the initiative and, although they will be left with no walkers, they will take the space.

Of course, as tiles are removed from the game movement for your walkers becomes increasingly limited and that’s where the most expensive unit in the game comes in. Carriers allow you to move a full compliment of 16 walkers from where they are to any tile on the map. Sneaking behind the enemy or even landing right in the middle of his base means that even blocked off enemies are not safe. Furthermore, once you have taken a space simply placing a harvester on it can have devastating results as turn by turn your enemies base is reduced in height and eventually dropped into 0blivion with very little they can do about it!

The presentation of the game is very nice. Each army has a very unique look and W! Games have obviously put a lot of thought into the universe, claiming that Greed Corp is in fact the first of many to come to be set there.

Multiplayer is tense and a lot of fun. Games often seem to come right down the the last couple of turns with winners and losers decided only in the final moments. As such the game is fun, even for the losing party as there is always everything to play for rather that one team deciding the fate of the game in the first couple of turns.

Definitely worth trying out, especially if you have someone to try it with, the demo is available now.

Rastafarian Cats. Yep.

"Ding" "Ding" - the critical hit sound is glorious.

I quickly assess the situation that the game has put in front of me and decide to order my beam frigate to move at flanking speed to try and get behind the enemy position so that I can use it’s superior firepower on their weaker rear and bottom armour. I make sure to orientate my ship such that I present only the front armour to my enemy. I take my two smaller destroyers (the default ship, small, fast and armed with slow firing but powerful nuclear missile batteries), order them to move and fire and set co-ordinates opposite the beam frigate.

With my genius pincer movement planned out I end my turn and get ready to watch as my plan is acted out in 30 seconds of real time full 3D space warfare set to a beautiful classical piano score. Both your’s and your enemy’s turns happen simultaneously with no opportunity to alter your plan for the full 30 seconds once you end your turn.

I press the go button and the battle commences.  Immediately my frigate turns sharply to move towards it’s designated position. One of my destroyers, already accelerating has no chance to evade the incoming vessel and is cleaved in two as the the much larger ship ploughs straight through it.

With only a quarter of it’s health left the frigate limps into it’s position bombarded by a barrage of  tiny homing missiles. As the missiles streak through space and bounce harmlessly off of the strong front armour (each missile’s ricochet impressively calculated by the games physics engine) my remaining destroyer unleashes it’s payload as it glides round behind one of the pirate ships. I’m rewarded by a series of “dings” as the missiles score critical hits on the rear armour and then the action pauses and I’m back on the map screen tasked with issuing the next set of orders.

Despite the terrible start, I’m able to fend off the pirates and I’m rewarded with a module to increase the bottom armour on one of my ships. Later I come across a Flamingo who will let me trade two items for one of his.

From Blendo Games, the studio behind the awesome Gravity Bone, comes Flotilla: Orbital Battleship Manoeuvres. A “simultaneous turn based strategy” game in which armies of anthropomorphic space faring animals do battle amongst the stars in enormous space ships armed to the teeth with homing nuclear warheads and great big laser beams! Yes, it’s just as awesome as it sounds.

The basic idea of the single player adventure mode is to move your fleet around a small galaxy visiting planets one at a time. Each time you reach a planet you are given a situation by way of a pop up box. Sometimes it will be someone asking for help and you can choose to help them or pirate their cargo. Other times you’ll have no choice as you are ambushed by a bunch of deer dressed in military uniforms. Other times Rastafarian cats might offer you some cargo in exchange for taking some stolen property off their hands.

Gradually you’ll acquire better and better loot and more ships with which to defend yourself. The end however is always close at hand. You may be wiped out by space bandits or die of natural causes but one way or another your adventure will end almost as soon as it’s begun. Interestingly there doesn’t seem to be a way to save before visiting a planet so every battle you have is a nail biting experience as once you are challenged to a fight there is no surrender and losing a single battle will end your adventure and all your loot with it!

I would certainly welcome the edition of a longer campaign mode. While the fragile nature of your fleet makes for some tense battles, the short turn limit means you’ll struggle to get very far. Perhaps a way to  spilt your fleet so a single loss doesn’t end your whole adventure wouldn’t go amiss.

That said, it’s an absolutely charming game. The graphics are simple but look great with flat shaded ships in bold primary colours. The interface is very slick and easy to navigate once you’ve completed the short tutorial. The characters and art displayed in between missions are delightful with Rastafarian cats looking just as cute as you’d imagine. The sound is basic but works to good effect, with the classical music in particular standing out and really offering a unique atmosphere during the epic battles.

It’s also a very deep and challenging game. It’s all to easy to be wiped out in a single turn if you let your enemy get behind you. Once you get the hang of manual orientation for your ships though a whole slew of tactical possibilities opens up as you send your ships pirouetting around with their top armour always facing your opponent.  One sneaky tactic I like is to back my ships up against an asteroid to protect my weaker armour and leave the enemy no choice but to attack my front.

All in all Flotilla is an excellent game from and well worth your time. Over on the Flotilla site, you can try a demo and watch a short video demonstration on the Blendo Games YouTube channel.

Flotilla is out now on PC for just $10.  A planned Xbox Live Arcade port is coming soon.