So, What Do You FiNCK?

FiNCK (Fire Nuclear Crocodile Killer) by Nifflas (Nicklas Nygren) is a two dimensional platform game with a relatively easy to grasp control system and a really quite simple premise.

The control system in FiNCK is quick to get to grips with but not so quick to master if you have played other games with a slightly different control set up you will be constantly messing up, hitting space to jump instead of S then turning into a puff of smoke and ending up back at the start of the zone, or hitting your up arrow key to jump and promptly falling down a hole. These are both things that will happen to you if you even forget for a second that it is the S key to jump and if you are anything like me, this will get you just a bit angry with the game and make you consider quitting out

But don't! Continue playing through the annoyance and you will find a beautifully crafted and designed game that plays like a dream. It's very rare to find a game that can annoy you and that you feel compelled to play at the same time, there are however a few changes I would have made if I were the one designing and developing this game. I would have the jump key on a more widely used key for jumping, as most other games I have played have had the jump action bound to keys such as the up arrow or the space bar. Apart from this little niggle, the rest of the game is pretty pick-up-and-playable, in the tutorial level all the actions that you can do are spelled out to you in a very understandable way which is what you want from a tutorial.

One rather interesting game play element is the birds strewn throughout the levels that come in varying colours. These birds are beneficial to the player either by granting you flight for as long as you hold them or slowing your fall so you can make bigger jumps. As far as I can tell, the aim of the game is to traverse the world and collect the 25 coins that are scattered throughout the world. Don't worry if you can't get to a coin on your first trip through one of the zones as you will more than likely find a door that takes you to where you need to go.

FiNCK has a unique style, it's not every game you see where the hero has a purple face and blue hair, but apart from that, the colour schemes slightly vary per level but ultimately every “rea”has the same general colour scheme, this gives a degree of uniformity to the game and helps keep the player knowing where he is.

As a whole, FiNCK is a genuinely interesting game, easy to play but not so easy to master if you are forgetful and keep hitting space to jump like I do. But I'm sure you aren't like me, so you should have a much easier ride through FiNCK than I have. On the whole, I would recommend FiNCK to every one of you, even if it's just a way to pass time over a lunch break.

Get FiNCK here: http://nifflas.ni2.se/?page=FiNCK

When It Rains.. It Pwns

So i log on to my hotmail to find a message from Mik (CrudePixel.com) asking me to write ANOTHER review for a different game... at this point in time I'm not sure if he wants this one for the fourth as well.. its mounting up now and im feeling the pressure. i can see where they are coming from, wanting to make sure the writers fit with the site and everything but now i have (potentially) two days to play this game to death and write a review that will cement my position on CrudePixel... I'm starting to feel that this may have came to late for me to do anything about it. On the bright side though, something that has been continuously complimented is my grasp of the written word and my articles flow... might be light at the end of this up and down rambling after all.. seriously guys, please, keep them crossed for me

Rock Band: Green Day... *rolls eyes*

One of the most depressing games stories of this year, for me at least, has to be the upcoming release of Green Day: Rock Band.

Developed by Harmonix and published by MTV games, this is the latest in the line of rhythm games designed to make you feel like you are a mediocre band.

Don’t get me wrong, Green Day started out pretty good then per American Idiot turned into an overly political disgrace.

The game itself features tracks from a wide variety of the band’s albums ranging from Dookie to the newest release 21^st Century Breakdown, including the obvious American Idiot which saw Green Day rocket out of obscurity and into the mainstream eye.

The track listing makes quite interesting reading, a lot of the songs on this game people who started liking Green Day only after American Idiot won’t very probably wont feel as strongly towards as they do the more recent offerings, some of the tracks may be totally new to the new Green Day audience.

Below is the game’s confirmed track list:

Dookie: Basket Case, 01 Dookie 07 Burnout, 01 Dookie 01 Chump, 01 Dookie 3 Coming Clean,01 Dookie 11  Emenius Sleepus, 01 Dookie 12 F.O.D. 01 Dookie 14  Having a Blast, 01 Dookie 02 In The End, 01 Dookie 13 Longview, 01 Dookie 04 Pulling Teeth, 01 Dookie 06 Sassafrass Roots, 01 Dookie 09 She 01 Dookie 08  Welcome to Paradise, 01 Dookie 05 When I Come Around 01 Dookie 10 

Insomniac: Brain Stew/Jaded, GGGeek Stink Breath02 Insomniac 12 

Nimrod: Good Riddance (Time of Your Life), 03 Nimrod 03 Hitchin' a Ride,03 Nimrod 02  Nice Guys Finish Last 03 Nimrod 04 

Warning: Minority, Warning 04 Warning 02 

American Idiot: American Idiot,05 American Idiot 01  Are We the Waiting/St. Jimmy, 05 American Idiot 05 Boulevard of Broken Dreams, 05 American Idiot 04 Extraordinary Girl, 05 American Idiot 09 Give Me Novacaine/She's A Rebel, 05 American Idiot 07 Holiday,05 American Idiot 03  Homecoming 05 American Idiot 12  Jesus of Suburbia, 05 American Idiot 02 Letterbomb05 American Idiot 10 , Wake Me Up When September Ends, 05 American Idiot 11 Whatsername05 American Idiot 13 

21^st Century Breakdown: 21st Century Breakdown, 06 21st Century Breakdown 02 American Eulogy, 06 21st Century Breakdown 11 Breakdown Before the Lobotomy, 06 21st Century Breakdown 03 Horseshoes and Handgrenades, L06 21st Century Breakdown 09 ast Night on Earth, M06 21st Century Breakdown 04 urder City, 06 21st Century Breakdown 06 Peacemaker, 06 21st Century Breakdown 05 Restless Heart Syndrome,, See the Light 06 21st Century Breakdown 12 , Song of the Century, 06 21st Century Breakdown 01 The Static Age, 06 21st Century Breakdown 10 ¿Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)

While I agree that Green Day have had some good tracks I wouldn’t say that this warrants them having a game made of said tracks and the ones that gave them their fame in the mainstream audience.

