Pixel Galaxy

Author: Andrea Maderna

Date: 2020-03-03 08:24:17

Once again we offer you a review of the most interesting or curious indie games of recent times, ending up exploring the most varied genres: you go from a shooter where you don't shoot to a kind of autobiographical adventure, passing through yet another graphic adventure old-fashioned and some other assorted follies. As usual, we have very recent games and a few goodies with a little more weeks on our shoulders. And for once there is also a rejection! On the first page you will find Pixel Galaxy, Starwhal and Dinocide. In the second it's the turn of Shooting Stars, Memoire En Code and Slybots. We close with Death By Game Show, Line / Dash and Order of the Thorne: The King's Challenge.

Happy reading and enjoy!

Galaxy Pixel

Pixel Galaxy is based on a simple concept, perhaps not completely new, but still intelligent, which essentially overturns the structure of the classic 2D fixed-screen shooters and / or bullet hell. You control a large pixel that cannot shoot and whose only weapon of defense and offense consists in the ability to hook enemies, represented by pixels of other colors, to itself. If you go on an enemy, you attack him and this ends up being a shield. Secondly, if such an enemy is able to fire, he will continue to do so even after becoming a "friend", thus becoming a means of offense. And there is no limit to how many enemies we can hang on to. Obviously there are various types of enemies, each with its own particular weapon, not to mention that others "give" greater speed, are able to absorb more shots before being destroyed and so on. Furthermore, through the pad's backbone keys, it is possible to rotate the orientation of the hooked enemies, to direct their fired mouths and the improvised shield that they form. The quid of the game is basically all here.

The key to Pixel Galaxy is therefore a classic risk and reward mechanism. We spend all our time juggling clouds of increasingly dense bullets, in full bullet hell style, but also courageously heading towards the enemies, in the hope of being able to hook them before they take us out. And it's a lot of fun. The game is structured as a survival challenge without a deadline, from the procedurally generated waves and with a boss to be defeated every hundred seconds. There are six levels of difficulty, to be unlocked gradually, a cooperative mode and one dedicated to boss fights, that is, all the minimum necessary for a game that focuses on essentiality. Pixel Galaxy is a lot of fun from the first moment, but in the distance it will keep you glued only if you are incurable warriors of the top score. Keep an eye on the discounts on Steam, because recently it has been put at 3.39 euros.

Platforms : PC (tested version - coming to Xbox One and Wii U)
Genre : Sparaniente
Price : € 9.99
Rating : 7.7

Andrea Maderna

Starwhal

Idly I could tell you that Starwhal is the best game available in which you take control of a narwhal but all in all I would do a big disservice to this bizarre digital madness. I will therefore be slightly more precise starting by saying that not only can you put yourself at the helm of the aforementioned narwhal (a kind of dolphin with a horn, for the less informed) but also three of your friends can support you, each having a digital cetacean horned (and of a controller, of course). And once you get the narwhal what do you do? Easy: you skewer. Or rather, we try to do it, pointing the pointed end of the wallowing beast towards the enemies and hoping to make a nice skewer of their heart (conveniently highlighted on the side of the animal). An activity facilitated by a basic control system and as such it was spot on, consistent with the particular basic mechanics of this psychedelic videogame.

In summary: narwhals trying to skew each other, slightly toxic (dependent?) Graphic aspect, local multiplayer up to four participants? What do I forget? Ah, yes, a handful of game modes that spray a little variety in this pool of bizarre, a pack of different "costumes" for your cetaceans, to be unlocked, and a slim and all in all superfluous single-player mode: Starwhal was born to play multiplayer, shoulder to shoulder with friends, laughing, teasing and furiously skewering. As such, it does its job very well, as long as you take it in reasonable doses, perhaps flanked by some other local multiplayer game that is equally stupid and immediate. I tried it on Xbox One but eye and cross is identical in all its versions (which, incidentally, are also for PC and PlayStation 4).

Platforms: PC, PS4, Xbox One (tested version)
Price: € 11.99
Genus: cetacean kebab
Rating: 7

Stefano Castelli

Dinocide

"Oh, no, yet another platform game inspired by the NES era," someone must have exclaimed observing Dinocide images and trailers and leaving annoyed. I, on the other hand, approached interested and trying to believe it, although honestly it reminded me more of a cross between a game for Sega Master System and a platform game for Amiga than the western ones with the envy of the Japanese pad. But in short, they are details. The problem is that from Dinocide, I say it without half measures, it is better to stay away. The declared source of inspiration is Adventure Island (or, if you prefer, the first Wonder Boy), as you can guess from the prehistoric setting and from the idea of the energy bar that is consumed automatically and must be enhanced by collecting fruit around. And which is perhaps the only fairly well balanced mechanic in the game, capable of generating moments of crystal tension.

For the rest, Dinocide is a platform game that is not very stylistically inspired, with absolutely basic and repetitive mechanics, a sense of physicality of the character and of the enemies at historical lows, very little inventiveness in the game structure and a widely revisable difficulty balance. Halfway through it is a health walk and then suddenly the challenge rears up brutally, unless you have loaded the inventory of useful items. In that case, the health walk continues calmly. Some flashes of interest come from the bosses, but they are too few to go to be an attraction. In short, I always try to find the good in things and this sometimes ends up making me a bit of a big sleeve, but I just can't do it here.

Platform : PC
Genre : Prehistoric platforms
Price : € 9.99
Rating : 4.5

Andrea Maderna