"Octodad" gets stuck on you

Octodad is an indi title that was released for download at Octodadgame.com. I honestly am not sure if the group that made it has a name, because I didn't dig that far, but let it be known that everyone reading this should head over to Octodadgame.com and download this free game! It is fun, goofy, and at times: kinda difficult.

Basically, you play as an octopus that is posing as a father, except in doing so, he actually "is" a father. He loves his family so much and they love him and because of this, I don't really see why there needs to be a "suspicion meter" that goes up whenever you do something a "dad" wouldn't do in real life. Granted it's funny and granted I'm probably delving too deep into something that really doesn't need to be delved into, but I digress.

This game isn't the greatest thing in the world, but it sure has charm. This game made me laugh on a number of different levels, and although it is short, people can find themselves playing it over and over just to see how far they can push the limits and what whacky stuff they can pull off.

The biggest selling factor for this game is its control scheme. It's difficult, but purposefully so (i hope) You have 2 buttons that control the cameras rotation around you, and then you control Octodad entirely with your mouse. The space bar or middle click buttons switch from arm mode to feet mode. When in feet mode, the right click controls the right foot and the left click controls the left. In arm mode, you take control of the right arm only, the right click them controls the height in which you have the tentacle, and the left click controls grabbing onto objects (gee I hope I didn't get any of that mixed up) Regardless! The best part is the Octodad's animations as you fumble around a room. His body parts can get all mixed up as things start sticking to you. I laughed my ass off when I tried to wade through all of the junk in a closet. Just seeing a large octopus throwing boxes and toys around a small, dark room is hilarious!

Once again, this game is fun and funny. It's not a super polished, AAA title, but it doesn't have to be. Indipendent games is "where it's at" right now and this game is just another example. It's definitely worth playing, and the group that made it also has a kickstarter account on their site for those who would like to donate a little cash their way. I'd suggest it so that we can see more of Octodad in the future.

Pros

• hilarious
• charming
• something new
• FREE

Cons

• short
• controls may be frustrating to some

"Limbo" sets the bar high

Limbo is an Xbox Live Arcade game from Playdead Studios. It is a side scrolling, puzzle game with platforming elements, a fantastic art style, and gameplay that not only looks fluid, but feels fluid. The movement of the main character and the transitions between animations really make this game flow. It's simplistic controls make it easy to play, but still challenging to beat.

Before I talk about its difficulty, I want to say that I am a fan of easier type games. Really hard games are frustrating to me and in my opinion, can take away from the "fun". I know many gamers really enjoy tough challenges, but I'm not really like that. So if I say something is really hard, it may not be as difficult to those who thrive on challenges and can breeze through puzzles quickly. That being said, I usually judge a game's difficulty by whether or not I have to consult the internet to figure something out. With Limbo I had to consult the internet one time. I'm told however (by friends who happen to love extremely hard games) that this one instance in Limbo is kind of stupid hard in the sense that it's just really easy to over-look (they also had to look online for this one). In conclusion, other than one or two instances, the game is comfortably difficult for me. It was hard and challenging to the point where I could figure things out after some thought with only a few moments of literally being stuck.

Moving on! This game is special because of its art style. Its look and its world are something fresh and new. Creepy as it may look, the game is quite charming and cute; although the deaths are pretty harsh and gory at times. At one moment it can be cheerful and other times horrifying, but never actually "scary". I'm not one for "jump out and scare you" moments, and you can rest assured that this game really doesn't have anything like that. The music also helps to propel the game's overall mood and all around it was just very well done.

The game is somewhat short, and can probably be completed in one sitting if you're really invested in it; but that's to be expected with an arcade game. Re-playability is questionable. I know people that have played through it a number of times just because it's so much fun, but some people might just play though once and stop considering it's the same game with the same puzzles each time.

Story wise I was a little disappointed because the game holds a lot of mystery but nothing really pans out. You don't really learn anything about what is going on. It's still a very intriguing world and, to a point, it leaves you with a sense of closure, but I was left wanting more from the story. Other people are ok with this however. They enjoy having things left open ended. It's all in how you look at it.

All in all, this game is pretty amazing. I'd say it's one of, if not my favorite xbla game so far. I definitely recommend it to everyone (unless you're a little kid).

