Puzzle Bots. It’s a puzzle. It has robots. Under any normal circumstances, this game should be giving PC owners a taste of cold, calculating steel. We should be thinking and battling with our manufactured artificially intelligent machines! We shall create great armies of super beings that will take over the world!
Well, prepare to have those brute thoughts quashed, dear readers – the robots just got cuddly.
Platform: PC
ESRB: E (Everyone)
Genre: Puzzle
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
Release Date: May 2010
BUY
Puzzle Bots is an adventure puzzle game (that’s right – it is a genre that is not just populated by early Zelda titles!) that takes place in Dr. Hugo’s Factory for Making Robots. You control 5 different robots, and each of the robots that you “unlock” during the game will aid with a different ability in order to solve puzzles in the game. The title of this game is not deceptive at all. That is where the enjoyment begins.
Everything about this game screams simplicity. The animation consists of simple lines that are easy on the eye, and makes this game approachable from the beginning. The abilities are also quite rudimentary – one robot to lift something, another to tow things through water, another to use a flamethrower. In order to understand each robot’s unique abilities, you are permitted three introductory levels that act as your tutorials. Thankfully, these tutorials are integrated throughout the game, not just lumped at the beginning. As this is a PC game, it is not so much about learning the controls (it is point and click) – rather, learning about how you can use your robots’ abilities in different ways. The easy mechanics and atmosphere allow the developers to focus more on the creative use of the objects in the game, rather than the memorisation of controls and abilities.
The seamless, interwoven nature is also supported by the narrative. Sure, the unresolved romantic tension between Yuriko and Zander seems quite inconsequential to the continuation of the game itself. And it is quite irrelevant to the little robots that Viktor hates his job and will do anything to jeopardise himself. But these human moments provide an interlude as well as a nice context. It has allowed Wadjet Eye Games to create a game that laughs at itself, encouraging the player to have a little bit of a giggle too.
All of these elements contribute to the sense of progression. When you complete an objective, you know you are going to learn more about the story. You have a purpose, as do the little robots that you are guiding into the big bad world.
Many gamers would see these elements as threatening. The cute emotive personalities of humans and robots alike can seem rather sugar-coated. Equally, the amount of guidance and support (even the inclusion of a “hint” button! How blasphemous!) negates the many years of prior gaming experience of many entertainment enthusiasts. Real gamers should be able to figure these things out, right? Well, yes they should.
However, I ask this question of those critics who want challenge and brutal reminders of their expertise: Have you ever woken up one morning, and decided to start the day like you were four years old? When was the last time that you got out of bed without hitting the snooze button, counted the number of things that are blue, and truly enjoyed the bright day ahead?
If you haven’t, or can’t remember the last time that you did. then you need to get a copy of Puzzle Bots, and experience it. Now.
I think it is wonderful that Wadjet Eye is not taking the road of ruthless killing machines and extra kudos to them for saying to their audience, “We’re not sorry to disappoint you”. And I am not sorry either.
Review product was provided by Wadjet Eye Games, and does not affect the outcome of this review.
Posted on September 1st, 2010 at 3:32pm by RainbowSleeve
Filed Under: Game, Puzzle Bots, Video game, Wadjet Eye, pc, puzzle game
There’s a number of very talented people currently creating content for Garry’s Mod. Case in point, this musical gun that has been affectionately titled the Gunstrumental.
Using a series of patterns and pauses (which I cannot attempt to understand), this weapon fires a variety of projectiles at certain times and pitches in order to create the desired musical result.
Here are a couple of videos demonstrating the use of this weapon in the Half-Life 2 campaign. If you are so inclined, there are a few more examples of this gun featured on Hurricaaane’s Youtube channel (also featured is an explanation of how the Gunstrumental functions).
Hurricaaane [Youtube]
Posted on August 31st, 2010 at 9:00pm by Tovan
Filed Under: Garrys Mod, Gun, Gunstrumental, Main, Misc, Not News, Videos, music, pc
The “Arcade Hits Pack” featuring two classic Sega arcade shooters – GunBlade NY and LA Machineguns - has finally hit stores in Europe and the US for the Nintendo Wii. Sega has released more screenshots from both games to celebrate, and to encourage you to get yourselves down to the shops and buy a copy of course, and the official Sega Blog also features some comments from Mie Kumagai, producer on Gunblade NY/L.A. Machineguns, who explains a little of the history of the two games.
