Who would have thought that millions of years from now, there might be a galactic space opera where one determined four-headed space lizard would be brokering trade routes and managing the political stage of the solar system.

Fortunately The Last Federation lets you do just that, as you assume control of the last living Hydral. A great war breaks out and you are forced to spend a millennia trapped on a technologically inferior planet. That is until the savage citizens finally manage to produce a spaceship, crafted in part from the designs of your own crashed ship. Being the underhanded quadruple-headed reptile that you are, the opportunity to blast free from the shackles of this world were too great, and so you ‘liberate’ them of their hard work and sail towards the stars. Your journey commences, and first on the ‘to-do’ list is making a unified galactic federation of planets.

After escaping, the game hands the reins over and lets you do your own thing. Do you want to be a peaceful Hydral dignitary, carefully brokering trade deals and negotiating peaceful terms between hive-mind insectoids and subversive boar folk? Perhaps causing a pandemic amongst the owl people is more your style, forcing them to join with you out of desperation for the medicine they sorely need before the space flu wipes them out entirely. The choice is entirely yours, although not everything turns out the way you plan.

Take my first game in which I chose to ally with the bloodthirsty Burlust, a savage war-like race of soldiers and chieftains. After challenging and defeating the head chieftain, I had earned their respect. I was a proven warrior, and the next in line to the Burlust seat of power had come to respect me. They were my allies now, and forever. This was a mistake.

Cast forward one or two space years, and I had put the Burlust to the back of my mind. I had won them over, and it was time to convince the rest of the races to join up with me. My only issue was that every time I tried to make nice with one of the seven races, my dearly beloved Burlust friends would march on in and murder their faces off. This particular game ended with a federation of two races: The Burlust – who numbered into the billions and had spread across the known solar system like an epidemic of axes and hellfire – and one solitude four-headed lizard coated in the dried blood of several races.

The game isn’t just about clicking on menu options and watching the events unfold. Alongside the tactical diplomacy that you manage via the overworld solar map, there will be occasions when talking just won’t cut it. Luckily you still have your nifty stolen spaceship and a complete arsenal of laser beams to point at those you wish to get rid of.

Combat is handled in a semi turn-based fashion. You spawn into a miniature space arena and are given control of a single ship, yours. After picking out your combat stance, ranging from auto attack to direct control over the target, you plot your course and then the actions are carried out in real time. A few seconds pass and you take your next turn, simultaneously with every other unit on the map.

It’s a great addition to help mix things up for a game that heavily focuses on reading through scores of menu dialogue, and for the most part the combat does alleviate the pressure on your eyes. However, a few hours into the game and you’ll start to notice the flaws in the enemy AI. You’re given three bars to control the amount of power going your weapons, your shield, and your engines, and whilst this at first seemed like an interesting way to make the combat more dynamic, I found nearly all situations could be handled by simply forgetting about the engine power and pouring everything into shields and weapons. After two or three turns, the opposing forces were usually dead and my shields would barely have been depleted. Tougher enemies were scarcely seen, and dealing with them was simply a case of turning the engine power to match their speed, then using your long range rounds to pelt them as they foolishly chased you.

The Last Federation is a game with a very specific focus. It doesn’t get lost in a sprawling procedural sandbox world; it doesn’t assume that you want to be trawling across the stars in search of something to do. Instead it gives you one goal, and asks you how you would like to achieve it. Using that as a starting point the game then builds several paths for you to take, each one boasting something unique or interesting.

That’s not to say that everyone will enjoy the game though. There is a heavy focus on tactics and diplomacy, and a general amount of intelligent thought is required throughout if you want to win. If you like blowing things up and soaring through the skies as a top gun maverick, this probably isn’t the game for you. If, however, you enjoy weaving a sordid plan of conspiracy and subterfuge as you set a war-mongering race of savages against a helpless bunch of owl people, then this game is probably going to appeal to your inner politician.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Continuing with their rampage against wooden doors everywhere, Indie studio Killhouse Games have just updated their Early Access title Door Kickers with a host of extra content.

Players can now utilize the Squad Doctrine Tree, which will allow you to spend promotion points on improving your squad each time you level up. By doing so, the folks at Killhouse Games say that this will help to remove any unnecessary micromanagement as you won’t need to progress each squad member individually, keeping things squarely focused on the team effort.

Modding has also been given a facelift with the inclusion of the Steam Workshop. This will allow any player-created content to be pooled into one localized place, allowing easy management of any custom levels or game features you wish to use. Those looking to create content can also check out this handy ‘how-to’ guide on how to create your content.

