LBP 2 Level Review - Escape the Sewers!

Hello to all and welcome to another LBP 2 Level Review, where today I'm taking a look at a level that involves a great amount of swimming in dirty water. Lovely.

Escape the Sewers! has been created by Holguin86, who should be known by members of the LittleBigPlanet community as being part of lbpcenteral.com and littlebigplanetarium.com as well as being the curator of the LittleBigPlanet Wiki. Escape the Sewer is just one of his thirteen published levels, all of which I have played though and found them rather enjoyable, but this particular level caught my interest.

The level begins and is set rather simplicity, with no story being tied into the level, with the focus being placed upon the level itself.From the outset it is clear (with the level's title being a big hint too) that the aim is to escape the sewer. Oh, course, getting out isn't as straight forward as finding a manhole cover to exit from. The Sackperson is required to navigate their way through what appear to be a sub-terrain maze of pools of water, wet planets and pipes.

 One of the elements I feel that the level can proudly boast about is the imaginative use of water, with one particular puzzle requiring the water from that area to be drained and then filled again in order to move the items need to help the player progress.

As well as this the level's appearance have been cleverly thought through, with the level having an overall green murky appearance which adds to the experience.The combination of these elements help to really bring the level together in the end for a final boss battle.

Overall I feel that the level is incredibly enjoyable and much in the same way as Obscurity. All of the different aspects of the level flow together well, with the water being an amazing element to me, with numerous 'water park' and 'Wipeout' styled levels having previously used water horribly and in uninteresting ways.

I also feel that Holguin should be congratulated on this level reaching over 91,000 plays, over 11,000 hears and 29,500 'yays'. I would also like to thank Holguin for his contributions to to the LBP community, being part of so many great community groups and project. I wish him good luck with his future adventures on LittleBigPlanet.

I would like to award Escape the Sewers! 9/10.

Also here is a few relevant links:
Escape the Sewer - lbp.me
Holguin86 - lbp.me
Holguin86 - LittleBigPlanetarium


So, now it is again time for me to say that I have been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.

Digging for Victory - My Opinion of Total Miner: Forge

At first, this does appear to be a clone of a particular mining game which has a 'blocky' appearance, but after looking closer Total Miner seems to be rather unique.

Developed by Greenstone Games, Total Miner: Forge is a block building game that at first to many (myself included) does bare a great resemblance to another block building game, one that is on PC. Sharing the same basic gameplay style and elements, Total Miner also offers it's own features which include it's two modes.The first is the Creative, which is the standard mode designed for building and offering the most straight forward experience. The second mode is Dig Deep, in which players are required to start merely with 1,000 coins, two obsidian blocks and a wooden pick axe. Dig Deep is essentially a survival mode.

Dig Deep is the first unique feature that the game offers. The second is that considering Total Miner is a console game, it allows for a great deal of save files to be saved on the game's two gigabyte data storage. The game also includes a 'world share' feature whereby players can sent any of their save files to another player and let them actively explore that world and use the file.

A formal currency system is another interesting feature, with the use of coins in comparison to simply using various forms of gold and other metals. Tied into this is the use of 'shop blocks'. These blocks allow players to purchase all matter of useful items.

 

Moving onto my own opinion of the game and I honestly have enjoyed playing Forge so far and I like the overall feel of the game. Firstly, the game does look interesting and slightly different, whilst still retaining a block-like appearance. Secondly I like the gameplay style from the Dig Deep mode, with players needing to find blueprints for items before being able to create them, which gives the game a great deal of purpose and focus, whereas not all players may enjoy the way that Creative Mode is entirely open. 

Another aspect that I find interesting and enjoyable is the multiplayer, which allows for up to four player split-screen on a single Xbox console. The official Total Miner website notes that other multiplayer aspects are planned for the future.

Overall I feel that Total Miner is a great buy and can appeal to people of all ages as well as new and returning fans of what seems to be a new genre: block building.

 Total Miner: Forge is available from the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace for 240 Microsoft Points.

Here are a few links relevant to the game:

Total Miner - Official Website

Official Youtube Channel

Official Facebook Page

Offical Twitter Account

So, I guess that it is once again time for me to sign off. So, I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I hope to be back again very soon. 

Indie Game Summer Uprising - Information about it and my own thoughts

The Indie Game Summer Uprising, or IGSU for short, is a project designed to promote some of the top indie games and developers on the Xbox Live Indie Marketplace, whilst also promoting the XBLIG platform overall.
IGSU is set to show of the best creation by some of the best indie developers around.

The event has been organised by Dave Voyles and Kris Stelle and he Uprising itself is to take place between August 22nd and September 2nd, although the process for everything has already begun. Having started on July 4th (Monday) and running up until July 18th, indie developers can currently vote on the titles that they feel deserve to be listed as potential winners of the IGSU and shown off. By the 18th, the developers will have voted on eight titles. After that, from August 1st to August 15th, the public can vote for two additional games which will be added. Voting for this stage will take place on the official Facebook page. Then on Tuesday, August 16th (specifically at 8 pm Eastern Standard Time/ 1 am Greenwich Mean Time) the winners will be announced and a developer chat will take place on Twitter.

