The Swindle (Xbox One) - Review

The Swindle is available now on the Xbox One and is priced at £11.99.

I could wrap this review up in two words; Cash-based Spelunky. Okay, okay that was three, but there you go job done. If you liked Spelunky but felt it was missing cash then The Swindle is for you.

What? You come here to read more than one line reviews? Alright, I'll go on then. 

Actually I do The Swindle a disservice in the above statement. Whilst it is undoubtedly like Spelunky, The Swindle succeeds where Spelunky just didn't, and that is that The Swindle is really, really fun. Not that Spelunky wasn't, it was just more irritating than fun for the most part. That and the fact that The Swindle stands up as a single player game much better than Spelunky did (I NEEDED my friends to play it with me, otherwise I never got out of the caves).

The Swindle is a 2D procedurally generated burglary simulator set in an alternative Victorian era, because why the hell not(?!) you play as an infinite supply of burglars attempting to stop Scotland Yard deploying 'The Devil's Basilisk' which actually sounds a lot meaner than it is, seeing as it's basically CCTV (is this world that alternative?) that will stop all crime in the city. Being a career criminal, obviously you have a pretty good reason not to be down with that.

So you're given 100 days to stop that from happening. This simple addition of a time limit to a game of this type is what really makes The Swindle amazing. At first I hated it and felt so pressured, every time I killed one of my crims I was so annoyed that I'd wasted the time. But it is this time constraint that keeps you going. Having a set amount of levels that you can use to complete your mission is genius.

The Swindle is the PERFECT pick-up-and-play title. When you first get it you'll easily sink an hour at a time into it, maybe even more. But the longer you have the game, or more realistically the more times you restart your progress because you've learnt something new that might help, the LESS time you'll actually spend on The Swindle in any one sitting. Which is a great thing (honestly!). I found that the longer I stayed on it the sloppier I became, I would rush through and end up dying much more than I needed to because I was making silly mistakes in my haste. Go on for just one or two levels at a time and you become the worlds greatest criminal, at least in your own head. I took my time to plan the best route through the building, planned out my attacks and ended up earning a lot more.

The Swindle is well worth the £11.99 price tag in my opinion, something I rarely seem to say anymore. It's a really fun game that you will keep just going back to for 'one more' heist. I have had a few problems with jumping, namely it not working and me diving head first into a pit of spikes and that gets REALLY annoying, especially when one of the achievements is for completing the game with your original criminal. But overall I'd definitely say The Swindle is a game worth having.

9/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review. 

The Dannie Kitten Gaming Awards!

So I've been thinking long and hard about this. It's been another good year for us gamers and I wanted to acknowledge the best with the Dannie Kitten Gaming Awards!

By the end of 2011 I had had a pretty good year...I had a difficult pregnancy which meant plenty of bed rest and time with my Xbox just as Skyrim hit the shelves. Then my life as I knew it ended. I wanted to spend all my time as Thalia, my Redguard adventurer.

This year couldn't possibly have topped that....or so I thought. But it turns out this year had some goodies in store for us. So here it is, The Dannie Kitten Gaming Awards 2012:

Game of the Year: The Walking Dead

This was by far the easiest decision I've made. This game is perfect! The first episode was amazing when I first played it, but TRUST ME it gets so much better. I know a few people who didn't buy the game based on the first episode and all I can say is PERSEVERE. I enjoyed it anyway, but when my save miraculously disappeared most of the way through Ep.4 I had to go back and replay and yes I did think it felt pretty slow and drawn out. But by then I knew the awesomeness that was coming next so it was easy to go through it again. The game is game-as-storyteller at it's very best and should be way up there on everyones lists of favourite games. To cut a long story short...GO BUY THIS GAME NOW!

XBLIG of the Year: Smooth Operators

Now I know I have already given out my award for Game of the Year but I feel this game deserved a special mention. So I created an award for the Indie games and this is the winner! God this game is good! I have long since been a fan of sim games such as these and when one came to the XBLIG market I had to have it. And it really didn't disappoint. Giving this game this award was such an easy choice to make. It is easy pick-up-and-play fun, but trust me it isn't so hard to put it down! I have sunk many many hours into this game and I still find it fun. Pick it up guys!