For a full list of features, check out the list below:

Features:

• Bigger maps (zoom/scroll enabled for all maps)
• New scenario type: Protect the VIP
• Three new enemy types (Operator Orville, Juggernaut Emil, Assassins)
• Three new maps
• Improved enemy/SWAT AI
• Export replays to video
• Modding support + in-game mods menu
• Steam Workshop support
• Can resume a game anytime during a replay
• Added enemy ghosts for last visible location

Other:

• Added maxFPS and vertical-sync in options.xml
• Improved FPS / loading time
• Game size reduced significantly (due to compressed textures)
• Can now hide the HUD while playing; not yet in replay mode
• Multiple graphics improvements
• Rebalanced armor types
• Rebalanced 9mm and .40 caliber vs .45 caliber pistols
• New sounds
• Game now loads .dds files in addition to .tga and .png
• New door types added – elevator and bus doors

Fixes:

• Can no longer be heard through walls when picking locks
• Fixed a couple of replay-desync bugs
• Fixed some ambient sounds that were too loud

Modding/Structure changes:

• Changed location of single mission and RMG repositories
• The distance at which shots are heard is now specific to each weapon
• The noise distances for stealthily opening a door vs kicking it down are now configured separately.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

I can’t claim to have ever kicked a door down. It sounds like something only the toughest of grizzled superheroes would do, and if we slip back into reality for a second I’m almost certain it would hurt. Luckily you can supplement any physical pain for virtual satisfaction in Door Kickers, a game that really seems to have a vendetta against doors.

You assume command of a SWAT team, controlling each member simultaneously from a top down perspective. As each level starts, you’ll have the freedom to pick which of your guys you deploy, what gear they use, and where on the map they will spawn. There are a few notable differences on each gear load-out – lock picks and silenced weapons that allow stealth entry and shotgun wielding breach masters to name a few – but for the most part I never really had cause to dive into this feature. Because you’re given a set of predefined soldiers to pick from at the start of each level, I never felt the need to go in and play around with the gear of my pre-existing units. The ones I started with seemed to work just fine, and I would never have any issues coping without my stealth guys for a round of two if they had been killed in a previous mission.

Losing one of your own during an engagement is treated as little more than a minor inconvenience, which dampens the sense of risk as you plan out your path through each level. After a unit dies in a mission, their ‘slot’ is considered out of action for the duration of the next mission before being filled with a randomly generated new squad member. By doing this, the game makes you feel like the units at your disposal become expendable commodities rather than prized members of the team, and by having no incentives to keep your favourite soldiers alive, it becomes too easy to condemn a squad member to die for the sake of an easier outcome.

Controlling your squad is intuitive, and all but the most advanced actions are simple to execute by drawing out a path for each unit to take. To accompany this, the game sports a useful pause mechanic that allows you to freeze the live events of each level, giving you time to assess the situation and draw out your plan before the bullets fly. Along with controlling your positioning, you must also manage each unit’s line of sight, which becomes important in the later levels as a fog of war obscures any parts of the map that aren’t currently in your team’s cone of view. The way Door Kickers handles this is by allowing you to set a focus direction for your units, so they can strafe past corners and doorways whilst still being able to watch for incoming threats. It’s a simple mechanic that adds more depth to the proceedings, as an unaware squad member can easily be reduced to a chalk outline if they aren’t looking in the right direction.

Being a tactical game about putting your foot through various doors, I’d be remised if I didn’t talk about this mechanic. You will encounter a lot of doors, usually with a generous helping of armed thugs just waiting for someone to pay them a visit. When approaching a door you’re offered several options, and whilst I’ve yet to find one that simply lets me open the door with the handle, the choices are all tactically sound. The flash bang, for example, can be used to pacify any goons hiding around in the next room, allowing your guys to rush in and murder them before the tinnitus wears off.

The levels can come in a variety of flavours, from bomb disposal engagements to hostage rescue. It’s a good mix of objectives that you’d imagine the average SWAT team would be handling regularly, but after playing each objective type in succession only the bomb disposal and hostage execution missions seem to have you doing something other than murdering every bad guy in the building.

A good example of this are the hostage rescue missions which have you raid each level in search of a number of vulnerable civilians. Whilst there is an option to secure them and lead them outside to safety, the mission doesn’t end there. It doesn’t stop until you seek out and kill every last armed unit in the building, which just seems petty. Not content with foiling their plans of capturing innocents for ransom money, you then have to return to the house and make sure that they know you won by delivering a final burst of justice to their face.

