Indie Game (IG) under Review: Rabid Gophers
Developed by: Quantum Squid Interactive
System: Xbox 360
Genre: Shooter
Version: ?
Cost: 200 Microsoft Points ($2.50)
Download Style: Full Game/Trial Game
Download Size: 10.67 MB
Learning Curve: 5-15 Minutes (varies by game mode)
Overall Rating: 9/10
Main Features:
- Players 1
- HDTV 720p
- Custom Soundtrack
Other Features:
- Three game modes (Gopher Blast, Gopher Bombs, Gopher Sniper)
- High scores tracked locally and online!
- Change the sensitivity of analog sticks
- Enable or disable online score sharing
- Enable or disable gore
Puzzling:
- Only three mini-games
- Online score sharing was not instant. I had to disable and re-enable it for it to begin working.
Rating:
Violence - 3/3
Sex - 0/3
Mature Content - 0/3

INDIE GAMES INTRO:

Please Note: Unless otherwise specified, I have bought and played all aspects of the games I review.

Downloading Indie Games:
1. Turn on Xbox 360 and sign into XBOX Live.
2. Navigate to: Game Marketplace=>Explore Game Content=>Indie Games
3. Look around and download games!

Important Indie Game Reminders:
1. They are NOT rated by Microsoft or the ESRB.
2. They can only be played while connected to Xbox Live.
3. They can only be played for four or eight minutes before the trial ends (depending on when released).
4. Some features may be locked in the trial mode.

REVIEW INTRO:

Rabid Gophers is a game that will keep you coming back for more. The three reaction based mini-games are entertaining and mainly ask the player to do a certain function as fast as they can.

GRAPHICS: 10/10

I am pleased by the graphical work done by Quantum Squid Interactive. Not only in this game, but in their others, it never disappoints. From blowing off gophers heads, to navigating the menus, I am pleased by the visuals. The title screen shows the porch of the farm house with a shotgun laid against the railing. The background has the barn and fields. It is an interesting title screen that (along with the music) sets the mood for the game.

The graphical area of the farm changes depending on the mini-game. Gopher Blast takes place on a large patch of soil. Gopher Bombs takes place near one of the fences surrounding the farm, and Gopher Sniper takes place in the fields.

The graphics are great and I could not find a reason to dislike them. Getting attacked by a gopher is a funny graphical bonus to the game.

MUSIC: 9/10

The musical quality is great and fits the game’s atmosphere quite well. The title screen has one soundtrack that constantly repeats, but it never seems to get old. It fits the game’s style that well. The mini-games do not necessarily have music, but they have cricket sounds to symbolize the time of day (night). Believe it or not, the lack of music actually helps Rabid Gophers. The cricket sounds are just perfect and allow the player to relax and stay focused. Music in the mini-games could have been distracting.

My only grudge is that there could be more music variety for the title screen, but it is a little thing.

STORY: 1/10

Kill the Gophers in order to save the farm. It is not built up in any way which is disappointing. (No matter how hard you try to save the farm, you will lose!)

GAMEPLAY & FEATURES: 8/10

Rabid Gophers is a reaction based game. Three mini-games (Gopher Blast, Gopher Bombs, Gopher Sniper) each require the player to do a specific task. Gopher Blast is a game about pressing the right button in order to shotgun a gopher. Players do so by looking at the various gopher holes that correspond with a certain control function (A, B, X, Y, LT, RT). When a gopher pops up, the player must press the right button as quick as they can. If they do it fast enough, the gopher gets shot. If they are too slow, the player loses because the gopher steals the bait. Pressing the wrong button will jam the gun. The gun can only be jammed three times before the player loses. The game tracks how long the player survives, and as time goes on, the gophers pop up more frequently.

Gopher Bombs is a reaction game about pressing the right combination of buttons in order to blow up gophers. At first there are only three combinations to detonate the bomb, but as time goes on, it leads up to six combinations. Players play this mini-game by looking at the various gopher holes that correspond with a certain control function (A, B, X, Y, LT, RT). When the gophers pop up, the player must press the right button combination as quick as they can. If they do it fast enough, the bomb detonates and the gophers blow up. If they are too slow, the player loses because the gophers attack him/her. Pressing the wrong button at any time will force the player to restart the button combination. Sometimes messing up once can spell the end for the player. The game tracks how long the player survives, and as time goes on, combinations have to be entered faster.

Gopher Sniper is the only mini-game that allows the player to move a cursor around. The cursor in this case is a sniper scope which is moved via analog sticks. The sensitivity for the analog sticks can be changed (low, medium, high). This is a great addition that helps accommodate for everyone’s style of play. Low sensitivity is great for making the perfect shot. High sensitivity is great for quick shots. Medium is for players who are in-between. Gopher Sniper is played in a field of gopher holes. Gophers pop up and the player must kill them by shooting them. This is done by navigating to the gopher and pressing the (A) button. If the player is too slow, then the gophers attack him/her. The game tracks how long the player survives, and as time goes on, the gophers pop up more frequently.

Other than the mini-games, the game has a few interesting features. One of these allows gore to be turned off for those with children. The best feature however is the one tracks the best times locally and ONLINE. The fifteen best times for each mini-game are shown to the world. While I wish that I could view all the scores, the game only allows the fifteen best to be displayed. If the player chooses, they can turn off online score sharing so that they only see their own scores. Because of the ability to enable/disable online score sharing, I ran into a slight problem with Rabid Gophers. I purchased Rabid Gophers (have to buy to use online sharing feature & play Gopher Bombs and Gopher Sniper), but online sharing was not instant. I waited for some time, but it did not work until I disable and re-enabled online sharing. I am sure now that Quantum Squid Interactive did this so that people would not be forced to use it at first if they did not want to. It would have been nice if the options page had showed online sharing was off though (showed it was on the entire time).

My last complaint with the game is that there are only three game modes. A game like Rabid Gophers could be filled with a lot more mini-games (and the menu looks like it should be), but the three present are solid and fun.

OVERALL: 9/10

Overall Rabid Gophers is worth checking out. It is game that is easy to start up and play without messing with extra settings. The online Leaderboards is a huge plus because it is one of the few community games to do so. The musical and graphical quality is great and the game has a lot of polish. For 200 Microsoft Points ($2.50) this game cannot be overlooked.

Other Games by Quantum Squid Interactive (as of 8/26/09):

- Dock’em (Indie Game - 200 Microsoft Points)
- Battle Havoc (Indie Game - 400 Microsoft Points)

For more full reviews, visit the ExL Studios Website .

For quick reviews, visit the ExL Studios Blog .

I totally disagree with this principal of "there are lots of free games out there so why buy one?" since you could apply this argument to almost any casual game out there. Rabid Gophers was very well done, fun to play and as you pointed out only 200 points. Here's a solid argument for getting this game, and what ultimately led me to purchase it: "it looks way better than any flash game, does have more variation, is in HD, allows me to share my scores over Xbox Live, and is a lot of fun.

I can't think of a way t justify this game. It's pretty enough but so are the thousands of other versions you can find on flash sites or titles such warioware which has a huge amount more variation.

Perhaps if you really hate gophers but don't want or aren't able to go kill the real thing.

There is nothing wrong with this game and for 200 points it's not going to break the bank but considering other titles out there for 200 points there doens't seem to be any solid arguement for getting this one. It's nothing you can't get elsewhere.