Welcome back to the Twinstiq Game Club where the first rule of Game Club is to always talk about Game Club. I'm Scrooloose and this week we rolled for my nomination and the crew will be playing: Hammerfight.

This is a 2D physics based title set in a fantasy world where the player takes the role of a "rider", an operator of a flying machine who happens to belong to a long line of warriors in a tribe called the Gaiar. Various sects and tribes inhabit the world of floating islands and eventually the player is captured by a rival and forced into slavery. Hammerfight's story is linear and fairly short at only around four hours but there are several modes that will unlock during your play through to increase your play time.

Flying Machines and Weapons

Players will use a flying machine that can mount various melee weapons to use in combat ranging from a simple stone mace on a chain to swords, axes and even whip chains. All controls are made using your mouse, so make sure your DPI is as high as it can be since the faster you sweep your mouse the harder your machine will swing that weapon.

As you play you'll gain currency to allow the purchase of new weapons and armor that can be combined to make a pretty imposing flying machine. You'll will also earn glory which will evolve the look of the craft and gain player titles.

Hammerfight does have multiplayer via multiple mouse support on a single screen. I've never tried it since it honestly sounds pretty inconvenient but it's available.

Story

The story itself is actually pretty nice if a bit predictable and literally translated, but it'll feel complete when all is said and done. As I mentioned above the story mode will take about four hours if everything goes smooth for you. Stages are very short but often times very challenging, expect to die over and over. As you play you'll unlock an Arena mode where you can battle multiple NPCs as long as you like earning money and glory. You'll also unlock the Hall mode. This is where you'll purchase and practice with them, once purchased they're always available in the hall should you wish to try different combinations. There's also a Hammerball mode. A sort of sport where the player uses a hammer to bat a ball back and forth on the screen against NPCs for a score and lots of money.

If You Plan To Join Us

Alright guys that's what we're playing this time around and we hope you'll join us. I'll list some items below explaining our agenda and what to expect.

• We'll be playing through up to chapter 3 in the first week. Then finishing the game the next week.
• Try lots of weapon combinations. There are a surprising amount of ways to combine different weapon types and various armors. You're sure to find one that fits your play style.
• Hammerfight is fun but don't expect AAA polish. For the most part this game will play smoothly on any machine. Make sure your mouse DPI is as high as it can get to make your experience better. The screen will get pretty chaotic and make it difficult to track your character amidst the action, this can be frustrating. The game menu will help calibrate your mouse but is otherwise very limited.
• Pick it up from Steam HERE. Hammerfight is not available from GoG.
• Finally, enjoy your play through and keep an eye out for updates on the Twinstiq Game Club via You Tube and right here on the Twinstiq website itself.

System Specs For Hammerfight Are As Follows:

Windows:

• OS: Windows 98SE / ME / XP / Vista
• Processor: Athlon / Pentium III 2 GHz
• Memory: 256 Mb
• Graphics: DirectX 8.0 compatible with 64 Mb VRAM
• DirectX®: 8.0
• Hard Drive: 150 Mb
• Sound: DirectX 8.0 compatible

Mac:

• OS: Mac OS X 10.5 or later
• Processor: Intel (32 or 64 bit)
• Memory: 256 Mb
• Graphics: Any GPU supported by Mac OS X
• Hard Drive: 150 Mb
• Sound: Any hardware supported by Mac OS X

SteamOS Linux:

• OS: Compatible with Ubuntu 11.04
• Processor: x86 or amd64 2GHz
• Memory: 256 Mb
• Graphics: Any reasonable GPU supported
• Hard Drive: 150 Mb
• Sound: Any reasonable hardware supported