Sharing adventures and smiles ‘Cthulhu Saves the World’ offers evil ice cream, angry lady apes, and dancing zombies By Angela Espinoza, - Arts Reviewer he Xbox Live Indie Game centre was conceived with the intent to give up and coming game designers a chance at fulfilling their dreams — that and gaining an extra buck for Microsoft. As many of these games are various developers’ first release, the majority of them tend to be glitchy, poorly animated, or just plain bad, no matter how much love was put into them. Game developing is certainly not on my radar for career choices, but what I’ve learned as a gamer is not to attempt innovation (something many try and fail at), but to take an already existing idea and be creative with it. While not everybody can make the next J MAED A GAM3 WITH ZOMBIES IN IT!!!1 (2009), one of Xbox’s best-selling indie games, I can honestly say that Cthulhu Saves the World (2010) may actually be the best of all the indie games. Cthulhu Saves the World is an RPG reminiscent of the original Legend of Zelda and Earthbound/ Mother games, just to name a few. Obviously, you play as the dark lord Cthulhu, a terrifying creature who fell from space long ago. After years of living in the depths of the ocean, Cthulhu has finally risen in order to destroy the world. However, the narrator soon informs him that the world has already been taken over by a separate force. It then becomes clear that in order for him to destroy the world, Cthulhu must first save it. Along the way, Cthulhu makes several allies, including his number one groupie, Umi, the crazy babbling wizard, Dacre, and Paws the alien cat. Your goal is to defeat multiple monsters and demons until you’ ve collected enough hero points to be considered a true hero, similar to the “your princess is in another castle’ concept. To those unfamiliar with H.P. Lovecraft, I have to question how you even made it into post secondary. I say this because, amongst the writer’s many popular stories and their numerous adaptations (e.g. Herbert West—Reanimator, The Dreams in the Witch House), Lovecraft’s most popular creation is arguably Cthulhu. Not only does Crhulhu Saves the World play on the creature’s mythos and immense following, but it also references many other Lovecraft works; for example, your progress is recorded in the Necronomicon. As can be expected, the game places Cthulhu in many ridiculous situations and speaking completely out of the horrific character Lovecraft created. The fact that Cthulhu is provided with a love interest is in itself fantastic on so many levels. The one and only complaint I continue to read about, though, is the lack of a world map. The world itself is not difficult to maneuver around once you’ve obtained a certain character. The dungeons and caves on the other hand range from straight-forward strolls to aggravating labyrinths. Oddly enough, while this can indeed be stressful, I found the lack of maps to be a test of memory, and practically nostalgic as they reminded me so much of the older Pokémon games. Zeboyd Games, previously known for Breath of Death VI: The Beginning (2010), are the brilliant minds behind Cthulhu Saves the World. As stated earlier, finding a great indie game is rare, but to find such a hilarious, fun, and well-developed 10-12 hour game as Cthulhu for a mere $3.00 (240 Microsoft Points) is akin to finding the Holy Grail. It is currently available on the Xbox 360, and with any luck, will find a place on additional platforms very soon. 5/5 Bind. Tallying Souvenirs from a Decade of Dating By Sharon Miki One Quantum Optix spinning-combo fishing rod —tags still attached—from the alcoholic narcissist with the canary-yellow Hummer H2 that said I just needed to be more “one” with nature. One plaid, school-girl style skirt in a four— I’m an eight—from the pasty faux-gangster wankster with the sugar cube-sized zirconium earrings who made me watch MTV twenty-four seven. One sparkle-tip pink plastic vibrating phallus from the rebound guy I dated to get over the other guy, but who ended up really wanting a guy-guy-girl threesome with the original guy I was trying to get over. Two diamond-chip-cluster promise rings set in white gold from the guys that said they loved me, and one “forever” ring, set in yellow gold, from the guy that I believed. Three rice cookers from three different guys, “cause what else do you get a half-Asian girl for Valentine’s Day but ethnic-themed small appliances? Enough uncomfortable ruffled-back, boy-short, satin-front, T-back, G-string, V-string, virgin-white, siren- red, bikini-cut, seamless, crotch-less, garter-hooked, hip-_ hugger panties to open my own Victoria’s Secret. I’ve got zebra-esque stretch marks from too many tiny tubs of break-up Haagen-Dazs and tear-stained copies of “He’s Just Not That Into You” in both book and DVD. I’ve got a couple of things I could hawk on eBay. That’s about it.