1. Limbo by Playdead
Platform: Steam, PC, XBLA, PSN
Cost: $10, free demo
Premise: The game itself is very open-ended. You aren’t presented with a story up front, but you do know your character, a young boy, has fallen into the nether-realm of Limbo out the outskirts of hell. As the game progresses, you learn that you are trying to find your sister. Some critics have criticized the lack of story.
Gameplay:
Limbo is a puzzle platformer. The protagonist primarily faces challenges that involve getting past/over/around obstacles. For example, you need to figure out how to properly time jumps, manipulate objects, and push/pull items to progress further into the game.
Recommendation:
Limbo has received a ridiculous number of awards, including best horror (IGN), best indie game (Kotaku), and best downloadable game (Gameinformer). I find it very compelling, in that sort of bug the crap out of you way. The game itself is absolutely beautiful, with eerie black and white visuals covered in light fog and film-grain. Your protagonist is just a silhouette with glowing white eyes. The music of limbo is also hauntingly beautiful. This is definitely worth the $10 if you are interested in games that are more about art and affect than shoot em up action.
2. The Haunted: Hell’s Reach by KTX Software (Indie)
Platform: Steam, PC, PS3, 360
Cost: $20
Premise: Just as with most shooters, the story isn’t very strong. It doesn’t matter though, as this game is about kicking ass.
Gameplay: 3rd person action horror with online multiplayer action. There is over 30 kinds of weapons, which means lots and lots of different kinds of death (which is always good in a Halloween game).
Recommendation: Not for the faint of heart. This game is about as bloody as it can get. This isn’t the type of game I would play over and over, mostly because the gameplay style really isn’t my thing. If you want a bloody, disgusting, action-packed demon-killing game for your Halloween, it doesn’t get much better than this.
3. Xotic by WXP Games
Platform: Steam, PC
Cost: $10
Premise: In Xotic, you are an alien trying to destroy scab plants to combat the orb that has taken over your planet.
Gameplay: 1st person shooter; arcade-style scoring. Basically, you run around trying to rack up kill combos as fast as possible. Simple, but intense.
Recommendation:
I like Xotic because it is really colorful, and you feel great playing it because of the high scores and mega combos. Because you can always do a level faster, have bigger combos, and achieve different modifiers, this is a great game to play over and over. I highly recommend for anyone who likes the old Quake-style platformer and graphic style.
4. Death and the Fly by Independent Programmist Group
Platform: Steam, PC
Cost: $10
Premise: Good question. I am not aware of the premise of this game yet– though full disclosure, I haven’t finished it.
Gameplay: This is a platformer where you control two characters: Death and the Fly. The idea is to get both characters to the end of the level by switching between them and using their different abilities to complete different tasks.
Recommendation: The aesthetics of this game definitely make it worth the buy for me. The scenes are reminiscent of a creepy street play, coupled with that movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The gameplay, however, is pretty difficult. It’s not very intuitive, and it reminded me a little of the frustration I felt playing Lume. It does get better as you go, however. I’d say to go for it.
And 5 (obviously): The Binding of Isaac by Edmund McMillen and Florian Himsl
Platform: Steam, PC and Mac
Cost: $10
Premise: You are Isaac, a young boy. Your mother has been told by God to sacrifice you, so you have hidden in the basement to escape from her.
Gameplay: This is an action-adventure set up much in the same vein as the Legend of Zelda games. As Isaac (and later, other characters), you move from room to room fighting monsters in order to escape the basement where you are hiding from your psychotic mother.
Recommendation. I can’t recommend this odd little game enough. It is well worth the money just to experience the random-generated levels.
