I was devastated when Xbox Live Indie Games ended, and all those games of varying levels of greatness were lost to the mists of time. Where would I go to get my fix of cheaply made indie games that potentially hold the key to the next big gaming revolution, or even better, are so crap as to be amazing works of art and somehow defy all logic and manage to be fun!
And then I got an Xbox One and stumbled upon the Creators Collection section of the store, which is similarly hidden away from plain sight as the indie game section on 360 was. But will it prove to be the same type of experience, or does it hold false hope...let's have a quick look at some of their tiny selection of horror games and see!
Grinded Meat (Xbox One) :
First up, we have a game that I thought I would never see the like of again after Xbox Live Indie Games bit the dust! It's another one of those live-action, Quick Time Event games...and even better, it's directed by the very same Claudio Battiato who directed Bloody Death and Hell's House, previously covered on this very blog!
As you can see from the video above, it's very much a case of business as usual, with you essentially watching a movie and pressing button-prompts every now and again to avoid death, as a slasher attempts to thwart our Sheriff hero from solving a missing person case.
This one feels a lot shorter than even the previous games though, but for 79p/99c I suppose we shouldn't expect much more. Worth a go, if only to give Claudio some money so he can save up to make a proper movie one day!
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The Unknown City - Horror Begins Now...Part 1 (Xbox One) :
It's probably better telling you to watch the video below to see how terrible this game is rather than try to describe it in text. The text-to-speech dialogue, the sloooowww intro, the animation, the text-to-speech (oh wait, I already mentioned that...oh well, it's worth mentioning twice)....
And yet I almost found myself liking it because of how bad it was! I was going to recommend it just so you could experience for yourselves the hilarity of the rubbishness of it all! And then it got me trapped in a menu that I couldnt get out of, just as I finished recording the footage. I had to quit to the dashboard to leave the game. Dunno why this happened....maybe it was due to bad weather....
This game would normally cost you £9 (or $9), but its currently on sale for £1...don't even spend that on it. If you've watched the video here you've experienced about all the entertainment available from this game. A shame really, as it's rubbishness was almost endearing.....
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Foolish Mortals (Xbox One) :
Okay, I've saved the best for last! This one costs absolutely nothing! It's totally free, and out of the trio of games here it has by far the best gameplay! You take on the role of the great old one, Cthulhu, as he decides to unleash his fury on the foolish mortals of earth by smooshing them into the ground with his fists!
You control our cosmic chum's arms independently with the left being controlled with the left joystick and vice versa, and likewise the two triggers smash the left or right fists into the puny humans trying to attack the elder god!
And attack they do with guns, helicopters and tanks, which makes the game feel a bit like a Lovecraftian version of old classic Rampage, only with less buildings and movement. Its all a huge load of fun for about five minutes, but it is a game that you feel you could come back to and play quite a bit when you're bored and just want to kill some time. And as mentioned before, it's totally free! Go download it now before the deep ones crawl ashore and try to mate with you......
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Hmmm, so one game that's alright but woefully short, one that's utter crap and one that's actually quite groovy and playable and shiny looking! It would seem that the spirit of XBLIG lives on! I'll need to keep an eye on this Creators Collection section and see what wonders appear in future...
While we wait for that though, you may as well go see what everybody else is up to in the Countdown To Halloween by clicking the badge below and being whisked off through some sort of space-octopus dimension portal to the countdown hub!
That squid, is that Cthulhu? If so, he is an Old One, not an Elder God, if my memory is correct.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...according to the internet, you seem to be right! Apologies to any Elder Gods or Great Old Ones I may have offended! ☺
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