Coalescence

One day till vacation...must keep pushing forward...I can do this...guuuhhhhh.....

Actually, on that note, while I do intend on being as prolific as possible during the break, This weekend might be a bit of a drought.  My buddies and I are gathering together to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. We already marathon'd all of the Lord of the Rings movies, all of the Star Wars movies, the entirety of Soul Eater, the Harry Potter movies, and all the movies Pixar has made (except Cars: 2)

Long story short, don't get your hopes up for a glut of blogs as soon as the break starts up. It'll probably take us 2 or three days of straight viewing to get it done, and afterwards, I probably won't feel like sitting in front of a glowing screen for any longer than I have to.

Until then, though, Coalescence.

One of the reasons I made this intro longer than usual is because I don't have much to say about Coalescence.  You play as a yellow space marine guy who must traverse through the stages my manipulating the molecular composition of adhesium blocks.  "Whoa now," you may say.  "I play video games to escape from Chemistry class.  What is this, some kind of BS teaching tool?"  Nay, say I, fair sir.  Luckily, phase change is a lot easier to accomplish in Coalescence than it is in real life.  All you gotta do is point your little blaster at a block of adhesium, set it to whatever phase you want it to be in by convenient use of the 1,2, and 3 buttons, and fire away.

Conveyance is a bit of an issue again.  It's a shame because the levels themselves are so well designed that they can essentially act as tutorials in and of themselves.  Unless it was some kind of class requirement to have an instructive tutorial, I see no reason why the game has to block off the use of an ability until a piece of text on the screen politely informs you that you can use it.

In terms of game feel, it's alright but could be better.  The jump is kind of pathetic, leading to many instances in which I hubristically leap across a platform only to fall to my death or in which I find myself adorably jumping up at a 4-foot high ledge, not being able to clear it because my toes' every pixel didn't quite make it to the required altitude.

This is a game in which you'll need to think, and thus it can get rather frustrating rather quickly if you don't figure out a puzzle's solution.  This is the nature of the beast that is puzzle games.  It is, therefore, the game's job to keep the player calm as he or she figures out the puzzles at his or her own pace.  Through aesthetic, the game does a great job of this.  All the environments are really nice, calming shades of blue and the music slyly coils around the player's mind like a seductive boa constrictor.  The game's mechanics, however, reverse the work of the aesthetic with interest.

I already mentioned the frustrating aspects of the platforming, but that's not the only control issue.  Picking up and moving blocks is an integral part of the game, and the way you do this is by clicking the RMB.  Not holding it down, clicking it.  If you abide by your human instincts and hold on to the RMB for as long as you'd wish to hold on to the object, you're out of luck.  Also, LMB throws the block that you're holding; you'd be amazed how easy it is to accidentally throw a block you meant to place, only to see it tumble down a pit, rendering the level unsolvable and leaving suicide as the only option.

To the game's credit, I expected myself to perform far more mercy kills upon my character than I had to.  The levels are designed intuitively enough that you usually won't lose a block you're working with due to one or two silly mistakes.  I will say, though, when you do have to suicide yourself to progress, cover your ears.  The death sound effect is loud and annoying.

In short, Coalescence is a decent little romp, but every admiration of the level design or aesthetic direction can be swiftly uprooted by an annoyance caused by the mechanics or minor design flaws like the death sound effect.  Play it if you want, but you won't be missing much if you skip out.

Until next time, stay gassy


Links
a game that has nothing to do with coal: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25889

Claustrophere

*sigh*
remember those tests I told you guys about yesterday?  Yeah, those happened.  I'm going to be spending a lot of time wallowing inn self-hatred today, which isn't really good news for anyone who likes this blog, because that most likely means less coming up with things to say about Digipen games and more marathons of cat videos accompanied by spoonfuls of Nutella.

