Following a much-needed break after all that Christmas excess, the spotlight is ready to shine once more on five of Steam Greenlight’s most interesting titles. This week I’ve got an MMO, a bird, some zombies, a 2D sandbox game and golf. That’s right, golf. I make no apologies for that, either.
Tell me when you’re ready, click through and we’ll begin.
Aha, a steampunk MMO! City of Steam wrenches goblins and elves out of their comfortable fantasy setting and jams them into a pseudo-Victorian world of industry, invention and very tight corsets. In this world of arcane technology, players will the chance to customise their equipment (much of which is randomly generated) and participate in an entirely user-driven marketplace. As all steampunk should, it includes big guns, overcomplicated machinery and jetpacks. I don’t know about you, but it’s not often I get to wear both a corset and a jetpack.
Perfect Golf
It’s been absolutely ages since I’ve enjoyed a good golf game on my PC, but the desire’s still there. Maybe you think I’m a boring old man? Well, maybe you’re right, but first I’d like you to watch the promo video for Perfect Golf and then tell me if you’re sure don’t want to head out there and play a few rounds. Just look at how scenic it is, it’s like Skyrim with balls. Golf balls, I mean.
I can see it now, the soothing, Brian Eno-style soundtrack, the rustle of the wind in the trees, the gargle of the waterfall and the wail of my anguish cutting through it all as I slice another shot a quarter of a kilometer off-course.
The Last Phoenix
I’m not actually very bothered if this is the last phoenix because, it turns out, phoenixes can be reborn. I suppose if cats have nine lives, phoenixes technically have infinite lives, which means they probably downloaded a hack from somewhere and can also make use of no clipping cheats.
There’s little sign of no clipping in The Last Phoenix, however, an “aerial melee combat game” where you’ll be restoring life and colour to a monochrome world while battling other, evil birds. It’s got a very unusual style (the game world is built in the Unreal engine), an interesting concept and a lot of ducking and diving. Pecking, too, I presume.
Signs of Life
Fans of the 2D sandbox game Terraria may be particularly interested in this one, which brings a sci-fi spin to the genre and is designed around the concept of drop-in co-op play, allowing players to come and go as they choose. What is a 2D space sandbox game like? Well, it’s full of very big, very nasty alien life forms that want to kill and/or digest you and it’s up to you to make sure you don’t end up going for a swim in their extraterrestrial enzymes. Live long enough and you might just be able to put together a shelter, even a home, and gradually come to master your environment.
Dead Trigger
One glance at the video and I know exactly what Dead Trigger is about, you know exactly what Dead Trigger is about, we all know what Dead Trigger is about. There are many zombies but, fortunately, there are also many guns, so you can use the latter to try and solve the problem of the former. As well as a story mode, you can have this free-to-play shooter generate random missions for you or, if you’d prefer, you can try out the horde mode. Dead Trigger has been well-received on iOS and Android, winning two Unity awards, and has satisfied millions of people’s desires for mindless, messy violence.
Satisified it temporarily, at least. That’s a desire that, as we all know, never truly goes away.