Akane
Akira had a long call with Hotline Miami about that baby they made together.
Akira In The Shell
The game takes place in Neo Tokyo with Akira… sorry, I mean in Mega Tokyo with Akane, but the inspiration is clearly obvious. There is some Ghost In The Shell and Blade Runner thrown into the mix as well. The pixel art of this city is gorgeous, full of life and little details, enhanced by great lighting and shadows. The story is only hinted at, Akane is in conflict with the Yakuza, her motorbike crashes on a plaza, she knows she is going to die but she wants to take as many of them out as she can.
– Real player with 24.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Indie Action Games.
This game is freaking stylish as heck.
Basically a highscore focused arena game, you kill enemies until you die. Repeat. That’s it. You can try to keep your combo going, which quickly becomes incredibly addicting and one heck of an adrenaline rush. You can focus on playing as stylishly as possibly, stringing together your different options into choreographed dances of beautiful violence.
For what is essentially a quick rush of adrenaline, and probably not meant to be played for hours and hours on end, the game displays some beautiful elegance in its mechanics:
– Real player with 15.7 hrs in game
Metrocide
Oh man, I really like the concept of the game. Because of that, I also really want to recommend it. Unfortunately I can’t; the average player would rip their own arm off and beat their monitor to pieces.
First off, the good:
-Cool gameplay idea
-Cool setting
-GTA 1/2 style overhead view
-Lots of variety in contracts
The bad:
-Terrible, terrible AI
-The controls kind of suck
-Starting weapon is extremely shitty
-Lots of bugs
-Lots of crashes
-The AI’s so bad it deserves another spot
-The last zone the player unlocks isn’t very fun
– Real player with 16.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Indie Stealth Games.
Metrocide is an interesting, yet simple to learn game set in a dystopian world with plenty of flavour to it. The player takes on the role of a contract killer who needs to earn money to skip town. To do so, as his or her job title implies, they take contracts to end the lives of their targets without being shot by cops, vigilantes, gang members, paranoid targets or their bodygaurds. While at this, they will need to hide the bodies to prevent the police from increasing the priority coverage of the zone they are in and they will need to kill without leaving witnesses - Or risk being hunted by police drones which eliminate criminals without any remorse or trial. This leaves oppertunities, however. Should you pull out your gun and show it to a paranoid target, the target may open fire at you first. Vigilantes will do the dirty work for you, and citizens will give your target’s description to the police instead of yours. Then when they all ran, nobody will be around to identify you as the killer when you shoot back.
– Real player with 12.6 hrs in game
New Tricks for Old Gods
Only a few minutes in, and I am thoroughly invested in the world the creators have built. Great illustration and writing.
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Indie Visual Novel Games.
Personally I find the fun in choose your adventures is predominantly in the 1st run through. In that aspect this game is hard to recommend. With that said it was very interesting and for those obsessed with going through the majority of the endings I think you’ll have quite a bit of fun with this one.
– Real player with 0.2 hrs in game
Security Hole
This fucking game. This MOTHERFUCKING GAME. Now this was a remarkable puzzle game. It was easily the most frustrating puzzle game I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing, and I absolutely loved it.
WHAT IT DO :
You have a collection of base shapes, such as cubes or dodecahedrons, which form various larger 3D structures. The object is to rotate this 3D structure such that it can fit into a hole which it is steadily, almost imperceptibly moving towards. Think of it like shining a light at the ground so that your shape makes a certain shadow, and rotating it so that the shadow matches the pattern given. Except there’s a time limit. Or you only have a certain amount of rotation you can perform before it locks up. Or sometimes both of these things. And also each level has multiple phases and they keep adding more and more of the base shape to your object, changing the shadow it can make. Also everything is randomized so you’ll never get the same setup twice. Oh and the boss-mode fights have a second timer you have to beat across all phases, and everything is wireframe and terrible. And also there is a
! secret world, and a secret level to the secret world, and secret mandatory bonus rounds on several of the final puzzles, because fuck you apparently.
– Real player with 19.6 hrs in game
Think of this as a kid’s set of fitting blocks, on steroids. Don’t get me wrong, this game is HARD and will test your geometrical/tridimensional perception to the limit.
