RFM Talks: 3D Games showing their age

Recently I decided to blow the dust off of my Dreamcast and give Blue Stinger another go. It’s one of the Dreamcast’s signature, weird games that helped the console earn it’s cult following. Bad visuals and voice acting are signs of it’s time and if you can get on board with the ridiculous story that’s as camp as Christmas it remains quite enjoyable. Initially I was quite surprised at how much fun I was having with a 14 year old game, that was until they brought in a swimming section.



A couple of hours in game you come to an area where you have to swim around a maze-like water plant whilst avoiding a shark, a concept that became a staple of action-adventure games since Tomb Raider, but in the case of Blue Stinger it’s where the game really began to show it’s age. Until this point Blue Stinger had been relatively easy to control even with the Dreamcast’s crazy controller, but navigating in the three dimensions of water became utterly unplayable. The easiest way to describe it is, imagine you're strapped into an aerotrim submerged underwater. It was shocking to play and I would go as far as saying it felt completely broken as there seemed no real way for my character to tread water to catch their breath.



It’s easy to forget the teething problems game developers must’ve had in the 90s making the transition into 3D games. I had mentioned before that Tomb Raider led the way in terms of 3D action-adventure games and not to mention Super Mario 64 doing it’s thing for platformers but they weren't without their problems. Turning Lara on the spot and manipulating Mario’s camera are a few things I remember vividly. These sort of problems were slowly ironed out over subsequent iterations in their respective series, but other games took years to change and some not finding their feet until this generation of consoles.



To this day the Sonic series struggles to work in a 3D environment, Chris Franklin explains it more eloquently than I ever could but in short, Sonic’s signature speed doesn't lend itself well to a 3D environment, dodging hazards and landing jumps worked in 2D because you were limited to UP, DOWN FORWARD and BACK. Maneuvering 360 degrees gives more opportunity for error and navigating obstacles at speed is difficult and frustrating.

Sonic Adventure and Sonic 2006 had this problem and ultimately began the series decline. Only recently with Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Generations has the formula been changed to make Sonic play more like the Burnout series. Having you navigate a relatively linear track and letting the player boost and drift around corners feels great and fits a character like Sonic perfectly. It’s just a shame they had to pad Unleashed with those bloody werehog sections and add fluff between the great core of Generations 2D and 3D bits. From what I understand though, to design a long detailed track to race down at breakneck speed is a hard process and is probably why the padding exists. It’s a step in the right direction for the series and I hope it evolves from here.



Another good example is if anyone should play the original Resident Evil games now, they’re likely to struggle with the infamous “Tank-Controls” or “Unicycle controls” as I like to refer them. Combined with the awkward fixed camera angles and terrible combat it’s enough to turn anybody off. Fans of the series will argue that it adds to the tension of the game and is half of the identity of a genre but it’s still very clunky and unpleasant. Resident Evil 4 adjusted the mechanics and improved them significantly. The camera was brought in for an over-the-shoulder perspective adding the ability to aim more effectively while still maintaining tension with enemies being able to sneak up on you. This addition was universally praised and would later be used by other games like Dead Space, which in my opinion perfected the mechanic.



I think we’ve come to a point with this generation, where we've established many different mechanical improvements that simply work and developers use them because they have become the standard. The only minor gripes I’ve encountered recently are down to changing how a crosshair is aligned with the analogue stick and goes to show that we’re pretty spoiled now having high quality games to play. Maybe it’s because I am spoiled with this new standard, that some of my older 3D games feel less accessible but I’m sure there are plenty of exceptions out there for me to discover.        

Finally do yourself a favour and check out some videos of Blue Stinger if you’re interested in seeing how absurd it is without having to actually play it. It’s definitely worth a look.

Thanks for reading,

Kris.

RFM Talks: Receiver

I haven’t got a good relationship with first person shooters on the whole. I often feel like I've gotten everything I can out of the genre after my time with Call of Duty 4. I remember seeing the sequel a year or two later, I watched some friends play and I thought, oh it’s identical. Personally I think the same can be said for most games in the genre, because of it’s saturation..

I’m just a bit bored with the first-person shooter now, I want to see some ideas and new directions.

Enter, Receiver...

