XBL Indie Preview - Chris Unarmed
Chris Unarmed is a charming little platformer coming to Xbox Live Indie Games in the very near future. In the game, you take on the role of Chris, who is literally without arms. Our dual-limbed hero is humankind's only hope against the evil Mango.
Mango is an unusual name for a villain, but that humor and charm is one of Chris Unarmed's strongest points. The entire premise is fun and lighthearted, which is obvious from the title joke.
I'm hilariously bad at platformers. I'll spend an embarrassing amount of time on the tiny jumps in between challenging jumps. Even so, I always come back for more, and Chris Unarmed was no different. I spent a good amount of time playing Chris Unarmed poorly, which should say a lot about how fun it is. Fortunately for me, you're given unlimited lives, so I was able to continuously spawn from the most recent checkpoint until I beat the current section.
Chris Unarmed is one of those games where nothing specific jumps out and grabs you, but it grabs you all the same. It gets its hooks in you without you ever noticing and before you know it you've sunk a rather large amount of time into the game.
The game also offers coins to collect and a timer at the top of the screen times you as you go. The obsessive compulsive gamer in me is going to keep me coming back until I can perfect every level in record time. Whether that's a blessing or a curse, I don't know, but I do know that I'm going to be playing for a good while.
Chris Unarmed isn't mind blowing, but it doesn't try to be. It uses an array of gameplay staples to craft an enjoyable and nostalgic experience. It's clearly intended to be a throwback to the glory days of platforming and it succeeds. Masochistic gamers might complain that infinite lives make the game less challenging, and maybe they do, but I never once thought of the game as easy. I think it strikes a pretty good balance between challenging and fun. Throw in the clever writing and Chris Unarmed looks to be one of the better offerings from the Xbox Live Indie Games library.
Follow the status of the game at the developer's blog.
