Kunstkamera (June 23)

In the new column of Kunstkamera, we will talk about the most interesting and unusual loaded games that have been released in recent weeks. Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Store, Wiware and DSIWARE, Apple App Store – independent projects regularly appear in all these networks that are not in the main sections of our site, but which we are not entitled to be silent. Briefly about the most noticeable of them – here.

In this issue: we play golf with Iranians, Koshmarim Bobrov, take care of the survival of land octopuses, send children's toys to faithful and painful death ..

Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype

Genre: Scrolling

Developer: Sidequest Studios

Platform : Psn

Price : 445 rubles

Those who recently looked at PSN have probably noted that Söldner-X 2 There they pay suspiciously a lot of attention: in addition to a simple opportunity to buy a game, in "novelties" under the nose they poke themes, videos and even "economy-pack", where Final Prototype Sold in a set with the first part for 600 rubles with a trifle. “It seems that there is a lot of honor for the passage game,-probably again some kind of breakthrough indie platformer,” you … And you will be mistaken. Söldner-X 2, as well as the first part, is a classic scroll about space: the boat flies from left to right and shoots at other boats. True, the Final Prototype on the Athos and caffeine tablets the size of a fist: where any other arcade would slow down and rounded up, the new Söldner-X explodes the next wave of robots and giant asteroids. At other moments, all this resembles a cosmic variation Contra : you pick up bonuses, ten minutes after the start, shoot a hail of plasma balls, and each mini-boss floating on the screen is at least one and a half times larger than the previous one.

Everything is successful, and this game could finally close the theme of space arcades, so it is doubly insulting that it is piercing on trifles. Firstly, except for firing on boats, there really is nothing more-it seems that over forty years of the existence of such games, no one really came up with how to diversify them. Secondly, for some reason there are only three types of shutters, and one of them is blocked by default. Finally, there is a multiplayer, but only local, so if you don’t have a friend with your “dualshok” at hand, buy söldner-x 2 it makes no sense: barracks on the screen alone, holding the shot button, bothers to the third level.

Grade: 6.0

Planet Minigolf

Genre: Golf simulator

Developer: Zen Studios

Platform: PSN

Price: 275 rubles

If you, like us, are waiting for a wonderful game Ghetto Golf (where, we remind you, serious black guys play explosive golf in slums), Planet Minigolf can temporarily become its substitute, a light version, where there is more sport itself and the least rest. Cars do not explode here and there are no convertibles with a high suspension, but the usual tournament rules are diluted with a pleasant arcade nonsense. Say, taking a special bonus, you can, like a magnet, pull the ball to the hole. Or turn on the nitro -resistance and start the ball through the entire field. Or generally take the ball under your control, controlling it with the help of a gyroscope. And the fact that the path to the hole is blocked by a skate dropped by someone or even a snow lump does not bother anyone: the rules allow!

Surprisingly, it was worth the usual golf, which in video games is traditionally represented by serious simulators named after Tiger Woods, to make a simpler face, and it became incredibly interesting to play people far from sports. Probably, professional players feel the same as soon as they find themselves on a field for mini-golf, in front of a louse in the form of some kind of gorilla in the cylinder or Abraham Lincoln with pushing knees. In Planet Minigolf, you can spend all night at the tournament with some arrogant Iranian and do not get bored for a second. It is a pity that all these bonuses, barriers and other arcade tricks are damn here: having fun for a couple of days, you will find that Planet Minigolf has turned into a trivial, albeit easy to master, sports simulator in screaming scenery.

Grade: 7.0

Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex

Genre: Platformer

Developer: Black Lantern Studios

Platforms: XBLA, WIIWARE

Price: 800 g

The series Ben 10 Alien Force, which goes on the Cartoon Network channel, tells how https://jimmy-winner-casino.co.uk/ a powerful artifact of extraterrestrial origin – Omnitrix fell into the hands of a simple American pioneer Benjamin tennison. He gives his owner the opportunity to turn into various types of aliens, gaining their abilities.