A game originally created in a 7-day FPS challenge, Receiver explores the handling of guns in a way that I've never seen done before. Simulating the mechanics involved in firing and reloading of three different firearms in a more realistic manner, Receiver changes the conventions and challenges 
involved in a first person shooter.  

The game takes place across a procedurally generated map that changes every round. You are placed in a random location when you respawn and are equipped with a Colt 1911, Smith & Wesson revolver or a Glock 17 as well as an undetermined amount of ammunition and sometimes a torch. Your goal is to locate and play 11 cassette tapes scattered about the map and take out enemy flying drones or sentry turrets you encounter.

Through playing the tapes collected you slowly piece together the games plot. You are told an invisible enemy has been orchestrating something called the “Mind-kill.” Years of subliminal attacks through various media has weakened humanity, but you the player are immune to the effects and have therefore been recruited as a Receiver.

The tapes play out in a clever way as they talk of subliminal messages and having to be replayed multiple times to ‘take effect’ and given the nature of the games procedural generation you’re likely to hear the tapes multiple times, making this a cool fourth wall breaker if a bit creepy.

It’s a typical dystopian sci-fi plot here reminiscent of 1984 and John Carpenter’s They Live (Unfortunately without the cool glasses). This combined with the minimalist, stylish visuals and electro soundtrack help paint a picture of the games world that feels just-right, giving enough negative space for players to flesh-out in their own minds if they so wish.

The three guns handle very differently and getting accustomed to each does take time. To begin you have to teach yourself how each gun fires and reloads, Revolver being the easiest to use (and explain). As well as WASD and space to move and G to pick up items you have to take into account these other keys,

“E” Releases the barrel exposing the rounds

“V” Will clear the barrel of empty casings,

“Z” will insert live rounds,

“R” returns the barrel,

“F” pulls back the hammer...oh and don’t forget the mouse wheel spins the barrel.

Got that? That’s the easy one as well!

The other two guns use the same buttons for their mechanisms but become more complicated when it comes to using the slide and having to holster your gun completely to replenish ammunition to a cartridge. It becomes somewhat of a juggling act but when it all comes together with muscle memory it’s fantastic.

One thing that can be quite jarring at first is the fact that you don’t have any arms.

Instead you draw your weapon by holding right mouse button which works quite well to get rid of the floaty feel of the gun. In a Vlog the developer at Wolfire games had stated that the arms would've taken up too much time in development and may have obscured the gun mechanics too so I can understand that.

Combat feels tense and exciting given the amount of effort you need to put into the mechanics and not to mention if you’re shot once you’re dead! It’s recommended to play cautiously then as you’re never sure what lurks around each corner and more often than not ammo is scarce.

Receiver’s best moments are when you’re scouting the area meticulously and peeping into a new location then you manage to take out a drone or sentry perfectly and being able to properly reload afterward without fumbling or the rush of adrenaline when you do fumble under pressure as a drone 
spots you, it’s great stuff.  

I've had a lot of fun with Receiver, given the nature of the game making it easy to pick up and play when I get a moment or burn a couple of hours on. I can’t recommend it enough and at £4 it’s worth a look out of curiosity.

Receiver is available for Windows, Mac and Linux now through Steam and DRM free at http://www.wolfire.com/receiver

Thanks for reading,

Kris

RFM Talks: Tekken 3

Released in 1998, Tekken 3 took the fighting scene by storm. MobyGames holds it as the Highest rated PS one game to date. I'm no expert but in my humble opinion it is the greatest 3D fighting game of all time, here's why.

The key feature to Tekken’s mass appeal has to be it’s accessibility. The game’s control scheme is such that a person playing for the first time would be able to come to grips with the mechanics in a matter of minutes and those more dedicated would be able to find a deep enough combo system to perfect over a longer playtime. Unlike Street Fighter that requires a player to perform arcs and charges with the analogue stick/D-pad or Virtua Fighter with it’s complex time based inputs, Tekken keeps it simple by assigning limbs to the four face buttons, making combos easy and logical.