If you ask me, this game is just an excuse to make money more than giving the fans something they really want, other bands deserve to have this happen for them so much more than Green Day do, such as Alkaline Trio, HIM, The Used, cKy and Reuben. All those games would be so a big improvement on Green Day.

Green Day: Cash Cow… I mean Rock Band will be released on the 8^th of this month (June)

Expect a lot of teenage girls in tight jeans in the queues.

My Challenge From Crude Pixel

I was set a challenge by Crude Pixel to review a game of their choosing, the game they chose was The Wrath of The God by Sinistrade. For those who don't know, Crude Pixel is an indie games and culture site. So if you haven't heard of the game, don't worry too much. Enclosed is the review I will very probably end up submitting to Mik to cement my place on CrudePixel.com, enjoy.

The Wrath of the God by Sinistrade is without a doubt an interesting and glorious game. The premise is a simple one, dodge the angry God’ balls of luminescence and survive for as long as you can. This may sound an easy task but trust me, it gets pretty tricky, pretty quickly.

The artistic style of the game gripped me straight off, it is refreshingly different and simplistic. The minimal colour scheme of the game, mostly blues and blacks with the exception of the balls of light, makes the game stand out for me. The contrast of the lights and the background colour scheme make me think “.k. those lights are pretty but I sure wouldn't like one landing on my head”and just after I think that, BOOM! big great ball of light crushes me. Not good at all. Having the God’ eyes stare down at you as you dodge his balls of pain made me laugh for a minute before i was promptly blown up by said balls.

Not only are you bombarded with the balls of light but smaller ones pass across the God’ eyes and explode in the background, the first time i saw this happen i thought to myself “ow, I’ glad I wasn’t on that ridge.”but after a couple more attempts at getting a decent score I could fully appreciate the beauty that those balls of light created. Even when you do get hit by one of these lights, and trust me, you will, you still think to yourself, “his game is so pretty... even when I am splattered everywhere”

The God’ eyes also proved as a distraction for me the first couple of plays of the game for me, watching the eyes watch me was something i couldn't help but do, which also lead me get crushed by the balls. I was staring into those big beauty’ when POW! light ball lands right on my head and again... My little man is splattered all the ways you can think of and then some more

Not only does the games difficulty slope nicely, with the projectiles speeding up, following you and coming more frequently but sometimes the balls of light will explode in the air and split into three and then follow you, making for quite a tricky escape from them.

On the Gamejolt.com page for The Wrath of the God, Sinistrade says that this game took him about five hours to come up with. Even if this is the case, trust me it will take you a lot longer than that to get good at it, in the number of times I have played it, my score has been pitifully low compared to some others i have seen and as soon as i finish this review of it I'm jumping right back on it. It is very rare for any game to have that effect on me, the last game that i literally couldn’t stop playing, even after i had completed it, was Don’ Look Back by Terry Cavanagh which is the story of the Death of Eurydice in a superbly presented package.

Like every game, The Wrath of the God does have it’ flaws but they are so few and far between it makes them barely worth this minimal mention I am giving them, but its only fair for you, the readers, to understand that no game is perfect, but this comes very close indeed, i loved it and i think you will to. It’ simplistic style and graphics make this game a keeper.

To Summarise, The Wrath of the God is beautiful and plays like a dream. The controls are easy to get to grips with. Use the arrow keys to move left, right and jump the low flying balls of light. Don’ let your guard down or you will face the Wrath of the God.

Gaming's One True Sun

My fifth blog post today will be a celebration of a gaming icon that recently just turned the big 3-OH, now I know straight away you’re racking your brains trying to think of gaming icons that are such a reasonably young age. “Surely everyone that big in gaming is a touch older?” Ladies and gentleman, happy belated birthday PAC MAN!

Yes, that’s right everyone’s favourite yellow man is the wrong side of 29. Let us take a stroll down Memory (aah see that? Reasonably passable computer joke) Lane.

Pac-Man released on May 22^nd 1980 and developed and published by Namco stormed the arcades and instantly became a massive hit. Holding people’s pockets hostage for the tidy sum of a quarter a time. Even today 30 years down the line, our little yellow friend is as popular as he has always been, primarily due to the simplicity in the games controls and premise. Collect the dots eat the power pellets then eat the ghosts but don’t let the ghosts touch you unless you have eaten the power pellets.

Not only is Pac-Man as popular as it has ever been but all the Pac-Man clones and spin offs that came about seem to retain their popularity also. The most notable Pac-Man spin off is very probably Ms Pac-Man hailed as some gamers to be superior to the original.

An interesting fact, that I didn’t know but you probably did is that the ghosts in Pac-Man have names… in japan they were known as Macky, Micky, Mucky and Mocky (red, pink, cyan and orange respectively) and in the western world they had better names all together and those were Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. I particularly love the fact that instead of calling the orange ghost/monster a name that ended in –inky they chose to go for a totally random name.

Something this awesome deserves to be around for ever and hopefully in 30 years, when I am 49 I will be able to say, Happy 60^th Pac-Man. But only time will tell.