My initial assessment of Super Meat Boy (now available on Steam for PC) is that it's everything that it was hyped up to be when it was originally released for XBLA.  Its challenge level runs from moderate to punishing, but the trials seem to be entirely fair and ultimately beatable.  The game has a similarly brutal, if somewhat cutesy, sense of humor.  The main antagonist is a fetus in a top-hatted mech-suit, and the first world features lots of furry cartoon-critters getting gleefully ground to bits by the sawblade landscape.  The gameplay recalls the rich history of demanding platformers that preceded it, and the game has lots of 8-bit nostalgia moments, from the music selection, to a curtained character select screen, to actual 8- and 4-bit animations.  It also has a variety of guest-stars from other indie games, including ones that are PC exclusive.  Last but not least, SMB probably has more than enough content for most players, with around 300 levels, "A+" challenges, a dark world, glitch levels, and an editor on the way.  There's also leader boards, and the ability to save your "replays."

Definitely not a game for vegetarians. From Edmund McMillen.

The unlockable characters that are exclusive to PC are Captain Viridian (VVVVVV), Goo Ball (World of Goo), Headcrab (Half-Life; exclusive to Steam), Josef (Machinarium), Naija (Aquaria), RunMan (RunMan: Race Around the World), and Steve ("Mr. Minecraft").  The Goo Ball is only unlockable on Steam versions via a cheat code; it is included with non-Steam versions of SMB.  Unfortunately, on the PC there is no Gish (as I mistakenly said in the video), and five other characters are missing, as these are exclusive to XBLA.  I'm hopeful they will eventually be released on all versions, although no statement has been made regarding this, and there is no reason to suspect exclusives won't remain exclusive.

One glaring omission that I noticed right away when starting SMB is that it is not possible to change the layout of the controls.  It seems that Team Meat is very convinced that the Xbox 360 gamepad is the way to go, because there is currently no support for editing the keyboard layout.  I gave keyboard play a test, and my initial assessment is that, yes, it is harder to play with the keyboard, but I think this is in part due to a poor layout.  The player is forced to use the arrow keys for direction, shift for running, and space for jumping.  If I were able to bind the directions to WASD or similar, I think this would probably make keyboard play easier.  I don't know what the developers were thinking with this decision, but it seems that they left out a basic feature that should've been there.  Perhaps this was an oversight in porting it to PC.  It does not seem that they intended to pressure players to use the gamepad, as they've stated that the lack of support for other controls and remapping is a bug that will be fixed soon.

Captain Viridian is also in the cast, which leads to the question of which is harder: SMB or VVVVVV?

This is really a game for people that not only enjoy intense, high-speed challenge, but who are also "completionists" that enjoy unlocking everything in the game and collecting every single secret available.  There is even more to do in this area on the PC version, including some exclusive Steam achievements that were deemed too hard for the Xbox 360.  Which is strange, considering that this game seems to be designed to be best enjoyed with the Xbox 360 controller.  Here is the full list of 33 Steam achievements; compare these to the 12 available on Xbox 360.  Completing all of the achievements is probably going to provide many hours of arduous entertainment for most players.  Although the ability to edit levels has not been released yet and cannot be properly judged, it sounds like it offers the promise of much more to come, as players will probably compete to make (and beat) their own most challenging levels.  We won't know until its release, which is currently scheduled for January 2011.

After this short, initial look at the game, I have to say that it appears to be a fantastic deal for those who are searching for a good test of their platforming abilities on the PC.  If you think you have the patience to learn and master the strange world of Super Meat Boy, then you'll probably find the challenge to be rewarding.  The only feature that is missing from it is better keyboard support, something that should have come first on any PC title.  Although there is no statement of what will be included in it, a patch is already on the way, so perhaps better keyboard support is planned.  Team Meat is aware that remapping isn't currently available, and working on it.  Other than this, I have to say that Super Meat Boy is well designed.  This game delivers the very trying but highly entertaining gameplay that was promised, along with a good dose of bloody humor.

I'm curious to see how the aquatic Naija works out in the world of SMB.

