The second part of our review of Humble Indie Bundle V covers Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Super Meat Boy, Braid and Bastion. Missed part 1? Read it here.
Braid
One of the three games added to the bundle at a later date; to obtain Braid you need to pay above the average price.
Braid is a puzzle-platformer with a unique selling point: you can manipulate time. Your character, Tim, is trying to rescue a princess from a “monster.” The plot is only briefly expanded upon throughout the game, but the gameplay is where Braid really shines.
The addition of time manipulation to the standard 2D platformer adds a multitude of level design possibilities. Here, by turning back time, it’s easy to learn from and correct your mistakes; in effect, you control where your checkpoint is. This simple addition removes much of the frustration that often drags puzzle-platformers down. Your character has no other abilities, save for a modest jump. By jumping on enemy creatures, you can gain a little more height, enough to reach some of the puzzle pieces that are required to complete the worlds.
Braid challenges players to think outside the box. One of the very first puzzles requires you to use a table within a jigsaw puzzle that you previously pieced together to jump across a large gap. This kind of trick was so completely unexpected, and so unlike any other platform gameplay that I’d experienced before that I couldn’t help but grin stupidly at Braid‘s ingenuity.
Another of Braid‘s strengths lies in its beauty. The painted backdrops for each of the levels are gorgeous and the violin-driven soundtrack is similarly pretty.
It’s difficult to pinpoint Braid‘s specific weaknesses, but sometimes the difficulty is a little too high. There are rarely any pointers while tackling the puzzles, nor are there hints for when the going gets tough. Braid requires you to spend time thinking and experimenting, and is definitely not a game to try to rush through the first time around. Then again, the visual feast, music, and the innovative level of design should ensure you savour every moment of Braid regardless.
Grade: B
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Reviewed by Andrew Glenister.
I’ve played my fair share of horror titles, and while many of them have been solid games in their own right, none of them have ever inspired any kind of terror. I played through Dead Space 1 and Dead Space 2 without so much as flinching. F.E.A.R‘s scare moments were little more than distractions, and it’s hard to feel frightened when you carry a machine gun everywhere. Amnesia: The Dark Descent makes both of these games look like Disney Princess Adventures by comparison.
You play as Daniel, a man who has recently erased his own memory. Following a trail of a mysterious liquid through the empty halls of Castle Brennenburg, he finds a note from his former self with a single objective: find Baron Alexander and kill him. Along the way, you must maintain your Sanity; Daniel panics in the dark, or when faced with something frightening. The only ways to restore his Sanity are making progress and solving puzzles.
I started playing Amnesia at midnight, in the dark, by myself, headphones turned all the way up. At first it was fine; I wandered the unlit castle corridors, exploring every room, and thought to myself, “Is this it?” But after less than an hour of play, the gloves came off. My exploration of the castle left me rooted to my seat in fear, and yet I couldn’t stop playing for hours on end.
Almost every room adds more and more depth, with pages of lore, puzzles to solve, and whole areas intended to unnerve and scare you – and it is in this aspect that Amnesia will succeed spectacularly. Anyone who has played the game will remember “the watery part” as one of the most uniquely terrifying sections of any game, and that’s less than 90 minutes into Amnesia. Many give up at this point; braver players will find there’s much more fun – and fright – lurking in the dungeons.
Amnesia is not perfect, however. The environments themselves are detailed and make for entertaining exploration, though there were a few times I was simply wandering around aimlessly looking for something I had missed. The game can also be slowed to an absolute crawl if you take too much damage, or your Sanity meter empties. Sometimes I felt like I would prefer to simply die and restart an area rather than continue at such a snail’s pace. In spite of this, Amnesia is an absolute must for any fans of the horror-game genre, with spine-chilling scares, a strong backstory, and an atmosphere unlike any game I have played before or since. Just… don’t go in the water.
Grade: B+
Super Meat Boy
Reviewed by Andrew Glenister.
It’s not often that the most common sound effect in a game is “splat.” Similarly, it’s not often that your protagonist is a cube of meat with legs, chasing after his beloved ball-of-bandages girlfriend who has been kidnapped by an evil foetus in a tuxedo. But then again, this is Super Meat Boy.
Your goal is simple; this is a 2D platformer, and all you have to do is get to the goalpost – i.e. Bandage Girl – to advance to the next level. But, the evil, gloating Dr. Fetus has placed some obstacles in your way. Like sawblades. And lasers. And missiles. And maggots. And giant eyeballs. And flying teeth. And salt. And lava. And spikes. And more sawblades. Oh yes, lots of sawblades.
