April 13 - April 17

Section: 

I have to admit it. Demigod crept up on me out of nowhere. It is a game that has long existed on the periphery of my attention, hovering like exactly the sort of thing I should care about but never crossing that threshold into active interest. Now that it's here I don't quite know what to do with it. Apparently Demigod is some kind of fusion of RTS meets fighting game, and if you're anything like me then your first thought to that is -- Aweso...wait, what?

Still, it is the standout pupil in an otherwise weak-sauce class. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are grabbing some bench this week, perhaps taking some kind of belated and largely undeserved spring break. Even the Wii and DS only manage to combine for a paltry 4 games I've never heard of. This opposed to the typical 12-15 games I've never heard of.

Default victory though it may be, it's still a checkmark in the win column for Gas Powered Games. This week's Game of the Week goes to Demigod. Here's hoping it manages to impress rather than merely confuse.

PC
- City of Heroes: Architect Edition
- Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason
- Demigod

PS2
- Guitar Hero: Metallica

DS
- Dokapon Journey
- The Dark Spire

Wii
- Escape the Museum
- Samurai Shodown Anthology

Comments

Wait - you've not heard of Dark Spire? That has definitely been long anticipated!

Common, Escape the Museum.

You're in a Museum, and you Escape!

I think it could be a strong contender for game of the month and not just this week. Even if it isn't, they were still smart not to try to compete with it later in the year.

After playing the Demigod beta for the past few months, I am very excited to get the full game. In fact I am downloading it now

Have any of our Russian or European readers played Cryostasis? It looks interesting.

I'll grab Demigod tonight, as I pre-ordered it. I'm eagerly anticipating seeing what it's about.

Saying that Demigod is Dota is like saying that WoW is Everquest. Everquest was hugely popular at the time, but WoW took similar elements and ran with it into something more. Demigod appears to overcome many of the constraints of a custom map in Warcraft III and will be much more than its predecessor.

I had no idea it was coming out already, but I'm actually very excited about Dokapon Journey for the DS. It appears to be a portable version of Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii, which was maybe the best party / board game I played last year on any system. My wife and brother-in-law put at LEAST 30 hours into that game over the Christmas holiday, and could have done quite a bit more if he hadn't had to fly back home.

Basic summary: it's a gigantic board game where the board is a fantasy map (towns, castles, dungeons, forests, etc) and you move your character around fighting monsters, gaining XP and levels, collecting loot and gold, and screwing over the other players at every opportunity. It's an extremely mean game, competitively, allowing you to engage in both direct and indirect conflict with the other players and take their gold, their items, their towns, etc. etc.

It has a great sense of humor (one of the penalties you can impose on another player if you beat them in combat is to change their name - watching my brother-in-law change my wife's character name to Poohead was far funnier than it had any right to be), a very simple but addictive RPG structure of quests to complete, classes and skills to unlock, loot to upgrade, etc, and can be played in fairly bite-sized chunks; we tended to play for 30 to 60 minutes at a time, save the game, and come back to it later.

So yeah, having that on my DS sounds fantastic. It would be a perfect travel game for family and friends (well, my family and friends, anyhow - your mileage may vary). Only thing I need to know now is whether you need multiple carts to play multiplayer.

Demigod looks good, but its on GFW? and not available on steam? blah. Also garion it is only $40 at bestbuy, if the ten dollars less makes any difference to you.

adam.greenbrier wrote:

Have any of our Russian or European readers played Cryostasis? It looks interesting.

Eurogamer reviewed it. It's a pretty good read. I can't quite decide if the game would appeal to me or not.

Cryostasis is a brave, fascinating, often very beautiful game, but I find it impossible to recommend it - and not least because it runs like an exploded dog on most PCs. It's not quite creative enough - its environments fall into a monotony of samey rooms and bulkheads - and its combat is too clunky to be delicious. I'm certain that this is a game that some gamers will tuck into heartily, and happily. The ugly truth of the meal, however, is that's it's still frozen in the middle.

DemiGod looks like it could really be amazing, it has potential.

Only other release I have my eye on is the City of Heroes: Architect Edition, making your own missions?!
Sign me up!

inspiringsn wrote:

Saying that Demigod is Dota is like saying that WoW is Everquest. Everquest was hugely popular at the time, but WoW took similar elements and ran with it into something more. Demigod appears to overcome many of the constraints of a custom map in Warcraft III and will be much more than its predecessor.

Yes, you're absolutely correct, except when one is trying to understand what the game is about like Elysium, then they're effectively the same or very similar. I wasn't trying to sell the game short as many have, but give some sort of base from which to understand the gameplay.

Demigod is [like] Dota. I just answered any and all possible confusion. Let the conversation commence henceforth.

Seriously, I'm looking forward to some impressions. There's no way in hell I'm paying $50 for it, I'm just not doing that anymore, but I'd still like to give it a go in the future.

Edited for clarity.

Thank you for the clarification.

Podunk wrote:
adam.greenbrier wrote:

Have any of our Russian or European readers played Cryostasis? It looks interesting.

Eurogamer reviewed it. It's a pretty good read. I can't quite decide if the game would appeal to me or not.

