Who ordered the spicy PomPoms?
By Ahchay

Possibly the biggest hurdle to mainstream acceptance of homebrew games is that no-one provides a decent outlet for them beyond the internet based shareware scene. Yeah, anyone can setup a website and publish their own games, but how many shareware games make any money. Ever?

It’s slightly ironic then that the internets’ favourite bad-guy Microsoft look set to provide homebrew or indie gaming with it’s first officially recognised outlet in the form of the Xbox Live Arcade. Yeah, you still need to apply for a development kit and, presumably, go through accreditation before your game gets accepted for inclusion in the Xbox360 dashboard but, if the initial list of games is anything to go by at least, there will be plenty of off-the-wall thrills available for our downloading pleasure.

Let’s look at the list in detail shall we?

Skipping rapidly over the puzzle and card games which appear to have dropped in from the MSN gaming zone (I’m sure they’ll be good solid entertainment and I hope there is room in the arcade for them, I just have more interesting fish to fry…) and the Midway arcade ports (which could be great if half of the rumoured features come to fruition, but could just as easily be awful), I want to concentrate on a few, unexpected, gems in the lineup.

First out of the hat is Outpost Koloki, an interesting – and extremely good looking – management strategy game in the Theme Park mold. Without the vomit. Or the scary rides. It’s not the deepest game in the world, but it does give a few solid hours entertainment. It’s exactly the sort of game that should be on the Live Arcade – perfect to pick up and play for half an hour every few weeks.

Wik in all his rope flying glory.

The appallingly-named Wik:Fable of Souls is next. There are two things wrong with this game, other than the name. The graphical style is a bit too-obviously based on Oddworld and whoever decided that the tale of Wik should be told in rhyming couplets should be dragged outside and shot. That’s it, everything else about the game is ace. Gameplay is a bit like a souped up Roc ‘n Rope – with elements of, among other things, that strange Japanese bungie game, Ico, the Prince of Persia and – for all I can tell – Horace Goes Skiing. A delightful little indie game that you really should try out. One proviso though, it’ll be interesting to see how the predominantly mouse-based gameplay translates to a pad.

If Wik’s poetry is just a little too twee for you (and it will be), then you’ll just love what’s coming next. First up, Mutant Storm Reloaded. Now, I was never that enamoured with Mutant Storm – it simply demanded too many samey levels before it started getting nasty. The PomPom guys seem to have thought about this though – One gameplay tweak is the splitting of the levels into five-level challenge sections. Find your level and dive straight in for an instant challenge.

Did someone say PomPom?

It’s up against the daddy though. Sameyness was never a problem with Geometry Wars –the first game in 20 years or more to take the Robotron template and truly understand what makes it tick. Eight or so different enemy types in increasingly hard to deal with combinations equals shooter heaven. Xbox Live Arcade finally gives those who were too engrossed in PGR2’s racing to notice the arcade game hidden at the back of the garage a chance to experience one of, in my humble opinion, the defining games of this generation. Will fill in the gap while we wait for PGR3’s true-sequel quite nicely thankyou.

There are other goodies in there too – Microsoft weigh in with a new game from Tetris-bloke, hoary old mac-only shooter Crystal Quest makes a surprise (and welcome) appearance and almost equally ancient take on the Marble Madness/Monkey Ball riff Marble Blast turns up in a new guise. All in all, it’s a very promising start and should be more than enough to tempt most to hand over their credit card details for one or two of the games on offer.

It’s Monkey Ball without the Monkeys

It remains to be seen whether Microsoft continue in this excellent vein, and whether the indie games community embraces the opportunity. It is, at the very least, refreshing to see one of the big three embrace the delights of homebrewed (or, at least, small studio) development. Long may it continue.

November 2005

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