ZCW Reviews

The Binding of Isaac and the importance of Power Scarcity The Binding of Isaac from Nicalis, Inc and the mind of Edmund McMillen is a game that I'm sure the vast majority of you have heard of in some way or another. Over the past few weeks I've put in many hours into this title yet failed to understand what really kept me coming back.  This perplexed me so much that I made up a new term for it: Power Scarcity. In this article I want to guide you through Isaac's brilliant use of this concept and how it leads to near infinite replayability.  "What the hell is Power Scarcity?"  To explain, in roguelikes dependent on passive items each run plays along some sort of bell curve. The vast majority of runs are somewhere in the middle of vastly overpowered and underpowered.   Somewhere around 2/3rds of every run in The Binding of Isaac are average or below, but the importance of the top third is what makes the difference  It is THIS dichotomy that truly makes Isaac s...

  Extreme Colonial Combat-A Jamestown+ Review It's no understatement to say I'm a pretty huge fan of the "shoot em up" (or often abbreviated schmup) genre of videogames as a whole. When I picked up Jamestown+ I went in with the expectation that this would be a different and more modern take on the formula, in a similar ilk to monolith of reviews past.   What I found was an equally wacky and deep traditional schmup, with enough modern tough ups to reduce the often frustrating past of the genres past.  Old Time Charm With New Age Mechanics What immediately stuck out to me in my first playthrough was the unique setting of Jamestown+. Taking place in colonial America with a mix of sci fi futuristic aliens and technology. While it is an unusual mix, it is nothing so jarring that it would lead to confusion. Another point of note here is the fairly detailed story. While it may not be that grandiose, there is enough of a story here with cutscenes that I'll refrain from ...

A Nokia Era Roguelike-A SNKRX Review Following my usual browsing for new indie games to highlight on this site, a quaint title by the name of SNKRX graced my eyes. And for only $3, it was a no-brainer to try out this unique, bite sized roguelike.  Strikingly Simple SNKRX is a roguelike based off of the classic and simple game snake, but instead of eating pieces to grow longer you fight said creatures with a variety of units in a party of up to 7 segments. With your rag tag team of little units you press on to beat all 25 arenas and defeat the final boss-the cluster.  Being based on Snake, SNKRX's simple concepts make a game that is immediately accessible and fun without having to read any long written guides or nonsense. Each of the units you purchase from the shop gives clear indication of what they do and what they upgrade into. For a game with tons of different units, all with certain synergies and the like, having clear indication on what happens next is crucial. For examp...

Embracing an Artform-A Sludge Life Review Sludge Life is the premier example of what many describe to be "games as art." Whereas other titles seek to enthrall a player through course and gameplay challenges, Sludge Life comes off more as an interactive exploration through a mind museum. What results is a beautiful, yet equally bizarre creation that I can't say I have ever seen before.  Exploration and Degradation In Sludge Life you control the silent protagonist Ghost, who seeks to up his rep by tagging graffiti whenever possible. Following a mass workers strike that has left the streets free from policing due to the actions of megacorporation GumCo, Ghost is free to plaster his tags wherever he wants without consequence. What entails is an enthralling 3 hours of scouring around this wasteland finding the most hidden and lucrative 100 spots to deface with your art.  The game's setting is quite possibly its biggest attraction. This cobbled together batch of buildings a...

  High Flying Platforming-A Crumble Review Forays into the linear 3D platformer genre have been few and far between as of late, so you can imagine my surprise stumbling upon Crumble, a physics based linear level progression platformer from small indie studio Brute Force Games.  Fast Rolling Fun Crumble is a game that is wholly willing to embrace its physics system and design huge levels around gaining speed and flinging around corners. By using your tongue you can latch onto any surface and climb up or use momentum to swing around the level. It is this combination of rolling, jumping, and swinging that creates such a generally delightful experience.  What makes me truly love crumble may be the precedent it presents to other developers-to be confident in your main body of mechanics and not overcomplicate things. Avid readers of this blog have seen me on an on explain my love for games that keep the mechanics simple and use the environment to present new challenges-of which...