Yo-Ho Kablammo
This week has seen me mellow into the simpler things in life; taking advantage of Xbox Live’s range of Arcade titles has brought me back to a previous time: when innovation was rife, power-ups were all the rage, and the majority of enemies could be killed by jumping on their heads. The game of choice was Yo-Ho Kablammo, created entirely by placement students at Canalside Studios- a company that operates within the University of Huddersfield.
The game places you at the helm of a cartoon pirate ship and sets sail towards a variety of objective based missions. The early missions see you simply beating a computer-controlled opponent by earning as many points as possible. These points can be achieved by placing mines, collecting booty, and, of course, sinking your opponent’s ship, via the ship’s side cannons or by means of the odd and enriching power-ups. The later levels get much harder, however, with the task of defeating numerous foes or being the highest ranked player after ten minutes. It’s these later levels that, in typical retro-game fashion, are life-destroyingly difficult. It’s hard enough to win against one opponent, but when three gang up on you, it transforms you from Black Beard the Pirate to Grey Beard and Balding. It’s this archetypal difficulty that keeps you coming back for more. The randomness of each game- the placement of mines and the chance occurrence of getting a killer power-up- make each attempt different and always incite that continuous phrase: “Just one more game”
The presentation is also excellent, with the same characterture styling used in the similarly brilliant Xbox Live revamp of Worms. The ships are chunky, the scenery is cheesy, and the ocean is bluer than a backstreet massage parlour.
The game boasts an enjoyable online mode, too. If you feel confident enough, you can take your ships to the high seas of competitive multiplayer, which, due to a personal lack of skill, I have already gloriously littered with fragmented wreckage and heartache.
Yo-Ho Kablammo costs 800 Microsoft Points (about £7). With the longevity of completing the single player, not to mention the varied online play, you’ll be hooked.
4 Stars
Hexothermic
With Modern Warfare 2 settling firmly into my life, somewhere between eating and breathing, something had to give: that thing was the arbitrary need for sleep. Luckily, Hexothermic, an Xbox Live Community game, has come to relieve me of the stresses of sitting two inches from my screen and screaming into a headset microphone.
Found under Indie Games and developed by David Webb, Hexothermic is a puzzle game that requires you to add a limited number of electrons to a screen full of atoms, hopefully, creating a chain reaction of explosions and completing the level in as few moves as possible. A PhD in nuclear physics is not required; all that is needed is a bit of thought and a pair of eyes to watch as the screen is danced across by choreographed colours- a result of your electron manipulation. A musical note accompanies each blast, which soon become symphonies as you clear the screen in one movement. With awards unlocked for completing certain objectives, leaderboards to conquer, and a brilliant puzzle mode, Hexothermic is pure cathartic bliss. For a mere 80 Microsoft Points (less than a pound) it’s almost essential.
4 Stars