Door Kickers is an honourable attempt to recapture the spirit of those old tactical squad games, so much so that I would be inclined to describe it as the illicit lovechild of the classic S.W.A.T games and the Commandos series. The controls are easy to grasp and offer the potential to set up an elaborate plan of attack when taking on each mission. Unfortunately, in its current state the individual units hold little worth, and the game doesn’t necessarily punish mistakes as much as it should. The AI does a good job in keeping you on your toes during each level, but there’s little incentive to craft a master plan and then execute it like a well oiled machine.

Note: Door Kickers is an Early Access title, and in its current state it is not feature complete. This review is of the game at the time dated, and both content and quality are subject to change.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

There’s always been a sweet spot in the indie ‘scene’ for horror games. With titles like Amnesia and Outlast proving the genre is very much alive and up for grabs for those willing to weave tension and terror into the mix. Blinding Dark – a ‘First Person tactical Horror game’ from solo developer Radu Ungureanu – is aiming to keep the spirit of indie horror alive.

Blinding Dark will throw you into the darkness of an abandoned manor, filled to the brim with cultists, demons and apparitions. Unfortunately for you, amnesia has taken your memories, so don’t expect to know who you are or how you managed to end up in such an unfortunate predicament.

Not wanting to give anything away, Radu was tentatively offering me small bits of information behind the game’s story, revealing that “the main character is a psychic investigator. His passion made him re-discover the ancient and occult ritual of scrying (gazing into the past and future and also, on rare occasions, opening portals to other planes of existence). This discovery brought him the unwanted attention of a religious sect that was protecting the secret of these kinds of rituals. Things go bad and our character finds himself in this place, which seems to be an abandoned manor.”

Radu was unwilling to give away more on the story surrounding the game, but did admit that he was heavily inspired by Clive Barker’s Undying, drawing heavy influences from the works for the story and lore in the game.

What pointy teeth you have…

This isn’t a game about delivering pleasant baskets of cookies to the ghastly inhabitants though, and as awesome as that idea sounds the game will most definitely require you to defend yourself from the denizens of this mad house. Things won’t be quite as simple as swinging an axe in every direction though, as each monster comes with its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Radu explains that “The monsters have physical constitution, ethereal constitution or a mix of the two. Based on this, they will be susceptible/immune to certain weapons and items. For example, the Spiked Horror is a demon, so it has high physical constitution, thus it will be susceptible to damage from revolver and axe. While the Spiritform is a spirit and it has ethereal constitution, thus it is susceptible only to damage from the Egyptian Trap (a special trap that can only detect and damage spirits).”

This concept is what makes the combat mechanics stand out for me. The idea of making things more ‘realistic’ is far from groundbreaking when you think about it, but by restricting the player to this ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’ combat system you’re much more likely to take things slower and be more afraid of your encounters.

All he wants is a hug.

Even death isn’t the end of your troubles in Blinding Dark. In fact, it’s only just the beginning of your problems. As Radu explains, “In Blinding Dark, as all the pain and hatred piles up each time the player dies at some point all of this negative energy will transform into a demonic form of the player himself. A doppelganger if you wish. For this entity, the only purpose is to liberate itself from the continuous torture that consumes it and the only way to do that is to kill the one from which it originates, which is the player.  How the player manages to escape this new enemy is up to him to find out.”

It’s hard to resist thinking about what you will have to do in order to kill your ghostly twin, and as usual Radu was very secretive of the inner workings behind the game. It’s clear there’s more to the game than it would seem at first glance, and you can expect even more secrets to be hiding in the recesses of the manor.

Because the game is in such an early stage of development, Radu plans to release a free demo in the next month or so, containing a small demo area that showcases the combat and overall ‘feel’ of how the game is played. There are also plans to launch a surprisingly small Kickstarter campaign in February in which he hopes to raise $4000 to cover the costs of resources. A March/April window has also been earmarked for a tentative release date of the first of the six acts that make up the full game, with the rest of the acts to launch sequentially afterwards for PC, Mac and Linux.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

I love a good challenge. It’s what drives me to finish a game, to gain a sense of accomplishment as I slay that final 10-headed laser boss on my 50^th attempt. FORCED provides such a challenge, where navigating its twisting corridors can lead to a brutal end for even the most prepared champion.

On the surface, FORCED is presented as a tactical arena game with a heavy focus on co-op gameplay. You assume control of an unfortunate tribesman who’s been cast into a sacrificial pit where the odds of survival are not in your favour. As you reach the bottom you’re greeted by a perky ball of light named Balfus who serves as your guide through the trials that await you. From here on you’re given access to a central hub which is separated into four different chambers. Each chamber offers five challenge rooms and a boss room that must be completed before you can move to the next chamber.

