NEW YORK, July 28 — A selection of recent free to mid-price games for the relaxing holidaymaker, whether traveling or at home. Today, competitive co-operative action game “BattleBlock Theater.”
BattleBlock Theater
Platforms: PC, Linux, Xbox 360
Aggregate ratings: Metacritic - 85, GameRankings - 85, ReviewTrax - Excellent, Allgame - 3.5/10
Looking for a crazy team game or just an unhinged single-player story? Action title “BattleBlock Theater” provides the pair.
The colorful 2D platform game hurls players and their customisable characters through a series of ever more dangerous gauntlets in a bid to free the mind-controlled Hatty Hattington from an island of maniacal cats.
Conceptually, the game is modeled after low-budget stickpuppet theatre, though appearances can be deceiving: developer The Behemoth is one of indie gaming’s most successfull outfits, after “Castle Crashers” and “Alien Hominid,” and lavished four years of studio time upon “BattleBlock” before release.
Armed with a tight double-jump, a growing selection of silly heads, and a willingness to punch, throw, and slide their way to victory through stages filled with seas, saws, ice blocks and slime, players can either go it alone or team up with someone else as they hurtle towards each stage’s exit.
But multiplayer adds another devious dimension — it’s just as possible to dump a friend in a lava pit as it is to propel them towards a shared goal. That’s the delicate balance of trust and temptation that leads to hijinks aplenty, the hilarity of a mad scramble predicated on split-second misunderstandings; and then there are the mad competitive multiplayer modes for up to four participants.
When weapons are finally downed, players can indulge their creative sides, constructing their own levels and sharing them with the rest of the community, and building playlists to bundle favorite stages together.
For PC and Linux, the Co-Op Chaos Pack offers two copies for the price of one and a half, while until July 31, it’s free to download and keep forever for Xbox Gold subscribers. — AFP-Relaxnews
