Editors' Choice: Best Indie Game feature - 2008 Mod of the Year Awards

Best Indie Game

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 released indies that have graced us with their presence in 2008.

Mount & Blade

^Indie

Taleworlds wrote: Mount&Blade is a 3D, open-ended, single-player, third- or first-person, computer role-playing game in beta stage of development, created and distributed by the Turkish development house TaleWorlds. Mount&Blade has a medieval setting, without any fantasy elements. Mount&Blade is notable for its emphasis on realistic cavalry combat, which was common in the era, but is largely absent in most RPG titles.
The player can directly control only one player character, which is created when a new game starts. A character class only serves as a template for future character development. Each "class" differs only in its starting attributes, skill points and equipment. There are no in-game restrictions on equipment or skill use based on class and gender. The maximum level of a skill and the use of certain equipment is linked to a related attribute. The player character's facial features are customizable. The face and hair can be changed at any time, should the player wish to do so. The player character may take sides with any one or none of the factions present in Calradia: The Swadian, Rhodok, Vaegir, Khergit, and Nord armies, or hunt down the various bandits and rogues that plague the region.
The gameplay is open, similar to games such as Elite or Darklands. The game currently has a skeleton plot and the player is free to do as he wishes. While combat is the main draw of the game, it is for the most part optional.

Celestial Impact

^Indie

Celestial_Impact wrote: Celestial Impact is a team multiplayer FPS taking place on asteroids with spherical gravity. The game is unique in that the landscape can be deformed in every direction. Players can add or remove terrain during combat by aiming and firing a special tool called Dirtgun. Celestial Impact is a PC game developed in Sweden that started with a few university students having an idea of an unusual and fun game. The idea evolved into a larger spare-time project and has now reached a fully playable version.

Iron Grip: Warlord

^Indie

Isotx wrote: In IRON GRIP: WARLORD, the first commercial game from Isotx, the player plays as an Atelian warrior from Warlord Sahrab's army. The nomadic state of Atelia is being invaded by the imperialistic Confederation and everything from their religion to their independence is being threatened. Due to its own internal weakness and fractured city-states, Atelia has struggled and largely failed to fight the movement. It is now up to you and a close-knit of rebels--either AI controlled or fellow players--to repel the invader and save Atelia. As a Warlord, you must use all of your skill to defend the city against the Confederate attacks. In an innovative blend of RTS and FPS gameplay, you will employ urban guerrilla tactics to fight off the hordes of soldiers. You must protect your city at all costs, by building defense structures, setting traps, and taking the enemy on yourself. Based on the Quake 3 engine, this project is the latest offering in the Iron Grip Universe.

Live for Speed S2

^Indie

Live_for_Speed wrote: LFS S2 is a serious racing simulator. No arcade modes, no steering aids - YOU have to do the driving. It is therefore highly recommended to play the sim with a wheel, because even though you can use keyboard and/or mouse, a wheel is what you use in a real car, so a wheel should be used in a serious racing simulator. Especially when going online, where fast reactions are required.
In S2 you can race alone or against the AI, but the real fun is to be found online, in multiplayer mode. Racing against real people is simply the best thing and LFS makes it easy for you to do so. There are also several online racing leagues you can take part in, if you are looking for something with a more competitive edge.
A serious simulator obviously requires a very good physics simulation to provide the thrill and fun of real racing. This is done by simulating all aspects that are important to racing. LFS S2 is the second step towards our vision of what the sim must become and already does a very good job in simulating real racing. Many racing aspects are covered - comprehensive setup possibilities, fuel usage, tyre wear, a lot of different surface types, intriguing racing environments, different car classes, etc. All these aspects make sure you have enough to practise with and spend time on learning the flow of the tracks. Additionally, don't forget to plan your pitstops - find out how much fuel your car uses on a track and how are your tyres behaving on any track, with your driving style. All aspects you will have to think about in real racing and as such you need to think about them in S2 as well.

Savage 2: A Tortured Soul

^Indie

S2_Games wrote: Savage 2 is a hybrid RTS-action game. Two teams--Beasts and Humans--square off in large-scale maps. On each team, one player is the "commander" and plays the game like an RTS, while every other player on the team plays it as an action game. Savage 2 adds upon the existing Savage formula by expanding the melee combat system, updating the RPG and stat-tracking elements, and adding an entirely new race--the Hellborne. The strong emphasis on teamwork, innovative merging of genres, and asymmetrical teams make Savage 2 a very unique gameplay experience.