Okay so it has been more than a few days since my last post. At least it has given enough time for more of the Indie Uprising games to release. I believe what was once going to be a one week thing has turned into the entire month since some games were not ready or failed the peer review process(after which you must wait a week to re-submit). So here we go.

radiangames Crossfire 2 (Xbox Live Indies) - radiangames Crossfire 2 is the sixth game in the radiangames series and as such it completely lives up to the name radiangames has made for itself on the XBLIG service. Crossfire 2 is essentially a bigger, badder version of the first game. If you didn't read my review of the first game, Crossfire basically takes the idea of Space Invaders and expands upon it. You not only are able to fire at the enemies from the bottom of the screen, you can warp to the top of the screen and fire from that way as well. This time Crossfire comes complete with upgrades for the Conquest mode....

In my previous post I brought attention to a batch of high quality indie games being released this week under the Indie Games Winter Uprising moniker. Thankfully it has started off with the heavy hitter, Epic Dungeon.

Epic Dungeon (Xbox Live Indies) - Epic Dungeon is a rogue-like game. If you don't know what a rogue-like is, it's a dungeon crawling RPG with stats, skills, lots of loot to collect, permanent death, and randomly generated dungeons. Go here if you'd like to learn more - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogue-like
Anyway, rogue-like's are generally turn-based. However, Epic Dungeon uses a fast-paced, real-time system for its combat. It works very well and keeps it highly accessible for those new to rogue-likes. The game does kinda throw you right in so be sure to read the help topics before jumping to your death. There are some random events you will encounter in which you have to choose an option to take, but otherwise it's a constant fight for survival...

http://www.indiegames-uprising.com/

The Indie Games Winter Uprising is a collection of high quality games being released over the first week of December on the Xbox 360's Indie Games Service. Seeming as this is a pretty big deal in the XBLIG community, I thought I would call attention to it so you all can be on the lookout for these games.

The titles include -

Soulcaster II
Cthulhu Saves the World
radiangames Crossfire 2
Chu's Dynasty
Alpha Squad
Epic Dungeon
Break Limit
Decimation X3
Asteroids Do Concern Me
Hypership Out of Control (update)
Aphelion: Episode Two: Wings of Omega
ZP2KX: Zombies & Pterodactyls!
Ubergridder
Rickenbacker vs. the Aliens

I took a VERY quick look at these and they all look mighty awesome. One's I'm personally looking forward to are Cthulhu Saves the World, radiangames Crossfire 2, Epic Dungeon, Aphelion: Episode 2, and Rickenbacker...

Not more than three weeks after my last post when radiangames Fluid came out, we have the next in the series, Fireball. I'll be discussing that and one other game I've been playing recently. Plus I'll tack on blurbs about some older XBLIGs I've played but never got around to writing anything about. Just know beforehand that I recommend all of the games in this post. Down yonder we go.

radiangames Fireball (Xbox Live Indies) - Fireball is the fifth game in the radiangames series. In Fireball you control a fireball that is trying to escape from the hordes of snowballs and other enemies trying to kill you. You simply move the fireball out of harms way. However, enemies continue to multiply so they must be dealt with. This is done by moving close to the bombs that appear. The bombs are on a timer so after a few seconds they will explode and kill any enemies nearby. If you manage to kill 50 with a single bomb than you earn a nova which acts just like the bombs but creates...

I haven't had too much time to play games lately(and even less in the coming weeks), but I'll throw up this post real quick to alert you of yet another high quality title from radiangames.

radiangames Fluid - Fluid is the fourth game in the radiangames series. In Fluid you control a fish like character and, very much like pac-man, your goal is to devour all of the dots. However, each dot you consume generates a red blob that tries to kill you(except in the "race against time" levels, which the preview pic is of). That requires that you successfully navigate your way through the lines of dots so you don't run into blobs all while trying to get the best time. This is done with well... fluid movement. Sudden movements of the analog stick will throw you off course and cost you precious time(or send you into a red blob). Getting through the 30 levels(plus 5 extra) isn't too hard, but Fluid then becomes a "just one more time" type of game in which you're...

Two posts ago I highlighted the first two games in the radiangames series. Last week we were graced with the third, Inferno. Due to, what's in my opinion, the importance of Inferno to the Xbox Live Indie Games service, this post will be entirely devoted to Inferno. Without further ado...

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Hmm... I don't seem to be getting many views or comments on my posts. Though I suppose it fits with the popularity, or lack there-of, of the Indie Games service. Sad but not much I can do except keep letting people know about them. Anyway, I'm here to bring mention to three more awesome games you should buy instead of buying the over-priced Summer of Arcade titles(minus Limbo, everybody should buy that game).