Pros

• fluid feel and fun to play
• clever puzzles
• beautiful and different visual style
• makes you want to play it over again
• right for price

Cons

• mysteries left unsolved
• one spot that's hard to solve because it's easily overlooked

"WWE All Stars" layeths the smacketh down

I am a big time pro-wrestling fan and I've been purchasing WWE Smackdown vs Raw (SvR) games every single year for at least the past 5 years. SvR titles are usually somewhat realistic. They are basically pro-wrestling's version of the Madden games. But this year THQ announced that they would be releasing a NEW title along with this year's SvR, and that is WWE All Stars.

Admittedly, when I first laid my eyes on this game, I was disgusted. All of the wrestlers were physically blown out of proportion and just looked completely goofy. I brushed the game off at that point, but as it came closer and closer to release, it grew more and more intriguing. I'm not sure why or how it caught my eye a second time, but I'm glad it did because this game is utterly awesome!

If you think about it, this game sounds like everything a wrestling game should be, and it is! It has larger than life characters and makes them ridiculously bigger by buffing them up larger than humanly possible. It takes rather simple and uninteresting moves and makes them look phenomenally insane! Let's take Honky Tonk Man's finishing move which is basically a swinging neck breaker (but barley, this move looks terrible when he does it in person). In real life, Honky gets his opponent in a head lock and basically falls over. HOWEVER, the All Stars remastered version of this move has Honky getting his opponent in a head lock and then flinging them some 75 feet in the air before they land brutally to the mat, shattering every bone in their body (ok, maybe it's not that extreme, but it's damn close). In essence, this game takes wrestling to a whole new level and does it in a super fun way.

This also is not technically a "wrestling" game. It is being dubbed by its creators as a "more traditional fighting game" approach to the series, and I can understand why. While it's not a fighting game in the Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat sense, it does have many fighting game aspects. It has quick and strong strikes, quick and strong grabs, blocking, and all that jazz. They take all of this and give you free, 360 motion as well as an interactive arena environment and occasionally weapons (also 2 on 2 or 4 way matches which you can't get in a "traditional" fighter). It's also got more glitches than a regular fighting game, but that is to be expected in a game like this that gives you so much free reign. But the glitches certainly don't take away from the gameplay in the slightest.

I would say this game's biggest shortcoming is its learning curve. All Stars is hard, especially if it's your first time playing it. Any move is reversible but the timing of the reversals is something that you have to master and that takes a LONG time. You also can't button mash or spam buttons to get anywhere (which can be good or bad depending on who you are and how you play) but in my opinion, this is a good way to even the playing field and weed out really annoying gamers. Once you master countering and reversals, the game gets really ridiculous and fun. You can start reversing reversals with crazy, spinning, back and forth animations.

The roster is a little on the small side too, although 30 fighters really isn't really anything to sneeze at. Not to mention more are coming in terms of DLC (although, knowing THQ it could be a while before we see them). I got my game at Gamestop so I could get the Million Dollar DLC pack as a bonus but it says I can't use the code until the end of next month. Kind of weird that I have to wait almost a month in order to redeem my "pre-order" bonus (curse you THQ for making me shop at GameStop!!).

Yes, it can be frustrating at times, but what game isn't? All in all this game is simply a blast! Once you get the hang of the controls you can start flying around the ring, smashing people 20 feet in the air, and chaining 4 to 5 grapple moves together in a row! The finishing move animations are so ridiculous, I never get tired of watching them.

I am so glad I gave this game another chance. It actually reminds me of back when Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker first came out I HATED the look, but upon playing it it turned out to be one of, if not the greatest Zelda games I ever played. Even though WWE All Stars looks... different, it is super enjoyable, and if you are a wrestling fan, you owe it to yourself to at least give this game a shot.

Pros:

• really fun (once you get the hang of it)
• diverse roster
• amazingly over the top animations
• cool video packages before each match in Fantasy Warfare mode
• it's something new in terms of WWE games

Cons:

• can be hard to get the hang of
• roster could be larger (also have to wait a month for pre-order bonus....)
  
• can sometimes be frustrating (especially if just starting out)
• Create a Wrestler mode is not as in-depth as other WWE games (you have to choose from the pre-made movesets of other wrestlers WHICH you must first unlock)