If you're curious about Aquaria and Gish, take a look at my first impressions.  An article on VVVVVV is coming soon.

Update 12/1/10: Some visitors have been wondering what the cheat code for unlocking the Goo Ball (from World of Goo) is.  I haven't been able to find an answer, either.  All that I've found is this Steam forum discussion wherein someone states that the code hasn't been announced yet.  Meaning, it's still up to players to figure it out.  If you happen to know, please drop me a line at charlaxy@gmail.com.  I'll give credit on this blog to anyone who finds it and notifies me.  Have fun!

Rhythm Zone (developed by Sonic Boom, available on Steam for PC) is very straightforward rhythm-action game.  I jokingly called it "Keyboard Hero," though I didn't mean this in a derogatory way.  The gameplay consists of pressing keys along to music, trying to hit combinations of four "notes" that move by on a scrolling track.  It sounds simple, but it really does give your keyboard a workout.  I was initially skeptical about whether I would enjoy another game that simply has you pressing buttons in time to music; I'm not a big fan of the many similar titles that are available for consoles.  However, the notable thing that sets this PC game apart from the console games is the ability to import almost any music from your own library, and turn it into playable tracks.  Being able to play along to music that I enjoy is what really made this game surprisingly fun.

Rhythm Zone comes with a small library of music from artists that you probably don't know.  There is at least one track each in a wide variety of genres, from electronic to hip hop to surf.  You can compete for the high-scores on these tracks in a global leader board, and also compete against your friends, even challenging them to beat your score.  There's also a weekly tournament; information on it is available on the game's homepage.  There are four difficulty levels that range from easy, which has relatively few notes, to expert, which is heavy on the multiple-note "chords."  This provides some opportunities to show off your key-pressing skills.  Rhythm Zone also takes advantage of the PC platform to provide the ability to choose which device you play the game with.  You can use anything with buttons that the game will recognize, including the Xbox 360 guitar and controller (although this latter choice was disappointing, as the analog triggers, joysticks, and d-pad are not recognized).  After a lot of experimentation, I really would advise using two hands on the keyboard, as Rhythm Zone's own tips recommend.

Medusa commands you to play!

All of this is good, but the most enjoyable feature of Rhythm Zone is the ability to import your own MP3s and have the game automatically generate new tracks for you to play.  This guarantees that, unlike some rhythm-action games, you'll never run out of tracks that you want to beat.  There's no better alternative than being able to play along to music that you know you love.

The secret to giving a game near-infinite replayability is to allow the player to bring their own content to the game, through custom level design, modding, or similar features.  With the continuous opportunity to add fresh content, the lifetime of the game is greatly extended.  The only restriction is how engaging or repetitive the gameplay is.  How much variability it brings to the mix will determine whether players stay interested.  Rhythm Zone has the advantage of allowing a player to import new music, so the amount of content is unlimited.  Global leader boards and the ability to challenge friends also gives an incentive to keep playing and master your favorite tracks.

The only limitation of Rhythm Zone's gameplay is that, although its varying difficulties can make it as arduous and energetic as you want it to be, it is still repetitious.  This invites you to treat it like an actual performance art and practice until you become the best.  However, once you've gotten the high-score on a song, there's really not anything else to do except repeat the same thing on a new track.  Of course, all games of this type have similar repetition, so I would not discount Rhythm Zone for that.  In comparison to others of its genre, it holds up well, because there is no limit to the number of new tracks you can import.  However, the first day that you play any game of this type will probably be the same as the last.  This game does have a lot of replayability, but repetition is inevitable.

Rhythm Zone isn't an entirely original concept, but it fills a niche, and it does what it does very well.  It worked almost flawlessly for me (which is more than I can say for similar games that came with it in Steam's Indie Pulse Pack).  However, be advised that other players have reported problems with song importation.  Although it does not always do a perfect job of rendering complex tracks into four notes, it did a satisfactory job overall of translating the rhythms and turning imported music into enjoyable and challenging gameplay.  If you want to tap keys along to your favorite songs, Rhythm Zone is probably the game for you.  It might be "Keyboard Hero," but the song importation feature means that it has more to offer than its plastic-guitar counterpart.  For that reason, I'd prefer it any day.

