Neon the Ninja
Developer: Stu
Former touring musicians turned indie game developers, these guys behind Neon the Ninja must really like being broke. Well, I do speak from experience on the musician front, and I guess now that I’m writing this, I sort of know what it’s like to quasi-work in the gaming industry too. We must be nuts.
Anyways, Neon the Ninja is a 2D stealth based action platformer. Characters will wear a bright spandex-like outfit which can change colors and assist with blending into the environment. The game plays very much like a hack and slash brawler with elements of platforming and stealth thrown in. If you so desire, on some of the more straightfoward levels, you can choose to play the game without using the stealth mechanic. There will be enemies equipped with various guns who might kill you before you can kill them, however, if you’re quick enough you can hack them up in no time. The boss level we played absolutely requires you to use steath as there is a timing sequence to stun the boss and then use the hack and slash. When Neon the Ninja is ready for release, it will be availble on PC, Mac, Linux, and Wii U.
We Are Doomed
Dev: Vertex Pop
Everyone has their favorite genre when it comes to video games, and while mine tends to fluctuate, there is no denying I favor twin stick shooters. So when I came across We Are Doomed for the first time at PAX East 2014, I immediatley was drawn into the action. With another year under their belt, Vertex Pop has transformed We Are Doomed into a beautiful looking game full of eye-popping neon colors. Players control a circular spiked object which can shoot out a laserbeam to “zap the polygon baddies”. During the course of gameplay, you’ll collect multi-colored polygons which will be used to charge up the Superbeam. Levels will start off simplistic and work their way up to intense. Whether it’s learning how to play the game, jumping into a match or restarting, the action is fast, fun, and quick to learn. We Are Doomed is going to be my go to relaxtion title and I can’t wait for it to come out in April for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Dragon Fin Soup
Dev: Grimm Bros
Everything about Dragon Fin Soup will appeal to your eclectic senses. First of the game centers around an alcholic-sword for hire named Red Robin, loosely based off of Red Riding Hood of course. She suffers from amnesia and is roaming the world of Asura looking for answers to her past. Oh and by the way, the world of Asura, well how do I put this, it is set on the back of one gigantic turtle. Yup, you’re playing a procedurally generated 1/2 RPG and 1/2 Rogue-like on the back of a flipping turtle. Don’t worry, I needed a minute too. I guess this is why they bill the game as a humorous fantasy RPG. Dragon Fin Soup comes with a story mode as well as an endless labyrinth mode and a survival mode with permadeath. The demo at PAX East 2015 was the same as the demo at PAX Prime 2014, however, I was able to try it out on the PlayStation Vita. The performance and visuals were solid on the handheld, so much so it seemed like a natural fit on the Vita.. No release date has been announced yet but when ready, it will come out first for PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4.
LA Cops
Dev: Modern Dream
Publisher: Team 17
Modern Dream’s LA Cops has been in Steam Early Access since July of 2014. For PC players, they’ve already been enjoying the humorous 3D top down tactical shooter, based around stereotypical 70’s police humor. LA Cops currently has 13 levels and at PAX East 2015 we were able to play through the first two levels.
First, you need to select two police officers from the an available list of six. Once you have your cops selected, you’re good to go straight into action. LA Cops is a single player only experience, even though you will be controlling two police officers. One cop you will have complete control over, the other one you move via selecting a location and pressing the A button. Each level comes with somewhat of a story but the bottom line is you need to clear the area of bad guys. It is entirely up to you if you want to arrest these thugs or blow them to pieces. At first, I tried to arrest everyone as the game rewards with you more points but after being killed by the last remaining thug too many times, I decided to skip being fair and start dolling out street justice. It is imperative to control the second officer as much as possible as he serves as your backup. If an enemy comes within his range, he will kill without prejudice. If your partner dies, there are certain health pickups which will revive him. Donuts on the ground will not revive him but regain your own health. LA Cops wasn’t a title we were that familiar with until right before PAX but now we’re counting down the hours till it releases March 13 for PC and Xbox One.