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GWAG
October 12th, 2006, 11:49 PM
Alternative Gaming
Welcome to Alternative Gaming! This is a club dedicated for the discussion of games that are left behind in the dust--the ones that are not popular for whatever reason but should be. If you've ever watched G4's Buried Treasure, that's basically what this is.

Created by: Kat and sparksmf
What is considered an alternative game? In order to determine this, ask two questions:


What is the difference between how popular the game IS, and how popular the game SHOULD be? If the answer is huge, it can be considered what this club is about. Then...
Is there a forum on GW dedicated to this game/game series? If there is, chances are it's not considered an alternative game. We MIGHT make some exceptions for this if the forum is really dead or something.

Note: A game can STILL be a 'greatest hit' and considered an alternative game, with this definition.

Club Rules:


All the GW rules apply.
When you wish to join, please name at least one alternative game you've played. If you have any doubts about whether or not a game fits our definition, ask about it and we'll clear up confusion.
Talk about alternative games that are actually GOOD. Some games were never big hits for a reason. Don't recommend a game that sucks.
Remember, we want to know about the games we never hear about! Penalty of death for especially mentioning anything Final Fantasy, Mario, Zelda, GTA, etc, etc.


Latest Reviews:


Game: Steambot Chronicals
System: PS2
Genre: Sandbox action/adventure (really thats the best way)

Review: How to describe Steambot Chronicals....well....thats a tough one. I say that because of precisely just HOW customizable the game is. Ok lets start at the beginning. You play as a kid named Vanilla Bean who wakes up on the shore of a beach with no memories of what happened to him (you do learn later what happened though.) You go through the game doing various stuff for people, fighting bad guys, and all sorts of other stuff. Other stuff you say? Yes. I say other stuff.

Stuff such as playing billards for example. Or Playing various instruments you accquire. Or playing the stock market. All of these various activities are seamlessly melded into the game. So its all one whole. The cool thing though, is that you can get nicknames based on the appearance of your character and your trotmobile. This "trotmobile" is like a mini mech that you can customize with various stuff such as weapons, legs, bodies, and grills. Even though you fight various bad guys, some of these become friendly. You yourself can customize the way you act towards people, based on what you say. You can even become a bad guy yourself if you want!

Its really hard to explain it all but is really fun to play! Well...unless you hate games like zelda or mario i suppose....^_^'
Overall Rating: 10/10
Submitted By: Immortal_Knight


Game: Okami
System: PS2
Genre: Platform with elements of Action/Adventure
Review: Okami is a wolf (female...turns out) who is actually a Sun God. Well, her name is Amaterasu, and it took me the whole game to figure out what Okami was. Which is her. Still. When I first starting playing this I was expecting 25 hours, maybe 30...that seems to be the norm these days. Actually I reached about 50 without even doing side quests. Not bad for a platform. The basic premise is you need to restore life after the curse a powerful demon placed across the country. This usually means reviving plantlife.

The main "catch" of the game is, being a God, you have the ability to do things mortals can't. That's where the Celestial Brush comes in. By pausing the battlefield and drawing different shapes, one of her unique powers will be used. For example, a straight line will cause a Power Slash to be performed. There are 13 of these in all, which can also become upgraded. This feature would've been great on something like the DS or Wii but meh, whatever. Though there have been port rumors.

Because she's a God she must also earn praise from humans and animals. Collecting praise will increase her Godhood (add health, etc). There are also some "puzzle-ish" things you need to do including a mini game that is a side-scroller. The only downside is there is one boss you have to face three times and the voice acting is basically just mindless gibberish that can be annoying.

Best of all, once you complete the game there is a New Game+ mode. You can change the wolf's look, keep most weapons, items, and stats, and I think even replay as invincible if you finish everything. So pick it up if you want, especially since this was IGN'S 06 game of the year.
Overall Rating: 9/10
Submitted By: sparksmf


Game: Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaro's Treasure
System: Nintendo Wii - 2007
Genre: Adventure/puzzle
Review: Zack and Wiki is a hidden gem in the mountain of games for Holiday 2007. It has only had around thirty thousand sales worldwide. Considering what a great game this is, that is a very bad number. In this game, you solve puzzles by pointing and clicking with the Wii Remote. You use a series of motions and buttons to pull off the puzzles. It is extremely hard and satisfying, despite it's childish appearance. If you see this game on the shelf, (Which is unlikely; retailers never really caught on) be sure to buy it. You won't be sorry.
Overall Rating: 9 out of 10
Submitted By: DynoMite


