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Spotlight on Greenlight, 20/10/12

Greenlight_AoD

Greenlight is a hive of activity right now. Not only are new indie games still appearing every day, not only has Steam has just greenlit another 21 titles, now there’s also the new concepts section which highlights projects that are at a very early stage of development. Cripes, eh? So what’ve I been keeping my eye on this week, you ask?

Age of Decadence

I love decadence, me. I just can’t get enough of it and the idea of an entire age of it makes my beard bristle like heather in the breeze. This is a turn-based RPG with a traditional isometric perspective, set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world and packed to the nines with detail. The game has over a hundred quests and is designed so that each challenge has multiple solutions, including many nonviolent ones. The combat system allows you to target individual body parts, while the crafting system lets you rebalance your sword or brew corrosive acids that can dissolve the mechanism in a lock. This looks like it aims to be every part the classic RPG that PC gamers so often long for. It has one hell of an ambitious vision and I hope it fulfills it. I wish there were more indie RPGs out there.

Antharion

Well fancy that. Antharion is also a turn-based RPG, though clearly more retro in its style, and it looks like it’s all about conga-ing your party through a hundred dungeons, casting over 45 spells, exploring the length and breadth of the land and, like all true adventurers, rifling your way through everbody’s possessions at the very first opportunity. The game’s Kickstarter began just the other day and it’ll cost you just $15 to reserve your copy of Antharion.

Asylum

Psychological horror inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft? That sounds very nice indeed, and Asylum looks positively horrid in all the right ways. Many people have already had their appetites whetted by the freely-available teaser on the game’s website and I think this is a game we’re likely to see greenlit very soon. Asylum comes from Agustin Cordes, creator of the award-winning Scratches, a horror/mystery that saw release in 2006.

Dark Shadows – Army of Evil

When
your game’s blurb begins with “IT WILL BE BLOODY! – IT WILL BE
DANGEROUS!” then you certainly have my attention, even if that’s only as
a copyeditor. Dark Shadows is a first-person action game set in
medieval times, with the player stepping into the boots of a warrior
intent on rescuing the kidnapped Katarina from the clutches of evil.

Planetship

Space exploration in “an audio-reactive environment” isn’t a concept you come across every day. Your search for a new home for your people will see you gathering resources and researching new technology as you make your way through the galaxy in a self-propelled planet. Yes, that’s what I said. Living objects in the game move with an electronic pulse, which contribute to an ever-changing soundtrack.

Distance

God damn I wish I had a computerised flying car with jet boosters in the doors, neon go-faster stripes and a boot sequence displayed on the back window that I’d have to get out to read. OH HELLO DISTANCE I didn’t see you there. What’s that you say, you’re an open-world racing game, with multiplayer support that includes street racing, a tag mode, a stunt mode and Capture The Flag? Goodness, you do look pretty sleek, don’t you? No no, I said “sleek,” you can’t hear me over the beats of your dynamic soundtrack. Yes, yes, okay, “slick” will do just fine too.

Flightless

A
puzzle platformer that allows for a second player to drop in and out,
Flightless is all about using ladders to solve problems, whether that’s
making your way over obstacles, defeating enemies, activating switches
or even evading attacks. There’s a free demo right here for those of you who fancy a crack at being a duck. I would like to think that’s at least 80% of our core audience.

Northmark: Hour of the Wolf

This is a card game on your computer, a game of heroic battles and fantasy adventure. It reminds me very much of Puzzle Quest, a game which I suffered a debilitating addiction to a few years back, but instead of fighting your battles by matching gems of similar colours, Northmark is all about using an ever-growing array of cards that represent your weapons and abilities. My doctor says a relapse is unlikely, but nevertheless I am not allowed near Northmark unsupervised lest it spark a similar reaction.

Dark Matter

A pretty awesome looking platformer with a very neat 2.5D engine, Dark Matter aims to be as much about considered and tactical combat against the intelligent monsters that you’ll fight as it is about just running and jumping. The textures are hand-painted, the shaders have been customised and the lighting engine is… wait, there’s a lighting engine in a platform game?

The Rise of Gaddafish

I’ll be perfectly honest with you, I’ve no idea what’s going on here and I’m not sure if Gaddafish is going to be very funny or just very silly. You are a fish, you swim to Libya, you find yourself caught up in a war. Man, is it the weekend yet? Can I go and get something to eat?