Indie Game Pick: Rocketbirds: Revolution! (Ratloop Asia)
Rocketbirds: Revolution! is an action platformer that resembles a modern day Flashback sequel, featuring great graphics, fluid animation, and high production values rarely seen in a Flash game. You play as Hardboiled, a veteran soldier on a mission to free the city of Albatropolis from the grip of an evil empire. The demo is basically a tutorial that teaches you how the controls work, spread over three different locations with individual rooms to pass through.
I've embedded a trailer in the extended. The full game costs US$9.95, and after purchasing it from Ratloop (of Mightier fame) via PayPal you'd only need to sign in with your user account information to play the entire thing.
Comments
SOLD! or whenever I have the money.
Posted by: Grisser | November 1, 2009 10:17 PM
The trailer and the site clearly say that the second word is Revolution.
Also, don't like that the hero is continiously shot in the trailer.
Posted by: Ilya Chentsov | November 1, 2009 10:24 PM
Immediately sold when they mentioned "Flashback".
Posted by: UDM | November 1, 2009 10:54 PM
Also, what's wrong with just saying "resembles Flashback" instead of that "modern-day sequel" thing? You know that Flashback actually had a sequel, and that it was in 3D: http://www.mobygames.com/game/fade-to-black ?
Posted by: Ilya Chentsov | November 1, 2009 10:58 PM
Sorry about the evolution thing.
resembling a proper Flashback 2D sequel?
Posted by: Tim | November 1, 2009 11:01 PM
The core mechanics are indeed pretty much the same as in Flashback. It's also nicely polished, but I didn't find the demo much fun. "Juggling" the enemies is rather strange, for how strange it is the focus on combat seemed to strong, and overall it was repetitive. At least neither the trailer nor the demo promised variety.
Posted by: MisterX | November 1, 2009 11:10 PM
bought the game and been playing for a few hours now, there's also an oddworld vibe there with extra puzzles to solve and a mind controlling ability which is funny...
Posted by: 3row3n | November 2, 2009 6:07 AM
Thanks for the plug! :) (I'm the environment artist for the game). We hadn't actually gotten around to sending the word out to the various blogs and news sites, so this post was a nice surprise.
MisterX, Ilya: The past couple of weeks have been crunch, just focusing on the game proper. We'll be putting together another trailer this week. :)
Posted by: Teck Lee Tan | November 2, 2009 9:14 AM
>resembling a proper Flashback 2D sequel?
I'd say "which plays like Flashback/Oddworld crossover" (hiding in shadows and leading people around (as seen in the trailer) being the Oddworld thing). Also see 3row3n post above for proof.
@Teck Lee Tan: I've played the demo, and getting continiously shot is indeed the case. So the trailer is adequate.
Posted by: Ilya Chentsov | November 2, 2009 9:33 AM
3row3n, Ilya: Yup, the game was heavily inspired by the old-school platformers of that ilk. We count Flashback, BlackThorne, and the Oddworld games among our inspirations. :)
Posted by: Teck Lee Tan | November 2, 2009 9:48 AM
very good game... with the exception of the AI, when they spot you and are after you immediately as they come on screen they shoot at you, and it's nigh impossible to shoot them before they shoot you. There's also a part where you are going up an elevator and at the top there's a guard on each side chatting across the elevator shaft, it's impossible to be able to do that without being hit once.
Posted by: robolee | November 2, 2009 1:27 PM
@robolee: Yup, that's where I got killed.
Posted by: Ilya Chentsov | November 2, 2009 2:02 PM
I love the game style and gameplay. I wish it could go full screen though, that's what I hate of flash games..
Posted by: Kapser | November 2, 2009 2:27 PM
I'm not into these games for some reason, they just carry a bad vibe for me. I think mayb it's just because playing Flashback reminds me of sitting in the house on a late Sunday thinking about how I've got another week of school after another wasted weekend.
Posted by: Andrew | November 2, 2009 5:01 PM
I like the looks of this (and I loved Flashback), but why does the "fmv" show the birds rocketing around with jet packs, but the gameplay does not appear to have jet packs at all?
Posted by: Michael Stearns | November 3, 2009 12:29 AM
Wow awesome. The music reminds me a lot of BlackThorne, a game I loved back in the day. This vibe has me sold.
Posted by: Graham | November 3, 2009 10:39 PM