TOOTH – Trials Out Of the Hat

Welcome to TOOTH – a new feature, in which I will take two random trials out of the Xbox Live Indie pool, and run them through the paces. This week, I’ve selected Bush Hunt by RiddlerSoft, and Word Duelist by Sowaz.

WORD DUELIST

A game geared towards word puzzle enthusiasts, Word Duelist pits the protagonist against 9 other characters in an academy setting. To progress, you must out-word them in a duel. In my time with the trial, I only managed to sample two of the reported 15 word games in my duel, and they weren’t overly compelling. The graphics are pretty bare-bones fare. I found the use of the left analog stick to pick letters frustrating at times; it was a bit sensitive, and I found myself selecting letters I didn’t want.  Interesting premise, but I’m going to pass on the full game.

Verdict: Not much bite.
Word Duelist – developed by Sowaz

80 Microsoft Points

BUSH HUNT

In Bush Hunt, you are tasked with a sacred mission: Find rare, exotic creatures, and kill them all. You can choose a character (so the game says. It’s really all the same character, and you can change the main color of the sprite) and head into the wilds. You’ll parachute into a jungle area, and once you land, you need to find all the creatures and then shoot them. Use all of your skills! You can jump, duck and shoot. That’s about it.

The graphics are decent enough, but the sprites are limited to two animation frames each. Killing enough of the creatures will provide you with an upgrade to your weapon which lessens the time between shots.  The levels don’t feel like they’re following any kind of design.  Maybe they’re randomly generated? I only played through the trial once, so I’ll never know.  There isn’t a lot going on in the single player experience, but you can play two player co-op, or online with three other players.

Verdict: Emergency root canal.

Bush Hunt – developed by RiddlerSoft

80 Microsoft points.

The good people at DIYGamer.com have posted a list of what we agree are:

10 Great Indie Games You Didn’t Play In 2009.

Interestingly enough one of the games on this list – SWAP! – is by the same indie developer (Arkedo Studio) who had a different game on XBLIGR.com’s (that’s Xbox Live Indie Game Reviewer to you):

Top 10 Xbox Live Indie Games of 2009.

Now go check out these lists – there are tons of amazing indie goodies to play with!

The Behemoth, the developer behind perhaps the most popular or well-loved XBLA game of all time – the four-player dungeon hack n slasher “Castle Crashers” is starting to show what they have been planning for an encore. And what an encore it will be:

“Having shipwrecked on a mysterious island you find yourself both betrayed by your best friend Hatty and captured by the locals. All of this is happening while being forced into deadly performances.” It looks deliciously grim. Watch the trailer now.