ROGUE STACHE
HIGH NOON
REVOLVER
ROBIN WILDE
STACHE, SHOOT, DIE, REPEAT
ROBIN WILDE
T
he Roguelike is the
quieter cousin of the
adventure game, to the
extent that both have
risen again after their
heyday in the Nineties.
Rogue Stache is a
frustrating but well-built
side-scrolling shooter
with strong platforming
elements that tests your
reactions to their limits.
Dropped into a procedurally generated
world, your task is to
blast your way through
a variety of foes, including a lot of flying
eyeballs, in an attempt
to get as far as you
can.
Progress in the game
earns you unlocks like
new weapons, moustaches and outfits that
make it a little easier to
I
progress, and there's a
lot of satisfaction to be
had in finally getting
hold of your first upgrade.
The difficulty is high,
and those without
twitchy reflexes might
struggle to get into
Rogue Stache, but if
you enjoyed the likes
of Super Meat Boy, this
might be one for you.
6
THE PUPPET MASTER
ROBIN WILDE
KEEP YOUR FRIENDS CLOSE, YOUR LOVERS CLOSER
T
he Puppet Master
will be familiar to
players of the brilliant
puzzler The Swapper.
Both games involve
swapping
between
clones of the player
character in otder to
traverse 2D levels and
get around obstacles.
The main differences are in presentation
- The Puppet Master
uses a hand-painted
and grim aesthetic,
a genuinely creepy
soundtrack and a limited colour palette.
The puzzles ramp
up in difficulty rapidly,
and will often require a
couple of goes through
to get right - though
this isn't a bad thing for
seasoned players.
It could use a little
visual polish, though,
and its controls are on
the strange side - using
arrow keys for move-
ment is very 1996 - so
it loses marks just for
some awkwardness.
Get past these,
though, and this clever
little game will keep
you entertained for a
couple of hours.
5
t’s high noon! Upon
hearing those fateful
words, even grown
men will descend into
fits of uncontrollable
hysteria. For if you are
unfortunate enough to
catch but a mere syllable of this dreaded
phrase, the all-consuming darkness of death
will soon take you.
It’s almost a daily
occurrence for the terrified denizens of a certain popular multiplayer shooter, as well for
the barbaric bandits of
pixelated side-scrolling
action rougelike, High
Noon Revolver.
Now that might
sound like a veritable
smorgasbord of genre
classifications, yet High
Noon Revolver blends
them all together a
sublime piece of Wild
West action.
After picking from
one of three gun-slinging sheriffs - each of
whom possess a unique
playstyle and skillset
– you must blast your
way through waves of
devilish desperados all
in the name of justice.
The controls are as
slick as a snake oil
salesman, and the
shooting has to be seen
to be believed.
What makes High
Noon Revolver so special is that it features
three-tiered environments, adding an extra layer of strategy to
your bandit blasting
adventures.
Your character can
navigate
between
these multiple layers,
as can the bullets of
your enemies, and the
challenge of dealing
with this added dimension makes for a welcome addition.
It’s a shame then that
the game is so short at
present, with only one
level on offer at the
time writing.
However, the developer promises more in
the near future, and if
what I’ve seen already
is any indication, you
should all wait with
bated breath for any
incoming updates.
19