Think of this game as a gory take on the old 90’s TV show The Crystal Maze where each room presents a different themed obstacle for the players to overcome. This can range from something as simple as lighting all five torches within a set time frame, all the way to running like hell from an encroaching red mist that will consume you if you fall behind. It’s obvious from the start that the game uses simple goals to present a challenge, but as the game progresses these goals become more and more complex with various factors being added to screw you over just a little bit more each time.

You got a purdy mouth

The difficulty level maintained throughout the game is refreshing. In an environment where the average gamer is coddled and led by the hand, FORCED demands that you earn your victory each time with added bonus objectives up for grabs if you’re feeling brave. Unfortunately, this acts as a double-edged sword in which even the basic level completion tasks can be near impossible for solo play, sometimes even with two players. When all hell breaks loose, it can be difficult for a single player to juggle the various obstacles thrown at them. Some missions require you to take out numerous enemies whilst also micromanaging your spirit guide through several hoops. The co-op centred design is obvious throughout most of the game’s trials and it’s evident that this game was built with multiple players in mind. There is a slight ray of hope for solo play as each mission deviates a little based on how many players are in the game at the time. For instance, less enemies need to be killed or fewer beacons lit when you’re alone.

FORCED truly shines when playing with others so much so that I would consider it a completely different experience to the single player mode. When playing alone you are only accountable for yourself in the arena, but when multiple partners are introduced it becomes something more. You have to play as a unit, a squad working together to accomplish a shared task. This is accomplished by giving each team member control of the spirit guide Balfus. By linking several conditions to Balfus in each trial the game forces your party to communicate in an effort to control him. It’s as if he is another team member, only one that’s too lazy to move and likes to dish out witty one-liners at inappropriate intervals. In some cases, Balfus becomes a safe zone for the players, and those unlucky enough to get caught out of his circle are likely to turn into a juicy red stain on the floor.

No, not the blades! ARGH, THEY’re IN MY EYES!

Of course, this game isn’t just about challenges, and much of the trials will be split evenly between solving puzzles and fighting off hordes of monsters. To do this, you’re given the choice of four character classes, each fulfilling a typical archetype commonly found in most RPGs. The Rogue deals fast bursts of damage to single targets. The warrior deals steady AoE damage. The archer deals high ranged damage. Finally, the protector is able to absorb great amounts of damage and return it back to its source. Each class seems to have their own solution to the game’s trials, however, some are naturally more capable in certain situations based on their skill sets.

As you progress through the trials, you’ll unlock gems which give you a wider pool of skills to pick from, eventually allowing you to take multiple active and passive skills at the same time. The gem system encourages you to return to past trials to finish the bonus objectives in the hopes that you’ll gain the extra crystals to power up your characters. This is a brilliant idea for the multiplayer teams out there, but unfortunately this falls flat for solo players. This all circles back to the issues of difficulty when playing alone. Those who choose to do so will likely find that they are unable to get any of the higher-tiered skills because the bonus objectives are too difficult when playing alone.

The very essence of FORCED caters to a group of friends who are seeking a fulfilling and enjoyable cooperative experience mixed with a satisfying yet simplistic combat system and engaging challenges. Just make sure you bring a friend, otherwise you may just find yourself overwhelmed and unable to complete the trials that await you.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

FORCED is currently available for PC/Mac/Linux with a  WiiU version to follow next year. This review is based on the PC version.

This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Lex Laser is a turn-based strategy game based in a 2d game world. Set on colonies in the far reaches of space, players will spend their time fighting, mining, looting, exploring, and – like any smart hero would do – running away. When it comes to combat, the game tries to overwhelm the player with numbers rather than brute strength. Foes are plentiful, and the objective is to dispatch them quickly and efficiently before they grow too great in number to handle. Again, it is turn-based, so shots are placed ahead of time which creates an almost tactical combat/puzzle game hybrid. Equipment upgrades take place between missions and allow various found items to be combined for upgrading the weaponry and adding new gadgets.

The development team plans to break the story up into short episodes, playing on the format of popular sci-fi television shows. This isn’t an unexpected surprise considering the game’s inspirations include a few notable series like Babylon 5 and Firefly.

Early estimates are that development will carry over into early-to-mid next year if the base Kickstarter goal is reached. Should the campaign go exceedingly well, the team has mentioned stretch goal ideas like turning Adventure Mode into a heavier plot-driven Story Mode, creating dev tools for the gaming community, and bringing the game to tablets. The details for how the Kickstarter funding is budgeted have been outlined directly on the campaign page.

The usual Kickstarter rewards are present, in particular those that get the contributor’s name into the game. There’s also artwork, a copy of the soundtrack, and access to alpha, beta, and finished builds. With just over three weeks to go and the campaign doing well, there’s still time to get involved.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.