Iji is a freeware indie platformer/shooter/adventure/rpg hybrid from relatively unknown Daniel Remar and is better than many Retail titles.
The story of Iji follows the titular Iji i girl who wakes up to find herself a cyborg and the earth being invaded by an evil alien race named the Tasen, the story progresses from there and the characters and story is suprisingly original, as Iji does not try to wipe out the aliens but tries to negotiate with them and the story progresses from there to a satisfying climax and ending.
The gameplay of Iji can be easily described as System Shock 2 in 2D, you explore large levels and are able to make your way to the ending in a number of different ways, such as sneaking past all the enemies or hacking secret passages or alternatively you could just charge them adn wipe them out with your large array of weapons.
The game uses a unique weapons system were weapons can be combined to create new weapons, for example combining the shotgun and the machine gun create the buster gun.
In Iji players level up Iji by defeating enemies and assimilating their Nano-shields, when you level up you gain skill points which can be spent in one of 8 different stat stations, that can be used to upgrade things such as increasing your health or powering up Iji's melee attacks.
Iji uses a unique art style for the games characters and enviroments that sets it apart from other games, however the games cutscenes have a more 8 bit style to them.
The music for Iji was mostly composed purely for the game and the music reminds me of the original sonic games music where it adds a LOT to the experience.
So basically Iji is one of the greatest Indie games made and its free, it combines elements of system shock with elements of metal slug and castlevania and sets a new bar for games made with game maker.