In case you're curious, here's the listing of tracks I played in the gameplay video, in order:
Artist Unknown - Masheen
Feathered - Our Dust
Cypher Tales - Move Your Soul
SynthR- Magickal Chord
-- Coral Shore
-- Strafing Run (SynthR Reconstruction)
-- The Quest

Yes, another day of Steam sales, with even more deals for Cyber Monday.

Gift packs:
Aliens vs Predator (6 copies), $29.99 ($4.99 each, 74% off)
Lead and Gold: Gangs of the Wild West (10 copies), $19.99 ($1.99 each, 78% off)
Trine (8 copies), $19.99 ($2.49 each, 87% off!)
World of Goo (12 copies), $19.99 ($1.66 each, 79% off)

Individual copies:
Aliens vs. Predator, $6.80 (66% off)
Beat Hazard, $2.50 (75% off)
Colin McRae DiRT 2, $5 (75% off)
Mafia II, $37.49 (25% off)
Metro 2033, $10 (75% off)
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition, $2.50 (75% off)
Peggle Deluxe, $4.99 (50% off)
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, $2.50 (75% off)

Today's indie bundle:
Indie Air Pack (Altitude, DogFighter, Flotilla, Gratuitous Space Battles, and Plain Sight), $4.99 (92% off)

If you're interested in Lead and Gold or Trine, take a look at my reviews at those links.  They're both great games.  Lead and Gold has online multi-player, so it's an excellent choice for a gift pack to share with your Steam friends.

If you're unfamiliar with the games in the Indie Air Pack, take a look at my reviews of Altitude, DogFighter, and Plain Sight.  These are all online multi-player games that I highly recommend as well.

If you're looking for an individual copy of World of Goo, GamersGate has it for $2.49.  Amazon has Trine for  $6.45.

Having never dealt with GamersGate, I can't really recommend or not recommend them.  However, here is a list of sales from PC & Mac digital distributor GamersGate.  Since they have a mixture of games of varying quality, I'm highlighting deals that I recommend looking at or that are popular games.

Here's part two, with more deals from Amazon and BestBuy.

Amazon:
Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, $32.99 (34% off)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, $29.99 (50% off)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition, $14.99 (50% off)
Call of Duty: World at War, $14.99 (50% off)
Champions Online, $4.99 (50% off)
Create, $19.95 (33% off)
Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition, $34.95 (30% off)
Eve Online: Commisioned Officer Edition, $13.49 (33% off)
Fallout: New Vegas, $39.99 (20% off)
Final Fantasy XIV, $29.99 (40% off)
Grand Theft Auto IV, $13.99 (30% off)
Hank Haney's World of Golf, $19.96 (33% off)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, $19.95 (33% off)
Just Cause 2, $18.99 (37% off)
Legendary, $6.40 (listed at $8.99, link says $6.40)
Lego: Universe, $23.99 (40% off)
Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, $14.99 (50% off)
Medal of Honor, $39.99 (33% off)
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, $34.95 (30% off)
Neverwinter Nights 2 Gold, $14.99 (50% off)
Raven Squad: Hidden Danger, $9.99 (75% off) or $1.18 from GoGamer via Amazon.
Sniper: Ghost Warrior, $18.99 (37% off)
Star Trek Online, $4.99 (50% off)
Star Trek Online Collectors Edition, $8.99 (listed at $9.99, $8.99 here)
The Sims 3, $19.99 (56% off)
The Sims 3: Fast Lane Stuff, $14.99 (25% off)
The Sims 3: High End Loft Stuff, $14.00 (25% off)
The Sims 3 Late Night, $29.96 (25% off)
Transformers: War for Cybertron, $29.99 (25% off)
Trine, $6.45 (listed at $7.99, link says $6.47)
Two Worlds: Epic Edition, $5.99 (listed at $8.99, link says $5.99)
X-Blades, $8.64 (listed at $9.99, $8.64 at this link)

Also, if you purchase Call of Duty: Black Ops from Amazon, you can receive 100 bonus points.

