Weekly XBLIG Picks - 1/31-2/6

In this week's installment of Weekly XBLIG Picks (just imagine I stretched that out and used a deep, booming voice), there really weren't too many games that evoked the jump up and scream response. Well, some did, but not in the way that will make you rush to enter your 16 digits and buy more Microsoft points. When the week ended, I really only found three games that I felt comfortable recommending. And here they are, in no particular order:

Four Quarter Friday - Vorpal

At about 2 in the morning on New Year's Day, after a buddy of mine and I spent eight hours with Raskulls, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, and BBC's Top Gear, I decided to hop on over to the Indie Games Marketplace to see if anything from the Indie Games Winter Uprising had hit XBox Live. There wasn't, but I was greeted with a box art that reminded me of the simple Japanese Final Fantasy boxes. White background, one-color title, and a drawing using nothing but black ink yet being detailed enough to catch my eye. I didn't find a 16-bit RPG underneath the classy digital case, but after an hour or two with Vorpal I'm pretty glad I didn't.

XBLIG Review - Vexis

It's been at least a couple months since I've reviewed something that doesn't require a large amount of manual dexterity. It's true, I do like a lot of my games to have that quarter-stealing hitbox-avoiding arcade feel, but I also enjoy the softer and more intellectual side of gaming. The type of game to require more brain activity than reflexes and button mashing. This one from Buckshot Games, Vexis, required so much of that squishy stuff inside my head that I ended up staring at the last puzzle for at least an hour without doing much of anything. And it was totally worth it.