Finally after all of this, from August 22nd through to September 2nd the event will take place and will include promotion for the ten winning titles and developers. On the final two days of the promotion, the two titles voted for by fans will be released. This will be on Thursday, September 1st and Friday, September 2nd.

Currently the list of finalists has been narrowed down to just 25. Here is that list:

37 Days to Die
All The Bad Parts
AvaGlide 2
Battle High: San Bruno
Blossom Tales
Cell: Emergence
City Tuesday
Chester
Cute Things Dying Violently
Dirche Kart 2
Doom and Destiny
Dragons Vs. Spaceships
Katana Land
Mega Shooter 11: Ladies and powerups
P3
Raven Throne
Redd: The Lost Temple
Speed Runner
T.E.C. 3001
Take Arms
The Jump Hero
The Hearts of Men
The Spirit of Kohn, Ep 1
Train Frontier Express
Volchaos

Moving onto my own thoughts, I think that this is a simply brilliant idea and credit should go to all of those who have organised the event. I hope that every developer who is part of the event has great success in one way or another. I simply love the community spirit that is shown IGSU and how close the gaming industry can be, despite it being another form of competitive business.

Also, here are a few links related to IGSU:
Indie Game Summer Uprising - Official Facebook Page
Indie Games Uprising - Official Website
Kris Steele - Twitter
Dave Voyles - Twitter

I do hope that you will vote in the public fan stage to show your support, as well as to spread the word about IGSU.

Another note is that in September I will be covering the ten winners in the 'My Opinion' series, so be sure to check that out.

So, that's all for this post. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.

LBP 2 Level Review - Obscurity [Part 1]

Hello all and welcome to this week's LBP 2 Level Review, where I'm looking at one of the most compelling community levels I have come across.

Created by xSLEVENx, Obscurity is the tale of a Sackperson who appears to be lost within an abandoned  factory. While lost, the Sackperson comes across a malfunctioning droid who claims to have previously known them and sets out to aid the Sackperson in navigating their way through the facility.

The Droid

The gameplay combines elements of platforming and small puzzles while sticking to the level's theme and style, which is that of an the facility; a dark, dimly-lit place haunted by eerie noises and strange machinery. I personally felt that the level's difficulty was also something different, offering a slightly greater challenge than many other community creations.

The level's design is also exceptional, with the low brightness and sparing use of lighting helps to create a haunted feel to, which is further empathised by the background music, which is credited to Fading_monkey.
Beyond that the use of voice sounds is also used incredibly well, with the Droid's character being brought to life through it's voice. The Droid also adds a light-hearted level of humour to the story, which gives the level a somewhat charming and heart-warming feeling.

Overall I think that the level is simply an amazing creating and xSLEVENx and everybody else who worked on the level should be incredibly proud of their work and the fact that it has recently been chosen by Media Molecule as an MM Pick as well as achieving over 31,000 plays, over 8,000 'yays' and just over 4,500 hearts.  Also as this is part one, it means that xSLEVENx and co. will be creating a sequel, which I personally will eagerly await.

For this LBP2 Level Review am going to give Obscurity [Part 1] a top 10/10. I personally think it is a great enjoyable level and I also think it offer a brilliant sense of depth.

And here is of course a few links relevant to Obscurity:
Obscurity - lbp.me
xSLEVENx - lbp.me (Level Publisher and Creator)
Fading_monkey - lbp.me (Music Creator)

So, that's all for now. Now, it time for me to say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I hope to be back soon.

Oh No! More Updates

Hello all and welcome once again. This is just a quick update on a few various things.

Firstly, I would like to say that I will now be dropping Gaming News from the posting schedule. I feel that it simply doesn't fit in with the other posts and is more often than not either posted later or not at all and tends to cover random items that bare no relevance to everything else. In it's place I hope to post another LBP2 Level Review, as I feel that I need to post a slightly stronger focus on LBP otherwise I feel I will have to drop that too, but I do not wish to as it is one of the most popular topics on the blog.

Secondly, I sadly have to bring news that ShaneGBUK's Minecraft server is down and will most likely be for the foreseeable future. Due to his laptop now being little useful for little more than warming your legs as a result of a series of viruses, attacks and Trojans.

Thirdly, I am please to balance this out with news that Shane has now actually changed his online name from ShaneGBUK to ShufflingShane and has now also set up his own Blogger account where he hopes to cover news from the gaming industry as well as his views of music and his other general interests, all of which will feature Shane's unique twist and take on life. Shane's new blog can be found here.



That's all for this quick update. I'd just like to say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading.

Hyper Crazy Music Shooter - My Opinion of Beat Hazard

It's a bit like a cross between Super Stardust and Beats. Either way, it's bloody fun! So here goes, my opinion of Beat Hazard.