These are all affiliate links.  If you decide to purchase one of these, doing so via these links helps support this blog.  It's interesting to note that some of the prices through the generated affiliate links are less than the price listed on the Cyber Monday page.

Note that Amazon has a better price on Borderlands: GOTY Edition than the previously posted deal at GameStop.

Amazon has ongoing lightning deals and deals on console games as well, so keep watching them if you're looking for something in particular.


BestBuy:
I want to preface this by saying that I cannot recommend ordering from BestBuy, ever, due to their history of canceling orders because of inventory errors.  But, if you want to chance it:

Guild Wars Trilogy, $14.99 ($25 off)
Star Trek Online, $4.99 ($5 off)
Champions Online, $4.99
Split/Second, $9.99 ($20 off)

I'm also continuing to watch Steam, D2D, and GOG, to see if any of them post sales today.

Now that Fallout: New Vegas has been patched and is on sale, this would probably be a great time to give it a try.

Continue on to part three here.

First, let me apologize for this post not being about Steam deals.  However, since I've started a trend within my own blog of writing on sales, I'll just continue with some other deals that may be of interest to PC gamers today. Also, I apologize for using cyber to reference the Internet, but the name "cyber" Monday has stuck, so it is unavoidable.

Now, GAMES:

GameStop, in addition to free value shipping on orders over $20, has deals on everything from consoles to accessories.  If you're looking for games in general, here's their main Cyber Monday page.

GameStop's PC game deals (all physical copies, all online only):

Bioshock 2 Limited Edition GameStop Exclusive, $19.99 ($40 off)
Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, $39.99 ($20 off)
Amazon has a better deal on this game, here: Borderlands Game of the Year Edition, $32.99
Civilization V, $39.99 ($10 off)
Mafia II, $29.99 ($10 off)
The Witcher Enhanced Edition, $14.99 ($5 off)

$10 GameStop gift card included with the purchase of these games:
Bee Movie, $19.99
Monsters vs Aliens, $19.99

Other software from GameStop:
Cakewalk Music Creator 5, $39.99 (nothing off)
Crayola Animation Studio, $9.99 ($10 off)


As of the time of this writing, Steam does not have a better price on these (of course, they don't have the Crayola studio titles).  If you're willing to wait, I would recommend checking Steam's sale later today before ordering these, just in case they decide to be competitive.

Digital PC/Mac game distributor Direct 2 Drive isn't currently having a pre-holiday sale to compete directly with Steam's weekend-long sale, although they do guarantee matching the lowest price on games from certain online retailers, including Steampowered.com.  However, it is advisable to closely read their agreement before attempting to take them up on this offer, as it appears to exclude sales, promotions, coupons, and bundles, and is only applicable for a limited time on games that have already been purchased.  The "price matching" is done by giving the purchaser a store credit, so it is not the same as directly matching one of Steam's sales.

So, although there aren't any special sales just for this weekend, D2D is having a couple of giveaways that last now through December 31st, 2010, explained on their D2D Gives Back 2010 page.  First, they're having a tweet and win give away.  Follow the link to tweet a prewritten message with a #D2DGivesBack hashtag, and you'll be entered for a daily drawing of $50 in store credit.  This is simple enough and comes at no cost to the entrant.

D2D is also having a "1-in-5 orders is free" promotion.  To participate in this, you must order something with a credit card.  After your purchase has been completed, you will be notified of whether or not your order was chosen to be free.  This is the part of their giveaway that, while it is good for their regular customers who were already planning to buy, strikes one as being a gimmick to drum up sales.  They are giving back, but they are only giving back to customers.  Most giveaways do not require a purchase up front.  In fact, I would not call this a giveaway at all; it is more like purchasing a chance to win back the price of your purchase, and one may only win once per day.  Although it is better than nothing, it's not a giveaway, and it's not a very generous promotion.  It may encourage many people to buy something simply so that they can gamble on the chance of winning, and some will come away disappointed.

