Ambush? No, of course not…would you believe me if I said I was selling these fine leather jackets?

Players can choose to create either male or female Mukashi, ultimate warrior-scouts chosen for their supreme combat and exploration ability. They’ll journey to Kanoko Island in search of the Scrolls of Hope, which are rumored to contain the location of a safe haven where their people can escape the rising ocean that threatens to destroy them all. Mukashi are customisable with items picked up in game or gained through completing quests.

In an interesting move, the developers have announced that they intend to keep the title as an OUYA exclusive, at least initially. The console supports indie developers and has an extensive list of experimental titles which they feel would be a perfect fit for the type of game they’re trying to create. OUYA is itself an indie console successfully funded through Kickstarter, and a platform the developers are keen to support. The game will be developed using the Unity 3D engine, a tool traditionally popular among indie developers for its multi-platform support. Once a fixed term of exclusivity has passed, Mukashi should then be available on other platforms.

Mukashi and the Scrolls of Hope is currently set for a release early in 2015.

[Editor's Note: As of August 20th, the game has now shifted to a PC exclusive.]

© 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.

The top-down shooter genre is very saturated these days, but developers Headless Wizard aim to stand out with their unique art style and addictive, fast-paced gameplay. Enter Bloody Streets, a top-down shooter that is chock full of heavy metal and heavy violence toward the undead. 

 In Bloody Streets, you must survive waves of monsters. The objective is to survive until the end of each level and rack up as many points as you can in the progress. The more kills you get in succession the higher the point bonus. Using explosives and the environment are also key ways to boost your points.  More weapons are unlocked as you proceed through the game. Headless Wizard boast that there is “music dynamic rhythm system”, but I didn’t notice any changes based on my actions. The “music dynamic rhythm system” may be something that will be added at a later time.

For the demo I was given the tutorial and first five levels, and it was just enough to get me craving for more. The first level was simple, primarily an extension of the tutorial. The second level is where things started heating up. The difficulty shoots up very quickly as you are forced to think on your feet. Using the environment is essential for survival; the levels are littered with hazards and environmental switches that can work with or against you. As the game progresses I was introduced to new and more aggressive enemies. There are acid-spitting arachnids, exploding zombies and more. They came at me in startling numbers, forcing me to retreat while spraying bullets and lobbing grenades. At one point I lured a giant mob of my pursuers to a giant spinning saw blade and watched the points rack up.

The art-style of Bloody Streets is a cartoony hand-drawn style. This contrast the over the top violence taking place, making the animations satisfying yet humorous.  The animations on the game are  polished, complimenting the tight controls of the game. The characters are nothing special to look at, but masterpiece of blood you can create is spectacular.

The little bit of time I had with Bloody Streets was very enjoyable, I hope the entirety of the game holds up to my expectations. Bloody Streets can be voted for on Steam Greenlight for PC and Linux, and you can find the official website here.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.