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Swarm! Out Now for the PSN, XBLA!!! GET MOMMA'S POINTS!
JamesKeenan
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
What is Swarm?
Swarm is an action-platformer from the game creators at Hothead Games. In Swarm you take control of 50 utterly fearless Swarmites and drive them through an intense, entertaining and often suicidal battle of survival. Run, bash, huddle, boost, stack, jump, push and throw your way through gauntlets of death and destruction in an attempt to collect valuable DNA and ensure that at least one Swarmite survives. Swarm is coming soon to XBLA and PSN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRm7Ml8AdYQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YqFM_sADSA
Achievements are "Death Medals." Or even "Progressive Death Medals."
I got to play this at PAX East, and I played for literally hours. It is so much fun, and Joel, the publisher guy I talked to (person speaking in the video), was so earnestly excited about the game I couldn't help but love it. Hothead, btw, are responsible for Deathspank, as well as Penny Arcade Adventures. Joel told me, no lie, the game's AI was coded by a guy with a PhD in swarm AI. Or something to that effect. The game was amazingly fun.
It's coming out soon, March 22nd in the US.
JamesKeenan on
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Oh crap, didn't realize it was coming out so soon. Looks like I'll be putting that $20 card I got from Killzone 3 to good use soon 8-)
Between PAA, DeathSpank, and (from the look of it) Swarm, I think Hothead is quickly becoming one of my favorite developers.
Indie, too. I actually talked with Joel, (publisher) for around an hour learning secrets about this game, the company, their dealings with Sony Europe.
Everything he told me made it clear they're a smaller indie company that legitimately cares about the games they make. It was very exciting to be around that kind of love of gaming. We're so detached day to day from the developers of the games we play, it's easy to forget that they are gamers and fans, too.
Too bad fuck Hothead Games
I approve.
You just guide them from point A to B before they all die?
No, it's a combination of letting some die while getting specific amounts get through. Actually killing them is unavoidable at some points, but they also keep multipliers going, so you're always switching between protecting them and doing controlled killing.
INSTAGRAM
Oh, well now it sounds even more interesing
Also, I've noticed some Hothead hate. Why? Is it because PA ep3 got canned? I mean, DeathSpank wasn't that good, but it wasn't that bad either. And the PA games I thought were superb.
Straight-up intentionally lying to your customer base in order to get a quick sale is a shitty business practice and Hothead can fuck themselves with a sharp stick. I'll never buy from them again.
I don't want to disregard bad form, but I spent two days with Joel talking about just whatever. He's actualyl a very grounded guy. I believe afterward they apologized and said they were just really excited and over-enthusiastic. They probably did think they could get Ep. 3 made with enough sales to prove it viable. All Mike said was, "That's not actually true."
Keep in mind, PA Adventures was their first game. Cut some slack. And be honest with yourself, you know you've bought games from companies who have made more egregious errors in the past. Hothead is a self-startup and Swarm is a legitimately good game. It's just fun.
Back to Swarm, yes. Fun. I was there for hours. I watched group after group of friends come up, watch each other play. Shouting and laughing the whole time, and didn't leave until they all had a try or two. I was mostly there as long as I was to win the PS3, true. However, in all those 6-8 hours I was playing only level one, I was never bored. It's a good game. It's still just a time-trialed platfrmer at heart, but the clever ways you have to find to sacrifice Swarmites without sacrificing time. Also the clever ways you manipulate movement.
I don't want to feel like a shill or tool, but I'm earnest in how much I liked the game.
That's the trailer that was playing at PAX East. There were a couple others, that was one of my favorites. Going in the OP.
(The girl is actually Joel DeYoung's daughter.)
That's me, 11 seconds in! Red Jacket. The high score was mine!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2YEtRHS2mk
Specifically Sony Europe? Why? Any juicy stories?
Anyway, I wouldn't say they've become one of my favourite developers but they have become one that I recognise and will give their games a look which time they come up with something.
So yeah, while I didn't buy Deathspank 2 because I'd already had my fill of Deathspank, I've liked the look of this game for a while so I'll probably buy it when it eventually comes out here. So long as they price it well though. Won't buy if there's a bullshit price increase though. Sick of being ripped off.
As for Sony Europe, Joel said they weren't going public with the story, so I don't want to betray the details. It's not an amazingly juicy story. It's the reason the game is delayed a week on the PSN in Europe.
There was a silly specification they failed to meet, so they had to fix a completely inconsequential detail, and resubmit the whole game for review. Again.
That info is definitely for me, however. It's cool to have secrets.
Kind of not at all. Not if you've actually played either games.
It's a platformer. You control all 50 at once. Lemmings is a puzzle game where you play one at a time.
It's like lemmings in that it encourages you to sacrifice. But it's a completely different game otherwise. It's worse, imo, then saying Fallout 1 is like Fallout 3.
Anyhow, I have played the game an hour, and I have the high score in all three first levels. Someone beat me.
Gamertag Cantido.
Many Swarmites shall die.