Minecraft

Since the game really isn't in a "finished" state, it would be silly to give it a proper review. But with it being free this weekend (www.minecraft.net) and for as long as it takes to accommodate the massive amount of traffic it's servers have gotten this week, I took some time to give it a fair shake, much like the wang dangler after a satisfying squirt.

There is something incredibly familiar about why I couldn't put this down. It is the same feeling that someone gets in the first playthroughs of games like X-COM: UFO Defense, Deus Ex, A Boy and His Blob.... wait, bad choice. It doesn't give you this feeling because it LOOKS like it could have been made around the same era. There is a much better reason. Like many of the classics, this game makes no effort to guide your hand in anything. You are not a hero. You are given no goal. There is no story. There is no background. You are made of blocks.


You are dropped in the middle of a randomly-generated, hostile world with one thing on your mind. Figure out how to survive. This is quite literal, given you have no instruction on how to do this. You are given controls and your imagination.


That is why the game is great. You figure out how to do the shit you want to do because you are an adult. No need to baby you with a pusscake tutorial, run and find shelter, asshole.


Visually, it's just right. It fits the back to basics view on games that is seems to be made with and becomes quite endearing after a bit of play. The atmosphere is done beautifully. You are immersed in a world where you have to judge your priorities based on the location of sun/moon. You will be reduced to a cowering 6 year old when you hear a giant spider in a dark cave. You will scramble to light a torch and shut your door when the sun sets. Intermittently, appropriately lonely music will play and you will wonder how you've just spent 4 hours building a home in the clouds. You will throw your monitor out the window when you are killed by a creeper and have no idea where you are when you wake up and are left with no shelter, no materials and no leather pants that you just crafted from raw cow ass.

(I promise this will terrify you)

This game is being made with a very clear understanding of what makes gaming fun. Player creativity, exploration, immersion, progress and a whole lot to lose if you don't succeed.

Buy Minecraft. You need to give Notch your money.

Sleep Is Death

Here at I Am A Taco we like to support indie games and indie developers.



That is a picture from Jason Rohrer's Sleep Is Death. It's a nun shooting two guys in a church. This is what happens when you go to church. Pretty neat if you ask me. From what I gather Sleep Is Death is a super innovative two player sandbox type game.

It looks quite fun. I want to play it and I'm in luck! Jason Rohrer has graciously decided to adopt the pay whatever you want model. He was originally charging 20 dollars for this game, but now you can pay what you want and you get TWO COPIES. One for you and one for a friend. I am buying it so I have a copy to give to someone. Tell me if you want the copy.

Before taking the plunge you should click through this: What is Sleep Is Death?

I am still kind of confused about it, but when we play this game with each other think of the possibilities!

Here is what someone at RPS said when he played it: RPS

Okay this is the link to the site where you pay for the game and download it.

Click here and scroll down!

Post download edit:

This is going to take some figuring out. One person controls everything that happens behind the scenes in the game while the other just moves and talks and interacts. So you make your own stories. Then the controller has 30 seconds to react by manipulating the scene. It's pretty cool. I need someone to try it with. There are tutorial videos - I watched the first one and it made some things make some sense. Videos. I did this.



Second post download edit:

You're probably going to want to wait to download this unless you are super interested in working at it with me because it's going to take some time before it gets fun. Or download it anyway and mess around with it. It was a nice thought. I still want someone to play with. There are a million user created images and scenes to download, so that is cool.

This about sums it all up.

Zeno Clash Review

Hello friends.

Today we will be talking about the fabulous game called Zeno Clash made by ACE Team. It is a source mod set in a whimsical and fantastic world inhabited by all sorts of strange creatures and people. The environments, characters, and visuals are diverse and extremely impressive. This game is beautiful. You will have several "Oh shit!" *points at screen* moments.



There is an old PC adventure game called The Neverhood. I felt like some of the environments were reminiscent of that. The level design is very well thought out, but can be linear at times. It doesn't detract though. The characters are imaginative and all have unique personalities. The voice acting is good, though I did not care for the main character's voice. The dialogue can be lame at times, but there is also humor. The curse word in this world is "kak." It's funny when they say it. The sound effects and music are superb and help set the tone and heighten the drama. I want to kiss this game on the mouth because it is so pretty.



You start the game by learning how to kick chickens. You are then thrown directly into a fight and the action begins. Before I get to that, I'd like to comment that the story is pretty damn good. I'll let you play the game rather then tell you the story. It is told through a series of long flashbacks. That's neat. Anyway, back to the kicking and punching. The main method of combat in this game is hand to hand combat. The game will teach you as you go. I feel like people would either love it or hate it. I had no issue with the system, but some may find it clunky. It's fun to use different combos and vary the strength of your punches. Additionally there are weapons like bone-swords, skull grenades, and fish-pistols. The design on these is great. Some of the fights get tough towards the end and it makes it really challenging and fun.



Additionally there is a challenge mode where you are timed and have to fight on several stories to the top of a tower . There are five different difficulties I believe. You can compare your times with your steam friends. This game has Sandpeople. It took me about five hours to play through. I did it in one sitting since it was so fun. Right now it is $15 on Steam. I purchased it on sale for about 5 dollars, so I suggest you wait for a sale unless you have the extra money. It is worth it. Highly recommended.

Zeno Clash

More Screenshots
Bad Man
Donkey Guys
Sword
The Bar
Father-Mother
Creepiest fucking thing in a video game ever

Amanita Design.

Amanita Design is an indie games company headed by some guy over in Europe. They have made games such as Samorost 1 and 2, and most recently Machinarium. Today I saw they are discounting their pack of games from 25 dollars to 10 dollars. I bought it. Here is the LINK describing what is included in the pack.

You can play the full version of Samorost 1 to get a feel for the type of games these are. It's a flash game and doesn't take very long to complete. Very well done though. HERE

I uploaded the soundtrack of Samorost 2 for you because it's awesome. HERE