Claustrophere plays a lot like Amoeba Evolution in a 3D environment.  You are placed in an arena with a bunch of destructible low-poly models and ordered by your own vicious instincts to go nuts.  It's quite cathartic, or rather, it would be if the controls didn't make me so angry.  Actually, fun fact: before I played this game, my mouse was malfunctioning a bit.  This game's control made me so frustrated I slammed the mouse against the ground, causing it to work again.  I guess by that logic I owe the game a "thank you" but only if it's swiftly followed by a "how dare you" for the most perplexing piece of game design I've yet witnessed.  The targeting reticle always points slightly above where your shot will land.  Thus, if you place an enemy in your sights and fire, your shot will go just under them, leaving them unscathed.  Upon seeing this, I felt like a middle school teacher who just had his mother's sexual decency called into question by one of the students.  I was just so shocked I didn't know how to react.  Other than that, the control is fine...well, except for the fact that "esc" closes the game without so much as an "are you sure" screen.  This can be quite jarring after you've been taken into the wonderful sense of flow the game creates.

And therein lies the forte of Claustrophere.  This game is really immersive.  There's no dialog, no story, and not a single character in the entirety of the game, but I would argue that Claustrophere handles narrative more responsibly than many AAA developers; and it does this through the thing that sets the medium of video gaming apart from all others: mechanics.  As you start off, you're left with a relatively underpopulated death arena and calming music to boot.  The enemies are colored blue and purple, two of the most calming colors to the human eye.  As time goes on and as you kill more enemies, the music swells up and more enemies appear, colored with increasingly alarming hues.  This slowly fills the mind of the player with desperation, anxiety, and all sorts of tension until it's all released in a climactic twist ending (at least, I classify it as a twist).

From a purely gameplay perspective, this game is fun.  If you've ever googled "shooting gallery" because you needed to relieve some tension with the cathartic mechanics of a first person shooter, this game is for you.  The real reason this game gets my seal of approval, however, is because of its masterful use of mechanics and design to convey a narrative.  I and my pretentious friends could talk for hours, discussing what this game tells us about human nature, the world, or life in general.

That was a nice little trip into inspiration.  Welp, back to rolling on the floor and longing for the sweet embrace of eternal slumber.  Until next time, stay organized.



Links
Oh God, they're everywhere! https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=399

Chronos

Alright, chaps! Let's get this show on the road.  I have latin and physics tests to study for, so there aint no time to waste.

Chronos is what happens when you throw Pacman, Snake, and a top-down puzzler like Amaia in a blender.  Maybe toss in some LSD for good luck.

In terms of gameplay, it's your typical "collect key to enter door" spiel.  Nothing you haven't seen before.  In terms of looks, sound and feel, I'm guessing Chronos scored an A+.  Nothing to complain about there.  I do feel I should comment on how colorful the game is.  Such an important part of game design is so often overlooked.  When did game designers forget that the human eye likes to see color?  I've heard the arguments that it tampers with realism or that it will break the flow, but Chronos serves as a perfect counterargument for that because it's so atmospheric.

The thing I like most about Chronos is the way controlling the character in and of itself serves as the most integral part of the level design.  tap-to-go movement isn't really a new concept,  After all, Snake did it and Pacman even did it with enemies.  I must say, though, neither of those games quite match Chronos in terms of weaving it into the level design.  You constantly have to think on your feet and react quickly, lest you be caught in the path of a wraith with no way to escape.  It's hard to explain, so just play the game and see for yourself.  This game gets my seal of approval.

That's all the time I have, folks.  These tests aint gonna study for themselves.  But hey, Winter Break is almost here.  I don't want to promise anything, but I'll try and bring a sizable glut of reviews next week.
Until next time, stay diligent.

Links
Multiple red-haired, time-traveling swordsmen: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26001
^see what I did there?

Chroma Clash

Wook a da pweety cowors!!

