It’s Thursday, and that means new free games on the Epic Store. Between now and February 20th there are two quite fight-y games up for grabs. The first is Kingdom Come: Deliverance , a rare medieval RPG that focuses more on historical stuff rather than the fantastical. Next up is
It’s Thursday, and that means new free games on the Epic Store. Between now and February 20th there are two quite fight-y games up for grabs. The first is Kingdom Come: Deliverance, a rare medieval RPG that focuses more on historical stuff rather than the fantastical. Next up is Aztez, a side-scrolling brawler set in Aztec times when the only colours they had were red, white and black.
Maybe you heard the story. An indie darling in 2012 , eventually released into a changed world in 2017 , commercial disaster and, at least, widespread coverage of said disaster after the fact. I played Aztez; I gave it a few paragraphs in our weekly Unknown Pleasures round-up, ge
Maybe you heard the story. An indie darling in 2012, eventually released into a changed world in 2017, commercial disaster and, at least, widespread coverage of said disaster after the fact.
I played Aztez; I gave it a few paragraphs in our weekly Unknown Pleasures round-up, genuinely unaware of how bright its light had once been and thinking of it as just another cool under-the-radar 2017 game. It was pretty good. (more…)
Aztez blends two genres that wouldn’t normally mix: turn-based strategy and beat ’em up. The strategising happens on a hex-based map you control an elite combat unit of the Aztec Empire sent out to kill “warriors and mythological foes alike”. When you invade another tile it switc
Aztez [official site] blends two genres that wouldn’t normally mix: turn-based strategy and beat ’em up. The strategising happens on a hex-based map you control an elite combat unit of the Aztec Empire sent out to kill “warriors and mythological foes alike”. When you invade another tile it switches into real-time brawling, with a hand drawn black-and-white art style where there only colour is the red of your enemies’ blood. And there’s plenty of that.
It came out this week and it looks pretty promising, actually. Alec has played a bit of it for Unknown Pleasures and enjoyed the combat with all its flashy, fluid mid-air stabbing. But in case you missed that, here’s a reminder.
Welcome back to Unknown Pleasures, our weekly selection of the best lesser-hyped games on Steam that you’ve almost certainly missed. This week: walking simulation, horse simulation, hang-gliding simulation, Aztec combat simulation, dog-in-a-dungeon simulation and Portal recreatio
Welcome back to Unknown Pleasures, our weekly selection of the best lesser-hyped games on Steam that you’ve almost certainly missed.
This week: walking simulation, horse simulation, hang-gliding simulation, Aztec combat simulation, dog-in-a-dungeon simulation and Portal recreation.
I got my first look at Aztez way back in 2013, and I was quite taken by it. It promised a mix of turn-based strategy and brutal, bloody 2D brawls—an odd blend, yes—rendered in a stark monochromatic visual style based on 16th-century Mexico and Central America. But after that brie
I got my first look at Aztez way back in 2013, and I was quite taken by it. It promised a mix of turn-based strategy and brutal, bloody 2D brawls—an odd blend, yes—rendered in a stark monochromatic visual style based on 16th-century Mexico and Central America. But after that brief preview, it completely fell off the radar, and I didn't hear another word about it—until, surprisingly, last night, when the two-man studio Team Colorblind announced that it's (almost) finished and will be out on August 1.
The goal of Aztez is to build and maintain a great Aztec empire. Diplomacy is obviously part of that, but more often than not you're going to run into people who just don't want to play ball. That's where the Aztez come in: They're basically the special forces of your empire, ferocious and merciless in battle, and even able to call down the wrath of the gods upon their enemies.
There are eight weapon sets to collect, more than 25 unique enemies and 50 "combat environments" based on real cities and the Aztec Underworld, and more than 70 cosmetic items to claim from your fallen foes. And if the fights are all you're after, you can skip the strategy part and just throw down in the arena in the capital of Tenochtitlan. A detailed stats page will track your wins, losses, kills, max combos, ritual sacrifices, and other such relevant information, and online leaderboards will let you compare your ranking with the rest of the world.
I've played around with the current build of Aztez, and it is very impressive. I'm not particularly good at it (I've been hacking away with the keyboard, but it's clearly designed for a controller) but the combat is fast, complex, and vicious, and the strategy angle really doesn't get in the way: It's more about making either/or choices with limited resources and time, rather than having to deal with the minutiae of actually running of an empire.
Aztez is scheduled to come out on August 1 on Steam, Humble, and other fine digital storefronts. The "Aztez in One Minute" trailer below breaks down the basics of the game, and a more detailed look can be had at aztez.com.
The unlikely combo of hexy turn-based strategy and real-time beat ’em up will coalesce in Aztez this summer, developers Team Colorblind have announced . Sure, you might have strategised as the Aztec Empire before but probably not also taken to the battlefield yourself to shred en
The unlikely combo of hexy turn-based strategy and real-time beat ’em up will coalesce in Aztez [official site] this summer, developers Team Colorblind have announced. Sure, you might have strategised as the Aztec Empire before but probably not also taken to the battlefield yourself to shred enemies and shower in blood with mid-air mega-combos. It’s a curious idea, though it does seem relatively tame after you remember Team Colorblind were formed by core members of Off-Road Velociraptor Safari and Minotaur China Shop team Flashbang Studios. Here, look at Aztez in this trailer: … [visit site to read more]