It seems that Cold Beam Games really have created a game that will sure enough have a cult following with this game that can easily be summed up by it's tag-line, "gameplay powered by your music". The game is a top-down duel stick arcade shooter, similar to Super Stardust, Geometry Wars and the famous XBLIG I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MBIES 1N IT!!!1. I personally would compare the game most closely to Super Stardust as it follows the theme of outer space and focuses more heavily on destroying asteroids as well as spaceships, in comparison to just ships.

                             Beat Hazard Ultra - Official Trailer (Copyright Cold Beam Games)

As, I have already mentioned, the game is a duel stick shooter so rather conveniently only requires the analog sticks as controls. Beyond that, the contents of the levels themselves, as well as the visuals are dictated by whatever song you use as a backing track for your gameplay. The game can use any sound file you have transferred to your console on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions and I believe the PC version can detect MP3. files. The game then configures the level depending on certain aspects of the chosen song, such as beats per minute and the chosen difficulty which is either easy, normal, hard or hardcore.

After each level is complete the player is shown their stats, while rather interestingly includes their completion of the song as well as the album it belongs to (providing it is part of an album or folder).

Moving onto my opinion and this is a game that I believe I will become addicting to. Many people now want various levels of customizability within video-games and I think that the use of personal music allows for that greatly within Beat Hazard. This gives the game a lot of playability, as the player will always be able to experience something slightly different as their music library expands over time.

I personally think that Beat Hazard has applied the use of music within a game in an interesting and engaging way. Something that I feel even titles such as Guitar Hero and Rockband have not even achieved. The aesthetic and graphical style is also another strong factor, with the crazy flashing lights and spectacular colours adding to the experience that is provided.

Overall I feel that the game is one that could potentially remain popular for some time and can appeal to both core and casual games as it could even conveniently be played in a short space of time, such as a lunch break or for a far longer period of time, such as for the length of an album.

Beat Hazard is available from the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points. The game is also available on Steam for £1.74 (which is 75% it's original price as part of today's Steam deals) as well as the newer version, Beat Hazard Ultra, which contains various additional features, which is priced at £0.87 (also 75% off). Finally from Steam, the complete Beat Hazard pack is 75% off for today only too. The pack includes the original game, Ultra and iTunes and m4a file support. The game is also available directly from Cold Beam's website for $9.99 (~£6.21).

Beat Hazard Ultra is also soon to be available on PlayStation via the PlayStation Store.

Here is a few links relevant to the game:
Cold Beam Games - Official Website
Beat Hazard - Xbox Marketplace Online
Beat Hazard - Steam







Also, Microsoft have recently rejected Beat Hazard Ultra for being published at an XBLA. Cold Beam Games are hoping to take the game and have it published by a developer later in the year though, but in the meantime you can show your support in the form of a Facebook 'Like', which can be found on Cold Beam's homepage.

So, now I guess it's that time for me to once again say that I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading. I'll be posting again very good. Bye for now.

Sunday Special - My thoughts on what I've been playing

Hello to all and welcome to a very quick post. Since I haven't been very active, I thought you may be interested in what I've been playing recently and my thoughts on those games.

Beginning with XBLIGs, I've played quite a few recently (mostly today). One that particularly stood out was Avatar Without a Chute, which essentially consists of playing as your avatar while free-falling and trying to collect as many points as possible while avoiding numerous objects. I would consider it to be similar to Avatar Drop. For only 80 Microsoft Points I would recommend this as a small title which would be enjoyable when trying to kill time, although maybe more that you'd like to if you get too in to it like I did for an hour and a half.

Apart from that I have also played Solar 2, Total Miner, Rainbow Runner, Avatar Onslaught and The Impossible Game Level Pack, as well as a few others. I have also been playing a few Indie Games that I have previously played. Namely, Avatar Legends and Avatar Adventures Online.

In the way of Xbox Live Arcade Games, I today tried out  The Fancy Pants Adventures and even though I have currently only tried the demo, I love it. The game seems fun and somewhat simple, while also having a sense of depth, as well as some great humour.

Moving onto PS3, as you may already know, I picked up my copy of DiRT 3 and have been loving it. I've done more of the multiplayer than the DiRT Tour so far. I'll definitely be covering that game more soon.


So, that's all for this quick post. I'd just like to end by thanking you for reading. I've been randomthings and I'll be back soon.

The first few Youtube Videos!

Hello to all and welcome once again. I would like to apologise for not posting this week, but I have been incredibly busy and normal service will resume on Monday.

One good thing that has come about this week is that I have not started uploading videos to Youtube. I am currently upload numerous short videos of my adventures on DiRT 3. I have currently just two videos, but hope to upload a great deal more. Sadly, the game's 'direct to Youtube' feature only allows for short clips to be posted (a maximum length of one minute long). I am hoping to record longer videos via Fraps, which will most likely be whole events or maybe a series of events. I will then eventually be editing each video to include a commentary over the top of the video.

 

Below are the two videos I have currently uploaded.

 

So, that's all for now. I hope that you will find the DiRT 3 uploads interesting and I hope that it will just be the start of my videos. I've been randomthings and thank you very much for reading and watching. I'll be back soon.