GAME > It Only Takes a Second (Andrew McCluskey)

It Only Takes a Second is an atmospheric 3D platformer with a clever concept. Playing as a time bomb, you must bounce through each level before finishing it with only one second left. The catch is that you can’t see what number the timer is on, except when the number which is present on the bomb turns green, after which you can count down manually to determine when to complete the level. The physics are very tricky to master and putting one foot wrong can mean disaster. A clear annoyance is the arguably overused wall jump; while this is a fairly clever feature used to increase the difficulty and strategy needed, it becomes very tedious and downright maddening, particularly once you get to the comparatively long levels. However, there is a video guide (though it would have been nice for it to actually be included in the game…) that goes through the basics of IOTAS in detailed fashion. There are a total of twenty levels; five in each of the four environments (with even more specific rules for each one), making this a pretty comprehensive game if you consider the ‘SPEEDRUN’ mode as well as the high amount of online functionality. The 3D visuals are very nice and fading the walls out to black worked well, creating an intimidating feeling, ideal for the objective of the game. Something that definitely stands out is the creative menu, which entices you to play on and gives good visual feedback. There’s no music in-game, because of the need to count ticks, but where necessary, there’s always sound to account for your needs. If you can take frustration, you should definitely give this Game Jolt ‘Axioms’ competition entrant (Andrew’s second) a play through.

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GAME > The Hilarity of Murder (Andrew McCluskey)

The Hilarity of Murder is Andrew McCluskey’s latest shooter offering, created using the ‘Lite’ version of GameMaker. You must venture through a top-down ‘fake 3D’ world, shooting offensive pink robots (big and small) to keep yourself happy (that’s what terminal illness does to you), while making sure you stay healthy as well (hospitals come in handy). The graphics are simplistic, but the fact that Andrew has achieved such a good-looking 3D urban world with GM7 Lite is simply stunning; I like the consistency in visual style, with the HUD matching nicely too. As usual, Andrew has put much effort into the menu, presenting a great preface for the rest of the adventure. The music is admirably appropriate, providing a nice feel to the game and the sound effects are also limited but fine. Overall, it’s another fun arcade shooter from good ol’ Klusky.

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GAME > BOOM (Jan Willem Nijman)

BOOM is an FPS featuring Jan Willem Nijman’s well-worn style, created for a school project of his (pretty awesome, eh?). There are three ranks of difficulty (each with a funny name) that allow you to explore the two levels at your own pace, changing the effects of a few things. The graphics will be nice to see for fans of the original Game Boy – the creator purposely paid homage to the era and did a pretty great job; for a 3D GameMaker game, the visuals are certainly not bad, providing a seamless adventure with no apparent glitches. The audio is fitting for the style and atmosphere of the shooter, although the bullet firing sound effect was a little dreary. Basically, if you generally like Nijman’s games, you’ll probably enjoy this.

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GAME > PyRO (Zack Banack)

PyRO instantly reminded me of a previously reviewed game, For Now. And it’s easy to see why. Nevertheless, it’s an interesting platformer with a nice gimmick - interactively rotating visuals. You supposedly play as a child who ‘fears the flame’; you can make your own mind up whether a small yellow cube adequately represents a child. Over the thirty levels, there are a number of new puzzling features introduced to increase PyRO’s challenge and variety, as well as a level editor for more extensibility. Although I do have a problem with the slow player movement; it makes every move feel very heavy and laborious. The visuals look quite smooth and the rotating cubes aren’t too extreme. PyRO features a soothing and atmospheric background tune which fits nicely with the leisurely movement and the game’s eccentricity. By the way, the platformer was made for Game Jolt’s Axiom contest and surely must stand a decent chance.

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GAME > For Now (Josh Sullivan)

For Now looks very similar to an unreleased game by Jonaton Söderström, but just because it’s so comparable, it shouldn’t be looked down upon. After all, it does have some unique features in addition. Anyway, For Now is a psychedelic platformer with disorientating effects that make what would be a boring game without the eccentricity, an interesting game. In each level, you collect all the red pyramids by jumping around with a multicoloured ball – it’s a simple objective, but it doesn’t need to be anything more, since the effects provide the challenge. The visuals are clearly the main focus, with abstract 3D platforms present in magnitude; each level has a slightly different style to keep things new – you never really know what to expect in the next stage, apart from more weird and wonderful visuals. The background music creates a fitting ambience for this strange platformer. No sound effects seem to be at hand, but they’re not really needed.

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GAME > Infidels (Andrew McCluskey)

Infidels puts the player in the year 2071, where a religion based on ginger hair colour exists. It happens to be your job to electrocute the anti-ginger infidels. Holding the mouse, you fire charge-limited waves of electricity towards the oncoming enemies, watching them suffer endlessly, while accumulating points that can be submitted to the high score leaderboard. The game is very tough in the sense that you’re continually darting around the 3D playing field to avoid your health reaching zero. Although monotony has been combated with the flourishes of new enemies and a selection of power-ups, it still arguably becomes a little monotonous with such a one-dimensional method of attack. The graphical style is typical of Andrew McCluskey, with vibrant visuals concealing his limited graphical abilities. As for the music, it’s very upbeat and fits with the general pace of the game. Perhaps it’s a little high in pitch for some peoples’ tastes, though. Incidentally, the game was made for the Game Jolt ‘Shocking’ competition and came in a warranted second place.

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