Cryostasis is a brave, fascinating, often very beautiful game, but I find it impossible to recommend it - and not least because it runs like an exploded dog on most PCs. It's not quite creative enough - its environments fall into a monotony of samey rooms and bulkheads - and its combat is too clunky to be delicious. I'm certain that this is a game that some gamers will tuck into heartily, and happily. The ugly truth of the meal, however, is that's it's still frozen in the middle.

That review did a good job of convincing me that I'd likely really enjoy this game. Unfortunately, it would make my system choke and die, so it's one for the shiny future.

I really wish they'd released Samurai Shodown Anthology for the 360. I'd be all over it.

I can't find Samurai Shodown Anth. for PS2 anywhere in my town :'(

I wonder if perhaps you're not just a little too cynical for this column. Obviously, hearing, "My First Pony on DS is out, which should be fun if you like ponies!" is lame, but so is, "Look at all this crap again," even when some of it may not be crap at all. Where's the happy middle?

Mike wrote:

I wonder if perhaps you're not just a little too cynical for this column. Obviously, hearing, "My First Pony on DS is out, which should be fun if you like ponies!" is lame, but so is, "Look at all this crap again," even when some of it may not be crap at all. Where's the happy middle?

The happy middle is something they made you believe existed all during your school years.

It's over, this is real life and it sucks. Get used to it kid.

/clinteastwood

Podunk wrote:
adam.greenbrier wrote:

Have any of our Russian or European readers played Cryostasis? It looks interesting.

Eurogamer reviewed it. It's a pretty good read. I can't quite decide if the game would appeal to me or not.

Cryostasis is a brave, fascinating, often very beautiful game, but I find it impossible to recommend it - and not least because it runs like an exploded dog on most PCs. It's not quite creative enough - its environments fall into a monotony of samey rooms and bulkheads - and its combat is too clunky to be delicious. I'm certain that this is a game that some gamers will tuck into heartily, and happily. The ugly truth of the meal, however, is that's it's still frozen in the middle.

Huh. Everything I had heard about the game had been just overwhelmingly negative, but that review actually makes me curious. I should check if they have a demo available.

One point of contention I have with Jim Rossignol:

Fortunately, it's so cold that even the smallest heat source can offer you some solace. Your health and your temperature are one and the same, so if you're hurt then crouching over a fire or a hot piece of machinery will quickly restore you. It's an interesting idea, although it does seem a little foolish at times, particularly when you're warming your hands in the sullen glow of an electric desk lamp.

Anyone who has lived in the frozen Midwest in a house where the heat has gone out knows that this is most definitely better than nothing.

NathanialG wrote:

Demigod looks good, but its on GFW? and not available on steam? blah. Also garion it is only $40 at bestbuy, if the ten dollars less makes any difference to you.

$40 for the download-only version on Impulse, too.
I'd get it there, because you need Impulse for updates anyway.

NathanialG wrote:

Demigod looks good, but its on GFW? and not available on steam? blah. Also garion it is only $40 at bestbuy, if the ten dollars less makes any difference to you.

Its not on GFWL at all, just the box art/branding GFW program. Its multiplayer and download portal is Impulse, which is kinda like Stardock's version of Steam.

The Dark Spire! I can't wait to try it.

Mike wrote:

"Look at all this crap again," even when some of it may not be crap at all. Where's the happy middle?

Stop reading the text?

Ravenlock wrote:

So yeah, having that on my DS sounds fantastic. It would be a perfect travel game for family and friends (well, my family and friends, anyhow - your mileage may vary). Only thing I need to know now is whether you need multiple carts to play multiplayer.

I want to try it out, too. I read on one of the previews that it will allow 4 player hotseat on a single DS and some amount of multi-ds, single-cart play, too.

Its not on GFWL! Then I am much more likely to give it a try. DOW2 is really hampered by GFWL.

Hm. Cyrostatis and Demigod both sound really interesting - but I might have to hold back on both. Cyrostatis until I upgrade my graphics card, Demigod until I can try some sort of demo or get a discount - the RTS aspect has me hesitant.

Dysplastic wrote:

Hm. Cyrostatis and Demigod both sound really interesting - but I might have to hold back on both. Cyrostatis until I upgrade my graphics card, Demigod until I can try some sort of demo or get a discount - the RTS aspect has me hesitant.

Stardock has the digital download for $39.95.

If you order the box from stardock they will send you the collectors edition until they run out. Whats included is a soundtrack cd and a miniature of Rook the big castle guy. Stuff like that I can do without but all you pay "extra" is the cost of shipping and handling!

Yeah I'll be waiting a while on Demigod, but I think I'm going to have to buy The Dark Spire on visuals alone, and hope that I happen to enjoy the gameplay.

I recall Cryostasis looking good a while back, but then on the RockPaperShotgun podcast the other day they weren't speaking too well of it. Too bad too, I had been hoping for another horror/shooter thing.

Dysplastic wrote:

Hm. Cyrostatis and Demigod both sound really interesting - but I might have to hold back on both. Cyrostatis until I upgrade my graphics card, Demigod until I can try some sort of demo or get a discount - the RTS aspect has me hesitant.

Same, I'm a bit sketchy on the possibility of it running on my setup now (desperately need an upgrade), but unfortunately Stardock has said that a demo is a couple months down the pipeline.