Put Me Out!

And speaking of fun arcade-type games, here's another one.

The game gontrols from a top-down view, kind of similar to Hotline Miami and the early GTA games.  Funnily enough, once you mow down a few pedestrians with your fire truck, you begin to almost think you're playing a GTA game, but I digress.

Put Me Out is the journey of a fireman who wants to put out fires.  That's it.  You run around the overworld, following your compass to find the nearest burning building, and then use a variety of water-spraying methods, from water balloons to super soakers, to put out the fire.

The main problem I had with this game was the conveyance.  Yes, we're going back here again.  It's only really a problem in the first minute of the game, but many would argue that the first minute is the most important minute.  Every 13 nanoseconds, you're stopped in your tracks to have the (relatively intuitive) controls explained to you by a librarian-looking woman.  The problem is: they're xbox controls.  All of them.  If you're going to go to the trouble of incorporating an unnecessarily obtrusive tutorial, you can at least let the people who play on computers (you know, your primary demographic) understand what you're talking about.

Anyways, other than that, this game is a riot and I don't have much else to say about it.  Every design choice seems to revolve around the central feeling of having a rip-roaring good time, and I can appreciate that in a game.  It just means there's probably not a whole lot to analyze.

Upon the end of your time limit, you're shown an invoice that tells you how much you earned for your services, much like in the end of Starfox 64, and any game that reminds me of Starfox 64 is a good one in my book.  That's all I got for now.  Until next time, stay dry.

Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18539

Purge

It's funny how prevalent certain things become after you start noticing them, isn't it?  For 16 and a half of the 17 years of my existence, I had no idea that the British word for "flashlight" is "torch," but now that I learned that, for example, I see it everywhere. 

The reason I bring this up is that, not too long ago, I compared a game I was reviewing to Bossinabox and Claustrophere.  As it turns out, Purge feels exactly like a combination of those two games.

From Bossinabox, Purge gets its fixed-rail movement system, and from Claustrophere, it gets its crowded and hectic feel.

The two elements work together really well.  Other than aesthetic things, such as the music sounding like something your little cousin would throw together in MadTracker2 before learning what VST plugins are, there's not a whole lot to complain about.  It's a simple, straightforward arcade-type game.  You like making things go boom?  Purge is for you.

Actually, there is one fatal flaw.  Again, it's not really the programmers' fault, but it just breaks the experience so much.  Certain button combinations don't work together.  For example, I don't believe you can move right and shoot diagonally down and to the left at the same time.  This is because the arrow keys, those finicky little bastards, control your gun.  It would have been nice to have the option to use the mouse, or even other keys such as "I,J,K and L."

Oh well.  That's all I got for now.  Until next time, stay cleansed.

Links
Bulimia Joke: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1642

Pudding Panic

yeah, this one didn't work either.  All I could get to run was a level editor that I didn't bother looking into too much.  Don't worry, though, I won't leave you hanging for 2 days in a row.  I'll be back later with more review goodness.

Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1547