Don’t be fooled by the game’s first trailer, as it is very misleading. The second trailer is more accurate to what you get.
I won’t lie to you, the game concept is all about testing your geometrical/spatial ability by passing 3D objects through a hole (no, there’s nothing dirty in that sentence). There is some variation to that theme, though. Sometimes you have to do it within a time limit. Sometimes you have to move the object as little as possible but can take as much time as you want. There’s also a mode that shows a blank object with no shadows or other indications of perspective and you’ll have to find the matching object from a set of 4 options. On top of that, each object is composed of smaller units, and these units vary through the game–you start with cubes, then you see dodecahedrons and other units, for a total of 6 different units which will fry your brain while you get used to each of them.
– Real player with 18.7 hrs in game
All Walls Must Fall - A Tech-Noir Tactics Game
A great game that just needs a bit more polish. If you liked xcom or syndicate (old school) youll probably love this game.
This game has a few levels to it.
The first level is a great shooter/ and minimal rogue or semi-RPG with time travel mechanics. Some of the firefights can be intense and complex strategizing your twisting of time between hailstorms of bullets allowing one man to wipe out an army.
Its not terribly deep on the surface likly because they didnt get the funds to make the game its full intended length (west germany as well as east germany). I do not regret any time spent, or not spent in this game. (yes its a bad joke since at the time of writing this I have the world record of completing the entire game in 1 minute 29 seconds… time travel accounted for=).
– Real player with 22.1 hrs in game
A masterpiece ruined by retard downvoters, small minded casual homophobic cry babies.
I got this game during early access, did a first run but messed the first 3 tutorial missions,
earning low money and getting stuck on harder missions because with low money you can’t upgrade much.
Now that the game is published I did a serious run, nailed the tutorial missions and also unticking the ‘decision timer’ option,
which allows you to think about each move without losing time (time = money).
After those 3 missions you get access to the map, where you can select your next mission.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
Morning Star
Morning Star is a first-person farming game set in a post-cyberpunk world where computers are your soil and software is your seeds.
Explore, rebuild, or exploit a community on the outset of a cyberpunk dystopia. It’s your choice to help build a better future.
Created by Metkis. Coming in 2019.
Murder
Most of these are just my opinions.
I bought the Murder + Stranded bundle on Winter sale just for their graphics appeal, also points for plausible soundtracks. I did read a few reviews too, and visited the Discussion section in its Community. Seeing how this game is, I guess it does deserve to get a lot of negative feedback. Savant Ascent is just $1.99 yet it still offered more than its price, but I’m not gonna compare any more games with this.
This game also deserves some praise too. I’ll start with a few simple questions.
– Real player with 1.2 hrs in game
Since I know a lot of folks don’t read entire reviews, I’ll give a short version first:
Don’t buy this if you’re hoping for actual story or gameplay that lasts more than 20 minutes.
Now I’ll get into a bit more detail here, regarding this interesting little concept of a game. I love the cyberpunk theme - the I, Robot-esque machine evolution and I’m thrilled to find a new point-and-click adventure game. I’m even willing to let the overused pixel art style slide for the sake of gameplay, but alas, this “game” fails on essentially every front.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
NEON STRUCT
For anyone who’s a huge admirer of Thief like I am, this is a definite recommend! While it is a rather low-budget, small scale game, it has enough of its own vibe and does not outstay its welcome to become boring. I will attempt to sum up my feelings on it in more detail. (Possible spoilers ahead?)
Mechanically , it directly borrows light gem and surface materials elements from Thief. I love that! The experience of “reading a room” for isles and pathways that are safe to run on or stay in (and having to dynamically think through affordances of illumination and sound) never gets old and is unfortunately missing from most modern stealth games.
– Real player with 17.2 hrs in game
NEON STRUCT is a game for those who like first-person stealth, and don’t care about graphics or story. It’s not exactly that it’s a bad game; I did play it to completion. But thinking back, there’s little that stands out positively, and the experience never really gripped me.
The gameplay is probably the strongest part of NEON STRUCT. The game is divided into self-contained missions, each with a couple of goals such as stealing an item or deleting data from a computer. The levels are moderately sized with a progressively increasing number and variety of guards, security cameras and similar obstacles to overcome. There’s some freedom in approach; for example, you can steal keycards from patrolling guards, knock the guards out first, or hack the door with a Breakout mini-game; and all levels feature multiple routes to explore.
