Indie Games

Rust (2013)

What is it?

Rust is an open world survival game. The studio that designed this game is Facepunch Studios. Facepunch Studios was founded by Garry Newman. This studio is most known for designing Garry’s Mod. Rust is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Rust has sold over three million copies at the end of 2015.

This game was originally created to mimic the DayZ mod for Arma 2. It also has certain elements from Minecraft. Rust was released on Steam for early access since December 11, 2013. It has been on Steam’s Early Access program since then. The objective of the game is to survive by gathering resources or stealing them from other players. Players will also need to learn how to craft certain items that are in the game. If a player has not learned an item they may also learn how to craft it by finding a blue print. The Player can also discover the item they wish to craft in order to learn how to make it.

When the game was first released it had zombies in the world. However, they have now been replaced by bears and wolves. There are also other animals such as deer, horses, and pigs. There are also air drops that players to get supplies from. If a player goes for an air drop they would have to fight other players to get the loot that is in the air drop. However, you may also get air drop signals so that you would be able to get an air drop at a certain location.

Technological Innovations

Players have characters that are of different races which has not been seen on other survival games.

Limitations

The game is still in early access. This means that there are still various bugs and glitches that need to be fixed. It is also being constantly updated to try to fix various bugs and glitches. These updates also add new elements to the game as well. However, with all the updates players would need to rebuild their bases and need to learn all their craftables again. 

Personal Experience

Some of my friends said I should get this game as it is a style of game that I enjoy playing. However, there were some people in the TeamSpeak at the time that tried to argue that I wouldn’t like this game. I mean I should be able to decide what games I like and what games I don’t. Well I ended up buying the game and I enjoyed it. 

When I got the game it was still on the legacy version and now I also run a server that runs on the newest version of the game which is experimental. It can be quite a pain to run a Rust server because of the updates. This is because of all the plugins that are on the server may or may not break with every update. So servers will need to be maintained on a daily basis. It is not like other games where servers pretty much run themselves. 

This game is a lot of fun with a group of friends. For example, in our group we have a builder, gatherers, and hunters. The builder’s job is to build the base. Gatherers will gather supplies such as building materials, ammunition, guns, medical supplies and food. Hunters will protect the group as well as gather food for the group. 

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuGRgktyzU8 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_%28video_game%29

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/252490/header.jpg?t=1455671960

Games From Late 2000's

Left 4 Dead 2 (2009)

What is it?

Left 4 Dead 2 is another first person shooter. However, it is a cooperative first person shooter. Left 4 Dead 2 was designed and published by Valve Corporation. This is the second game in the Left 4 Dead series. The Left 4 Dead series was originally designed by Turtle Rock Studios. Turtle Rock Studios was attained by Valve Corporation in 2008 and then later became an independent company in 2011. When the game was originally released it was only for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360. Then in 2010 it was available on Mac OS X and in 2013 it was available on Linux. This is a game that runs on an engine which was designed by Valve Corporation which is Source engine. Source engine was also used for the original Left 4 Dead game.

Game Play

This game is set in a zombie apocalypse where players are invaded by zombies. There are various zombies that will attack. Players get to choose between four characters which can vary depending on the campaign that you choose. You have to go through the campaign to win the game. This is in campaign mode. You can play campaign mode will up to four players or you can also play it in single player mode. If you choose single player you will have three bot players with you and players can enter your game if you have it set in your game options. In campaign mode you have safe houses which is a checkpoint.

Zombies

Most of the zombies are walkers. The walkers are known as the common infected. However, there are some that look different and have different abilities. The zombies that are in hazmat suits are fireproof. The boomer is a zombie that bigger than the rest and also spits out bile. If you get bile on you will be blinded temporarily and the zombies will be attracted to you. When the boomer is killed it will explode and bile is sprayed. The hunter will leap and pin a player down. If a player is pinned down by the hunter the other players will need to kill the hunter in order to save the player. While pinned down the hunter will injure the player or even kill the player if the hunter is not killed before the player dies.

The smoker has a long tongue that will grab a player and choke the player. When the smoker is killed it will release a cloud of smoke that will affect player’s vision if they are in the smoke. The tank is the largest zombie of them all and the tank’s ability is being able to throw heavy objects such as cars and concrete slabs. Players can incapacitated when a heavy object is thrown on them. If the player has low health the heavy object can also kill the player. The witch which is an infected woman that cries. She will not attack until she is provoked. The witch is provoked by damage, loud sounds, light, and survivors who are near her. She will attack the person that provokes until the provoker is dead or she is dead. The charger will charge at players and carry one of the players away. The other players that are in the chargers path will be pushed aside.  