There are a lot of things that I like about Super Meat Boy. First is the simplicity of it – you have no gimmicky tricks or silly abilities; all you can do is run and jump. Secondly, the level design is spot-on. Whenever a new kind of trap is introduced, you are given a whole level designed around showing you how it works. Additionally, there are no traps that are hidden from view, and as a result you never feel as though you have been cheap-shotted out of a win. If you lose, it’s because you mistimed your jump, or weren’t fast enough – not because an apple decapitated you or Mike Tyson jumped at you from behind a bush.
Next, there is the longevity of the game. This may seem odd considering most levels can be completed in less than a minute, but now consider that there are 120 levels. Finished those? Now try the Dark World, where the happy sing-song levels you have grown to love get a wicked (and spiky) makeover. Finished the Dark World? Now find all the hidden Warp Zones and enjoy some retro action. Done all those, too? Now find all the bandages scattered throughout the game to unlock new characters. Got all the bandages? Okay, well done. But how long has it taken you? And, more importantly, how AWESOME does it feel to have truly beaten the game?
Finally, there are all the tiny details that have been thrown into the game to make your blood-stained experienced that much more fun. The catchy-as-all-heck soundtrack, the boss battles, the cut scenes, the squirrels, and that constant feeling that – even if you complete a level – you can always do better.
Super Meat Boy is an absolute necessity for platforming fans, hardcore gamers, and anyone looking for a pure, skill-based challenge. While the intense difficulty and frustration may put off some players, the sense of accomplishment when you make that one damn jump is worth dying for… over and over and over again. Oh, and one more thing; even on the hardest levels, don’t give up. I mean, are you really going to let a well-dressed foetus beat you?
Grade: A+
Bastion
Finally, the jewel in the Humble Bundle’s crown: Bastion. The acclaimed Action-RPG and its soundtrack come with the bundle if you pay above the average price, which currently stands at $8.40. Bastion was always the game that I was most looking forward to within the bundle; I had heard nothing but praise for it, and it’s the only true RPG in the bundle. I was hoping for a stellar example of my favourite genre, and I was surprised, but not disappointed.
Your character is known as “The Kid,” and your story is told as you play by a growling narrator who sounds like he’s come straight out of a Western. Your initial task is to rebuild the Bastion after the Catastrophe, an event that destroyed most of the world and its inhabitants. To do this you travel to different regions and collect cores. Each core you collect is used to expand the Bastion; for example, by adding a forge, which allows you to upgrade weapons, or a distillery, which provides you with additional buffs as you advance in level. These buildings unlock as you play through each of the different levels, and very quickly you find the Bastion has expanded greatly thanks to your core-collecting efforts.
The gameplay consists of short levels (usually 5-15 minutes each) where you explore an isometric world via pathways that fall into place as you approach them. You have to deal with a number of different turrets and enemies. You can use two weapons in combat that you choose at the Bastion’s armory; usually a melee (for example a hammer, a machete, a spear, etc.) and a ranged weapon (a bow, pistols, a shotgun, etc.) that are bound to each mouse button. It’s also essential to make use of your shield, which can block almost every attack thrown at you, and your evade ability that enables you to dodge roll around to your heart’s content. Finally, you have a special attack that requires rare “black tonics” to use.
The combat system is solid but not spectacular. Your weapon choice determines your fighting style, and it is this choice that provides your usual RPG trade-offs. Power or accuracy? Range or speed? Bastion doesn’t provide upfront stats whilst scrolling over weapons; instead it’s up to you to determine the correct weapon for the situation. I settled with a machete and bow combination for most of my playthrough (so far, at least), probably not the most efficient weapon choices, but it was the selection that I had the most fun with. Proving grounds provide space to try out different weapons and improve your skills whilst earning rewards for beating certain targets.
Bastion is deserving of much of the attention and praise it has received. The continual narration as you travel through the levels makes the whole world feel like an interactive storybook and your character is writing the pages through his actions. The way the world appears as you walk forward fortifies this feeling; the pages are being turned and more of your path falls into place. Bastion is set in a beautiful watercoloured world with hand-drawn environments and a brilliant soundtrack. The story is solid, the combat fun and rarely frustrating, and there are some moments where the game packs an emotional punch. Without wanting to spoil the moment, at one point the narrator says “And then, the Kid heard something he hadn’t heard in a long while” – a song. I couldn’t help but shed a tear. I urge you try out Bastion, if only to witness this beautiful, unexpected moment for yourself.
Grade: A+
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