If you were already planning to purchase from D2D, now might be a good time to do it (if the game is not on sale elsewhere), as your purchase includes what is effectively a raffle ticket for a 1-in-5 chance to not be charged for your order.  Certainly, it costs you nothing to participate in their Twitter giveaway, so the promotion page is worth taking a look at for that.

Here are the deals for day five.

Gift packs:

Osmos (12 copies), $19.99 ($1.65 each, 81% off!)
Mount & Blade: Warband (6 copies), $34.99 ($5.83 each, 75% off!)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction (6 copies), $89.99 ($14.99 each, 50% off)
Just Cause 2 (8 copies), $59.99 ($7.49 each, 75% off!)

Individual games:

BIT.TRIP BEAT, $4.99 (50% off)

The evil nemesis uses a Mac?! Steam really knows its audience.

Here are the items for day four of Steam's Give & Get sale!  Don't forget that Valve is still having a sale in their merchandise store as well.

Gift packs:
Counter-Strike: Source (6 copies), $24.99 ($4.17 each, 79% off)
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (6 copies), $44.99 ($7.49 each, 75% off)
NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits (10 copies), $14.99 ($1.50 each, 85% off)
Red Faction Guerilla (8 copies), $39.99 ($5 each, 75% off)


Individual copies:
Indie Pulse Pack (Audio Surf, Beat Hazard, BIT.TRIP BEAT, Rhythm Zone, The Polynomial - Space of the music), $4.99 (90% off!)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, $14.99 (50% off)
Galcon Fusion (part of the Indie Energy Pack from day one), $2.50 (75% off!)
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, $10.20 (66% off)
King's Bounty: Platinum Edition, $8.75 (75% off!)
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, $7.49 (50% off)
Left 4 Dead 2, $5.00 (75% off!)
Supreme Commander 2, $3.75 (75% off!)
Wings of Prey, $14.99 (50% off)

And if you miss these deals or don't see anything that you're interested in, don't forget that Steam also has 300 games for under $5 and over 800 games for under $10 every day.

Happy Black Friday!

Here are Steam's deals for day three of their pre-holiday sale.  A list that allegedly contains everything that will be featured during this five day sale has been leaked, although it does not say which day these sales will occur.  This list does not include individual game deals, just indie packs and gift packs. Keep in mind that this is not an official list, and it may be inaccurate or it may change.  However, if it is correct, then you can plan to watch for these deals.

A neat thing that Steam is doing is keeping a list of all the "wishes fulfilled" so far in their daily giveaway.  If you need some ideas for games to put on your wishlist or to give as gifts, this is a great way to see the games that most people are wishing for.

One more thing that many people may not be aware of: Valve's merchandise store is also having a Black Friday sale.  If you want some t-shirts, Team Fortress 2 holiday cards ($5), or some other Steam-gaming related gift, give it a look.  Some items are 75% off, including Portal t-shirts that are $5 each, and a Half-Life 2 hat that is $2 (90% off).

Here are day three's sales!

First, the massive gift pack deals:

Freedom Force (10 copies), $7.49 ($0.75 each!)
Empire: Total War (6 copies), $59.99 ($10 each)
Portal (6 copies), $14.99 ($2.50 each!)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Chaos Rising (8 copies), $39.99 ($5 each)

Deals on individual copies:
ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead, $19.99 (50% off)
Blur, $14.99 (50% off)
Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box, $14.99 (50% off)
Empire: Total War, $14.99 (50% off)
Indie Clever Pack (Doc Clock: The Toasted Sandwich of Time, Eufloria, Iron Grip: Warlord, VVVVVV, and World of Goo), $4.99 (91% off!)
Machinarium, $5 (75% off!)
Torchlight, $5 (75% off!)
Tropico 3 Gold Edition, $7.50 (75% off!)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II Gold Edition, $13.60 (66% off)

The deal of the day that I recommend, full of truly clever games.

Looks like I have a lot of reviewing work to do.  Enjoy the sales!

