Village Gamer

Nine Dots Studio is hard at work to deliver Brand, which the studio says will be one of the most polished titles ever seen on Xbox Live Indie Games. The game will be launched before the end of September for 240 Microsoft Points. Brand is a game that offers some of the most stunning 3D graphics ever seen on the Xbox Live Indie Games marketplace and yet is rooted in old school 2D action gameplay. There are three open levels to explore, and you choose which quests suits your needs according to the powers you want to unlock.

The goal is to upgrade the sword to your liking, up to a set level. Any power changes both the gameplay and the sword’s appearance significantly. Some of these powers can be combined to create new abilities. There are nine powers which can be upgraded five times each and four hidden combos. Examples of gameplay altering powers: transform the dash attack into a teleport spell or transform the block ability into an offensive ability.

 

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdwDQHdVTjE]

Venture too far at your own risk in the vast expanse of levels. Falling in the wrong hole might force you to fight off waves of punishing monsters – unless you’ve done your homework and learned their patterns. Brand will deliver a different experience to each player. Although a typical game will be short (a few hours), it will offer a lot of replay value through the exploration of different play styles. Nine Dots is exploring the possibility of releasing the game on Steam at a later date, but has not committed to that avenue of development.