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Indie Pick of the Week: Warlock Bentspine
Warlock Bentspine
It's been a long time since I wrote a review for IndieReview, and I miss it, but didn't want to return to the 3-4 review per week schedule back at the site before I could spare the time to. So here's me writing a weekly review of the best indie game I could find each week, right here at Xmashed Games Blog. So the game for this week is as the title spells, Warlock Bentspine.
The game sets itself in the dank and dark future of the year 2042 (coincidentally also the year the US government predicts that the minorities will become majorities), where a gang of notorious criminals have escaped their imprisonment and wasted no time in going back to their evil ways. You play a gunslinger by the name of Jacob Bentspine, also known as the Warlock, and set about kicking the gang's asses using a myriad of ranged weapons at your disposal. The game plays like the typical side-scrolling platformer (think the old SNES Metroid or Megaman), but adds a level design twist where the sequence of rooms encountered are randomized each time you play, allowing you to get a little bit of that rogue-like freshness each time you replay it.
One complain I have is that the game is not easy for people new at such action platformers. The fact that you can choose to play any level except the final level (it remains locked until the other levels are completed), and that all rooms within each level are randomized, possibly means that the game has a flat difficulty curve - in other words, the game starts off hard, and remains hard. However, if you are a veteran action platformer player, this game will be a blast. As mentioned earlier, the game starts you off running, so you can avoid wading through all that tutorial nonsense for something you are already so familiar with, and get right down to the good stuff.
Level Select
Graphics in this game also harken back to it's retro roots, everything is drawn with a fixed palette of colors and rendered in pixel art. This gives the game a nostalgic 8-bit feel but is something also pretty much overdone in the indie scene. Note that this is not a complain but merely my preference, because the way this game describes the world of the future is very interesting indeed - as a filthy and pungent wasteland, not unlike the city in Blade Runner with less neon lights. Audio-wise, sounds are chiptunes, adding to the nostalgic feel this game keeps constant very well. Audio assets are complete with background music and sound effects, all original and done very brilliantly. Although nothing to actually write home about, it is pleasant and will keep you immersed in the game world.
The game is developed by Lazrool, music by Phlogiston, and FrankieSmileShow did some of the detailed artworks. You can download the game here.
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