Aphelion: Episode One: Graves of Earth (Xbox Live Indies) – Aphelion peaked my interest when it was submitted to the Dream.Build.Play contest in 2009. Thankfully I was right in being excited about it. The game is a straight up classic sci-fi RPG with all the trimmings. You have 3 character party turn-based combat, skills, items, equipment, “break” attacks(like a limit break), crafting, ability tree, random battles, bosses, a secret boss, a small arena, save points, and a new game+ with 3 more difficulty levels. That all accumulates into an...

It has been nearly a year since I last wrote about any indie games, which I'm kind of upset about. So I'm back with another batch of write-ups highlighting some of the better titles on Microsoft's Xbox Live Indie Game marketplace so people don't have to slog through the crap to find the ones that are actually worth your money. On with the show.

radiangames JoyJoy (Xbox Live Indies) – Here we have yet another twin-stick shooter. Yes, the market is getting flooded by them. However, there's a problem. Many of them are good and you can't help but play them. JoyJoy is another example of just that, only better. The game is being marketed as “the happy twin-stick shooter” and it is certainly true. The graphics are very rounded, colorful, and easy on the eyes. Gameplay wise it's basic stuff you'd expect from one of these games. Enemies spawn, you shoot them, you pick up new weapons(which you can switch between at will), get upgrades for said weapons, battle...

Since Microsoft's shift from Community Games over to Indie Games there has been a surge of Japanese games appearing for download. Most won't be able to read the text(me included), but I think it's great. As of this posting there has been 3 shmups, 1 side-scroller, 1 Zelda clone, 1 ninja actiony thing, and 1 visual novel(which I'm not writing anything about, but if I was able to read Japanese I'm sure it would be fine). This post will mostly be about the Japanese stuff, but there will be a few others as well. Please note that some of these have been judged by only playing the trial. I'd love to buy them all beforehand, but alas my wallet isn't infinitely deep.



クレッシェンドシンフォニー [aka Crescendo Symphony] (Xbox Live Indies) – The first Xbox Live Indies game to show up from Japan. Thankfully it's good. You play as a schoolgirl in a side-scrolling shmup. It's fun and is visually...

Sorry for the double post, I can't seem to get rid of the other one :/

All of the games have now been submitted to Microsoft's Dream Build Play contest. That said, I've been rummaging through some of the submissions and thought I'd point out ones that standout to me and maybe you should keep an eye on as well.

Hollandia

http://hollandiagame.com/
(Based on the trailer the gameplay seems to be living up to the fantastic art style)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxnRUXPxAjw


Grapple Buggy

http://www.mommysbestgames.com/
(Weapon of Choice is still one of the best games in the Xbox Indies section so I expect great things from this one)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBeVXfX1_Lo

Dust: An Elysian Tail...

This post is going to focus more on what's available via Xbox Live Arcade and WiiWare. I do not own a PS3 so I cannot comment on any PSN games.


World of Goo (WiiWare, PC) – You should know what World of Goo is as it's one of the most popular and highly acclaimed indie developed titles to be released in the last couple years. If you've been living under a rock for a year, here's the gist.. You're tasked with getting a certain number of gooballs into a pipe to progress to the next level. Seeing as the gooballs are... goo, you are able to build gooey, wire-frame structures by connecting them. The idle gooballs will be randomly traveling on your structure so if you can reach the pipe, they will automatically be sucked in. As expected, there are hazards to avoid and different objects in interact with. The real charm of World of Goo is how it's able to provide a unique gameplay...

It had been nearly a week since I last played an indie game(damn you Fallout 3), but here are some more you might want to check out.




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Continuing where I left off in my last post, here are more indie game suggestions.


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I won't bore you with "this is my first blog post" and whatnot. Simply, I want to blog about indie and various other downloadable games. Seeming as I'm already a member here and it has a blog system, I'm all set. If I'm lucky, I may even get a few people to download the games and support independent developers.
There is a thread in the forums about indie games here -
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/...d.php?t=201051
but I don't post or even frequent the forums. Besides, all I want to do is post my opinions on little known downloadable titles. Though I'm not calling them reviews as I will not be going into full detail, but only giving thoughts and opinions on the games. Honestly don't care if anybody reads this, I just want to write about them. I may also throw a few news related topics in here as well, stuff I'm looking forward to. Oh, I'm going to use PC as a general blanket for any computer releases. Makes it easier than listing off Mac, Linux,...