Another of Tekken 3’s draws is it’s roster, Perfectly combining the badass with the mad cap
Tekken provides something for everyone. Very rarely in fighting games, do I feel compelled to play every character but given the variety here there’s plenty to experience.
Each fighter looks and plays great, all have been superbly motion captured in their signature martial art styles and help communicate their individual personalities. Unfortunately you won’t be throwing any fireballs here that’s not Tekken’s style.



Combining both aforementioned features I would say I’m able to attribute a lot Tekken 3’s greatness to one of it’s characters.

My first experience playing Tekken 3 was on a Playstation demo disc. Though the demo only had two playable characters I would play that thing again and again, because of Eddy Gordo.
Eddy is definitely the first man of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art that combines rhythmic movement with unorthodox acrobatic strikes. Until Tekken 3 I’d wager no one had even heard of or had seen Capoeira before, that’s because Eddy put it on the map.



Namco had the right idea in creating a new character for their franchise that had such an awesome fighting style and one that lends itself so well to their control scheme that focuses on using hands and feet. Not only that, Capoeira’s dynamic moveset makes for a truly three-dimensional experience when compared to other fighting styles we’re used to seeing in these games. What I mean by that is, when looking at martial arts in fighting games there’s often a lot of back and forth in a manner similar to fencing rather than a real fight where opponents might circle one another. This is probably done on purpose as to not disorientate the player but in that case they may as well still be on a 2D plain. Having a character like Eddy who is very acrobatic with his flips and spins that go into the Z-axis, really show off what a 3D fight is capable of and definitely set Tekken apart from rivals on the market at the same time .



Visually the game looks great and when you consider the humble beginnings of the first Tekken it’s come a long way. It’s easy to see that Tekken 3 really pushes the capabilities of the playstation’s hardware as many games do toward the end of a console's life cycle.

All of the characters look great and from a design standpoint these may still be the best incarnations to date. Maybe it’s just me but I prefer the meatier, lower-poly models of Tekken 3 compared to say 6, I’d say that the most recent renderings reak of the uncanny valley. Given the obtuse nature of these characters, that were originally designed in such a way so that you could easily tell them apart in their original low polly beginnings they don’t need to look realistic. I’ll give a little shout-out to Capcom for the work on Street Fighter X Tekken here as they made some beautiful models of Tekken characters in their Caricature style. 



I also want to praise Tekken 3’s stellar soundtrack. The Tekken franchise has been very consistent in delivering great background music ever since the experimental beginnings of the first iteration, as a lot of games were at the time given the new advantage of the CD format. Listening to the music of Tekken 3 you’ll find that it perfectly captures the spirit of the electronic, Big Beat genre that was popular in the late 90s with musicians like The Crystal Method and Chemical Brothers just watch the game’s intro and you’ll see.

Lastly I just want to point out a few little features that are the icing on the cake.
Last bosses are shite nine times out of ten and though Ogre isn’t perfect he’s a damn sight better than Azazel from ‘6 or Seth from bloody SF4, the Shower of bastards that they are.
There’s also the daft little mini-games like volleyball or the Pseudo beat-em up mode that offer minutes of fun but are a welcome little distracton especiall when playing with friends.
A big one for me is the fact that the game doesn’t frustratingly kick you out to the start screen whenever you lose in the arcade mode, I’ve never understood that. There’s also just a simple joy of unlocking characters every time you beat the story mode just to add reason to keep playing instead of having to pay for them when they’re already on the bloody disc (I’m looking at you Capcom).



The best testament to this game though was at one of my (saucy) dinner parties around Christmas last year. Towards the end of the night I had everyone gather around to play Tekken 3 and everyone had a blast. A game that’s 15 year old can still unite everybody, regardless of how acustomed they were with fighting games or any games for that matter, I think it says it all really.

For those of you interested, Tekken is available on the PSN store and it's also relatively cheap to buy an original copy on ebay. Please check it out if you haven't already.

Thanks for reading

Kris.




   

RFM Talks: Forbidden Siren

Continuing on my Survival horror kick I’m going to talk about my experience with the Forbidden Siren series on PS2 and more specifically one of the games great features.




I love the Siren series it’s another one of those games with all the ingredients to be a real pant-cacker. The game is set in a remote Japanese village and revolves around a cult trying to raise some hellish guff from the beyond and in the process manage to turn the villagers into psychotic zombie killers called Shibito, who don’t make a habit of staying dead for too long and to make things worse the sky ends up pissing down with blood. Magic!