The spitter will spit stomach acid at players. The stomach acid will hurt the players that step in it. However, if the players get out of the stomach acid their health will stop decreasing. If you kill the spitter it will leave a puddle of stomach acid. The jockey will jump on a players back. While on the player’s back the jockey will take them to other zombies or environmental hazards. The jockey will also hurt the player while on their back.

Personal Experience

I used to play this game quite a bit with my friends. It is fun when you have a team that works together. The best way to beat the game is if you have a team that will work together to survive. Once you beat this game there is not much more you can do. I stopped playing because I beat the game. However, from time to time when my friends want to play I will play with them.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_4_Dead_2

http://cdn.akamai.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/550/header.jpg?t=1452221347 

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/left4dead/images/7/7c/Specials_s.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20101024005014

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/left4dead/images/0/0c/Busting_Out.gif/revision/latest?cb=20091109083544 

Games From Early 2000's

Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

What is it?

Super Smash Bros Melee was a game that was made for the Nintendo GameCube. This is a crossover fighting game which was designed in 2.5D. It was officially released in Japan in November 2001. Super Smash Bros Melee was designed by HAL Laboratory. The head designer for Super Smash Bros Melee was Masahiro Sakurai. This game takes characters from other Nintendo games, but also has new characters that were not previously seen in Nintendo games. Super Smash Bros Melee sold over seven million copies by March 2008. This is the second game in the Super Smash Bros series. The metacritic score for this is ninety two out of one hundred.

Objective of the Game

When you first start the game up you have eighteen stages right out of the box. You will be able to unlock eleven more stages while playing the game.

The game has two main game modes that you can choose from. The two game modes are single player and multiplayer. There are more game modes within each of the main game modes which will be listed below.

In single player you choose a character then you start to fight various opponents to unlock new characters. You also have go through mini challenges before you make it to the boss round. To unlock new characters you must defeat the boss and then defeat the character that you can unlock. There are a few game modes that can be played in single player. The modes are classic mode, adventure mode, all-star mode, event match, stadium, and training. You also get character trophies after you beat all the stages in single player mode.

In multiplayer mode you can have up to four controllers connected at once. You play against each other. The game modes for multiplayer are versus mode, special melee, and tournament mode. In special melee there are different modes you can play. The special melee modes are camera mode, super sudden death, giant melee, tiny melee, invisible melee, slo-mo melee, fixed-camera mode, single-button melee, lightning melee, and stamina mode.

Game Characters

Super Smash Bros Melee has twenty six characters that you can choose from to play as. Fifteen characters are included in the game right out of the box. Players will be able to unlock the other eleven characters while playing through the game. Some of the characters in the game are from the original Super Smash Bros. There are also non-playable characters in Super Smash Bros Melee. The non-playable characters are Master Hand, Crazy Hand, Giga Bowser, Male Wireframe, Female Wireframe, Sandbag, and Solo Ice Climber.

The characters in the game had simple moves. In Super Smash Bros Melee, the characters do not have the ability for long combos like other fighting games have.

Other Games That Spawned

•  Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Nintendo Wii (2008) 
•  Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U (2014)

Personal Experience

I have a Nintendo GameCube and I currently own this game. It is a lot of fun because it has a unique fighting game experience. This is a game that a lot of my friends like to play when they come over. We sometimes have fighting tournaments. The best part of this game is when you unlock a new character as well as the credits at the end where you shoot the names out of the sky. My favourite characters to play as are Kirby, Link, Marth, Roy, and Samus. I like to play as those characters because to their abilities. The various game stages make the game interesting because of the various differences in each stage. For example, on Icicle Mountain you need to battle your opponent while climbing up the mountain cause if you don’t make it up the mountain you will die.

Sources

http://www.ssbwiki.com/Super_Smash_Bros._Melee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros._Melee

http://supersmashbros.wikia.com/wiki/Super_Smash_Bros._Melee

http://www.rechargegaming.com/images/Super-Smash-Bros-0682.png

http://199.101.98.242/media/images/66416-Super_Smash_Brothers_Melee-11.png