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XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade) News, Announcements, Reviews, and Impressions Thread

Vert boil

Member
Everything is up now. It took them almost 24 hours again to get everything up. If this is what we have to look forward to in the last year of the 360...


In better news, if you are in the dashboard beta (and a gold member) you can now play the full version of Happy Wars. It will get a full release next Friday (Oct 12th). Thread here.
 

The_Monk

Member
Hey fellow GAFfers just a quick question, I've been in the Beta Dash for quite some time but I only remember something. Before there was a Deal of The Week windows, where can you found that one with the new Dash? Europe here by the way.

Thanks in advance.
 

Vert boil

Member
Hey fellow GAFfers just a quick question, I've been in the Beta Dash for quite some time but I only remember something. Before there was a Deal of The Week windows, where can you found that one with the new Dash? Europe here by the way.

Thanks in advance.

It depends on your region. Very rarely appears on the UK dashboard but I usually see it on the US dash.
Go to the game tab, browse games. On the featured tab it should be in the top right hand corner. The only consistent way to see it on the 360 is through the Sales & Specials+ App.

It's available on the web as well - http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Promotion/dealoftheweek
 

bjork

Member
I played through vanilla Costume Quest today, that's a pretty fun game. Not really sure why I waited so long to pick it up, I'd been meaning to for awhile. Now I just need to do the DLC, I forgot that there was any until I completed the game and looked at my achievements.
 
I've been playing Islands of Wakfu. It's pretty bad in the beginning but eventually I warmed up to it and it gets better. It has an outstanding musical score -- has anyone heard this? Really, really impressive.

Are there any upcoming XBLA RPGs?
 

Vert boil

Member
I've been playing Islands of Wakfu. It's pretty bad in the beginning but eventually I warmed up to it and it gets better. It has an outstanding musical score -- has anyone heard this? Really, really impressive.

Are there any upcoming XBLA RPGs?

I've tried the Wakfu demo a few times after people have talked it up but it always seem like it would be a waste of time and money for myself.



Not a lot on the rpg front (that I can think of),

The only thing coming soon is Blood Knights at the end of the month. It's a very streamlined linear ARPG.

Quicklook EX - http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-ex-blood-knights/17-6482/

Ascend: New Gods - A post Soul's ARPG where you see other people playing within your game. There is a companion mobile game that feeds into the main game. It's from the Toy Soldiers devs, it's going to be free and comes out next year

Offscreen with a dev taking - Part 1, Part 2.

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing: Episode 1 - Another ARPG.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDEd63I2nAM
 

Rlan

Member
There was thy Realms of Ancient War a couple of weeks ago, but it's basically the definition of euro-jankiness.
 

Gaspode_T

Member
Wakfu is much more like Bastion than an RPG. I like it - the difficulty is a little uneven here and there and I got stuck on some boss midway through game where it starts to get harder. If you like running around Bastion style world breaking jars and collecting little things to get upgrades I would even say it is an underrated game.

Looking forward to Happy Wars, hearing great things about it from all fronts...
 

Vert boil

Member
DOTW

A World of Keflings - 400msp
(was 800)
Renegade Ops - 600msp (was 1200)
Splatters - 400msp (was 800)
Toy Soldiers - 400msp (was 800)
--Invasion! - 200msp (was 400)
--The Kaiser’s Battle - 200msp (was 400)
Toy Soldiers: Cold War - 600msp (was 1200)
--Evil Empire - 200msp (was 400)
--Napalm - 200msp (was 400)

-----

Mini Ninjas Adventures - 400msp (was 800)


Double Fine sale

Costume Quest - 600msp (was 1200)
--Grubbins on Ice - 200msp (was 400)
Happy Action Theater - 400msp (was 800)
Iron Brigade (Trenched) - 400msp (was 800)
--Rise of the Martian Bear - 200msp (was 400)
Stacking - 600msp (was 1200)
--The Lost Hobo King - 200msp (was 400)


Catherine - 1600msp/19.99$ (was 3200) US price, check your region
-----

Sales & Specials+ app

Mercury HG - 200msp (was 400)
Quarrel - 200msp (was 400)
Swarm - 200msp (was 400)

Chain reaction - Tiger woods 13

5 Course Pack - 800msp (was 1600) > Emerald Dragon - 160msp (was 400) > Blue Monster - 120msp (was 400) > Wolf Creek - 80msp (was 400)
 

Daigoro

Member
almost temptet by Catherine. probably wouldve bit at 1200 pts. not even sure if its a game im actually interested in though.
 
Double Fine sale Only the Trenched dlc has dropped so far.

Costume Quest - msp (was 1200)
--Grubbins on Ice - msp (was 400)
Happy Action Theater - msp (was 800)
Iron Brigade (Trenched) - msp (was 800)
--Rise of the Martian Bear - 200msp (was 400)
Stacking - msp (was 1200)
--The Lost Hobo King - msp (was 400)

Beans, I was going to download Costume Quest for my mum last weekend but told her to hold off as it would probably be cheaper for Halloween. I'm guess we'll get half off?
 

bjork

Member
Hah, looks like I could've saved a few points on Costume Quest if I'd waited. At least the DLC is on sale too, I'll grab that for sure.
 

aku:jiki

Member
Sales & Specials+ sales are up too now, it's Mercury HG for 200, Swarm for 200 and Quarrel for 200. Anyone with 600MSP lying around should get all of them.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
From the above, I'd definitely recommend:

Swarm is decent. I think it has some problems--levels too long, overall game too short, not well explained, scoring system doesn't really make much sense, but it's sort of neat to speed-run and it never gets old watching your little guys get sliced, diced, skewered, or zapped. It's definitely worth $2.50. 9/12 achievements just require finishing game, one requires some post-game play, and two require particular score attack stuff.

