 Following on from yesterday's Fanning the Flames, we take a look at the best and worst of Steam. Eternity's Child has hit Steam and you can now decide for yourself whether it deserved that infamous 1/10. In the meantime we look at the rest of the indie and casual games out.
BEST
Steam has proved itself to be the premier digital distribution for PC and has been littered with a wealth of great titles. Below are our top picks.
Audiosurf
Audiosurf was a revalation back when it was released back in February this year. In Audiosurf players control an anti gravity ship similar to those found in the likes of Wipeout, F-Zero and Fatal Inertia. The aim of the game however is unlike the aforementioned games, instead you navigate the game's tracks collecting coloured blocks known as cars. The innovative part is where the blocks are generated from. Any DRM free music can be imported into the game and played along to, along with this are some tracks that come included in the package notably the Orange Box soundtrack and songs by independent artists. The game has an almost mesmerising feel to it and playing it can make listening to your prized music collection even more of a joy. This game truly has to be played to be believed.
Everyday Shooter
Created in just a few months by Jonathon Mak, this game is a twin stick shooter with a difference. Like Audiosurf it is inventive in it's use of music, each level has its unique own song playing in the background. Each song is created specifically for the game and as a whole they all feel a part of the same package. Mak himself has compared his work to an album and the common traits and themes they seem to share help back up this view. Everyday Shooter also has a gorgeous hand drawn look to it, with each level having a truly special look to it.
Sam and Max
Before Sam and Max came along the point and click adventure genre was as good as on its knees. However Telltale Games revived the genre with their episodic Sam and Max games. Now on its 3rd Season the franchise has proven to be a hit with its wicked sense of humour, cheap cost per episode/season along with a cracking plot and interesting and varied gameplay.
WORST
Every "platform" has its fair share of awful games not worth your time, Steam is no different.
Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?
An unimaginative TV cash in that has little in the way of redeeming features. It's based on the TV show of the same name that has been sold in various formats across the world. Is not in the least bit fun and suffers even further in comparison when compared to the likes of Buzz and Scene It. When you also consider where both of these franchises are heading with Buzz Quiz TV and the sequel to the original Scene It this game falls even further off the grade.
Ninja Reflex
Also released on Wii this PC port suffers by comparison as much of the appear of the game is in the motion controls. The game is somewhat limited with just 6 different modes of play repeated over and over again and it is hard to justify purchasing when there are far more comprehensive mini game collections out there.
So does Eternity's Child deserve a place on this list? At this point with the final version of the game having been launched and the general consensus seeming to be that it does deserve the poor scores it recieved means it will indeed appear on countless worst games ever lists. Look out for our upcoming review to see what what we thinkLabels: Best and Worst, Features |
I'd like to put it to Mr Speaker that DEFCON should certainly be riding high in the "Best" list. Oh, and Trackmania is an obvious one too.