Now through Monday, November 29th, Steam is having a special sale and giveaway.

First, the giveaway: every day through the 29th, 30 people will be picked to receive the top 5 items on their Steam wishlist, between the hours of 10 am - 1 pm PST.  Wishlists must have at least 10 items on them.  To organize your wishlist, log into Steam visit your wishlist in the community section, and drag and drop items.  If you haven't made and organized a Steam wishlist, go do so immediately.  Put the 5 items that you most want to receive at the top.

Now, for the sale, and the "giving" portion of this promotion.  Different gift packs are on sale each today.  Gift packs are bundles of several copies of one game, that can be gifted to anyone who doesn't already have the game.

Today's gift pack deals:

- Borderlands (6 copies), $39.99 ($6.67 each)
- Dues Ex (8 copies), $11.00 ($1.50 each)
- Half Life 2 (10 copies), $19.99 ($2.00 each)
- R.U.S.E. (6 copies), $149.99 ($25.00 each)

These deals will change daily.  Steam's daily sales last through 10 am PST.

Additionally, Steam is having their typical pre-holiday sale on individual copies of games (including single copies of the above games).  These can also be given as gifts.

Today's deals:

- Alpha Protocol, $7.50 (75% off)
- Borderlands, $9.99 (50% off)
- Counter-Strike: Source, $5.00 (75% off)
- Dues Ex Collection, $4.00 (75% off)
- Indie Energy Pack, $4.99 (90% off)
- Prototype, $14.99 (50% off)
- R.U.S.E., $33.49 (33% off)
- Sam & Max: The Devil's Playground, $10.50 (70% off)
- Shank, $10.04 (33% off)

Check Steam daily to see updates on new deals.  I'll try to keep readers posted on great PC/Mac game buys for this winter.  Happy hunting, and happy Thanksgiving!

Poker Night at the Inventory is Telltale Games' celebrity poker game for PC and Mac, featuring Max (of Sam & Max), Strong Bad, Penny Arcade's Tycho, and The Heavy from Team Fortress 2.  The player is put in a game of Texas Hold'em poker against these four characters, playing for virtual cash or one of four exclusive Team Fortress 2 items.  It's fourth-wall breaking, but it's done for a good cause, as this collection of characters actually makes for an amusing combination.

There's not much to be said for the gamplay: it's a poker game.  I'm not an expert on poker, but this game seems accurate and easy enough to play.  The goal is to win and unlock new items, including new tables and decks of cards.  The selling point of this game (aside from earning Team Fortress 2 items) is the entertainment value of the characters.  This is something that it delivers well on.  Throughout every game, your four opponents are bantering back and forth, not only doing commentary on the game, but also telling stories and reacting to each other.  I was impressed that Telltale was able to bring these characters together in an amusing way, and that they actually gave a lot of personality to The Heavy, making him the most humorous and expressive character.  I appreciated that the characters weren't just props from their respective franchises.

I wish I could credit someone for this great image, but it's literally all over the Internet.

Although not all of the dialogue was top-notch humor, there were enough funny anecdotes to keep everything entertaining.  And if you tire of the chatter and just want a straight poker game, you also have the ability to tone it down.  Speech frequency can be set at anything from "mum's the word" to "the gift of gab."  The AI of the opponents functions well and makes games challenging.  Perhaps this is just an illusion, but it seems that each character's unique personality may have some bearing on how they choose to play the game.  Some are more cautious, some more reckless.  It keeps Poker Night more interesting than I imagine most poker games would be.

[Edit:] The only flaw (if you want to call it such) to be found in this game is that there is no multi-player and no leader board.  Of course, it's Telltale's celebrity poker, so the focus of the game is on playing against the characters. Still, it would've been interesting if they added a multi-player option with the ability to make avatars so you could also have a poker night with your friends.  This game would be a great platform for that, and it would certainly add to its replayability for cardsharks that have exhausted the single-player mode.  Also, I've yet to find a way to cheat in the game.  I know that some gamers were hoping that, with such a colorful mix of characters, there might be some shady or violent activity.  So far, there's no evidence that this is available.  Again, I'm not sure that this is a flaw or a lack; a fair card game isn't a flaw.  It's just something that some fans were hoping for.