Character of the Year: Kenny (The Walking Dead)

This is probably the toughest decision I have made in this post. We have been treated to so many convincing characters this year. But Kenny had to win it. Kenny has been one of my favourite characters from a game EVER let alone this year. This guy is amazing. A family man from Florida who just wants to protect his family from the Zombie infested world. He goes through a lot, and comes out the other side pretty broken. The emotion that went into animating this character and voicing him is truly experienced as you play alongside him. I love Kenny. That guy deserves a medal.



Biggest Surprise of the Year: Shark Attack Deathmatch

Let's be honest here, when an Indie game attempts to do something different, it almost always falls flat on its backside. This game really doesn't. I don't know why I was expecting this game to be bad, I just was and it was actually REALLY GREAT. The single-player Survivor mode is fun enough, but this game has fully-fledged online multiplayer mode which always seems to have plenty of people ready to play. For 80MSP this game is a real steal and again, should feature on everyones game list.




Multiplayer of the Year: Mass Effect 3

This game carried with it A LOT of controversy when it was released way back in March. I'm gonna hold my hands up and say this...I don't know what all the fuss was about. I think the game was great. For me Mass Effect was about the journey, I wasn't too fussed by the 'three choice ending' because I actually thought it tied up all the stories pretty well.

So now I've got that out of they way, let's get on with explaining why this game wins this award. For me it's simple....it's bloody good. But for those of you wanting a little more explanation than that (can't say I blame you!) here goes. This is the first time Multiplayer has been included in a Mass Effect title. So it could have been shocking. It isn't though, and in the first few weeks of owning this game I sunk as much time into multiplayer as I did the campaign. I think it ties in nicely with the campaign too, increasing your 'readiness' for the grand finale. And it works well. There isn't really anything I found annoying with Mass Effect multiplayer, which is pretty rare. And they gave us TONNES of new content for free so it didn't get old. You can play as so many different races and classes that you can make the experience different every time. There are varying difficulty levels, and trust me they get hard! But it's all part of the fun with this game, it doesn't get as annoying as other online shooters and added bonus for me and my fella...the game has two discs, and BOTH of them include the multiplayer, so we can play together without forking out so much! Yay!

Co-op Game of the Year: Minecraft

I doubt there are many of you that haven't at least played Minecraft or one of it's many, cheaper clones. I hadn't played Minecraft until it was released on XBLA this year and my boyfriend begged me to buy it. So I did, and so did our friends and we spent agggggeeess building a world together. This game gets co-op game of the year because it never really gets old. If you read my blog you know I'm always on the look out for co-op games to enjoy with my friends and family, but many of them get old fairly quickly. This one doesn't. Maybe it's because it doesn't really have a main objective so you can set your own depending on what you feel like. I don't know what made this such a favourite for me and my friends but it is and it is a game we keep going back to. It is pretty dear at 1600MSP but it is a game that you will never actually complete...so that seems like pretty good value :p

Most Fun this Year: Rock Band Blitz

This game is another I have reviewed this year and loved. Living with a guitarist means we have every music game ever in our house. It also means that, unfortunately he wasn't ready to even give this game a chance, due to the lack of a plastic guitar (sad I know) I made him try it and he actually likes it. But I LOVE IT. For me it has taken everything that is most fun about a music game and made it even better. Listening to music...yes fun. Playing a game whilst listening to music...yep fun. Doing it without going through the rigmarole of digging out paraphernalia...EVEN BETTER! The tracklist for this game is amazing, and even better all of my DLC moved into there to make for a pretty full roster. The power-ups make this game a must have for me, and it is a game I keep going back to if I want some quick, easy fun. Pick it up guys!


