Indie-a-Day (006/365): Breath of Death VII: The Beginning

The xIndies feature "Indie-a-Day" will highlight and recommend a single Xbox Indie Game every day during 2011. Stamped with their own "Awesome: Unoffical Symbol of Approval," Zeboyd Games released the retro parody RPG Breath of Death VII: The Beginning for the Indie Games Marketplace in February of 2010. I've had the pleasure of impulse buying this game as the eight minute demo timer ran out on me. (Am I the only one that demos dollar games?) Anyway, you get an enormous value for your Mr. Washington with Breath of Death not only because of its obvious humor, but surprisingly fun gameplay.

As you can see from the image above, Breath of Death has a nice 8-bit graphical quality. The cut scenes, though not as appealing as the core portion of the game, is reminiscent of the RPGs of the eighties as well. With the looks and gameplay, playing this was like I went back in time, playing my NES as a child. The RPG formula was as fun as ever. It even changes the formula up a bit by, for example, telling the player how many random battles they'll experience in each area. Though the game is a fantastic title, especially for the dollar it costs, there are some drawbacks.

Breath of Death provides a good five hours of gameplay, more if you play through multiple times on the hard and score attack modes, and the combat, as advertised, is fast-paced and interesting with the combo system. However, the quick combat can lead to problems. In the beginning, especially, a player may simply rush through the attack options and press "a" until the enemies are defeated. Also, grammatical errors in the dialogue, along with a barebones story, could also be called into complaint.

These small issues are just that, small. The story and gameplay are fun parodies of the Dragon Quest style games and, honestly, the multiple "a" press battle win and be a good thing when you just want to push on to the next area. I hate to say "for a dollar, this is a must buy," because it isn't just because of the price that you should pick up Breath of Death. It is a good, fun, RPG that you will spend several hours with and enjoy. This is a title I would have recommended at any Indie price level, but it is what it is and, at 80 msp, this is a steal. You can demo or purchase Breath of Death here.

Indie-a-Day (005/365): Pew Pew Pod

The xIndies feature "Indie-a-Day" will highlight and recommend a single Xbox Indie Game every day during 2011. Bad Egg Studios' Pew Pew Pod is another dollar twin-stick shooter. At first glance, Pew Pew Pod seems very similar to Geometry Wars. However, with the addition of multiplayer for all six modes of the game and the addition of some fun game mechanics, Pew Pew Pod provides enough of a new and quality gaming experience to make it into my collection. 


Pew Pew Pod has six game modes that can be played by up to four people each. The game modes all seem to revolve around the number three. In the Arcade Mode you have three lives and three minutes to rack up as many points as you can by killing the enemies. In Survival Mode the game starts out very similar but you are not rewarded for kills but for the time you stay alive. You have three minutes to collect as many waypoints as you can in Waypoint Mode and in Zones Mode, yes, three minutes again, to rack up your points by staying in zones that spawn for five seconds each. I found the most interesting mode to be the Think Fast Mode. In this mode you are given a direction like GREEN or DON'T MOVE and you receive points for following the direction. No penalty, however, follows disobeying the order. The last mode is Versus where you destroy your friends and the person with the highest score at the end of three minutes wins. 


A cool addition to the gameplay found in the Geometry Wars series is that Pew Pew Pod has four selectable weapons. Each of these weapons are linked to a color, green, red, yellow, or blue. Your ship starts out shooting green, or with the Machine Gun Laser, and is a good, all around, rapid fire weapon. If you press the red or "a" button your ship will begin shooting the Shot Gun Laser that shoots a burst to clear out enemies. The yellow weapon, the Photon Torpedo, seems pretty useless so far, as it shoots slow and powerful. Finally, the Plasma Cannon, blue, is my favorite. The bullets bounce off the walls and you can just spam your enemy. Fun times. 


All in all, Pew Pew Pod does enough to differentiate itself from the standard Geo Wars series to make it an appealing purchase. Also, charging only 80 MSP for the game, Bad Egg Studios have set a great game at an irresistible price. You can check out the demo or purchase the full game here. Watch the well-made trailer below for some great footage of the game. 





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Indie-a-Day (003/365): Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp

The xIndies feature "Indie-a-Day" will highlight a single Xbox Indie Game every day during 2011. Ishisoft's Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp was an early title on the Indie Games service and is still one of the best. Initially released at 200 Microsoft Points, this platformer is a port of Ishisoft's Nintendo DS homebrew game. Now priced at only $1, JPBR is a great title for your growing Indie Game collection. 