Ultimately, the best thing I can say about Poker Night at the Inventory is that it made me -- someone who hasn't played a card game in years -- want to learn poker just so that I could play.  And not just for the Team Fortress 2 items, either.  Of course, poker isn't that difficult, but I still think it's a complement to this game that it was entertaining enough to make me interested in a card game that I previously had no desire to play.  That level of entertainment is what makes this game stand out from others like it.  After playing it for several hours, I'm still enjoying it, and still hearing new dialogue from the characters, with very little annoying repetition.

If you have any interest in poker at all, or if you're a fan of Telltale Games or TF2, this is a game that I can definitely recommend -- especially for the $5 price.  It sure beats all of the similarly-priced shovelware poker games that you'd find anywhere else.  Try the demo, buy it from Telltale's page or Steam, and go get some TF2 stuff.

P.S.: Happy Thanksgiving to those who are celebrating, and happy Thursday to everyone else!

I've already reviewed Zombie Driver itself (available for PC on Steam), so this will only be a short addendum to cover what's new in the Blood Race expansion pack.  For the Zombie Driver review, including a video showing both the Story and Slaughter modes, check out the second part of the Halloween Weekend Double Feature.

Blood Race, the free expansion pack for Zombie Driver, makes this budget zombie killing title an even more attractive deal.  Now, instead of killing zombies alone, you can can do so as part of a race against other zombie-driving bots.  Although it is disappointing that there isn't a multi-player option, Blood Race is still challenging with well-functioning AI, leader boards, and five different tournaments of increasing difficulty.  With updated physics, you can now flip your vehicle!  There's also a new muscle car, and unlockable car paint.  Altogether, it's a relatively large free update that adds a new dimension of fun to an already likable vehicle combat game.

Limousine vs. school bus: who will win?

In addition to a standard race, Blood Race introduces Eliminator and Endurance modes.  As the name implies, you must kill your opponents while clearing checkpoints in Eliminator.  Endurance is an interesting take on a traditional check-point race: your vehicle contains a bomb that will explode if you don't clear the check-points in time.  (Just call it the Speed mode.)

Like the other modes in Zombie Driver, you earn money for killing zombies and creating destruction, which can then be used to purchase additional cars and upgrades.  In addition to the muscle car, any cars that you unlocked in story mode are available for racing.  So, you can race everything from an ambulance to a school bus, if you so desire.  Each car has different levels of speed and ramming effectiveness.  The variety of weapon pick-ups available in the story and slaughter modes are also available in Blood Race, giving you a large arsenal for taking out other racers.  Blood Race doesn't add any back-story to the world of Zombie Driver, but who really needs to know where the zombies came from as long as you're having fun driving over them and winning races while you do it?

Although you can't race your friends, you can at least pretend that you're killing zombies driving cars.  So, if you enjoy running over zombies, destroying the landscape, blowing up cars, and racing against AI, then you'll probably enjoy Blood Race.  If you haven't tried Zombie Driver before, now might be the time.

It's always a shame to see something that had potential to be more than it is, but that was abandoned too early because its developers didn't have faith in it.  Still, these abandoned projects can often have some worth.  Although developer Nimblebit ceased to support and promote it just months after its release, Zero Gear is still above average among kart racing games.  And because there are relatively few of those available for PC (on Steam), it's worth checking out if you're looking to have some light-hearted fun making a wacky avatar, and then playing a game of go-kart hockey with your friends.

In reviewing this game, I kept returning to one question: "How does this compare to other kart racing games?"  I can't recall having ever played another one on the PC, so my main point of comparison will be Super Mario Kart, the quintessential one that most people remember fondly.  It's also the last kart racing game that I played seriously.  So, how does Zero Gear compare?  While it lacks some basic features that one might expect from a kart racing game, it might make up for these deficits in the amount of gameplay modes and avatar mods that it has.