When writing a review, please use the following template:

]Game:[/b]
]System:[/b]
]Genre:[/b]
]Review:[/b]
]Overall Rating:[/b]
]Submitted By:[/b]

The link for all the reviews so far can be found here: http://h1.ripway.com/GWAG/game_reviews.html

Lunar Kreskents
April 3rd, 2008, 01:56 AM
I think I'm the only person in the world (besides maybe Saint! ?) who doesn't really SSB is all that amazing. I dunno, I just don't see it. It's not terrible or anything, but crazed madness over this game I will never understand. I went to a video game convention (Midwest Gaming Classic in Oconomowoc, WI) this weekend and they had Brawl set up. The crow was RIDICULOUS. There were like 40 people trying to crowd around this TV at every moment, desperately trying to slip into a chair when someone got up to get a chance to play. It was seriously out of control.

Anyway, me and my friend cosplayed as Cloud and Tifa. It's funny cuz this isn't a cosplay convention. So out of the the 1700 people that attended, only us 2 and a lady we sort of know dressed up. Many people asked us for pictures. My friend particularly like the guy who was like "Excuse me... Mr. Strife? Err can I take a picture of you?"

Saint!
April 4th, 2008, 09:01 PM
Yeah I never found SSB that enthralling, sure its fun at parties or gatherings but really lacks variety sometimes.

And Kittle, I don't think there are that many Pivot users on GW...

The Kittle One
April 5th, 2008, 09:08 AM
Yeah, but if I did make the club i would include a link to download it incase people want to get started. Then again it would probaly just die...

Saint!
April 5th, 2008, 09:34 PM
Nothing lives long, and who wants to get started if they won't even post in the C&C

The Eye in the Sky!
April 6th, 2008, 02:42 PM
Hehe, split. (http://forums.gamewinners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=563274)

Lacarus
April 18th, 2008, 09:26 AM
Game:Mercenaries
System:PS2
Genre:Sandbox/action
Review:In North Korea, the President has been killed in a coup d'etat by his own son. A son who has the launch codes for North Korea's nuclear missiles. His name is Choi Song. All sails are set and a coalition of the AN (Allied Nations), South Korea and China invades NK in an attempt to stop Song and a bounty of 100 million dollars are put on his head. You are one of three Mercenaries and you're dropped down in the DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) and not by the conventional means in form of a parachute, but flown in low and dropped in a Humvee. Then the first mission starts and you get introduced to the 'Deck of 52' which four sets of officers who needs to be captured dead or alive (bounty's halved if they're killed) in order to gather intel on where to find Song. You can find and capture the ones to nines in different areas of the two massive maps and you can do this by whatever means. And this is the best part of the game. You can drive, fly, steal or destroy everything that moves. But keep in mind that if you kill members of either of the four factions; the AN, SK, China and the Russian Mafia, their mood towards you will drop and if it gets too low they'll start shooting at you on sight. The Russians also drive a black market called 'Merchant of Menace' where you can buy weapons and vehicles, so it's a good idea to stay good friends with them. Luckily for you, if you enter one of either factions vehicles and wait a couple seconds, you'll be disguised a member of that respectable faction. You can even do this with civilian cars or the NK's vehicles. And there's a large variety of tanks, helicopters, MPC's and light vehicles to choose from.
The 'face' cards of the 'Deck of 52' can only be captured during missions you get from the Russians, SK and China. Of course you can choose to ignore these missions if you want and just go for the 'number' cards, but you might need the money to buy weapons or call in airstrikes, usually from the Merchant of Menace. When you've gathered enough intel, the AN will give you the 'ace' missions which you need to complete in order to progress in the game.
And when you complete the game, you start over. But this time you'll have 100+ million to your disposal and the DMZ is now called Playground of Destruction.
This game would have gotten top grades by me if it wheren't for the stiff stearing of the cars and helicopters and also the character. The controls of the tanks one the contrary are quite enjoyable. Overall it's a superentertaining game if you like random battles in a mountanious environment with small cities and military bases alike and if you can adjust to the wierd stearing. On the other hand, that might put you off.
Overall Rating:9/10
Submitted By:Lacarus

A bit late, but here it is as promised. Also, I finally managed to get the hold of I-Ninja. A review of that might pop up at some point.

The Kittle One
April 19th, 2008, 09:33 AM
Lol a post...

Saint!
April 19th, 2008, 04:29 PM
Thanks Kittle.


So I'l try for one here....anyone know of any good alt games?