100 More Gruesome Games (24-20) - XBLIG Special Pt.2

Bleurgh! Feel like I'm getting the cold again, the PC's playing up, and there's a domestic going on the background which I'm not directly involved in but is nonetheless very distracting...but we have games to get through, and only 5 days left before Halloween! So I'd best crack on, ignore everything else and get this 2nd Indie special out of the way, or you'll still be waiting for the last lot next year!

24 - Three Dead Zed (XBLIG) :

This is a great side-scrolling platform adventure, where you play the role of a zombie spliced together from 3 different types...the Classic, the Sprinter & the Brute! Switching between the three types will get you through the puzzle filled levels, as you dodge various blades and saws and other hazards...

 The Classic can climb ladders & push buttons...the Sprinter moves quickly & can bounce up between walls that don't have ladders and the Brute is the muscle of the three and can break walls & platforms & pick up heavy items and move them to make platforms..

A strange voice that has directed you to freedom from the lab you were created in, tasks you with removing tin-foil hats from cats also trapped in the lab..but who is behind the voice? And what are his motives? It'll be a load of fun finding out, and despite a few tricky moments and pixel-perfect jumps etc., this should keep you interested long enough to reach the end!

23 - Vital Force (XBLIG) :

Basically a budget Project Zero / Fatal Frame, Vital Force sees you play an eight-year old girl who wakes up in a subway station, with no memory of how she got there and only her phone to help her find her way out again...it also quickly becomes apparent that the station is populated by spooky Japanese-style ghosts, so she'll need to use her phones camera  & torch functions to try and combat those too!

Health packs & batteries are scattered around that'll keep you and your phone topped up, as you spend around an hour battling beasties & trying to escape, and for 69p you should be pleased with the scares on offer here! Well worth a purchase!

22 - Twin Blades (XBLIG):

The presentation of Twin Blades is a little higher than you'd expect from most Indie titles, and the price reflected this..being a few pounds instead of the usual 69p-£1.99..but it's actually pretty pointless me telling you this, as apparently it's no longer available for purchase! If you haven't already downloaded it, you'll no longer be able to play it, as it has disappeared for some reason from Xbox, Windows phones & iOS!

It's a side-scrolling hack'n'slash affair, that quickly becomes repetitive but is charming enough in its design to keep you playing a bit longer than you probably should. You play as a nun trying to stem the flow of zombies invading your homelands, and buy weapons such as ice-guns & flamethrowers to aid you along. These can be upgraded by picking up the coins that the progressively tough zombies drop, and cashing them in via a priest back at the start of the world map...

The ever-increasing difficulty and zombie types and a neat little challenge mode keep me going back to this, and although it's far from perfect it's a real shame that it's no longer available to buy. Hopefully it'll resurface someday, or even better...get a much improved sequel, although as the studio responsible seems to have to disappeared too, this seems unlikely....

21 - Zombie Death Quota (XBLIG) :

Another game I've played way more than I would have thought, Zombie Death Quota takes Minecraft's looks, spruces them up a bit, and adds a shoot-em-up style gameplay..which has you scrambling to collect boxes whilst blasting or avoiding the oncoming hordes! You need to survive long enough to be rescued by a helicopter at the end of each level...
Whenever you use a flamethrower, you get a nice blast of Heavy Metal which makes you feel like a total badass, and there are lots of other weapons which you get as you move through the levels, which helps keep things a little less repetitive..

It's a simple idea, but done wonderfully! None of it is very original, but somehow it all adds up to make a highly addictive little game! And it even adds special objectives once you've completed a level, so you have an excuse to replay them! Another game worthy of your cash then, as is.....

20.5 - ZDQuota II - Ghost Dogs (XBLIG) :

...The sequel! Which is pretty much exactly the same, but this time you can bring a friend! Oh, and there's the freaky, jumpy undead ghost hounds to deal with now too, which adds a little extra spice to the pot..

And this time, it's dubstep instead of rock that blasts your eardrums when you fry things with the flamethrower! So you see, it's a totally different game! Well, different enough to spend another 69p anyway! ;-)

20 - Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess (XBLIG) :

Another simple premise with snazzy presentation for this last indie recommendation! In this, you play the Duke, who seems to have misplaced his princess! It was (probably) those bloody Monsters! So the Duke sets off to reclaim his love, and terrify the monsters (probably) responsible for her disappearance!

Gameplay involves trying to touch as many platforms as possible, and then bouncing off the monster three times before it reaches the top of the level. For every platform the Duke touches, a combo-counter increases..but if he touches the same platform twice, the counter resets and the bonus is lost! 

Trying to improve your combo & therefore score is the hook for this game, but the charm of the graphics, the wonderful music and the humour of the story will also have you coming back time after time to try and beat your previous scores! Go buy it immediately! 

Remember that a lot of these games are available on other platforms such as mobiles, PCs and PSP..and also that if you're still not sure about spending cash on them, Xbox allows you to download a trial for every single one, so you can sample them before you part with your pennies!