REVIEW / Team Indie (PC)

Commander Video, Clunk, Super Crate Box, “Black Fluff Ball,” Tiny, Mi, J. Jitters, Dustgirl, Tim and Marvin the Cat all walk into a bar… Well, not so much a bar but a video game and they didn’t exactly walk but run, jump, swing, slide, slam, reverse time and explode into the awesome team based, platforming game, Team Indie from developers Brightside Games. In the spirit of teamwork, the best indie video game characters have joined forces to assist a video gamer in rescuing Marvin the Cat, who has gotten stranded in her video game world. Each of the characters must rely on their unique skills to cooperatively make their way through the many treacherous levels. In order to clear these levels, you will play co-op with your own prior runs and bend time to conquer the grueling puzzles and action sequences.

Team Indie has taken the platforming genre and turned it on its head, or has at least created a fresh take on the platformer genre by using the specific skills of a particular video game character as a means to solving the puzzles that make up the game levels. This in turn allows the player to traverse the levels using the unique skills of a set of characters and then going back and using the results of runs to make it to the end of the level. I know it sounds confusing, but it all makes sense when you actually play the game and see it in action. It creates a new way to “platform” while adding in an element of strategy in determining the best path to take through the level as well as the best methods, taking into consideration the abilities of the characters that the player is presented with. It all comes together to create a really fun and unique experience. It was really cool to be able to control some of indie games’ most iconic characters again in a totally new environment.

On the graphics side of things, Team Indie may offer a challenge in gameplay, but it is real easy on the eyes. Levels are done in a cool hand-drawn, cartoon style that is brightly colored with every last detail created to look like a comic book come to life. This hand-drawn technique really does the job of giving this game tons of character. It also manages to put a new sheen on these famous indie characters. Levels take place in moss covered swamps, damp caves, out in the middle of jungles as well as on levels that are made up completely of wooden planks. The great visuals and the many varied environments combine to create a very charming platforming experience.

There is no voice over work in Team Indie, of course, but the soundtrack has proven to be a cool element of the game that is a huge part of what makes this game special. Tunes that play while you are traversing the many levels are fun and upbeat and seem to capture the personalities of the various video game characters that you will guide through this game. The soundtrack is a very well balanced homage to the chip tunes of the old days and modern computer generated tunes that are the mainstay of the larger budgeted triple-A titles now days. This melding of the two styles combine to create airy and lighthearted tunes that will stay with you even when you are not playing.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect booting up Team Indie for the first time and boy was I in for a pleasant experience. Who could have guessed that Brightside Games would be able to get the creators of all the best selling, most revered indie games of the last half-decade to agree to allow all of their game characters to come together in one place? This would never happen with iconic characters of the bigger gamer publishers. Steam is currently offering Team Indie for just $12.99 which I think is an absolute steal. Boasting over 50 levels, featuring 10 of the best loved indie video game characters ever and brimming with some of the most creative and innovative level design, if you are a platforming game fan, it would be a shame to miss out on this one.