Chime Review
by Joey Davidson
Chime is a puzzle game based on creating music. It's simple in nature, but, like all good puzzle games, will take effort to master. Arrange oddly shaped blocks on level-specific boards to play music and create quadrants (Think Lumines meets Tetris, and then they decide to have Moby DJ their wedding). Increase the size of the quadrants to cover the board and score massive points. A bit complicated to describe, but here's what the developers offered the world prior to release:
There's a lot of joy and relaxation to be found in the thrill of making music whilst puzzling. The musical arrangements sound slightly different each time you play a level, which is an incentive for those that fall in love with the concept.
Challenges come into play in several factors of the game. There are only six songs and six levels to choose from. Yes, those levels are spread across three variations of Time mode and one Freeplay option; but it is still a bit short. The songs themselves aren't particularly catchy or good (in my opinion), so to speak, they're just enough to deliver the goods. Six songs are a solid base, but DLC would be welcomed with open arms too. It's a shame that the likelihood of future content for the title is practically nil.
Others might be warded off by the fact that the game is less than automatic. Yes, the nature is simplistic, but the actual process of arranging pieces can be gritty at points. If you're the type that needs instant gratification, you might feel put off here. It takes a few minutes for Chime to click, let it happen and you'll love the game itself.
I'm happy to recommend Chime as a must-have for two key reasons. First of all, the price is a selling point by itself. For 400 Points you can have a creative puzzle game that will chew up a few hours before you can consider yourself even remotely bored with it. Tack on some challenging achievements and you'll be playing on into the night. The second reason comes from that fact that 60% of the game's profits will be donated to international children charities. You can thank OneBigGame for that, and they thank you with an instantaneous achievement upon first startup of the title. You're welcome, children.
Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD Review
by Erik Norris
Serious Sam is nothing new. And I don't mean that in the "this series brings nothing to the table" sense. What I actually mean is that the Serious Sam series has been around. People have been playing these games since 2001 and unfortunately, I haven't been one of them. Therefore, Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD was my first adventure with Sam "Serious" Stone.
But Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD had me at "headless body-builders with bomb hands."
Serious Sam borrows from a seriously awesome mash-up of influences. A dash of Doom, a pinch of Quake, and most importantly, the coin purse of Duke Nukem. And while you could easily write off Serious Sam as a copycat or ripoff, it really doesn't apologize for anything it does. In fact, Serious Sam takes it's influences and runs with them into some seriously awesome territory of ridiculous levels, ridiculous catchphrases, and of course, ridiculous monsters (see bomb hand guy as mentioned above).
Control wise, Serious Sam plays a lot like Quake where Sam moves with incredible speed and jumping in combat is a necessity. More often than not, you're moving so fast that you actually overshoot your intended target and have to spin around to get them between your sights again. But the health and armor system of Serious Sam is rewarding enough where that never really becomes a serious problem.
Now the big draw of Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD is, of course, the HD graphics. Sure, people have been playing this game since 2001, but they've never played it looking this crisp. The sands of Egypt glisten with noticeable ripples in the sand, while rock cliffs have enough texture to be mistaken for actual photographs. Croteam, the game's developers, did an amazing job touching up this nearly decade old game, so much so that I'm here fantasizing about the possibilities of other classics getting the HD treatment.
Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD is what it is: a hilarious no-holds-barred first person shooter. If that sounds interesting to you then Serious Sam: TFE HD is a definite must buy on the Xbox Live Arcade. It runs for $15 which might seem steep, but it does include 4-player co-op so talk some friends into picking it up as well, no one will regret the purchase.
