In Space We Brawl

The Collider

Developed by Shortbreak Studios, a Techland label specializing in mobile games, The Collider was born just last summer on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. And besides, it is just the classic simple, immediate, fast-paced and addictive game typical of those formats. In practice, you find yourself inside a particle accelerator, fired forward at ever increasing speed, and you have to move around the screen trying to avoid obstacles but, above all, to center the narrow passages that characterize each barrier in arrival, to be able to save the skin.

The PC version, available on Steam for some time now, offers the same gameplay, which can be tackled simply by using the mouse to move, obviously integrated with a system of dynamic rankings that constantly keeps up to date on its progress and on our position in the world rankings. And of course there are plenty of achievements. The Collider is a simple, clean, unpretentious game that in some ways reminded me of that Super Hexagon masterpiece. Mind you, we are far from the level of quality and genius of Terry Cavanagh's gem, but if you want to spend three euros in a disengaged pastime, make us a little thought

Platform : PC, Mac, Linux
Price : € 2.99
Genre : Action
Rating : 7.9

Andrea Maderna

Star Conflict

Star Conflict could be a good example of how it is convenient to choose exactly what it is instead of trying to please everyone. On interesting paper (there is always talk of a "free" space simulator), however, he finds himself not properly exploiting his talents, and in a period of rebirth like that it simply becomes a bet that risks being lost at the start, and it is a pity because it has its undeniable qualities.

In order to function, a space simulator needs its own alchemy: it can focus on history, atmosphere, and adrenaline and make us feel like interstellar Top Guns as happens in Freespace 2 or Tie Fighter (recently available on gog.com, however), or it can focus on the sidereal immensity itself and leave us free to act as we want, perhaps losing some points on the side of the plot but gaining immensely as regards depth. Games such as the X series based their success on creating credible universes with diplomatic relations between various races and realistic economic markets based on supply and demand. Star Conflict in this is an attempt to satisfy both types of players. It has a fair background with well-described factions, a large universe with a dynamic political situation, but the missions are the typical MMO fair where there is little to do apart from blasting enemies, sometimes staying still to capture "satellites" that act as points of domination, and in general massacring the poetry of space simulation with a re-proposition of game types such as team deathmatch or "domination" that have nothing to do with the background of the game.

For those who do not like PVP there is a cooperative mode against alien ships, but despite attempts to carry out a "plot", this rarely comes to touch the player's emotions. The situation is solved by the "Invasion" mode which promises a constant universe with combat situations between players and against aliens moved by AI that evolves freely. Access to this mode is however subject, at least for the moment, to the purchase of an expansion or the achievement of a large number of points in the regular game, and in a freemium this translates into "long time" or "long money "spent anyway. Star Conflict certainly has merits, but in my opinion his suffering from "identity crisis" trying to get closer to more types of players harms him more than helping him, and the next release of Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen risk making him lose of view. My advice is to have a look at it, basically starting to play is completely free and there are good ideas to see. But what if you have to choose a game to invest in? Let's say I'm going to bring two tons of liquor to workers in a border system on Elite, and maybe I'll even take a bounty on the head of a space pirate while I'm there.

Platforms: PC
Price: Freemium
Genre: Space Simulator
Rating: 7.1

Andrea Giongiani

South Park Pinball

Let's start (and end immediately) by saying that South Park Pinball for Zen Pinball 2, for a South Park and pinball fan, is a moral duty, rather than a highly recommended purchase. Why? Because the quality is excellent, like that of any other Zen Pinball 2 table, but above all because the desecrating verve of South Park is perfectly replicated inside. One example above all: have you ever played pinball with balls of, er, excrement?

What is more, South Park Pinball is a double pinball machine. Two tables, therefore ... and what tables! There is South Park: Super-Sweet Pinball (focused on all kids and their adventures) and South Park: Butters' Very Own Pinball Game (of course, everything revolves around the magical world of sweet Butters). The glance of both is valuable, inside them there is all of South Park and all its characters, with a thousand references, quotes and winks to the enthusiast of the Parker & Stone series. The missions to accomplish are many, the sounds, the music and the voices are the original ones of the show, and there are even exhilarating animations and found in perfect South Park style. Ah, and the gameplay, as indeed happens for every Zen Studios table, is almost flawless, practically perfect. In short, fun is guaranteed.

On balance, this is the best man made South Park pinball ever. And it is also cross-platform. And if you please.

Platforms : PS3 / PS4 / PS Vita / PC
Genre : Pinball
Price : € 4.99
Rating : 9.5

Lorenzo Antonelli