Editors' Choice: Best Upcoming Indie feature - 0 A.D. Empires Ascendant

Best Upcoming Indie

Indie games, whether they be commercial or free, have always fought an uphill battle trying to gain some recognition within mainstream circles. Many have started planting roots at ModDB to kickstart their PR campaigns and gain some recognition. As a result of this, we're starting to see some impressive independent titles come out of the woodwork to share their development progress with ModDB's audience and build up strong communities around their games pre-launch. Here's the editors' best picks for the unreleased indies that have graced us with their presence in 2008.

Zeno Clash

^Indie

ACE_Team wrote: Zeno Clash is an action/fighting game set in a punk fantasy world. The game blends the first person genre with the fighting game genre and the combat is generally up close and brutal. The original visuals, which make full use of the Source engine features, are a refreshing deviation from traditional fantasy games. Players will be immersed in a fantastic world, beautiful and disturbing at the same time. The unprecedented art style brings a fresh new approach to the first person genre. The surreal environments and characters will keep player's wanting to discover more. The combat in Zeno Clash is up, close & personal. The new melee combat system allows players to perform a variety of movements like deflect & elude combos, knockback finisher punches and punishing grab attacks. The depth of the combat system will put player's skills to the test. Learn new attacks as the game progresses and confronts you with more formidable foes.
Zeno Clash is a story driven game. Players will play the role of Ghat; the son of a impressive hermaphrodite creature called Father-Mother, whose children form the most powerful clan in the city of Halstedom. Ghat must escape from his family and start an incredible journey with his female companion Deadra, who will aid him in the dangerous lands of Zenozoik. An unusual arsenal of weapons is available for those who can manage to keep the enemy at a range. The eccentric weapons are built from scraps and junk, but they are most effective when used properly. Hammers and clubs will be the most effective when fighting heavy characters that can only be brought down with extreme force.

Infinity: Quest for Earth

^Indie

Infinity_Dev_Team wrote: Infinity is an open-ended game in which you control a spaceship throughought the entire galaxy, trying to make a name for yourself. You connect to an online server on which thousands of people are playing, 24/7. The game does not stop when you log off, but continues to evolve: it is a persistent universe. The game mechanics do not emphasize any particular gameplay style. Combat, trade, exploration, social relationships.. you are free to choose your own carrier path and goals. The only limit is your own imagination! Infinity is not a traditional role playing game. Although all players are expected to act in concordance with their avatar's motivations, there are no classes or skills to restrict your choices. Combat between spaceships is in true real-time, and the outcome is determined by your own intelligence and reflexes. Forget turn-based action and experience the great excitement of a first person experience! Using procedural techniques, the game universe has been designed to be huge and realistic. There are billions of solar systems and planets, each unique and awaiting to be discovered by a player. Coherent scales and distances are used, orbits of celestial bodies are correctly modeled and change continuously, allowing you to attend a sunrise on the moon of a giant planet, for instance.

KRUM

^Indie

Haidme wrote: KRUM is a 3D, single-player, third-person/first-person, computer role-playing game in early stage of development. KRUM has a medieval settings, with some fantasy elements. KRUM will be notable for its high-speed realistic 1 to 1 combats, easy to use interface and remarkable gameplay.

Overgrowth

^Indie

Wolfire_Games wrote: Overgrowth is a 3d action-adventure game for Mac, Windows, and Linux, coming soon from the independent game studio, Wolfire Games. We're five guys working more than full time on this until it's done. While Overgrowth will be inheriting the spirit of Lugaru’s tried and true combat system, it will also benefit from every cutting edge feature that our new Phoenix Engine has to offer. Fans can expect better graphics, better physics, more characters, more moves, great mod support, and co-operative multiplay.

0 A.D.

^Indie

Wildfire_Games wrote: 0 A.D. is a new freeware real-time strategy title currently under development by Wildfire Games. The full-featured game showcases six unique classical civilizations, each ideally depicted at their peak of economic growth and military prowess. Featuring a ground-breaking new game engine custom built to suit our environment, 0 A.D. strives to give a rich and entertaining real-time gaming experience peppered with historical authenticity. Our custom built rendering engine, Pyrogenesis, will be released open source, and the game itself will be completely data driven and 100% customizable.
Custom modding will be a breeze as will scenario design with our user-friendly and richly featured “Atlas” Editor, allowing for map editing, unit and object editing, particle editing, and the introduction of a scenario design feature we call “POGs” (more on this at a later date). Modifying the game's data files will be as simple as editing easy-to-understand Java scripts and XML files. There will never be a commercial game that allows for this amount of end-user freedom and customization.
The classical-era factions in our title consist of the Hellenic States (aka The Greeks), the Roman Republic, The Celtic Tribes, the Persian Empire, the Iberian Tribes, and the Carthaginian Empire. Each of these factions will be unique; from unique technologies to unique units, special buildings, and civilisation bonuses. While our inspiration for 0 A.D. was the classic game “Age of Empires II: Age of Kings” we have not bound the game 100% to “standard” RTS gameplay. We are introducing a number of innovations and gameplay tweaks into the genre, while maintaining the depth of strategy and real-time tactical decision-making that real-time strategy gamers have come to demand in a AAA title.