Way back in April of 2008 I made a post talking about some of the games I was most looking forward to in 2008. Later, in November, I made another post reflecting on that list, what I’d actually gotten to play, and what I my impressions. Right now is that time of year just before games start getting announced en masse; GDC is just a few weeks away, and E3 has been moved to June this year, up from July last year. There are some PC games that we’ve known about for a while now which will probably be coming out this year, so I think I’m ready to share my list for 2009 right now.
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Broken Sword II: The Smoking Mirror is a classic, point-and-click adventure game created by Revolution Software. As the 1997 sequel to the 1996 hit Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (Circle of Blood in the US), Broken Sword II is the last of the series’ four games that would use 2D sprites.

Broken Sword II tasks players with guiding the series’ main character, patent lawyer George Stobbart, through his adventures with his journalist girlfriend, Nico Collard. Though almost twelve years have passed since the game’s original release, Broken Sword II is still one of the finest adventure games available today. This is due in no small part to its outstanding voice work, scripting, and direction coupled with plenty of humor, mystery, and intrigue throughout the story. Player frustration and bewilderment is kept to a minimum by way of accessible and satisfying puzzles. There are a few brain teasers and situations where players will need to think and act quickly lest they end up on the business end of a gun, but there’s nothing as obtuse as duct-taping cell phones to cats or quicktime events.
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The latest Steam Weekend Sale for February 20th through the 22nd is debuting a new indie game bundle for just $9.99. Inside the pack are several games that have been featured here at Downloadable Suicide including Eets, Trials 2 and the recently expanded Gravitron 2. Also included in the package are I-Fluid and the multiplayer version of the award-winning RTS Darwinia, Multiwinia. After the sale, the bundle (if it still exists) will cost $44.95.

Chaos Theory is an independent casual game created by German developer blurredvision. The objective of each level in the game is to populate particle collectors with magnetically charged particles. Objects placed throughout each level, each with their own behavior and rules, will help get the particles to their destination. Ample dexterity, short term memory, and timing will be called upon to complete most of the later levels.

Tutorials which introduce new mechanics are peppered throughout Chaos Theory’s levels. This applied-learning helps difficulty ramp up at a pretty even pace through about the first third of the game, but a close relationship with the “retry” or “skip” button will quickly develop thereafter. While solving levels is rewarding in its own right, there are also Steam achievements and a level editor bundled for enthusiasts.
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For this weekend only, the DoSu-featured independent game Gish is on sale for $3.99 on Impulse, StarDock’s burgeoning competitor to Valve’s Steam service. Gish on Impulse usually costs $19.95 as opposed to Steam’s $9.99, which is why it isn’t linked in our database.

If you’ve never used the Impulse service before, it’s very similar to Steam. You can browse and purchase games as well as download demos either from their website or from within the Impulse client. Games you own show up within the client and can be downloaded there. One key difference from Steam is that the Impulse client does not need to be running in order to play your games; there isn’t even a background process for authentication. Pricing, game selection and community features leave a bit to be desired when compared to Steam, but it’s still a fine place to purchase games when the price is right.

To make some sense out of the second half of the title, I also wanted to bring up a relevant item from Edmund McMillen, creator of Gish. This is a Cry for Help is a CD collection of ten years worth of Edmund’s work as an independent artist. The CD includes 17 games (including Gish), 15 comics and a ton of extras including artwork and animations. While some games – such as Cunt – are flash games which can be played for free through a browser, I felt the collection was worth purchasing not only for the sake of convenience, but to support the creator as well. If you’re thinking of buying Gish anyway, I suggest getting this CD instead as Gish is included and it will only cost you $10 plus shipping.

An update for Gravitron 2 has just been released in the form of a 15 level map pack. These new levels can be accessed from the game’s main menu by cycling the “Map Pack” setting. Be advised that starting a game on the new map pack will overwrite your progress on the original map pack and you’ll have to start over.

Steam users will get this update pushed to them automatically. If you purchased Gravitron 2 directly from the developer’s site you’ll now find a patch available there.

I may have a problem. I’m noticing a trend in my gaming habits where I am being drawn to games that present seemingly impossible objectives and where guaranteed frustration is considered a feature. And I like it. I like it so much that I feel compelled to recommend these games here at DoSu. From Trials 2 and Trackmania to Love and Geometry Wars; I’m just glad that these games don’t come on discs or I may have destroyed them by now. This week’s cheap game is no different.

Created, developed and published by X-Out of Dark Castle Software, Gravitron 2 is a classically styled arcade shoot’em up where gravity and inertia are both your best friend and greatest foe.
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