Quarrel is basically like Risk only instead of rolling dice you play Scrabble against your opponent. It works really well, but you might find it quite hard if you don't have a strong vocabulary. Playing even the easier AIs requires a pretty good sense for anagram games. Achievements will essentially require cheating or perfect, super-human play; I wrote an AI to play for me once I was finished playing the game as far as I could.

Mercury HG is vastly superior to the PSP and Wii versions, and works really well with custom soundtracks; the levels pulse and vibrate with the music playing. Both DLC packs are dirt cheap too. One of the best frustrating challenge games on XBLA. Achievements simply require completion of game, but very difficult.

World of Keflings is a worthy sequel to Kingdom of Keflings. Both games are basically non-violent RTSes. Imagine an RTS where you only had to deal with resource management and refining and building. Very relaxed, happy, upbeat. New DLC is coming out soon too. Easy achievements.

Costume Quest is short and sweet and relatively shallow, but it's got excellent writing, a great visual style, and reminds me of a children's version of Mario RPG's battle system and Earthbound's tone and sense of exploration. Both the game and the DLC are worth it. Easy achievements.

Stacking is an excellent adventure game. Again very funny writing, but the best part about it is that every puzzle in the game has multiple solutions (2-6 solutions). You only need to pick one solution, sure, but the real fun is in discovering them all. They're each individually simple--the game has no permanent inventory, so the different character abilities focus as a contextually valid set of options for solving the problem--but in aggregate it ends up being pretty substantial. Warning, the framerate and motion blur can get a bit disorienting if you're sick. The DLC is about one-third the length of the game if you finish the game and are wondering about the DLC. Easy achievements.
 

Larsen B

Member
The Eurogamer review for A World of Keflings was pretty perfect.

A World of Keflings is gaming comfort food. A thick winter warmer of a game, served with a toasted crusty roll.

It's nice to play a game every so often where you just putter along and there's no stress.
 
Costume Quest is short and sweet and relatively shallow, but it's got excellent writing, a great visual style, and reminds me of a children's version of Mario RPG's battle system and Earthbound's tone and sense of exploration. Both the game and the DLC are worth it. Easy achievements.

Stacking is an excellent adventure game. Again very funny writing, but the best part about it is that every puzzle in the game has multiple solutions (2-6 solutions). You only need to pick one solution, sure, but the real fun is in discovering them all. They're each individually simple--the game has no permanent inventory, so the different character abilities focus as a contextually valid set of options for solving the problem--but in aggregate it ends up being pretty substantial. Warning, the framerate and motion blur can get a bit disorienting if you're sick. The DLC is about one-third the length of the game if you finish the game and are wondering about the DLC. Easy achievements.

Pretty much all of this. Both of the games were fun to play at full price and definitely worth it at a discount.
 

Gowans

Member
I'll get Swarm for 200points.

I'll force my mates for Iron Brigade 400 points for the game and 200 for the DLC is a steal.
 

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
I'm thinking about buying Renegade Ops - 600msp (was 1200), but im not sure, the game looks "cold".

Just an FYI; it's been $3.75 more than a few times on PC. Obviously if you want it on XBLA, you play by Microsoft's rules, but if you're open to it on another platform, then this is not really a great sale price. I didn't mention this in any other case because the discount is less steep on XBLA in this specific case even though it's true for Costume Quest and Stacking as well.
 

acm2000

Member
got Quarrel and Mercury HG for 200 points a piece, and since i got my points half price, thats £1.71 for the pair! lol

tempted by Swarm, but the demo never took me by the balls

also got Trials Evo DLC, but thats a given
 

Mington

Member
I'm thinking about buying Renegade Ops - 600msp (was 1200), but im not sure, the game looks "cold".
I bought it in the Christmas for 600 and really wished u hadn't, looks really nice, but got really boring. No variety. I had 10x more fun with Gatling gears .... If you value you gaming time I would avoid
 

Vert boil

Member
**MS have been Very dodgy with releases recently. Expect the worst.** That went better than expected.

Released today,

boxartlg.jpg
boxartlg.jpg


Naughty Bear: Panic in Paradise - 1200msp, 1GB.
--Mjolnpaw Hammer - 80msp
--Paradise Island Chainsaw Massacre Set - 240msp

Worms Revolution - 1200msp, 477MB.


Also,

A World of Keflings
--Sugar, Spice, And Not So Nice - 320msp

Walking Dead
--Episode 4: Around Every Corner - 400msp
 

aku:jiki

Member
You can also play Happy Wars already, regardless of dashboard status. Just have someone who has it invite you and you can download it. You even get the early access freebie of 45 free tickets.
 
invites sent, i think

Cheers, I couldn't accept it though 'cause it came half way through Mark of the Ninja, and those levels don't save half way through!

In MotN news, I just finished it. Pretty awesome way to end the game, I
have absolutely no idea if I made the right choice!

Any impressions on Worms Revolution?

For me it's the worst 2D Worms game on XBLA, but at the same time it's still 2D Worms so even being "the worst" makes it an okay game. I'd just buy Armageddon before it.
 

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
Any impressions on Worms Revolution?

Crap.

Dunno why they made such a big deal about the physics when they're awful. Water is like jelly. Worms feel like they're on the moon. Worms look terrible.

I miss the pinpoint precision and perfect physics from the Worms Armageddon / WWP era.

I feel the last few years more than ever they've really started to dilute the brand and move away from what people loved about Worms. They're at the point where there is literally nowhere else to go with it.
 

Skilotonn

xbot xbot xbot xbot xbot
You can also play Happy Wars already, regardless of dashboard status. Just have someone who has it invite you and you can download it. You even get the early access freebie of 45 free tickets.

That is pretty cool - I just did the same with a friend just now as well!

If I come back here and people need invites just post it here.
 
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