You play as a diverse set of people, young and old stuck in the village for one reason or another, who have to rely primarily on sneaking about to survive. Few occasions occur where you’ll be given a weapon but in these cases should only be used to get the drop on a solitary Shibito or in times where there is no other option to fight as you will become overwhelmed if you try and go all out, like I said before they don’t stay dead for long. All is not lost though, you have an ace up the sleeve.



What I want to talk about is Forbidden Siren’s unique gameplay mechanic dubbed “Sight-jacking”
a mechanic that lets you see through the eyes of the enemy and can be used to orientate yourself according to their current position so that you may hopefully avoid them. The game’s story explains the sight-jacking as a sort of hive-mind ability that the Shibito have and you the player receive as the town’s rain slowly transforms you into one of them which makes it all the more creepy.

The way it works is, with the press of a button your character’s vision is turned to static, similar to that of a TV and with a turn of the analogue stick you tune into the frequencies of each Shibito’s vision, to streamline the process you’re able to assign a shibito’s sight to a face-button to access quicker. Whilst in this state you’re also able to see your relative location to the monster with a coloured cross. For gameplay purposes the Shibito cannot see this cross, just to make it easier.



In order to use this ability you sacrifice your mobility and are completely defences whilst sight-jacking so it’s safest to use it whilst crouched or hiding behind something. It’s a great risk/reward system that adds a lot of tension to an already creepy and atmospheric game.
As you can imagine there are times when you come a cropper whilst sight-jacking and you get to see the Shibito spot you whilst prone and start running towards you giving horrific shots from their viewpoint as they run towards you snarling, knife in hand and you frantically try and exit whilst your bum-hole devours your undies. It reminds me of similar shots that were used in The Evil Dead where the monster stalks the house. It’s a great system that makes for some exciting moments.



Forbidden Siren managed to get a sequel on the PS2 as well, which I also enjoyed a fair bit. Though it didn’t change much significantly gameplay wise it did do something with the Sight-jacking mechanic that I thought was an excellent twist on the formula and is the main reason I started writing this piece.

So imagine the previous scenario, scary Japanese town, crazy blood rain starts turning everyone into Shibito and you have to get out of dodge but this time you’re a blind man...
On the list of worst case scenarios this ranks somewhere between being up Shit Creek without a paddle and Spilling gravy on yourself at Hannibal Lector’s dinner table.



What a deliciously scary scenario to create for a player to experience after establishing the gameplay mechanics and slowly increasing the difficulty curve and tension with other characters, you literally handicap them by taking away their sight. Brilliant!

Just to clarify though you aren’t completely blind and faced with a blank screen (because that wouldn’t work) rather the screen is heavily blurred in the way I imagine people who rely on strong glasses see without them. You are still incapable of effectively navigating around the level by yourself so that’s where sight-jacking comes in, not only can you see through the eyes of the terrors that lurk outside but you are able to look through the eyes of your guide dog to lead the way. Having to manoeuvre around the Shibito, switching between them and the dog to see effectively doubles your workload for these levels, ensuring you are both hidden and progressing in the same direction sounds difficult on paper but I found that it was designed in such a way that rather than it be a scenario where the player would fumble with controls and get caught, it forced you to play extra cautiously and added more close-shave encounters leaving your heart pounding until the end. It’s just a shame the game didn’t have more levels using this character.

Very rarely do gameplay franchises manage to establish a feature or mechanic and then further elaborate upon said feature in a sequel. It was great to see that here and whoever was responsible for these innovations deserves a bloody good pat on the back.

To be honest I’ve only really scratched the surface in describing how great Forbidden Siren 1 and 2 are but I would hope that it would inspire more people to check it out for themselves. The first game got a Psuedo remake on PS3 called Siren Blood Curse but unfortunately ‘2 wasn’t released in the US but I’m sure you’d be able to pick them up on the cheap on Ebay or Amazon. I’d say it’s also a likely candidate for a PSN release in the future.

