#NerdsUnite: Violent Gamer Review (Spelunky)
<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Sean. He has a really rad site called Violent Gamer, and he's here today to talk about some of the latest and greatest in the gaming industry. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT SEAN !!</editorsnote>
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @violent_gamer
There are so many ways to die in Spelunky and as frustrating at it is, it is so very fun. I've earned fifty deaths in the XBLA version of this rogue-like platformer and I still love it. If you are a PC Gamer you may have played the free PC version at some point or another, which can now be played in your browser, and the developers are still updating that. Derek Yu is still the main developer, but he also has two other people working with him on the game. The Xbox Live Arcade version does have a bit different than the PC version and let me spend a paragraph explaining some of those differences, but before I go into that, a quick explanation for those who don't know of Spelunky.
Spelunky is a game that harnesses the idea of being Indiana Jones and exploring a dangerous treasure filled world of snakes, spiders, skeletons, hornets, frogs, snowmen and so much more. You start in the mines and you make your way further and further down, eventually reaching the jungle, then the ice caverns, then the temple. Each time you enter a level it is randomly generated so every time you go through an area it feels unique. When you die, which is very easy to do and you will die a lot, you start over from the beginning with nothing other than four bombs and four ropes, which you always start with. Each time you enter a new section, like the jungle or ice caverns, there is a man who approaches you and asks for some supplies. If you give him enough supplies you can unlock shortcuts to each area, but the supplies get harder to obtain as you get farther down and you can only give him one thing per playthrough, so you can't instantly unlock a shortcut even if you have tons of money, bombs, ropes and whatever else. It is a very hard game, but the challenge is immensely enjoyable in the same way that people enjoy games like Dark Souls or Dwarf Fortress.
When I first started playing Spelunky on XBLA I thought that multiplayer was online and local, but I was disappointed to learn that it is only local. Local multiplayer is plenty of fun, but it is pretty restrictive, especially in adventure mode. There is a deathmatch mode, but it isn't too exciting without at least two other people and adventure mode feels like the main attraction of multiplayer. In adventure mode you can play with three other players and the screen is focused just on the first player, so if you accidently lose other players then you only have a short period of time to find them or they will die. However, death isn't a huge deal in multiplayer.You can find coffins, like the ones in singleplayer, but these coffins will bring back other players and while they are dead they act as ghosts. As ghosts you can set off traps, move objects, disturb enemies and just generally mess with the environment. Multiplayer is pretty good, even without split screen, but it would be even more enjoyable if you could play with friends over Xbox Live.
If you want to check out Spelunky in action and even with Derek Yu, the main developer, then take a look at this video by Rev3Games. It is lovely and it appropriately expresses my own frustration at the games difficulty, but I wouldn't dare make it easier. The video is fairly long, 18 minutes, but skip to six minutes in it if you want to just see the XBLA version being played by Derek.
Last Comments
Spelunky is awesome, that is all. If you like platformers you really need to give it a try and it does have a demo like all XBLA games. If you happen to like platformers and rogue-like games that have permadeath, then Spelunky is especially for you and you should be able to love it so much that it might just justify the outrageous cost of Xbox Live. If you don't have a Xbox 360, do try the free PC version. Sure it isn't as pretty, but it is still impressive and possibly even more challenging due to the controls. Spelunky costs $15 on XBLA and it is one of my favorite games of the year so far. Thanks for checking it out and reading.
Main Website: http://spelunkyworld.com/
Violent Score: 4.5 (out of 5)
If multiplayer was a little bit better, and online instead of local only, then this would have been a perfect score.
-Written by Sean Cargle