Day two of PAX East 2014 is over and minus a lost voice, I have more games that are worthy of your attention.
Wandering off to the Indie MEGABOOTH as I’m opt to do, I stumbled upon a section of indie games that were maybe “too indie” to be part of the main booth so they were sectioned off into the “MINIBOOTH”. One of the first games I encountered was We Are Doomed. The game is made by a one person team at Caffeine Monster Software. It is a space-like shoot-em-up where a player will control a over-powered laser beam to shoot the rapidly-multiplying enemies. The game has a fun, vibrant look to it with plenty of color and odd shapes. It’s very easy to get right into the action and there should be lots of replay value as you’ll always want to best your previous score. The game is currently available for Windows and MAC.
Zombies and Ice Cream, who knew that they would make such a refreshing combination. I had stumbled upon this gem, Zombies I Scream, on the PAX East floor far away from the indies and a lot closer to the AAA titles that were attracting the masses. Since I’m from Massachusetts, I’m always drawn to the Made in MA games and this was no exception. Made by Thefty Jack, this iOS title is about saving the world by killing zombies with anti-government supplied ice cream. The zombies will come in waves and you as the ice-cream man will have to combine the special recipes to kill each type of zombie. Like any iOS game worth it’s salt, this one is fun, charming and addictive.
Tucked away on at end cap at PAX was Blue Mammoth Games who had a large booth for their new game Brawlhalla. This is a party brawler much like Super Smash Brothers. On the show floor, the 2D brawler was showing off it’s four player free for all action. The game features many different characters and an assortment of weapons to pick up on the fly. The game also features 5v5 teams and local play options. Brawlhalla will be released into Early Access on Steam shortly.
Continuing the party game theme, Knight Squad was one of my sleeper hits of PAX. Currently on Steam Greenlight, the game is made by a three person team at Chainsawesome Games from Quebec, Canada. The game features up to eight playable knights who try to bring home the golden challis to their corresponding home base. Lots of fun to be had here as there are plenty of weapons to pick up on the map. Combat is quick and responsive and the laughs will be a plenty as you try and stop your foes from bringing home the golden cup.
All the way from Australia comes Nnooo Games with their shoot’em up Blast’em Bunnies. This game will be released on 3DS, PS Vita and the PS4. You shoot rabbits with your carrot rifle or pelt them with a watermelon machine gun, or a bean rail gun. There is also a feature to take out the whole lot of enemies with a turnip mortar. I played on the Vita and whether I was using touch or thumbsticks, the controls were responsive and accurate. Curious to see how this game translates to the big screen as it seems ideal for handheld devices.
WE ARE DOOMED reminds me a lot of that game Geometry Wars which was popular on Xbox Arcade.