Thanks for reading,

Kris
   

RFM Quickie: Text from Mom (Cry of Fear)

Some of my friends and lovely Twitter followers will know that I’ve been playing through a lot of survival horror games lately, like the Penumbra series and Amnesia and most recently Cry of Fear.

To date Cry of Fear is probably the scariest game I’ve played and so far it’s made Amnesia feel like tea with my Nanna.
Admittedly Amnesia’s horror is more sophisticated on the whole, giving a slow burn of atmosphere as well as great set pieces whereas Cry of Fear has been throwing me kicking and screaming to the lions with it’s constant jump-scares and frantic combat. Cheap and effective, but only while it lasts.



Ultimately jump scares are like ripping off a plaster, you get a couple of seconds of anticipation and then a jolt of pain and it’s over. If the game was this way exclusively then I would be quick to write it off but Cry of Fear managed to pull the rug out from my feet in a way which I wasn’t expecting.
At the beginning of the game you are given the standard tension building and foreshadowing of monsters running just out of your peripheral vision along with the creepy music that have all become expected tropes in the genre by now, but then you hear a ringtone, your character stops and whips out his phone to find a text message which reads...

“Where are you? Come home as soon as possible it’s getting dark” - Mom.
This is perhaps the most unsettling thing I’ve experienced while playing a game and it hit me like a punch in the stomach.

I think I speak for everyone here by saying we can all relate to the guilt of worrying our mothers. Granted we’ve probably never been in a scenario where we have to fight monsters on a night out (or maybe you have) but it’s the idea that there’s someone who loves us and is worrying about us and just wants us back in the comfort of our home. It really got to me, more than any Pyramid head or Zombie could because it hits you right in the feels and I applaud the dev’ team for making me feel so crappy. A great catalyst to set the tone for the rest of the story.


I haven’t made much progress in the game but so far I’ve experienced a few more instances like this that has left my brain feeling fried and even made me have to turn off the game and look at some nice kitten pictures as a palate cleanser. The biggest compliment I can give a horror game is that I’m reluctant to even keep playing it. We’ll see how I get on...

If you feel like subjecting yourself to Cry of Fear it’s now available for download on Steam and it’s completely FREE so play at your own risk!

Thanks for reading,
Kris.

RFM talks: Amnesia: The Dark Descent

“In late August in the year 1839, Daniel, a young man from London, awakens in the dark halls of the Prussian Brennenburg Castle with little to no memory about himself or his past.
All he can remember is his name, that he lives in Mayfair and that something is hunting him. Shortly after awakening, Daniel discovers a note written to himself, from which he learns that he has deliberately erased his own memory, and that he needs to descend into the Inner Sanctum of the castle to kill the Baron, Alexander.”



Amnesia: The Dark Descent is the reason I got ahold of a gaming PC. Survival horror games come and go but Amnesia came out of nowhere and took everyone by surprise. Not long after it’s release many “Reaction Videos” started popping up on Youtube showing player’s explosive hysterical reactions to the games many scares and arguably this is the reason why many people, myself included started paying attention to the game. It began to receive a reputation for being “the scariest game ever” I had to see for myself. Having been fascinated with the survival horror genre now for many years I’m on a constant mission to find a game that I could call THE most frightening experience out there and for the longest time I would argue that Silent Hill 2 should be awarded that title. So how scary is Amnesia?

Well pretty f’ing scary to be honest. The best compliment I can give Amnesia is that it does absolutely everything right, a perfect blend of mechanics, pacing, atmosphere and set pieces culminate in a thrilling experience which doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Amnesia masters the survival horror genre by properly exploring both of those concepts, Survival and Horror. It sounds obvious really but all too many games have tried to take on that genre have fell short because you might end up feeling overpowered with weaponry, safe in certain areas and a general feeling of disconnect from the atmosphere. Here’s some of the many ways Amnesia succeeds without giving any spoilers.



By abandoning all combat mechanics, Amnesia makes you feel completely vulnerable, your only choice is to run or hide from the various horrors that could lurk around any corner. Hiding is usually the most prefered method of defence as the game’s “Monsters” managed to quickly catch up if they’ve spied you and rip your giblets out. You’ll find yourself hiding in cupboards or cowering in rooms and though its never specifically demanded you’ll be attempting to poorly barricade the door even though you’re fully aware that those monsters are completely capable of ripping a door off its hinges and that’s bloody scary. Brilliant.

