Grey Matter (6Mb)
Grey Matter is a top-down view arcade game where you go round the screen running into enemies 'head-on'. {Not to be confused with the very recent adventure ‘Gray Matter’, which has a 1.6Gb free demo available and of course where ‘Grey’ is spelt differently.}
It’s by the same authors as Goo!, and Gish, but is freeware. Grey Matter can be played in a browser online or there’s a standalone download version which runs faster on slower PCs.
You control a black dot as it runs headlong into the exposed brains of the attackers making it an anti-shooter game. This might sound simple but there’s a lot more to the game. Rather than being the shooter, you are in effect the bullet! Once you have some points you can trade them for upgrades, the first of which should be a shield. The enemies’ tails are dangerous, as are teeth, lasers and flashing bullets.
The game becomes quite intense as more and more enemies appear on-screen. They are also very accurate with their shooting if you don’t get out of their way very quickly! There are many different enemy types and some require multiple hits to destroy. It can very quickly turn into a ‘bullet-hell’ environment! The game has four difficulty modes - unlocked by making sufficient progress for each new difficulty level to be unlocked, one at a time. You can only move up a difficulty level once you have become sufficiently proficient at the previous level.
The ‘arrow’ cursor keys are used to move. You can also hold two of these keys to move diagonally. The ‘P’ key or ‘Esc’ key can be used at any time to pause the game and trade points (use mouse to select items when they become available). Killing 3 of the same type of enemy in a row will cause a "Trinity attack" killing everything inside the triangle of the three attack locations. Trinity Attacks will increase your chain multiplier which gives you more points for upgrades and give you more power-ups. Holding the ‘Shift’ key reduces your speed and will not only slow you down for better control, but will also extend, and speed up your options that spin around you. Holding the ‘Spacebar’ will implement any boosts you may have.
You start off with six lives in the first difficulty level. It gets more and more challenging throughout the game. There are little ‘words of wisdom’ between levels, at the start and if/when you get killed.
Winning repeatedly unlocks a few extra modes, including to directly battle the dangerous and very aggressive final boss. For tactics, if you attack enemies from behind (avoiding any tails) you are safe as they only shoot forwards, and you can take temporary refuge on the decorative border as it’s out of bounds to enemies, so you can dash out, attack and find refuge some of the time.
The only distraction is the dotted line track you leave on-screen which outlines the killing area in a Trinity Attack when you successfully kill 3 of the same type of enemies. I found this to be a little unsettling on my concentration, as to what direction to move in next.
The game has good graphics and excellent music/sound effects. It’s a fun game and while it might not hold your attention for too long in one session, it’s very enjoyable to play for shorter sessions!
You can find how to use an Xbox controller with the game Here
Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3hgQCinIn0
Download HERE - (Standalone version)
Play Online HERE
