How do you put a fresh spin on a 35 year old classic? You’ll be hard pressed to find a way to do it, all while keeping the heart and soul of the game intact. I have to give Industry Entertainment a lot of credit for their game, Astroids: Space Game of The Year. Although they do put the game out there as “NOT ASTEROIDS”, the game looks like a reboot of the 1979 classic. This game is far more than that though, and if you don’t believe me take a closer look at the teaser trailer.

Visually speaking, this game is stunning – no detail has been overlooked in the creation of this game. The result of their in-house 3D engine is outstanding. Every object flows smoothly in the fully 3D space they have created. They were going for best overall visuals and in my opinion, they nailed it. Now the teaser only shows glimpses of the full game experience, but some of the still images show real promise. I’m really interested in how the other aspects of the game will flow into the visually amazing environments that they have crafted.

Based on the teaser trailer, the game play seems to move quite a bit faster than the original, and this itself is a double-edged sword. While you might move faster, so does everything else. Overall, the game feels almost identical to the original. Don’t count Astroids out just yet – it does have a few tricks up its sleeve. Shields could make all the difference in those hairy situations. That’s just a minor addition compared to the others. The weapons available to you will hopefully make for some interesting situations. A few of the clustered asteroids should act very different if hit with a rocket over the standard lasers. The most interesting thing Astroids has to offer is co-op. I’m a big fan of the 1979 version, but I never liked waiting for my turn. Co-op brings new challenges to the table. Not only do you have someone else to watch your back, you have to have to keep an eye out for their destructive collateral. Maybe even having to watch out for friendly fire, this will be something that players shouldn’t take lightly.

Are these few things enough to put Astroids in the space game of the year category? Only time will tell. I feel that Industry Entertainment has done something great with this game. I know that I’ll be looking forward to its release in late 2014 on the PC.

For further information, check out the following links:

http://www.indus3.org/

http://astroids.tv/blog

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

French indie game studio Indiefreaks has released Ace on Steroids on Windows, Xbox 360, and Windows Phone 7. Ace is a top-down asteroids-style shooter.

• Windows (US$1.29, €.99 & £0.79)
  • IndieCity: http://store.indiecity.com/game/Ace
  • Indievania: http://indievania.com/games/ace-steroids
  • Desura: http://www.desura.com/games/ace-on-steroids
  • Xbox 360 through the Xbox Live Indie Games Marketplace for 80 Microsoft Points
• Windows Phone 7 through the Windows Phone Marketplace (US$1.29, €.99 & O.79£)

Indiefreaks releases Ace on Steroids for all Windows platforms

Perhaps the most interesting facet of this release announcement isn’t actually the game itself, but the fact that Indiefreaks is also giving away the source code and assets to anyone who purchases the game.

Da Silva will be providing tutorial videos explaining why the source code was written in the manner it was. This is all part of his “Indiefreaks Game Framework” open source initiative that includes a strong emphasis on sharing as much information with as many creative and talented individuals as possible. Very cool. As with our recent interview with developer OneKSoftGames, it’s always fantastic to hear about individuals trying to help others break into the scene.

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.