Forge World in Halo: Reach

Not really relevant to anything we're working on but I figured it's somewhat related to game design in general (Forge World being a level editor). Forge World is basically a huge world in which you can create a level inside of it using any amount (big or small) of the world you choose. Most Bungie made levels made with Forge World only use 1/5 of the space (guessing) so there's plenty of room to work around. If you really wanted you could use teleporters to navigate the huge terrain in an Invasion map or such.

The good:

• You can edit coordinates for each piece you place so you can line things up almost perfectly. 
• The different physics modes (Normal, Fixed, Phased). Normal lets object react to explosions and stuff so you can move them around the level. Fixed lets the object react and collide with other objects while you're placing it (also good for making things line up and NOT overlap) but it doesn't react to explosions so once you place it that is where it'll stay. Finally, Phased allows you to overlap objects so you can build stuff in the sides of mountains or inside of other buildings. 

The bad:

• No undo button! Even if you could just undo your last move that would be greatly appreciated for when you accidentally delete something. 

Features I wish they had:

• The ability to make myself the only person that can edit the map and anyone else in the game can only play and not move my stuff around. I like showing my friends the progress on my level but it always ends up with everyone dropping in stuff all over the place... It's a good thing to save right when someone joins and don't plan on doing anything productive while there's someone else in the game because they may fly to some random corner and place 47 warthogs in the corner of the map. :) 
• To make objective gametypes (capture the flag, etc) you need to change the gametype before you enter the game. There's a gametype called 'Basic Editing' which just lets you edit levels without scoring or objectives and that's what I always used. When I wanted to add flag spawns to my level I had to quit out, change from 'Basic Editing' to a capture the flag gametype and then I was finally able to set some properties to actually get my flags to work in game. It's not really a bad thing but it's a little bit of a hassle to change through gametypes to get all of my objectives to work.

Xbox Indie Games Review - Snailien Invasion

I played this quite a while ago with a friend before it came out and we played it for at least an hour as it's much more enjoyable with a friend!

Since then the game has come a long way and added a level up kind of system where you earn 0.1 points per kill (I think) and you unlock different weapons/classes as you progress. The last unlock seemed to be at 500 points which puts that unlock at 50,000 kills if I did my math correctly. My first game gave me about 65 kills and it goes up a little bit each game I play. I did have some previous experience so I knew what I was doing from the start.

If you don't have a friend to play with there's a local mode where you kill drones that chase after you. I thought it was awesome (especially considering the game was going to be released as a multiplayer-only game at one point!) as it gets a little tougher as you go but you're always working towards that next unlock. I didn't have a chance to test multiplayer, either system link or on Xbox Live, but if it's anything like it was when I played with a friend long ago then it's definitely worth checking out!

The game has plenty of replayability if you're going for those unlocks but since some of the last unlocks are at a pretty ridiculous standard you might have to do some grinding to get those last few. If you have a friend to play against and you enjoy just jumping around, setting traps, tag, whatever floats your boat there's plenty to do with your imagination. My friend and I played king of the hill and used the anti-mater gun (which creates little circles of dirt that you must blow your way through or slowly dig through it) and that in itself was loads of fun.

The game plays super smooth and I only had one instance of a slight lag spike. I think the $3 price range is scaring off some of the initial buyers but you should at least check out the demo. Especially if you're a Worms fan!

Rating: 8.5/10

Preorder Call of Duty: Black Ops and get $20 off your next purchase!

Amazon has a deal going on right now if you order Call of Duty: Black ops on the PS3 or 360 you'll get a $20 discount on your next video game purchase. You can see all of the details on the amazon site.

P.S. I have a friend that's currently playtesting it and he says it's better than Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and that's saying a LOT since I thought MW2 was amazing.

Xbox Indie Games Review - Star Crisis

I guess you could label this as a side-scrolling retro shooter but there's an added feature of gravity which makes it really fun. You're either sitting at the bottom of the screen or using your thruster to move towards the top of the screen. The only controls are left trigger to use the thruster and right trigger to shoot. It's easy to pick up and play and I think I'll find myself coming back to this one every once in a while to play. There's global leaderboards so you can fight for those top spots and multiple difficulties so there's always something challenging based on your skill level. The retro style art and sprite explosions are pretty cool but the music reminds me more of an adventure game than a shooter.

Rating - 8/10