Now this is more like it. I was delighted when I saw that the next two games both centered around "speed," which I took to mean I'd get done playing them as fast as possible. Thankfully for me, I was right! One game was over in a matter of minutes and the other doesn't launch. So, let's talk about the one that worked: Speed Run
I gotta say, for a game entitled Speed Run, the default walking speed is pretty pathetic. I guess that's the point, though, because jumping over and over makes you go super fast. I must say, I'm very grateful that the game spelled that out in big white letters, otherwise I would have never figured it out, he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
The levels are quick and simple, which the developers seem to think is a selling point; while it is true that I always prefer more complex and open level design, a game like this has to be streamlined, and if there's one word to describe the level design, it's streamlined.
There are a few simple design decisions that bug me. First off, the camera is way too low to the ground. I feel like I'm in quicksand (which might explain why the walking speed is so low relative to air travel speed). Second, the palate needs at least one or two dull colors here and there, otherwise all the pastel oranges and blues just blend together into this mess that isn't too easy on the eyes. Also, you gain a bit too much momentum when you run, but that's really only a problem in one level, which I'll get to later, after I'm done seething.
Now let's get to the big problems: the abilities. In most levels, you are given three basic abilities to expedite your race to the finish. There's a rocket, a jetpack, and a gravity-switcher. The only one you will ever use is the jetpack. Remember how I said jumping makes you go super fast? Well the jetpack is essentially just a really long jump, so if there's a quicker way to move, I haven't found it. The rockets are utterly pointless. There are no enemies or destructible environments, so the only use the rockets have is rocket-jumping, which vastly inferior to the jetpack.
Don't even get me started on the gravity-switching. It's a nightmare. An absolute nightmare. Maybe it's because of how low the camera is to the ground or maybe it's because the camera doesn't orient itself quite right, but if you ever flip the gravity, you will be confused and nauseated. All that sense of direction that was keeping you moving through the world in a timely manner will be gone, and you'll be lucky if you have enough motivation to restart the level. How could no playtesters have raised their hands and been all "uh, yeah, I kinda feel like a need a bucket right now so maybe clean up this mechanic..."
Other than all those monstrosities, there's only one other problem I had with the game: the last level. Up until then, you'd been programmed to storm through the level with the jetpack as fast as possible, but then, without notifying you, the game takes away your jetpack and gravity switcher so all you're left with is the stupid rocket-jump. Not that that will help anyway, because the level is just a bunch of rectangles that you have to jump on carefully and diligently, lest you fall and have to start all over. It's a frustrating, inconsistent, lazily designed mess of a level. Maybe you'll say "whatever, it's just one level," but this is an entire twelfth of the game we're talking about here. Not only that, but the final twelfth. The grand finale. The climax!
I like what they were trying to do, but Speed Run needed a lot more work before it could be considered fun. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay speedy.
Links
Gotta go fast: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24660
The other one: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=507
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Spell Circle
Yeah, I don't have that much to say about this one. I spent about 5 minutes with it before I decided "well, that's enough of that."
It's a top-down 2D adventurey type thing wherein you play as a wizard who shoots things at other things. Once you kill a creepy forest critter, you can pick up a gem which makes your magic more powerful. Seems simple enough. Well, that's just the word for it. It's simple, ergo, I'm at a loss for words. There's only so much I can say about a game like this.
This game is built a bit like Rouger, but without the hilarious walk cycle. Spell Circle is more streamlined than Rouger, to be sure, which is both a nice way of saying it got rid of 2 of the three attack methods that kept things interesting and an unenthusiastic way of saying it lets you stop that tedious process of picking up and putting down armor and weapons based on their numbers.
The big problem I faced with Spell Circle is the old Castlevania problem that you get knocked back every time you get hit. In Castlevania, this usually meant you'd fall into a well-placed pit after getting hit once. In Spell Circle, it means that if you get surrounded by a long, wormlike enemy, as you'll have to do in order to kill the darn things, getting hit once will start a disastrous chain of events wherein you'll be bounced around the many damaging segments of the enemy and have all your health drained faster than you can say "oops."
Now, I can't say that this is an objectively bad thing. The enemies were obviously deliberately designed to be death traps and utter nightmares to kill, and I know a lot of people who would be gratified by a feature like that. "It makes the game challenging," they would say. Nothing wrong with punishing a lack of skill, right? I agree with that, but there is something that I can say is objectively wrong: the hitboxes. If the air around an enemy is enough to trigger the death cycle, the game goes from gratifyingly difficult to annoying very quickly.
The other main problem is that, simply put, it's not fun enough to kill enemies. Seeking out their one weak spot and hammering them with spells for a minute is the kind of gameplay mechanic that really needs the assistance of hit sparks and satisfying sound effects.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay murderous.
Links
C-I-R-C-L-E, Circle: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24667
It's a top-down 2D adventurey type thing wherein you play as a wizard who shoots things at other things. Once you kill a creepy forest critter, you can pick up a gem which makes your magic more powerful. Seems simple enough. Well, that's just the word for it. It's simple, ergo, I'm at a loss for words. There's only so much I can say about a game like this.
This game is built a bit like Rouger, but without the hilarious walk cycle. Spell Circle is more streamlined than Rouger, to be sure, which is both a nice way of saying it got rid of 2 of the three attack methods that kept things interesting and an unenthusiastic way of saying it lets you stop that tedious process of picking up and putting down armor and weapons based on their numbers.
The big problem I faced with Spell Circle is the old Castlevania problem that you get knocked back every time you get hit. In Castlevania, this usually meant you'd fall into a well-placed pit after getting hit once. In Spell Circle, it means that if you get surrounded by a long, wormlike enemy, as you'll have to do in order to kill the darn things, getting hit once will start a disastrous chain of events wherein you'll be bounced around the many damaging segments of the enemy and have all your health drained faster than you can say "oops."
Now, I can't say that this is an objectively bad thing. The enemies were obviously deliberately designed to be death traps and utter nightmares to kill, and I know a lot of people who would be gratified by a feature like that. "It makes the game challenging," they would say. Nothing wrong with punishing a lack of skill, right? I agree with that, but there is something that I can say is objectively wrong: the hitboxes. If the air around an enemy is enough to trigger the death cycle, the game goes from gratifyingly difficult to annoying very quickly.
The other main problem is that, simply put, it's not fun enough to kill enemies. Seeking out their one weak spot and hammering them with spells for a minute is the kind of gameplay mechanic that really needs the assistance of hit sparks and satisfying sound effects.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay murderous.
Links
C-I-R-C-L-E, Circle: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24667
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