Review: Curve Digital Mega Bundle

Curve Digital have now combined their games into tasty bundles on the Playstation network.

I got my hands on the Curve Mega Bundle and also separately Thomas Was Alone. Curve Digital are responsible for some joyous calming moments and sudden outbursts of abuse yelled at my television. The mega bundle contains Mousecraft, Titan Attacks and Stealth Inc. I will also talk about Thomas because it is a genius bit of story telling and has Danny Wallace’s lovely voice in it.

Titan Attacks

Titan Attacks, at first glance seems like a clone of Space Invaders, which in many ways it very much is. It also seems very easy and straight forward. Which it seems to be as long as you want to get within a hairs breadth of the final boss, which much to my dismay is as much as I’ve achieved. It’s previous easiness taunting me and my inability to play a game is embarrassing. Given that said game consists entirely of moving left or right or possibly staying still and then pushing a single button. You can upgrade your little ship, your energy is your ‘shield’ which costs money to fix. Your guns can be upgraded by quantity of guns, power, speed and quantity of bullets. You can also buy smart bombs but they are crap cos you lose out on all the money that you get from destroying the conveyances of little green eyed alien guys. It, like all Curve Digital stuff, is a good way to travel in time, providing you want it to be 3am all of a sudden.

Mousecraft

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mousecraft’s play style falls somewhere between Mario vs Donkey Kong on the DS and Lemmings. Basically a gigantic insane cat has decided to experiment with some mice by making them move about and eat cheese. Which if he was a real scientist or cat would know that mice don’t often enjoy cheese. You then as an invisible god person have to use Tetris blocks to encourage them in the right direction. You also have to make sure they relentlessly walk in your chosen direction as they have to collect the blue crystals before I, as an enabling overlord, encourage them to get as many crystals as possible. While at the start I felt little bursts of cleverness in getting the mice to walk from left to right, by now my brain is spooning out tablespoons of dopamine when I finally get the mice to navigate an MC Escher painting of stairs, bombs, crystals and sinister robot mice. This isn’t my favourite one, but it’s the one I play for longest extended periods of time and most frequently.

Stealth Inc.

Imagine splinter cell but you are playing as a cheerful limber version of Marvin from the terrible Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy movie. Another puzzle game in where you have to dodge cameras, hide in shadows, hack doors all in a very specific way. It plays gloriously and looks beautiful, like a night vision green version of Despicable Me. It’s the one that I have given least time to, but only because of that blasted Mousecraft, I will be back because aside from Thomas Was Alone, which I have finished, Stealth Inc. is actually my favourite of the three games, which apparently has an incoming sequel.

Thomas Was Alone

Narrated by Danny Wallace from ‘Yes Man’ fame, this game is a story about some squares and rectangles, some of which can float, some which can jump and some, like Chris the orange one, you will hate. Somehow with Danny’s lovely voice floating over the top of this reading out lovely words, you will find yourself having very strong emotions and opinions attached to all the personification of geometrical shapes.

Curve Digital are one of the most incredible indie games developers out there in my opinion and they can take very basic ideas and breathe some life into them, I would say that if you’re gonna take the day off sick, or mooch about and not doing your homework, these games are the best way to do that.