Kumagai recalls that when Gunblade NY first came out in 1995, 3D CG games were “in their infancy”, and many of the design techniques used in the game, such as polygon representation, would be considered “primative” today. Even so, Kumagai says that the artists who designed Gunblade NY did the best they could to accurately represent the New York skyline for the game with the tools they had at their disposal.
Gunblade NY is notable for, among other things, being “the first gun game where enemies evade, retreat and chase on their own initiative,” says Kumagai. He also tips players off to press and hold 1P and 2P trigger at the end screen to see something interesting…
L.A.Machineguns was originally released three years after Gunblade NY, within which time, Kumagai says, production techniques had vastly improved, with the game’s setting moved to the future to take advantage of these new graphical capabilities. The missions were also given a more detailed back story to add more overall depth.
The new Arcade Hits Pack featuring the two games is compatible with the Wii Zapper, and now includes many new Wii features such as worldwide online leader boards and Wii Remote vibration.
Posted on August 30th, 2010 at 12:29pm by Maura S
Filed Under: GunBlade NY and L.A.Machineguns, Wii, Wii Release Dates & Game Previews, sega, wii-zapper
SCE Australia successfully stops the sale of hardware that allows users to pirate PS3 games until August 31.
Australia’s Federal Court has slapped a temporary ban on a handful of local retailers selling or importing hardware, commonly known as ’mod chips’, that allows unauthorised software to run on Sony’s PlayStation 3.
First reported by BBC, the ban applies until August 31 while court action initiated by Sony Computer Entertainment’s Australian and European arms against three local retailers goes ahead, although the ban will be lifted if the gaming giant’s lawsuit is not successful.
According to court documents filed late last week, the four Australian retailers banned from selling the device are OzModChips and an individual who appears to be involved with the business–Ryan Caruana, Global Solutions International (trading as Quantronics) and Ken Tolcher (trading as Mod Supplier).
Furthermore, the court has required that the four parties actually hand over to Sony any PlayStation mod-chip devices they have, until the 31 August date.
OzModChips has responded to the lawsuit in a message posted on its site. ’This is not OzModChips versus Sony,’ the company wrote. ’This is not OzModChips, Quantronics, Modsupplier versus Sony. We would go as far as saying that it is not even everyone in Australia versus Sony.’
’This will affect everyone that plans to buy such a device worldwide. It already sets a dangerous precedent. Everyone that was using OtherOS, everyone that has had a faulty PS3 laser ’ and those interested in PS3 custom firmware and homebrew applications.
’We cannot do it alone; we need the support of everyone in the homebrew community, the media, engineers that understand the inner workings and anyone else that can provide support.’
OzModChips also linked to a forum posting, which the company said was by Quantronics, responding to the temporary injunction slapped on the three retailers.
Quantronics wrote that the injunction was ’baseless’, and it was very unlikely that it would be continued or become permanent. ’OzModChips, Modsupplier and myself are all close friends, share lawyers and have sought senior counsel for this matter,’ wrote Quantronics.
The retailer added that the trio started in the gaming industry as kids with an ideal of changing Australia’s views on copyright law, fair use and ’freedom’. ’To this day, we stand for the same beliefs, values and will at any cost fight for what we believe in, the rights we should have, and in a David versus Goliath battle, we will give it our best,’ they said.
Comment is being sought from Sony Computer Entertainment.
Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot
Posted on August 30th, 2010 at 12:53am by GameSpot's News
Filed Under: Uncategorized
The latest Rock Band DLC music pack will be available on August 31st, Harmonix and MTV Games announced today. The pack includes nine country songs from artists such as Keith Urban (Mr Nicole Kidman), Sugarland, Eric Church, Dierks Bentley, Laura Bell Bundy, and the Number One bestselling group in the world right now in any genre, Lady Antebellum. Here’s the full track listing for you to peruse:
- Dierks Bentley—“What Was I Thinkin’”
- Eric Church – “Hell on the Heart”
- Jamey Johnson – “Women”
- Josh Turner – “Would You Go With Me” +
- Keith Urban – “Days Go By”+
- Lady Antebellum – “Lookin’ For a Good Time”
- Laura Bell Bundy – “Rebound”
- Reba McEntire – “Fancy” +
- Sugarland – “It Happens” +
The pack will be available as individual tracks only on Wii, with each track costing $1.99/£0.99/€1.49. Tracks marked “+” will also be available in the family friendly LEGO Rock Band Music Store.
Posted on August 28th, 2010 at 1:35pm by Maura S
Filed Under: Rock Band Goes Country, Wii, Wii News