First, the things that Zero Gear didn't have, and probably should have.  What I most prominently noticed was the complete lack of any kind of tournament mode.  This was the thing that made Super Mario Kart enjoyable for even a lone player.  And with how dead the multi-player of Zero Gear is (aside from some bots), a robust single-player mode would have been a nice addition.  There also isn't an option to adjust the difficulty of the bots, so once you learn each of the maps, you're not going to have any problem consistently beating them.  The bots are adequate, but I witnessed them becoming confused and driving into walls more than once.  Zero Gear also lacks the braking and sliding that players have come to expect from other kart games, although there is drafting.  Also, there isn't any kind of overview of the racing circuits.

What Zero Gear does have is a large array of varied maps and modes.  In addition to traditional kart races, players can choose to play tag, football, soccer, hockey, and basketball, all done with their karts.  There's also a skatepark, where doing tricks with your kart earns you points, and skiball and pachinko maps, in which you have to launch your kart into targets to win.  There are several arena maps for tag, and there's also a "sumo" arena where the goal is to punch other drivers off of a shrinking platform.  Like one would expect, there is a range of weapons pick-ups that one can aim and fire at others, including boxing gloves, mines, tornadoes, repulser fields, and exploding robots.  As for racing, map choices include a water park (complete with slide and giant rubber duck), a snowy ski resort (not complete with ice physics), a Western ghost town, a giant billiards table, a space station, and some traditional racing circuits.

Sir Brain Sluggington, driving Sprinkles, the donut tank.

Another area where this game shines is the ability to make unique drivers and karts from a large array of choices: 16 karts, 19 wheels, 12 drivers, 16 accessories, and 38 hats.  And the colors of each of these can be changed.  This guarantees that the avatar that you design will probably be completely unique, and it allows you a degree of creativity that most kart racing games don't have.  However, kart and driver differences are purely cosmetic, meaning that it's not possible to choose karts with different speeds or abilities, and you can't supe up your kart with new accessories.  So, the advantages that Zero Gear has in this area are purely superficial.  One more fun thing: there's also an "Indieness" slider that allows you to give your game more or less pixelation.

The karts control adequately.  The three control options are keyboard, keyboard and mouse, or Xbox 360 gamepad.  After comparing all of these, I can't recommend a particular one as being the absolute best.  The gamepad has the strength of having analog controls, meaning that their intensity is touch-sensitive.  I can press the joystick farther to turn harder, and push the trigger more or less lightly to accelerate accordingly.  This makes the controller great for racing.  However, aiming weapons with it seems to be glitched.  I could not aim with either the joystick or the d-pad.  For this reason, I have to recommend using the keyboard and mouse for games where aiming weapons would be important, such as tag, hockey, etc.  This is a serious flaw that will probably never be fixed.  The good news is that, should you choose to use the keyboard and mouse only, you should have no problem winning matches.  Although the analog controls of the gamepad are a little nicer, they aren't necessary to enjoy the game.

There are many things that the developer could've done to keep interest in this game alive.  They could continually update the game with free kart/avatar accessories that can be unlocked.  They could have leader boards.  They could have an official server, where players can always find a game going.  They could offer an official map editor on their website.  (Apparently, a map editor of some type may exist, but links to it are dead.)  Choosing to drop support of the game entirely is a little baffling.  Again, it's another multi-player game that is dying due to a lack of players, and it is sad.  As of the time of writing this review, the only way to have enough drivers to make a match interesting is to add several bots.  Lastly, they could try lowering the price, as they are currently charging $20 for a game that is unlikely to see any fixes or additions.

In summary, all I can really say about Zero Gear is: it's a shame.  It's got the foundation of a good, solid kart-racing game, but because it has basically been abandoned, it won't get the polish that it needs to be the truly great game that it potentially could have been.  However, it's still fun for what it is: a PC kart-racing game that's a little glitchy.  If any of the modes that are unique to this game appeal to you, then you might enjoy it, regardless of its flaws.  However, the $20 price tag seems steep for what this game is.  Our rating: 2,217,984 unique, wacky racers.