Indie | Immunity Contest

//War Photographer
“The pictures you take become resources that can be sold, used to blackmail your enemies, and curry favour in a world where everybody but you is trained to use a gun.” This isn’t in the prototype. There’s you, standing in a muddy field with some cliffs to one side and grass at the other, with a fairly fully functioning – if awkward to adjust – camera and some terrible movement controls. I can’t help but think it’s a concept that would be better powered by a different Source, but it’s fascinating nonetheless. I’ve often thought that photography or video capture as a prominent mechanic was underused in gaming; Dead Rising, Afrika, Michigan, that terrible Paparazzi budget title… I’m out. War seems the perfect place to put it to use, and it could prove an effective way of communicating the horrors of combat if tastefully done. Something along the lines of the journalist in We Were Soldiers would have great potential, but I fear it could descend into something more glorifying akin to Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway’s slow motion nonsense. Still, a tantalising prospect, and one I’d like to see polished up and expanded upon.

//ZipQuest
It’s time for something a bit more traditional. ZipQuest is a fast paced side-scrolling platformer that handles smoothly even at this stage. You’re a character inside someone’s hard drive, and you have to dive into all the folders and remove the viruses. The visuals and sound are simplistic, but very apt and charming, and it’s all very Mega Man for now. There’s not much to say, really, just that it’s a satisfying and enjoyable concept that I’d happily spend a few hours ploughing through. As long as the combat was ironed out properly – the sole attack is currently awkward, slow and ineffective – it would be hugely enjoyable. N+ meets Rez meets Hammerin’ Hero? Sign me up.

//Catapult for Hire
“Satisfying” is a word that sums up Catapult for Hire. It plonks the player behind a trebuchet sitting in a fixed position and invites he or she to take on various jobs. There appear to be three in the demo past training, with the highlight being knocking down an enemy base from afar. It’s simple to grasp and has the potential to be very addictive indeed. Though it’s admittedly not hugely original, the concept could go in some interesting directions, and the notion of taking on various jobs for cash is one that would doubtless produce a great variety of missions. The sole annoyance in the demo in mechanical terms was the need to bring up a menu with the space bar in order to tweak the variables that go into firing the thing, meaning mouse look is yanked away whenever it’s summoned. A neat touch is the ability to follow the projectile on its journey by clicking the right mouse button, and it recalls the joys of hitting a zinger in Wii Sports golf. Well suited to the engine and worth continued development.

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If nothing else, the variety on display showcases the incredible versatility of the engine, and there’s no reason for it not to become the 3D indie dev tool of choice. To see it firing on all cylinders, play some of Flashbang’s splendid browser nuggets over at Blurst, where they too have invited developers to submit games of their own. Though it seems my choices in the Immunity contest are unlikely to succeed for now, I’m hopeful that the developers will persevere. Sadly, it appears that voters have opted for the least ambitious games of the lot, as Sheepomania and IceSlide are battling it out for the winning spot quite some way ahead of the rest of the pack. Don’t get me wrong, Breakout-with-sheep-and-humour and smoothly-done-casual-block-slider-inspired-by-15 are all well and good, but it’s a shame to see people plumping for only the most instantly gratifying or slickly presented games when there are some genuinely fascinating new ideas on show that would benefit far more from a 10k cash injection and some publisher backing. Still, with Unity development available to all, we can certainly expect to see some awesome things from it in future. Pre-emptive congratulations to the eventual winner and a big old thumbs up to all involved!

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