Writings of Mass Deduction

*sigh*

Silver Dollar, I apparently can’t quit you. You have released games I despise, including one that punks the player and offers no actual gameplay. And you’ve also released a few of the best games ever released on the XBLIG channel.

*double sigh*

“One Finger Death Punch” is really fantastic. Stylish graphics, great controls, pick-up-and-play gameplay, and surprising depth. This is truly everything you could hope for in an indie game, and then some.

The game offers simple enemies at first, but with increasing complexity. At first it’s just a timing thing, approach the enemy and unleash an attack at the right time, but later enemies require more complex combos to take down. The game actually tells you what each enemy needs, and enemy colour-coding helps this be a fast and flowy experience as you learn what enemies require what combos.

There’s a world map to explore with *250 levels*, tonnes of modes of play, several difficulty levels, and vanity graphic filters to apply. Sometimes you’ll have to deflect incoming attacks, or destroy scenery, upping the variety. There are crazy weapons. There are dramatic slow-mo attacks. And it costs $1.

Previous Silver Dollar reviews include “Office Affairs”, “Head Shot Z”, “Blow” which is one of the best in the indie games channel (though even Silver Dollar says they simply “got lucky” with it), “Mirror” which is great, “RAID”, and “Fatal Seduction”.

Silver Dollar, I want to like you. And “One Finger Death Punch” is easy to like! Please, please, please keep it up.

Here’s what the developer (Silver Dollar Games Inc._01) has to say about the game:

“Experience cinema kung-fu in the fastest, most intense brawler the world has ever seen. With its unique 1:1 response system, players will feel the immediate feedback of every bone-crunching hit. Combine face-to-face combat with throwing weapons to recreate complex fight choreographies. Explore a world map with over 250 stages, 13 modes, and 3 difficulty levels.”