To make things worse Daniel (you) has the stability of Michael J Fox playing Operation. What this means for the player is you have to keep yourself "Sane" by avoiding the dark as much a possible, eye contact with the monsters and various shocking sights you might encounter. While it might sound frustrating it never really hinders the gameplay. The game is paced properly and you always have enough tinderboxes to light candles in certain areas. I may have encountered one occasion where my sanity dropped so low Daniel collapsed to the floor for a few seconds and the field of vision becomes very blurry but thats about it. It doesn't really add anything gameplay wise but Daniel's elevated breathing and soft whimpers will certainly add to the atmosphere.
The game also does well at creating these scenarios where you as the player are thrown in the deep end, to give an example a later stage of the game has you go to a morgue and while exploring you are alerted by the telltale siren that indicates a monster is on your tail and you're only choice is to hide behind a large pile of naked dead bodies, having to cautiously peep out to ensure the creature has lost your scent and also ignore a dead man’s penis next to your face. That’s enough to scare anyone if you ask me.



The whole game oozes with the Lovecraftian aesthetic from the Occult imagery and brilliantly twisted monster design to the sacrilegious artifacts perverting men’s minds into creating dimensional rifts to another world. It’s very easy to become immersed in the world. Everything feels very bleak every interior feels poisoned or decaying and there are even times when fleshy tumours start to grow and pulsate making it seem that the castle itself is out to get you.

Sound design is suitably chilling as well, all of the horrible creaks and clangs you would expect to hear in a haunted castle along with more subtle noises of the hissing of cockroaches and scurrying of mice, oh and there’s also the near constant cries of help from prisoners being tortured who may or may not even be there it can really get to you after a while. Perhaps the greatest piece of sound in the game is the monster’s “siren” which I briefly mentioned before that ring’s out to alert you to give it legs. The best way I could describe it is a cross between nails down a chalkboard, a fire engine and your morning alarm clock, it’s horribly effective and hit’s you like a punch.

Above all things Amnesia succeeds in what I consider the defining trait that makes a survival horror game successful is making you, the player paranoid. It’s the negative space the game gives you in between, where the real fear happens. The moment’s of anticipation between events where you’re mind tries to conjure what could possibly lurk around the corner. The moments where you’ll double take or close doors behind you, allocate good hiding places for the future and ensure you have an escape route in case anything happens. After all the most horrific fears are the ones conjured in your own mind.




So this leaves us with one question, Do I think Amnesia is scarier than Silent Hill 2? Well, It’s a close one and its something I’d like to discuss in more detail, so consider this a teaser for an upcoming article where I’ll be comparing the two...

Amnesia isn’t for everyone but I can assure you it won’t give you nightmares so if you think you’re brave enough, give it a shot.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is available for download on PC and MAC through STEAM.

Thank’s for reading,

Kris





  

   

RFM talks: Aban Hawkins & The 1,000 Spikes

It’s no secret that independent game development is at an all time high right now because lets face it it’s difficult for big developers to take risks on games nowadays.

Triple A games you see in stores require budgets that go into the millions of dollars so it’s completely understandable why the developers end up playing it safe or appealing to the broader market in order to take a profit (And theres nothing wrong with that).
It all sounds a bit grim doesn't it, but fear not! Fortunately, technology has come such a long way that were able to create our own games and potentially even your nanna could have a go, lovely.

In the past seven or eight years we’ve seen a significant influx of independent video games, games that are new, fresh, edgy and are pushing the medium in numerous different directions for better or worse. What is unfortunate though is that I’m not quite sure the market is ready for it, Yes it is easier than ever to create and release your own games but how do you plan on getting it noticed or turning the profit? This is the obstacle we are yet to pass.