I'm kind of cheating today, I bought this first Johnny Platform title when it first released for the $2.50. I thought it was a bargain then. With 65 levels of quick puzzle platforming goodness, I got more than my money's worth. Graphicly, JPBR is a nice throwback to games of the NES generation. As you'll see in the below video, JPBR features an elongated screen hinting at the DS roots of the title. If you are looking for a jump-on-the-heads-of-your-foes type game on the Indie Marketplace, look no further than Johnny Platform's Biscuit Romp. To purchase the game for 80 MSP or demo it, go here! Check out the video below for a preview of this awesome title. 





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Indie-a-Day (002/365): Square Off

The xIndies feature "Indie-a-Day" will highlight a single Xbox Indie Game every day during 2011. Today's game is another twin stick shooter, but one that is known for its great multiplayer and co-op elements. Square Off is available on the Xbox Indie Marketplace for 80 MSP. 


When you first boot up Square Off, the graphics will capture your attention. Its great Behemoth-style cartoony art makes the game initially attractive. The single player mode is fun as you battle your square person against the alien hordes attacking. The variety of weapons as well as the art and animation contribute to this fun game. However, you really get your dollars worth when you add in a buddy or three. The couch co-op is a great time and, with the amount of alien enemies, the help is needed. The deathmatch mode is a fantastic time as well. Originally released at $3, Gnomic Studios have dropped the price to $1 and have released an update that adds three new levels and fixes the global scoreboards, making this game a fantastic buy for your 80 Microsoft Points. Check out the video below for some footage of Square Off in action. You can purchase or demo Square Off here. 



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Indie-a-Day (001/365): I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1

The xIndies feature "Indie-a-Day" will highlight a single Xbox Indie Game every day during 2011. Our first featured title is number one on both the all time top sellers and top rated lists and has had over 300,000 paid downloads. Ska Studio's I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1, which was released in Augugst of 2009, is the most successful indie game on the marketplace.

If you've never played the title, you might wonder why Z0MBIES has had so much success. I mean, on paper, it's just another twin stick shooter with zombies. However, because of its simplicity, ease of play, low price and hopelessly addictive theme song, Z0MBIES has earned a place in my indie library as it should yours. Check out the below video for a taste of this great 80 Microsoft Point title. You can purchase or demo I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1 here. 



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Winter Uprising: Decimation X3 Released

Available for purchase just a few hours after the debut trailer (above) was released, Xona Games' Decimation X3 invades the Indie Marketplace for a mere 80 MSP. Through watching the trailer and playing the demo it is clear that there are several improvements made over the original. These include starting out without shields, a more impressive soundtrack, better arcade-y retro graphics, and, my favorite, the addition of boss enemies. If you decide to test this title out before you buy, you'll encounter Xona's devilsh construction of the demo that only allows a small amount of time to play, smaller than the eight minute limit imposed by Microsoft. And though you are almost certain to be cut off during the demo gameplay, the effect is successful. I immediately pressed the "buy now" button. If that wasn't enough, Xona has included a "share" option that allows you to pass along this drug of a game to all your buddies on Xbox Live. Infectious indeed.

Download Decimation X3's demo or full game on the Xbox Marketplace.

Winter Uprising Hands-On: Break Limit

I'm not going to lie, of all the quality games on the Xbox Indie service many of them are shoot-em-ups or shmups. With really good ones released by developers such as Radiangames and Mommy's Best Games, I really did not expect Zombie Monkey's Break Limit to do anything different or even compete with what was already on the service. What can I say, I'm a pessimist. Happily enough, I was wrong and this new indie can hold its own with the big boys. Hit the break to read my impressions.

Prelude to the Winter Uprising: Decimation X and Decimation X3

In anticipation of the upcoming Indie Game Winter Uprising, xIndies will be looking at some of the quality games that are, essentially, a prelude to many of the titles being brought to you this December. For more information about the Uprising, visit http://www.indiegames-uprising.com/. Xona Games will be releasing Decimation X3 during this event.

With the graphical appeal of games such as Geometry Wars and a pumped-up, modern take on classics like Space Invaders, Xona Games' Decimation X was a welcome addition to the Indie Games service at the beginning of this year. Featuring pulsing music, the addition of power ups, up to four person multiplayer, and the uncontrollable desire to beat your top score, this shooter was, and still is, a must own indie game. Priced at only 80 msp, Decimation X should not be missed. Decimation X3, Xona Games' upcoming release, is still a mystery as little information has been released about the game other than the dollar price and expected release date. Hit the jump for gameplay video of the original game and more.

The Uprising Begins with Epic Dungeon

Eyehook Games has released the first of the Winter Uprising Indie titles, Epic Dungeon! Immediately coming off as a fun dungeon crawler and action packed game, this was an insta-buy for me. You need to check out Epic Dungeon, not only because of the cool $1 price, but because this is a new and exciting experience for Xbox gamers. Hit the jump for a video and my early impressions.