Title: Solar
Creator: Murudai
Genre: Action & Adventure

Price: 200 Points

Countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States
Languages: English

Publisher’s Description:
Solar, a space simulation/action game where you play as the sun itself. You can complete a myriad of challenges or simply mess around in an infinite, sandbox universe.

What We Think:
Solar is a really fun space simulation game with awesome graphics and a sophisticated design. Players are put in the role of the sun and they can collect other celestial bodies to complete different tasks. You can choose between two modes of game play: the first is called Sandbox and this mode allows you to explore and navigate freely throughout the universe.  Adding planets to your orbit and destroying stars for the fun of it makes this mode addicting.

The second mode is called Challenge and is comprised of eighteen levels in which you complete objectives to get more skills.  The purpose of each level is pretty straightforward and the overall appearance is very clean and modern.

Solar does not have a multi-player mode and it is suitable for all ages.  It isn’t extremely violent and is completely unique compared to other games out on the market.  The music is ethereal and really creates a sense of being in outer space.  This game is very relaxing and can be played for hours at a time.  There are no sound effects when the sun smashes into stars or planets. I think it would have taken away from the whimsical feeling of the game if there were loud crashing sounds.

I would highly recommend Solar to other Xbox Live users.  This game is so cool that you are almost sad when it is over.  I wish there were more levels to this game or added tasks available for purchase.  I really hope they release a sequel to this game.

Check out Solar at the XBOX 360 Marketplace

Rating:  

Have you played Solar? What were your impressions?

Tags: Action Game, Appearance, Canada France, English Publisher, Fun Game, Game Check, Game Review, Games, Genre Action, Marketplace, Modes, Multi Player, Multiplayer Mode, Music, Myriad, Orbit, Other Celestial Bodies, Outer Space, Planets, Player Mode, Sequel, Smashes, Sophisticated Design, Sound Effects, Space Game, Space Simulation Game, Sun, Universe, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Game, Xbox Live, Xbox Review

Title: Go 3D
Creator: FrogSlayer Studios
Genre: Card & Board

Price: 200 Points

Countries: Canada, France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
Languages: English

Publisher’s Description
“FrogSlayer Studios presents, Go, an ancient Chinese game of strategy now available on XBox Live Community Games. Learn to play with our interactive tutorial and then play against your friends locally or against players at all skill levels via XBox Live.”

What We Think:
I recently read a tattered, vintage paperback copy of the book The Master of Go by Yasunari Kawabata which revolves around a newspaper journalist’s chronicle and analysis of the last great Go competition with the master of the old school of Go in Japan that took place during the early part of the 1900’s.

While some of it is fictionalized, the book, a winner of the Nobel Prize in literature, uses a spare and honest look at the actual plays made during the game and how the incumbent young champion manages to defeat the old Master. It is  a strangely compelling and easy read, but despite all sorts of updating graphic charts of the gameboard, nowhere in the the book is there an actual explanation of the rules of the game.

Deeply curious as to how this simple game could be so devastatingly complex that some tournament matches could drag on for three months, I was delighted to find Go 3D in the Xbox Indie Game marketplace and dropped the two dollars to check it out and see if I could learn something.

The Xbox version comes with an easy to understand and rather comprehensive tutorial that relies on, and even seems to come from the American Go Association.  With hands-on lessons, this alone was worth the price of admission.

The game’s design uses a true three-dimensional object for the black and white stones and game board, so that it can be rotated and viewed from all angles.  The game does not have AI built in, however, and I imagine that trying to create the AI for something as rich as Go would be extremely daunting  as Go quickly becomes as challenging if not more so than Chess, so one can not expect this from an indie Xbox game.  Instead the developer allows you to play both the black and white stones while enforcing legal moves in solo mode.

Everything works out just fine in two player mode as the game has solid implementation for two controllers.

An excellent way to learn and practice the game, with a lovely Zen score and pretty visuals.  A strong recommend from us for this commendable and needed effort.

Rating:  

Have you played Go 3D? What were your impressions?

Tags: American Go Association, Amp Board, Ancient Chinese Game, Canada France, Community Games, Dimensional Object, English Publisher, Game Board, Gameboard, Go, Graphic Charts, Interactive Tutorial, Nobel Prize In Literature, Paperback Copy, Price Of Admission, Rules Of The Game, Simple Game, White Stones, Xbox Indie games, Xbox Live, Xbox Version, Yasunari Kawabata

Title: Chalked
Creator: rece
Genre: Action & Adventure

Price: 400 Points

Countries: Canada, United Kingdom, United States
Languages: English

Publisher’s Description
Save the city… or destroy it! Play as the hero and save the city by calling in tips, surrounding suspect buildings, and running down the bad guys. Or choose to destroy the city by avoiding the patrolling heroes and setting bombs inside the buildings – leveling the city building by building.

What We Think:
Chalked succeeds where so many other game developing upstarts have failed – the basics.  With simple and intuitive controls, wonderfully inventive and beautifully realized black and white visuals (the characters look like faceless Gumbys) and an awesome soundtrack, this seemingly simple take on Simon – that is, matching button combinations, is rather more challenging and multi-layered than it seems at first glance.

The game actually combines a variety of games – the Simon element, a puzzle solving element involving figuring out what buildings to topple in strategic sequence, and then the classic Pac Man – run from the ghosts element.  You see – you play the role of a miscreant with an insatiable lust for bombing buildings to the ground.  When destroyed, a building dissolves into the ground leaving a space where once it stood.  Then the “good guys” come after you for your misdeed.  It’s not an easy game at first, but it’s easy enough to navigate and fun enough to look at that it holds interest long enough to figure out some basic strategies.

We wish all community games merited the 400 points like Chalked does.

Rating:  

Have you played Chalked? What were your impressions?

Tags: Awesome Soundtrack, Bad Guys, Bombs, Button Combinations, Chalker, Community Games, English Publisher, First Glance, Genre Action, Ghosts, Good Guys, Gumbys, Heroes, Impressions, Insatiable Lust, Intuitive Controls, Miscreant, Pac Man, Rece, Visuals, Xna Games