Graphics of the Year: Far Cry 3

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder so I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I gave this award on the basis of what game, upon entering the game world, made me say 'wow' and this has to be it. This game is beautiful! The characters are well envisioned and the Island is simply gorgeous. Climbing to the top of a Radio Tower and looking out everything looks amazing. There doesn't seem to be any rendering, like in Skyrim, everything is there in all it's beauty. It is an astonishing world that has so much to offer to us gamers, it's amazing graphics are just the icing on the cake.





Shooter of the Year: Sniper Elite V2

I wasn't originally going to create awards for specific genres of games, but I thought I would make an exception with this one. Almost everyone has got at least a little disheartened by all the carbon-copy shooters coming out year after year. This game offers something a little different. Yes it's still a shooter, and you don't have to play solely as a sniper, you can still run and gun. BUT if you persevere and stick to being a sniper, you are rewarded with some amazing slowed-down close-ups of your victim. The camera follows the bullet THROUGH the body, wherever you hit and goes into X-Ray vision, showing you the shattering bones in all their glory. SO MUCH FUN. My dad even managed a shot straight through the enemies testicles...now that was fun to watch!


Most Frustrating Game of the Year: Spelunky

Now I know frustrating is a negative thing. SO why am I giving an award out to a frustrating game? This game is one of the most frustrating games I have ever played, but it is also one of the best. It features four player coop (yay!) and is easily one of the most annoying games I've ever played. But it has us all hooked. The fun is in the challenge in this game, if it was too easy it would not have sold half as many. This game is just as hard as it needs to be to create a challenging environment in which the right tactics can thrive. A brilliant, yet frustrating game.





And now, simply because I don't feel like I have enough of my favourites of this year on this list I am going to give you a list. This list will contain my top ten picks of the year, after all of the above. It's a kinda 'Best of the Rest' if you will. So here it is:

1. XCOM
A truly great turn-based tactical shooter. I'm not one for turn-based games but this one is brilliant!
2. Dishonored
Reminds me a lot of the old Tenchu game on PS1. Play how you want, sneaky or full scale attack. Amazing game with great graphics.
3. Spec Ops: The Line
A great cover-based third person shooter that actually makes you feel bad for the decisions you make.
4. Deadlight
This 2D platformer features beautiful 3D environments and is SO much fun to play.
5. Game of Thrones

As a massive fan of the show and the book, this had to feature on the list!
6. Real Steel
I have never watched the film and don't even have much interest in Robots or fighting games, but this game had me hooked.
7. Hitman Absolution
Whats not to love about this return to the amazing Hitman games?!
8. Rocksmith
It's strange that I like this so-called 'game' so much, but it does provide some fun whilst teaching you to play your favourite songs on the real guitar.
9. Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse
I know it got slammed pretty much everywhere, but I had a lot of fun gunning down my friends on this game. Take it as a bit of fun (and get it cheap) and this game can provide a lot of laughs.
10. I Am Alive
A game that was originally meant for retail release and instead released on XBLA. The characters are well written and the graphics are beautiful. A great post-apocalyptic game.

Diehard Dungeon (XBLIG) Review

 The Uprising continues! Todays release was Diehard Dungeon a dungeon crawling bargain at 80MSP!

