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Waking Mars is a science fiction game that really feels like you're in a science fiction story, not playing yet another re-branded platformer or shooter.
You're a jetpack-equipped astronaut investigating deep caverns in Mars... Seems like the previous (robotic) mission detected signs of life, so you were sent as a follow-up. Things Happen from there and now you must master the secrets of Martian life to survive and escape.
Aesthetics-wise, it's a 2D game similar in presentation to Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, but it is its own thing. There's a lot less fighting for one thing, you don't need awesome reflexes or anything for this. Instead, you get to figure out your way around the caverns. There are some irritating constraints since some forms of life you can't pick up and use so you have to work with what you get, but once you figure out what's going on, the whole thing makes sense.
This game really does a lot with relatively little-- they didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fancy cut scenes, though they do have voice acting which really helps bring the characters out.
You're a jetpack-equipped astronaut investigating deep caverns in Mars... Seems like the previous (robotic) mission detected signs of life, so you were sent as a follow-up. Things Happen from there and now you must master the secrets of Martian life to survive and escape.
Aesthetics-wise, it's a 2D game similar in presentation to Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, but it is its own thing. There's a lot less fighting for one thing, you don't need awesome reflexes or anything for this. Instead, you get to figure out your way around the caverns. There are some irritating constraints since some forms of life you can't pick up and use so you have to work with what you get, but once you figure out what's going on, the whole thing makes sense.
This game really does a lot with relatively little-- they didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on fancy cut scenes, though they do have voice acting which really helps bring the characters out.
