Trailer for the game can be found here
Date: 28 March 2014
Time: 11:37 AM ET
Mood: Super antsy waiting for Metroid Other M to arrive via mail
"Rapid Review Saturday" is a series in the Daily Bloggity where I look at a video game, movie, or show and give some quick comments on them. Spoilers may be given. This is a weekly series and will appear every Saturday at 5PM ET.
The Humble Bundle: probably one of the most ingenious things that has come out of the idea gaming market in recent years. Essentially what it is it's a giant discount for the average gamer: you get a collection of games at a low very cost where almost all of it goes to charity, and the best part out of the whole thing is you get to set the price for it. So technically, you could buy four great games like Dead Space, Batman, Mirror's Edge, and Civilization III for only $1; you have to pay more than the average to get two bonus games, but even that at best would equate to like $6. Sometimes each weekly Humble Bundle will come with a theme, like an Indie's Week or all games will belong to a sepcific company, which makes it even more fun to see what's in store. So for today's Rapid Review, we're going to look at a game that I got from the Humble Bundle - and a pretty great one too - called
Sword of the Stars The Pit
Daily Video: "Bonfire Heart" by James Blunt
A strategy game made by Kerberos Productions,
Sword of the Stars The Pit is a turn based spin-off game from the normal series. Unlike it's predecessors in the series which are focused on deep space exploration,
The Pit is a rogue-like game that is characterized by the importance of scavenging and surviving. The goal of the game is quite simple: descend and survive through all thirty floors of this alien bunker to uncover an antidote for a virus that has almost entirely wiped out the human race. However, as simple as that may sound, the game is much more complex and convoluted than what meets the eye. As well as getting through each level, you must defeat a horde of aliens, craft swords and guns, cook your own supplies, hack terminals to gain entry into new areas, and ultimately avoid a gruesome death. Like most rogue-like games, each decision you make is crucial towards the next, as even the smallest mistake can cause perma-death. That's right, if you die once in this game,
you lose everything you've collected and must start all over again. But that's honestly just making it more dramatic than it needs to be.
The Pit will have you so immersed in the game that even if you do die, you'll want to jump right in again and beat your personal best.
Daily Comic: "In The Tall Grass" by Andy Kluthe and Andrew Bridgman of Dorkly
One aspect of the game that I truly do respect the hell out of is its ability to be broken so easily. With a game like
The Pit, you wou think that it would be pretty easy to exploit the best weapons out of the game as well as traps to avoid and right paths throughout each level. However, that is not the case. Each run is different from the next, as you won't find the same enemy in the same place twice, as well as the items to craft your favorite weapon might be scarce to find when it was plentiful the last run. As such, this randomization creates a lot of suspense when you play this game: you never know what may arise around every corner, and the thrill of discovering what is there helps push the game forward.
Daily Video: "Attack on Pikmin" by animator TerminalMontage
Shockingly enough, I actually came across this game by accident. I was looking through one of the Humble Bundle options one day and accidentally bought this game with a slew of other games. However, once I played
The Pit for the first time, I was absolutely hooked. I remember playing it into the long hours of the night and getting connected more and more with the game. I've gotten to the last floor of this game before, but it's so absolutely ridiculously tough that in my current run I'm too scared to continue playing it as I am very close to dying due to myself almost running out of materials. Games really haven't been able to that get kind of honest raw emotion out of me, which is why
The Pit lands in the book as one of those hidden gems that I'm happy I stumbled upon.
‡ As always, the "Daily Bloggity" is self written by myself and includes just some of my opinions on different mediums. If you have a subject that you might want me to touch on, feel free to PM me or comment below! I would love to hear some of your ideas! Tune in tomorrow at 5PM Eastern Time for the next edition of the "Daily Bloggity!" Cheers! ‡
- elheroeoscuro
