What do Geometry Wars and Zuma have in common? Not much, really, but when you take the concepts of both games and merge them together you get a wonderful little title called Transcripted by Alkemi Games. Available for some time as an online flash-based game, the team of only 2 developers are working hard to bring a fuller and more complete experience to both Mac and PC later this year.
I had the pleasure of playing the PC version of Transcripted while visiting the folks at TopWare Interactive at PAX East and what I saw was insanely addictive. As mentioned above, this title is an inspired merger of two distinctly different genres into one. Take the action of a twin stick shooter like Geometry Wars, meld it with the match-three-colours-to-remove-the-blocks puzzle game like Zuma and you have Transcripted. The player controls a nanobot in a biological body intent on curing infected cells of a deadly virus. Destroying the infected cells will release strands of DNA for the player to pick up and deposit along the Zuma-like strands. Matching three or more same-colour strands will eliminate the infection. Eliminate enough of the virus strand and the game moves on to the next infection and a more challenging level.
Infected is an absolutely beautiful game to behold and the controls felt natural and responsive, with the PC version fully supporting an XBOX360 controller. The talented developers at Akemi Games have brilliantly created images that truly portray the microscopic splendor of biological cells. Accompanied by a mesmerizing soundtrack, Transcripted is a full-on sight and sound extravaganza that is sure to please anyone. Akemi Games are hard at work preparing this title for an official release later this year, complete with extra features such as a level-up technology tree, more weapons, and even a colour-blindness mode.
What we saw at PAX East already looked amazing and it was hard to believe it was developed by only two gentlemen. I will be sure to keep my eyes out for Transcripted and hope to bring a full review to you when it is released.
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