Aztaka is a fascinating game, unique in visual focus and appeal yet slightly lacking in gameplay and rather buggy.

The game is a visual feast, with lush 2d artwork representing the various realms of ancient Mesoamerica. The platforming is tricky at first, but after you get used to it it's much easier. Combat is okay, but some enemies are repetitious.

The unfortunate side of this game is the bugs; it crashed to desktop about six times while I was playing.

Still, if you want a visually compelling "light" game experience, this is a good candidate.

Aztaka deserves much praise for standing out and being just a bit different then its counterparts. The game's amazing music and lush scenery belie its indie development.

Gameplay is simple: collect spirits, avoid or defeat the various enemies out to slaughter you, and work through a variety of quests in order to retrieve that which was lost or stolen. Expect to invest about ten hours into the game, hunting through maps and peeking into corners.

Aztaka is a game that seems to get little fanfare, but deserves greater attention because of it excellent musical score, spot on controls, and engaging game play.

The game is a side-scrolling adventure/rpg game where you travel from location to location searching for items, fighting various types of hostile plants and creatures, while seeking to fulfill your quest.

The game takes place in an Aztec style setting and the in-game backgrounds bring this setting to life. There are little touches to the backgrounds that appear to be layered as you can see areas you have traveled fall into the background as you enter new areas.

Also, the music is simply wonderful and fits the style and atmosphere of the game completely. You can perform various actions and spells and the game teaches you how to use the interface as you play, so there is no real wondering what to do in the game. It is not always easy to find what you need or where to go, but that is what makes the game enjoyable as a side-scroller. To know it will take a bit of hunting for the right object or area is part of the adventure/rpg game style.

Overall, Aztaka is an excellent game from an independent developer that is DRM free. At a cost just under $15.00 it is a title that is worth checking out and seeing how well you fare in the world of Aztaka.

Aztaka... An indie game with a fair storyline and fine graphics. It's got what it takes to provide an awesome game experience, a bit puzzly time to time, which is a big + to me.

You jump, climb and crawl through some really well designed levels, there are side quests and many items to get.

I gave the game a 5 cause I am really into these "casual" games, even though I played for 8 hours straight yesterday. It's got that little something pushing you onward and keeping you from giving up.

What I find good is:

-Graphics, not bad not good, very well done.

-Descent amount of items and spells.

-How the game works, sometimes it need you to use mouse and buttons simultaneously, draw something to you hero while at the same time having a hard time jumping and attacking monsters. Might sound cheesy but I've played WoW, Guild Wars, FPS games and other. This is mind challenging.

-Length, I like games that aren't too long.

-Quests, they kinda fit in.

-Price, I got it for about 9€, here on gamersgate and its well worth if you like this kind of games.

And a few "bad" things:

-Bugs, some bugs making you drop through levels and end up on another stage is common, they are working on patches to fix it.

-System Requirements, there are barely any options to fix graphics and the game tends to eat a fair amount of RAM. It runs and loads very smooth on my Dualcore, 4GB ram and 8800gt so any newer will have NO problem, it had some stuttering running native on my laptop with 1GB of RAM, Intel Celeron @1.7GHz and intel gma 950 (I think that's the correct name).

Buy this game if you like platform/action&rpg. Or if you need to kill a weekend.

Regards, Axel