The franchise was not lucky with thematic games: they are all, whatever you take, the shitty action from the third person. Nose Ben 10 Alien Force: The Rise of Hex Everything is different – this time we have before us with a snappy platformer. For fifteen levels, the young Ben jumps, looks for keys, solves kindergarten puzzles, fights with enemies of mankind, turns into alien monsters … Meanwhile, the player, meanwhile, only yawns a lot and regrets the money launched over the wind. You strongly have nothing to offer you this game: the races on moving platforms and endless search for keys are already at the end of the second stage, the puzzles almost do not use the contents of your cranial box, and the combat system comes down to the scheme to “approach the enemy and hammer one button until the goal is rested ". And in order to play even your great -grandfather during afternoon sleep, the developers allow to completely restore their health at an arbitrary point in time and uncontrollable after falling into the abyss.

Even the opportunity to change the appearance – this is where it was possible to give free rein fantasy! – in terms of execution is below the waterline. The only reason to change the body is the need to overcome any obstacle designed specifically for a particular incarnation of Ben. There is no way to choose his own style of speech: the lizard can only drag the boxes, and a spider carriage – climb on specially marked walls. You have to stop and switch often (and the switching itself is not instant at all), which is why you begin to quietly hate the game. Therefore, if you still decide to buy Ben 10, the only question that will remain unresolved-this is what emotion will prevail before-boredom or irritation?

Grade 5.5

Aqua

Genre: Shooter

Developer: Games Distillery

Platform: XBLA

Price: 800 Microsoft Points

Chisburger from McDonald's, Blue-headed reading Daria Dontsova, another “you-yush”-film Michael Bay .. Aqua It fits perfectly into this series – there is absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. However, for lack of original ideas Games Distillery The proven gamedic reception is called to the rescue: they put a player in a barrel of firecrackers and set fire to wicks. It works flawlessly.

Aqua universe – “sea” steampunk: an uninhabited setting with steam boats and black smoke cruisers favorably highlights the game against the background of similar projects. The main conflict unfolds between the two marine powers – the empire (good and neatly trimmed guys – neither give nor take the British) and the Gotheans (evil, completely bearded and with a monstrous Russian accent). A small imperial ship is standing out at our disposal, capable of sinking an indecent number of enemy ships alone, regardless of their tonnage.

By Aqua mechanics, a typical Twin-steak-player: the left-handed gamepad directs the ship, the right is responsible for the direction of fire, all other buttons stand out under special capabilities (launching torpedoes, mining, sprint). That is, as already mentioned, innovation and revolutionary gameplay discoveries from Aqua can not be expected, everything is as conservative as possible. Not to say that this somehow negatively affects the impression of the game: the crew of our shaitan-ruts sends to the bottom of the ton of enemy scrap metal, everything is constantly exploding and spraying into dust, and your fingers let go of the right stick only to the very end of the stage.

The situation is closing the situation – the dominance of escort and protective tasks. This is probably the most boring and annoying missions. Our vessel costs a whole army, but even he often can’t protect the imperial convoy from a huge number of Gotean ships-a client object to the offensive often “sticks together” two to three seconds before the end of the stage.

Grade: 6.0

Robocalypse: Beaver Defense

Genre: Tower Defense

Developer: Vogster Entertainment

Platform: WIIWARE

Price: 600 WII POINTS

We had at least three reasons to wait for the game Robocalypse: Beaver Defense. The first is the intriguing name: it seems to promise destruction, robots and beavers. The second – it was developed by the former screenwriters of the popular animated show "Feat Bob Square Pants". Third – two years ago a game with the name Robocalypse Already went to Nintendo DS and turned out to be pleasant and funny RTS. It would seem that WiI should have turned out no worse. Alas, it did not work.

The evil beaver intended to capture the world and created the army of robots, and of course they want to interfere with him. From the authors of the “Bob’s sponge” with such a material you expect, if not a social satire, then at least a set of well-aimed gags, but something did not work out: in Beaver Defense, except for funny robobobashenes, there is nothing much to smile. No comics, no kut scenes, or at least funny screensavers are provided.

