Developer Playlist is The Black Panel’s occasional column devoted to industry figures and the games that inspire them. Each instalment features a ‘playlist’ of influential titles hand-picked by a talented creator.

Developed by a studio based right here in Australia (Land Down Under, Great Southern Land, etc), Dustforce presents us with a rather daring hypothesis, i.e. that we can have as much fun with a broom as we can with a shotgun. Among the indie success stories of 2011, this innovative platformer continues to attract new players. Now, as the first major update for Dustforce is arriving, we catch up with Hitbox Team’s Terence Lee. The man responsible for the game’s sound effects and music talks about two titles (one a single player epic, the other a multiplayer staple) that he just can’t get enough of.

—– Terence Lee’s Playlist —–

The Super Nintendo years are widely considered the golden age of JRPGs and few games exemplify the staggering ambition of the era more than CHRONO TRIGGER. Created by an all-star line-up of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest veterans, Square’s time travelling saga arrived on the SNES in 1995. Lee is a devoted fan, describing it as “an interactive blend of the best learnings from other art forms – visual, motion, music, and story. The result is a genuine feeling of adventure, loss, and completion. Every time I play it again,” he says, “I get new inspiration from the emotions it creates.”

A dozen years have passed since the release of the much loved Half-Life mod, but the Counter-Strike phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down. Lee identifies the COUNTER-STRIKE: SOURCE version of the game as his FPS drug of choice. Developed by Valve in collaboration with Hidden Path Entertainment, this 2004 remake gave the still popular original a fresh coat of paint, while retaining fan favourite maps and modes. “I return to Counter-Strike simply because I am addicted to it,” Lee says. “The chance to display personal skill is a rewarding aspect of games and it’s definitely a quality present in Dustforce.”

What’s next for Hitbox Team?

The four man studio is currently rolling out a substantial update for Dustforce. According to Lee, players can look forward to “new content, a level editor and a level sharing server”. Mac and Linux editions of the game are also on the menu. You can learn more about Dustforce at the game’s official website.

Where can I hear Lee’s music?

Lee issues his work under the Lifeformed moniker and his retro influenced electronica is well worth a listen. You can sample and/or purchase Fastfall: Dustforce OST on Bandcamp. Lee is currently scoring a documentary series chronicling the development of Double Fine Productions’ new adventure game.

Chrono Trigger image credit: MobyGames

Despite being a new IP, Dragon’s Dogma is a game clearly influenced by the heavyweights of the third person action RPG genre which have come before it. Much like the first Darksiders did, it wears these colours with pride, showcasing some of the best aspects of the games it imitates. The storyline takes the familiar ‘chosen one’ route, the demo kicking off with the player’s goal being to traverse a fallen castle in order to destroy a dragon. There is an option to create and edit both the main character and a companion known as a ‘pawn’ using a system which provides many choices without the levels of customisation becoming overwhelming, something which never made much sense given that the hours of time spent crafting a character goes to waste once they are wearing full body armour. The demo provides two options: the Prologue Quest and Countryside Quest, highlighting the gameplay in interior situations and on the expansive overworld respectively. Read the rest of this entry »

Lasers or clubs... which will Peter choose first?

The Blackpanel cordially invites you to participate in the inaugural ‘Pull Some Random Game Off The Shelf That You Bought Years Ago But Never Actually Played Day’ because, let’s face it, these games just won‘t play themselves.

Like many gamers I buy more titles than I can possibly play with the unrealistic intention that I may get around to them someday. . . maybe. Now is finally the time for 2 games by studios that have since closed their doors.

Battlestar Galactica (Xbox – 2003) was released to coincide with the re-make miniseries, but is apparently set in the old series universe (I had to read about this because I haven’t played it yet). I think I bought this game because I had all the toys as a kid.

Warriors of Might & Magic (PS2 – 2000) was one of the first combat RPGs released on the console but would be blown out of the water by the release of Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance a year later. The Might & Magic series had proved to be an enjoyable but repetitive experience on PC, but apparently this is not really set in any of those game worlds.

Either your well-rested gamer bounty will have aged like fine $70 – $80 wine (I paid that much for this thing!) or become a dull, pixelated nightmare. Please send in your entries for this year to help us celebrate. Good luck.

Binary Domain is the latest shooter from the SEGA team that brought us the cult franchise Yakuza. Toshihiro Nagoshi, the man behind Yakuza and Super Monkey Ball, served as a lead developer on Binary Domain and I was recently given the opportunity to pose some questions to him regarding the game. Read the rest of this entry »