Shank is a violent side scrolling action beatemup coming to XBLA.  It’s from the makers of Eets and has fantastic animation and 2D art.  Definitely one to keep your eyes on.

click on this picture to download and play the PC Demo

Zak: 8/10
New Star Games’ Super Laser Racer is a racing game if you couldn’t tell by the name. In addition to using your tricked out racing skills, the player also uses missiles, lasers, bombs, et al to achieve racing dominance. The demo offers a few race tracks to choose from and a few different ship designs. An added feature in the full version is the ability to design your own tracks and unlock better ships. Sound effects/quality were all good and the graphics were brilliantly colorful. Who knew “outer geometric space” could look so sleek. It was almost like being stuck in a rave. I’m not a huge racing game fan, but I’ll admit I had fun playing this one.

Mike: 6.5/10
SLR left my wrist cramped. Sadly this had more to do with the keyboard controls than the action onscreen. Super Laser Racer is a top-down racing game with geometry wars style graphics and Wipeout-esque weapons. The music and sound work great with the title and the game serves it’s purpose and does a good job being an arcade racer. It’s a little skimpy on features: 3 Race modes, 12 tracks. SLR’s core over-the-top racing and controls are a bit retro (some may say outdated) and so are its features. If you can get over this, SLR is a good arcade racer.

Zak: 4/10
Fashion Cents Gents, from My Game Company, really wasn’t me cup of tea. I can’t say this puzzle game was original; it is a sequel to the successful Fashion Cents Deluxe. This time round, the goal is to dress up gents in color coded assortments and accessorize! The accessories and hair combinations yield bonuses to your score – a nice addition. The game installed without issue and seemed to be put together well. The sound effects/ music were also pretty good. There was just something about the game I couldn’t bring myself to get into. For $19.99, I certainly wouldn’t buy it.

Mike: 3/10
Fashion Cents Gents is a glorified game of cutout doll dressup. The game tasks you with dragging articles of clothing onto your fellas and make sure that everything matches – complete an outfit and you score points. That’s the game in a nutshell. There are no animations, the presentation is somewhat pedestrian, and the soundFX involve a tween girl screeching “Ewww!” or the more diverse, “Like…Eww!” PaperDolls is not a fun enough game to begin with. I don’t really see the necessity of adapting it into a video game. This game is “Eww.”

Zak: 7/10
INVENT 4’s The Rats Revenge is a pretty decent physics game. Your mission is to use provided items and specialized rats to kill cats. Sounds easy enough, right? There’s some cartoon violence and gore, but that’s expected considering the goal of each level is to find yet another way to skin the cat. The fun part is coming up with the right physics to get the job done, there are many solutions. I can’t say the graphics are the best. They aren’t, but reminiscent of some early attempts at 3-D; which was kind of nostalgic. Likewise, the sound effects and music are something from another decade. The demo was fun and for $4.99, it’s a cheap distraction.

Mike: 6/10
Bad Rats is the result of smashing ‘The Incredible Machine’ together with ‘Itchy & Scratchy.’ The game is a physics puzzle game but has some extreme violence since the objective is to violently kill a cat with your Bad Rats. The game has decent 3D graphics and solid production values, but the puzzles are incredibly finicky. Even with the blue print and solution maps, it is difficult to get everything in the right position to solve the puzzle. This frustration detracts from the game and takes away from a humorous and violent concept.

Gratuitous Space Battles by Positech Games is OUT NOW!

If Ascendancy, Starcom II, Dune II, Starcraft and Command & Conquer mean anything to you, then Gratuitous Space Battles (GSB) from Positech Games is probably a game to start getting excited about. GSB, like Positech’s other offerings, is a deeply strategic game about space ships blowing each other to bits. The gameplay focuses on designing ships, created their formations, giving them orders, and then watching the battle ensue with plenty of eye candy.

Action fanatics will love watching the visceral battles, but may be a little miffed that they cannot make any real time decisions, but strategy fans will quickly become deeply involved in tweaking every aspect of their ship and formation to earn more honor and unlock new ship parts.

The first attempt at defeating an enemy is usually a crapshoot since you only know the enemy’s formation and ship types – not their weapons and defensive abilities. This is where the strategy really comes in; watching a space battle is not just about the explosions and special effects show, it is important that player’s pay attention and learn from everything that is going on. Figuring out why you’re getting your ass kicked is crucial to altering your strategy so that you get a victorious outcome.

The game is definitely one to check out. If you don’t have total ADD, you’ll quickly become engaged in one of the game’s aspects. The game is already highly polished and balanced in beta form and well worth the admission price. I cannot express how thoroughly impressed I am with the battle sequences, they are simply riveting and remind me of something out of Battlestar Galactica (the new one not the old one) or the new Star Trek movie. Strategy games aren’t my thing, but I enjoyed designing some badass ships and plodded through setting up my ship formations in order to see shit blow up. Trial and Error has never been this much fun.

GSB goes on sale today for $22.99.

Zak: 10/10

Mike: 9.5
Osmos is a simple and sublime experience. You play the role of a single cell organism (in outerspace or something). The rules are simple, if you’re bigger than the other guy, you absorb him – smaller and you’re dead. This is all made more complicated by the fact that you spew chunks of yourself in order to move and propel yourself. This is ultimately the brilliance of Osmos; it is so simple to play, but the game mechanics always keep things interesting along the way. The demo is way too short but gives you a taste of this excellent gameplay and sublime soundtrack.

Machinarium by Amanita Design is available now for $20.  It’s a point and click adventure game with some inspired aesthetics.

Zak: 7/10
Knuckle Cracker’s Creeper World has a unique old school feel to it with some updated elements. Essentially a defense game, your goal is to collect resources and complete each level before the purple “creepers” over run your base. Completing each level requires activating a “gate” to transport your base to the next world. Some strategy is involved in fighting back the “creepers” towards that goal. While the game feels low tech and very retro, there are some good visuals and overall the game is slickly presented. Not sure it’s worth the $19.95 price, but it was fun to play.

Mike: 7/10
Creeper World’s core gameplay is a mix of Real Time Strategy and SimCity, you have to build a network of nodes to collect, attack, power, etc. Your enemy is a purple ooze that slowly seeps towards your city. The game is deep and strategic, easy to learn, and simply a homerun. Unfortunately, even the game’s great mechanics cannot overcome its glaring shortcomings in the sound and graphics department. It’s a shame the game looks and sounds to elementary because the gameplay is sublime. With some polish this game could be an absolute indie hit.

click the screenshot to download the demo

Mike: 7.5
The Blackwell Convergence is an old school point and click adventure game. It’s a detective story and the biggest twist is that you can control 2 characters – one a young girl and the other a film noir type detective who happens to be a ghost. The character switching and ghost mechanic is a neat twist and the voice-over work adds a lot to this game. The highest resolution of the game is 640×480 which is too low if you ask me. Blackwell is a solid old school detective adventure game, but will not convert anyone who found this old genre a little stale.

Zak: 7
The Blackwell Convergence, available from Wadjet Eye Games, returns us to the Bogart-esque Blackwell series. The player takes turns playing the title character Rosa Blackwell and her spiritual sleuth partner Joey Mallone. Certain puzzles will require a ghostly touch to complete, while others need a corporeal hand. Much of the gameplay revolves around the interaction between Joey and Rosa. So exploring a room sometimes requires playing as both characters. The graphics sport a retro feel and some of the backgrounds are impressive. The music really sets the mood with that film noir jazziness. Voice acting was impressive. I had a lot of fun playing this game.