Now this game really grabbed my attention as the dungeons are different each time you enter, a lot like a game I am addicted to at the minute, Spelunky on XBLA. I LOVE that you can't just 'learn' your way around as each time you restart it is totally different. It makes the game infinitely playable, how can you get bored when it's always different?
There are also many different endings to this game, so even when you've completed it and feel like that's it really you HAVE to keep going to see what the other possibilities are!
The dungeons don't bring anything too challenging. Small bouncy enemies that are pretty annoying who try and steal your companion crate. A few blade-wielding bad-guys and some bouncy red blobs. There are some traps that bring spikes from the walls and in all the dungeons you have to find the silver key to open the next door. Every so often you'll find a golden key and at the beginning of the game it is explained that collecting ten of these makes you pretty awesome. They are pretty hard to come by though, something that is being patched, amongst other things in a few days.
There are big bosses after you've cleared a few dungeons. These are normally pretty huge and can be difficult to beat. The first one, a giant monkey had me restarting about five times. I was given a ranged weapon which worked brilliantly but I just struggled with my tactics for awhile.
There are some really awesome features in this game that stop it just being a hack and slash dungeon crawler. There is a mini-game when you open a trap door, which sees you granted with extra abilities if you beat it. The chests you find throughout the dungeons, I think are pretty original. Once you click to open them 0,1,2,3 blinks across the screen. Press a again to stop the blink and thats how many attempts you get to get treasure and other goodies from the chest. Again it's just something that mixes it up a little.
As I alluded to before this game is getting a patch very close to release, the developer tells me it should be within days. This patch will 'improve many of the visuals' and do some general bug fixing. Once the game is patched I will post some comments about the improvements. As it stands I don't actually feel like this game is suffering graphically so I'll see what happens when it's patched.
Overall this is another Uprising offering that is totally worth parting with your MSP for. It is great fun, easy to pick and play and changes every time. Unless dungeon crawling isn't for you it is a definite must buy!

8/10 BUY IT!

A code was provided for the purpose of this review.

More for Four?

This is something that has bugged me for awhile now. We can play with SO many people online so why can't more games include a four-player local multiplayer option?

You see I do love to play games on my own. I'm 150+ hours into my Skyrim play through and I love it. There is nothing better than sinking a few hours into a game once everything you need to do is done. Totally immersing yourself in a new world for however long. But once or twice a week my best friends come round and for awhile now we have found ourselves struggling for four player games to play together. There really isn't all that many, and it sucks!

Now I'm not expecting all games to suddenly start making their multiplayer four player on one console. We're lucky enough to have a set up that includes two Xbox's and in some cases two copies of the game. Gears of War 3 is the most recent example. At midnight I queued up at our local GAME store and picked up the Gears console and a Special Edition of the game too. We KNEW this one would be a great one to play together. All of us have totally immersed ourselves into the Gears universe, with me championing the novels by Karen Traviss to anybody who will listen to me. This game was special. And it had the four-player co-op we were always looking for. For the next couple of weeks we played through the Insane campaign together, wave after wave of Horde and Beast mode. It was great. Leaving Gears behind one night to play on something else we suddenly hit a brick wall. Aside from multiplayer CoD, Project Gotham and a few others there weren't much for us to get our teeth into.

There are many games that claim to be four-player co-op or competitive. Look a little closer though and most of the time this requires two consoles and two copies which alone will set you back £80/$120 if bought new. Left for Dead champions itself as four player co-op...online only, absolutely useless when there was only one copy knocking about. Whilst we all love CoD we don't always just want to keep killing each other. It's great to play as a team to reach a common goal.

So we turned to XBLA titles. Games like South Park Tower Defense Go! got us through one dry spell.  After completing this we were back to scouring the XBLA market for more four-player goodies. Platformers, Beat 'em ups, we didn't care, we just wanted something that wouldn't leave two of us watching the others. This lead to a massive increase in our XBLA Games count. My partner and I are now rocking a game collection of well over 400 games, most of which are, unfortunately two-player co-op at most.

Spelunky is one that has us hooked at the minute. Pick up and play platforming goodness at it's best. Working as a team we might just make it through the ice caves, individually we're all pretty rubbish. South Park Tenorman's Revenge is waiting in the wings for when we're just too annoyed at Spelunky. Fable Heroes and Castle Crashers are other good ones. But they are, whilst amazing for awhile, all lacking in something...a story driven narrative that FOUR people can enjoy.

With all the military games that come out now, you would really think that four-player co-op campaign, whether online or on console would be more prevalent. But they're not. For a generation of consoles that has the internet at it's disposal they sure are harping back to solitary games quite a lot. When multiplayer is a feature it's often pretty underwhelming. I'm calling for more developers to remember that many of us would love to enjoy a story-driven campaign as part of a team.