Today I want to talk about a game called Aban Hawkins and the 1,000 spikes, (Doesn’t really roll off the tongue does it?) a game that I have recently fell in love with and feel that it is my duty to tell the world about.
My first point I want to bring up is that you’ve probably never heard of this game and that’s understandable as I only found out about it two years after its release through word of mouth listening to a podcast.
The problem was that the game was released on Xbox Live Indie Marketplace, an outlet where anybody can put a game up for sale but there’s absolutely no quality control, so your little game ends up lost among the shitey clones of existing games and the dross that hopes to grab cheap attention with poorly rendered, big breasted anime girls in it.
Unfortunately I’m not intelligent enough to bring a solution to this problem and neither is the industry at this point in time but I will say that I would recommend that you should take the time to wade through the shite in order to find the diamonds in the rough. (Please Support XBLIG and Steam Greenlight!)



Right, now thats out of the way lets talk gameplay. Aban Hawkins and the 1,000 spikes is one of the most difficult games I’ve ever played and I’ve beat Dark Souls.
‘1,000 Spikes is a 2D platformer with beautiful 8-bit graphics that demands your time and patience, I will say here it’s not for everyone but I’m also sure that it has the ingredients that would provide anyone with even the shortest burst of entertainment and at 80MSP (about £1/$1)
it’s an absolute steal!.
I don't think there has been another video game that I have cursed, at the top of my voice but have also been so engrossed that I carry on playing. To give you the rundown, ‘1,000 spikes has you playing as an adventurer, similar to Indiana Jones you go through numerous levels or tombs filled with ridiculous traps that test your memory and reflexes. Intercepting darts flying at you timing jumps and remembering intense sequences are all required to progress. The aim of the game is to make it to each level’s exit after grabbing a key (usually at the other end of the screen). The premise is simple but you will die constantly and without respite. The player is given 1,000 lives at the beginning and you will burn through them very quickly and soon the idea of 1,000 being a generous number will be crumpled by a particular level requiring hundreds of attempts (Honestly).
Smart players will quit and reload after several unsuccessful tries in order to keep as many lives as possible but its crazy how ever depleting life-counter alone can add to the daunting nature of the game.



Going into the mechanics of ‘1,000 spikes you have two jumps one long and one short, it sounds trivial but knowing how to use the right jump at the right moment is often crucial to progressing in the complicated and unforgiving obstacle courses, your other action is to throw knives, used to kill a scorpion, flick a switch or intercept a fatal dart. These three actions combined make each successful level feel rhythmic and incredibly satisfying when completed, the controls are also so tight that you know that you dying was your fault and not the games a la Super Meat Boy.
The increasing difficulty is baffling at times and you will be thinking things like “If I’m struggling with this level what’s the next one going to be like?” and “This has to be Impossible!” but trust me it can be done, you just need to figure it out!

The last few things I’d like to praise are the art and sound, as morbid as this game might be I have to say 1,000 spikes is very pretty to look at. Lovingly created 8-bit graphics help set the tone and the levels themselves look equal parts daunting and intriguing. The player character (Aban Hawkins I assume) looks adorable with his little hat and it feels upsetting seeing him die for the hundredth time. I especially love the pallet of colours used in creating this game, Aban’s fedora and jacket give a strong contrast to the surroundings and the magenta flames/lava look beautiful.
As for sound 1,000 spikes does a pretty good job although there are probably only three different songs you’ll hear throughout so I would say it does get a bit repetitive at times but I’ll make allowances for it fitting in with the style of old 8-bit games on the NES.
Music does a good job of having a walking rhythm to it and once the player grabs the key in each level turns into a tense/nerve racking sprint theme to the exit often sadistically off putting as well after a particularly difficult level. Lastly every time you die (Which I remind you, will do a lot!) you are presented with a black screen with big white letters saying “YOU ARE DEAD!” along with ominous “DUH DUH DUUUH!” sound which my girlfriend jokingly chimes in with “Kris is shiit!” feels incredibly appropriate.      



Ideally I wanted to have completed the game before posting my feature, at the time of writing this I am four stages away from completion but because of the time required to do a stage (It took me a few weeks before I figured out how to beat one level) and having a job/social life in between it’s hard to find time to invest needless to say I will be seeing this one to the end and completing it will be a grand personal achievement.

Please check out Aban Hawkins and the 1,000 spikes it’s only a pound to download on XBLIG now and it’s also worth mentioning that it’s being remade with extra levels for Wii U and 3DS and is getting renamed 1,001 Spikes, Look out for that one in the future.

Thanks for reading,
Kris