But most importantly, with a move to the new Robocalypse platform, he lost all its RTS aspects and turned into a simple Tower Defense about beavers. Tower Defense, however, is very good: there are many defensive turrets, upgrades are provided, and the levels are pretty. Plus, you can call for the protection of the fortress of heroes with special weapons: these are, in fact, the same protective towers that have learned to run and beat enemies with a butt on the teeth. Another thing is that there is nothing but the protection of the beaver den, there are games in the genre “save and save” now, to put it mildly, a lot. Therefore, Beaver Defense can only be interested in the event that over the past few years you have not enough Tower Defense with Bobrom-Genia in the title role.

Grade: 6.0

Art Style: Light Trax

Genre: Race

Developer: Skip

Platform: WIIWARE

Price: 600 WII POINTS

In addition Light Trax , There are at least eleven games with a subordoral in the current generation of platforms Art Style : six on DS and five on WII. These are mainly puzzles painted under the retro, and Light Trax, in general, is not an exception. These are schematic races in which multi -colored rays compete with each other.

The Light Trax world is a kind of greetings from the time of vector graphics: a black background on which sticks are laid out in a kind of three -dimensional picture. These are the tracks along which, under a retropilit, rose -shaped segments rush. Retrobacillas noticeably lose its speed in speeds, but, on the other hand, the only way you can choose bonuses, including accelerating. You have to take risks. Interestingly, you can switch to 3D mode and vice versa: in the first case, the game becomes like Audiosurf , and in a two -dimensional projection resembles Rock N ’Roll Racing , Go out on Atari 2600.

But it was not for nothing that we remembered that games with the words Art Style are produced in packs in the name: the authors are ready to process any genre in retro -resistance in retrostilism, only the essence of the games in the process does not particularly change. In 2010, you expect some fresh solutions from abstract projects, but in Light Trax there are only two modes: “Come out of all” and “Earn more points” (moreover, they are surprisingly simple). Instead of jet sticks, there could easily be balls or rhombics, the game would not have become better or worse. All this leapfrog at first amusements with switching modes, but I somehow do not want to give up for half an hour pampering.

Grade: 5.0

Rollout

Genre: Puzzle

Developers: Bulkypix, Fishing Cactus, Artik Entertainment

Platform: iPhone

Price: $ 0.99

iPhone puzzle Rollout Most like Lemmings Or, if you like, on Lucidity. From left to right along the two -dimensional tiled corridor, a cheerful creature is seeded – with eight legs, bulging eyes, tail and a huge toothy mouth. Alarming electronic music plays. Towards the creature (the built -in assistance system suggests that her name is vibba) a conveyor tape with multi -colored iconograms creeps. It is worth the Wabbe to cross with one of them, as he will immediately perform an action that symbolizes the icon, for example, jumps. Or accelerate. Or completely stupid on the spot. The player, in turn, can change the speed of the conveyor (but keep in mind – you can move the tape only in one direction) or make it translucent so that the Wabba does not face unnecessary icons and does not make unnecessary movements. Using these two tricks, you need to conduct a toothy dry octopus through the labyrinth of platforms and elevators, in order to ultimately deliver it to the portal to the next level.

Unlike the lucidity pseudo-indie-plater, rollout-a much more thought-out game: icons go to the sequence specified by developers, the tape can always be “reinforced” to the desired action. Therefore, the main task in the game is to subtly calculate the time and place of application of a particular ability. It is more difficult to do this than it might seem: almost immediately at the levels there are zones-border guards (abilities do not work within the radius of their actions), disappearing platforms and “multi-storey” puzzles. Therefore, if for some reason trips by public transport have lost their former acute sensations for you, be sure to look at Rollout: it is able to get out of itself no worse than the most fierce crush, but brings about a thousand times more pleasure.

Grade: 7.5