Duck Paradox the one of the best games you never played

Now I know what you're thinking. I'm supposed to be unbiased. I'm supposed to spill all the technical details of a game, and then tell you why I recommend it. I should tell you how I feel about the game. I should explain in great detail what the game does for me. And even though I'm only one person, and you know you shouldn't hang on my every word, I have a responsibility to tell the absolute truth about a game. It will split hairs, or be in the same vein of all other reviews. Regardless, I should not speak so highly of any game, especially one that was provided for me to review. Don't be a Sony Pony, or a Nintendope, or and Xbot, or be a part of the PC master race. Have I used all the buzz words? Yes? GOOD! Because this isn't a review. I bought Duck Paradox. And it's VERY GOOD! 

Last month, at GDEX, in Columbus, Ohio, (I think it stands for Game Development Expo), there were many demos. I will be playing them this week, but the one that stood out to me the most was a game in the Midwest Games section. It was wrecking everyone. It's a bullet hell, rogue like, side scrolling, platformer, shooter, all in one. As I was playing it, Jen, the representative, told me that the game almost didn't get published. One of the reasons, is that the developer, Magic Games, did NOT want to tone down the difficulty. And this is one of those games that shouldn't be able to defeat you, but it does. 

So, the game starts you off with a tutorial. A tutorial you can die in. It teaches you to jump, and jump higher if you hold the button. You have a invincible dash, with very little cooldown. You also have a gun, that you have to pull the trigger for each shot fired. The first problem is, that your own bullets ricochet off the walls, floors, and ceiling, with precision. Oh yeah, and they can kill you. Instantly. In fact, everything can kill you. Stage hazards, other fowl creatures, (see what I did there?), and any other projectiles that are hurled toward you at any given time. You can get a shield, which provides one extra hit, and once you die three times, it's back to the beginning. The mission, is to rescue the Quark. 

Bring the Quark back to your starting point, and he will start a barrier to start charging up the time warping machine, which is not the technical term. I don't owe you that, because I bought it, see? Now, anything in that barrier that you shoot down, will drop some green gems, and once you get enough, you can bail out. But not before you pick one of the three power ups available to you, at random. Some will make you jump higher, some will make your bullets bigger. Either way, you get something for your trouble. This is where the fun starts. 

The first level is always the same. The next levels are randomized, though they will start to look familiar. The premise is the same. Go get quark, bring quark back, exit the level. Every 8 levels, there's a boss, and the boss is huge. It will through everything at you, and sometimes fake you out. You will die a lot, but once you get the hang of it, you start being rewarded with perks, and weapons that you have to build up during your playthroughs. 

You can upgrade Quark at special stations, to a disco Quark, or a Duck Wash quark, and the more you do this, the more you progress. As this is not a review, this is also not a guide. I don't want to give that much away, but I'll give you this. Once you defeat the first boss, you can start the game with a weapon, that you have to power up yourself. And this weapon will eventually let you slice through enemies, and even break certain walls, to further exploration. Once you have that, select the green rocks. I've said too much. 

Again, Duck Paradox is VERY tough, and you will get frustrated, but not at the difficulty. The fact the game is beating you at all. Right now, if you have a Prime Membership, you can get the game for free through GOG, but if you wanna help the mad lads at Midwest Games, who also published Hive Jump 2 from Graphite Lab (Kombinera, Mr. Run and Jump), the game is a cheap $10. And it'll be the coolest game you ever played. There is no online play, or multiplayer, but people watching you play it, is the jam. Maybe I can give away a copy with Extra Life, something else I signed up for at GDEX. Go get it.