– Real player with 14.1 hrs in game
THE ENIGMA MACHINE
The Enigma Machine
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Well, more importantly; Do androids even dream at all? What would a synthetically created artificial intelligence dream of, being created by the hand of man and all, anyway? The Enigma Machine is a rare opportunity to look into the thoughts of an android (do androids have thoughts?), and witness the very dreams of a robot through an intensive training software program.
And what happens to those dreams once an AI becomes contaminated? How do we, as the sole creator and engineer of this emulated form of life, contain the chaotic and anarchistic thoughts or desires of an AI system gone rogue? The Enigma Machine has manufactured the perfect training drill, a series of tests that the user will be put through to ensure their ability to deal with the prospect of dangerous sentient beings operating on their own free-will.
– Real player with 10.4 hrs in game
Summary
The Enigma Machine is a brief first person point and click experience focused upon exploring the mind of an artificial intelligence via a computer simulation of the same name. To say much more would ruin the experience.
PROS:
-
I found the world and story, though brief, deeply affecting and memorable. Saying why would constitute a spoiler. You’ll have to play the game yourself to find out.
-
Excellent visual and sound design presentation effectively immersed me within the game’s core conceit: that I was exploring a simulation of the mind of an artificial intelligence.
– Real player with 1.9 hrs in game
The Last Night
Humans first knew the era of survival. Then they knew the era of work. Now they live in the era of leisure. Machines have surpassed human labour not only in strength, but in precision, intellect, and creativity. The fight for survival doesn’t mean food and water, but a purpose for living. People now define themselves by what they consume, not what they create.
The Last Night immerses you in the everyday life of Charlie, a second-class citizen living in a city brimming with augmentation and citizens living a gamified existence – none of which Charlie can experience himself due to a childhood accident. Apathetic and disheartened by the seemingly pointless world around him, Charlie is presented with an opportunity to take matters into his own hands. But at what risk?
Features & Highlights
•Explore a breathtaking post-cyberpunk world
Roam freely across four varied and vibrant districts in a unique blend of 2D and 3D. Travel between areas with futuristic transportation and wind your way through dense crowds, drones, and unique characters – as long as you have the right to be there.
•Immersive, revolutionary visuals
Experience a city of gorgeous pixel art, drawn and animated by hand combined with state-of-the-art compositing techniques and camera work. The result is an immersive aesthetic, modernizing the cinematic platformer genre.
•Contextual stealth & gunplay
Each encounter in The Last Night is handcrafted to ensure variety and narrative progression. Use your acquired knowledge of the city to hide from drones, skirt around police, and escape dangerous situations - or people.
•Real-time action dialogues
Draw your gun to intimidate or simply walk away while in the middle of dialogue. NPCs will stroll and chat alongside you rather than just stand around. They’ll even remember what you’ve said, night after night. Make sure to watch your mouth as much as your back.
•A rich, personal narrative
Experience an unfiltered, futuristic society through the personal lens of Charlie, an ordinary low-class citizen - from the daily routine to extraordinary events. Live the stories of the city and its inhabitants in a world that may have you questioning modern life.
•Dynamic, original soundtrack
Showing you a side of the city that the camera can’t, the soundtrack and audio design places you directly into the heart of the world. From the music playing in shops as you stroll by to hover-cars blasting above you and the stories overheard through open windows, everything has been crafted to enhance the visuals and fully immerse you in this living, breathing environment.
About Odd Tales
Odd Tales is a new studio aiming to create immersive and thought-provoking experiences in gorgeous & unusual worlds, made possible by years of research, rich pre-production, and a true authorial vision. The team is spread over the world, united by the love for cinematic platformers, storytelling and 2D, and fueled by the strong desire to push their boundaries further than ever.
The Last Night is our first game, a labour of love that evolved from our free 2014 prototype which won the #cyberpunkjam, that you can still play online right now. We’re dedicated to supporting The Last Night, the talents and the fans who have been instrumental in making it happen - join us on a journey into a new kind of cyberpunk.
