Friday’s are fun. Right? Boozing commences at 5pm sharp in my office. The beer is free and there’s always a few shots flying around to make sure that you’re suitably confused by half 6. Which is when we descend on some bar in Shoreditch and the rounds commence. Last friday was a pretty good example of my fridays. We ended up in a mexican place by about 10 and I was sitting in front of my tv, xbox controller in hand by 12. 4 hours later, I was still there, snoring away.
When I got up in the morning, after my customary 3 matches of Fifa12 (won 2, drew 1) I discovered that I had somehow negotiated the latest XBOX dashboard fail and downloaded a bunch of XBLA demos.
These included:
Gotham City Imposters
Warp
Iron Brigade (Trenched)
I’m a big fan of Tim Schaffer, which explains the latter 2 games, having made Iron Brigade and tweeted about Warp last week. I started with Warp and was pleasantly surprised with what I got. It’s a neat, simple premise. You’re an alien, imprisoned in some military base. A setting that had me imagining all sorts of fun scenarios and enemies while somehow not feeling like a massive game stereotype. The first 5 minutes is like a simplistic, isometric Portal. The scientists are getting you to do their tests. Then you get your powers back and start warping all over the place. Inside people, boxes, turrets and for the most part, through walls.
It’s a straightforward mechanic, that’s solid and enjoyable. It feels fresh and with the ability to warp inside people (and then make them explode) it felt like a mechanic that could be expanded upon and kept fun. I love short, xbla games that have one good idea, executed really well and not overcomplicated.
4/5
Tags: iron brigade, tim schaffer, xbox dashboard
