#GamerNews: The Humble Indie Bundle V
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#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @violent_gamer
I used to be able to cover the majority of the indie bundles for PC or Mac, but nowadays there are just so many bundles like the IndieRoyale Bundle, which just released a new one, or the Indie Gala Bundle, but yesterday The Humble Bundle came out with a truly impressive offering. Their new bundle has already made over 1.3 million dollars and sold over 180,000 bundles. All of this is result of the stellar games included in this bundle that is made up of: Bastion, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Psychonauts, Limbo and Superbrothers : Sword & Sworcery EP. Bastion is the game that you only get if you pay more than the average of $7.42 (at the time of this post), but the rest are included no matter how much you pay. I do believe this is the first indie bundle, of any kind, that is full of excellent and popular games. As always The Humble Bundle lets you pay what you want and choose where your money is distributed. So if you wish to give all of your money to The Childs Play Charity then you may easily do so. If you wish head on over there right now, but if you want to hear a little about each game keep on reading.
Amnesia: The Dark Descent by Frictional Games
I always thought that survival horror games were kind of gimmicky and not designed for those who aren't easily scared, but Amnesia: The Dark Descent has shown me that the genre still has a lot to offer. Amnesia is a survival horror that contains zero combat and focuses on puzzles, story and evading terrifying monsters. The puzzles are varied and just difficult enough. The story is actually interesting even though it starts off with the amnesia cliche, but as it goes on it turns out to be dark, mysterious and mystical. Frictional Games is currently working on a new game of the same genre, but Amnesia is still a fantastic game and one that you can recommend to all types of gamers. If only Amnesia were in the bundle it would still be worth it just for that. Check out this trailer and see how it great it looks in action.
LIMBO by Playdead
Limbo, like Amnesia, is a dark game in both the literal sense and contextually. It is a side scrolling platformer, similar to Braid, with plenty of puzzles and a distressingly dark artistic style. You take control of a small boy, or man, as you travel through this dark world. There are simple puzzles that merely require you to move an object in order to get past a crevasse and then very complicated puzzles that require you to say...get past a giant spider that will murder you if you pass under it. This game, like one or two other games on this list, originally came out on Xbox Live first and was later ported to PC. Limbo is really short and doesn't have all that much replay value, but it is a really enjoyable and challenging adventure.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP by Superbrothers Inc.
Sword & Sworcery EP originally came out the iPhone/iPad and only recently came to PC & Mac. It is another adventure game that requires you to solve puzzles, but unlike Limbo it has no platforming and has a more open world structure. There is a forest to explore, caves, a separate mystical world and much more. The gameplay is very unique and everything about the game has musical inclinations, which explains the EP part of the title. It is an artistic game and the gameplay definitely doesn't resonate with everyone, but the people who like it tend to absolutely love it. I can't recommend it to everyone, but since it's part of the bundle I do hope that if you purchase the bundle you try it for a while at least. Check out this four minute chunk of gameplay.
Psychonauts by Double Fine/Tim Schaffer
This is the one game that I haven't played, but back when the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter was taking place I heard about it plenty. Psychonauts presents a quirky story full of interesting characters. Gameplay wise it is mostly an adventure platformer, like Banjo Kazooie or Mario. It never sold all that well, but it earned a bit of a cult following and was critically acclaimed when it came out in 2005 on PS2, Xbox and PC. It is singleplayer only, like all of these games, and recently just came out with updated versions for PC, Linux and Mac. Take a look at this trailer to get an idea of what kind of game this is.
Bastion by Supergiant Games
This is another adventure game, but a different sort than all the rest. Bastion is plays more like an action adventure game and it has quite a bit of replayability.Nearly a year ago Bastion came out for XBLA and it was loved by many due to it's great art style, interesting story and enjoyable combat system. Later on in the year they ported the game to PC and brought in some new additions, like a portal gun. We reviewed the game back in July and there is a lot to say about it if you would like to hear more about it. Bastion has two ending, many weapons to unlock, many challenges to conquer and a fantastic narrator. Trailer!
This is truly a special Humble Bundle. It is full of excellent indie games, each of which is worth far more than the average price of this bundle. If you don't own any, or all, of these games then check it out. I have one last trailer for you all and it is the official Humble Bundle V trailer. It is fantastic, narrated by a famous narrator from one of these games and I demand you watch it. As always, thanks for reading and if you want to check out some more gaming news head on over to Violent Gamer.
Main Website: http://www.humblebundle.com/#contribute%Pay%whatever%you%want
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