Alright, so here's the low-down on Chroma Clash.  the goal of the game is to fill the map with more of your color than any other color.  You spread your color by driving over non-colored or differently colored areas, dropping your color like a bad case of herpes at a drunken college party.  In addition, you can sneeze little globs of your color by pressing space.  These globules are useful not only for coloring the land but also for taking over cannons, which will then shoot larger globules of your color.  Finally, there are powerups for you to collect.  These powerups will generally either give you a permanent speed boost or drastically overpower your weapon for a short time.

Everyone is on an equal playing field in this game, so balance isn't an issue.  The game feel is good for the most part (with the exception of trying to traverse up hills, which gives you that horrible feeling of "not gonna make it") and it's cheerfully fun to watch the drab environment fill up with bright pastels as you gleefully race around.

It's a very simple game, so this will be a very simple review.  There's nothing really wrong with it, at least not wrong enough to annoy me, so I guess I recommend this game.  Though, a game needs to have more than one mode of this kind of simplicity before it gets my seal of approval.

Give it a shot.  It's fun, but we're still a while away from stumbling upon that gaming revolution that so filled my heart with hope when I uncovered this list

Until next time, stay colorful

Links
Probably a great game to play drunk: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=464

Chain of Command

I'm running out of ways to introduce blog posts in my old age, so I'm just gonna dive right in.

Chain of Command is another shining example of "good idea, mediocre execution."  Show of hands: who here likes Super Castlevania 4? Everyone?  That's what I thought.  Remember being able to make the whip go limp and flop it around all over the place?  Wasn't that fun?  Didn't you wish that part of the game was more effective?  Well fear not, citizens: Chain of Command makes the flippy-floppy whip controls the center of the game.  The only problem is that the whip is still about as effective as it was in Super Castlevania 4. 

The biggest problem with this game by far is the hit detection.  Other than that (and the sound direction, which I'll get to in a bit), this game is literally perfectly designed.  Alas, the hit detection is so dreadful that the game is almost unenjoyable.  The problem is that the whip has to be going a certain speed in order for it to do any damage to the zombies.  That would be fine if the aforementioned speed wasn't so arbitrary.  When I swing at a zombie, I have no idea whether I'm going to hit them or not.  If the enemies behaved the way they did in Super Castlevania 4 and froze for a moment when hit with the whip, this game would actually be one of, if not my favorite, game on this list so far.

I have to talk about the sound for a bit.  The music is kind of messy, but its an organic kind of "hey, at least they tried" messy.  I can let it slide.  What really grinds my gears is the chain sound effect.  It's so loud!  Any playtester should have picked up on that in the first moments of playing.

well anyway, aside from that this game is amazing.  I love how the whip controls.  You move your mouse to control your characters' arms, which in turn moves the whip around.  It actually makes you feel like you're whipping zombies.  I love the way movement feels, too.  I swear, if the hit detection was better, this would be a contender for the best feeling sidescroller I've ever played.  The game feel is that good.

Actually, now that I think about it, the level design could be better.  I just didn't really notice because I was having too much fun killing zombies.  Plus, there's really not much you can do with the levels given the control scheme.  

This solid game gets my seal of approval, but with a little demerit on it for faulty hit detection.  If you clean up your act, Chain of Command, you have a bright future ahead of you.  As it stands, though, you're just another fun romp through zombieland.

Links

So close yet so far: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1417

Cease Fire 2010 (2021?)

oh, my head...

First off, this game can't even get its own title right.  On the game's webpage, it says "Cease Fire 2021," but when you download it, the file is called "CeaseFire2010."  Let this set the mood of inconsistency and confusion that characterize this game as a whole.

I wasn't being sarcastic earlier.  This game actually gave me a headache (though that may also be from rolling down a hill head-first during a sledding trip earlier today).  I had to play without sound, because the gunfire sound effects overlap upon each other, amplifying them to the point of being agonizing.

The real problem, though, is the gameplay.  Oh God, the gameplay.  You cac pick among a variety of classes, which should make for good team-based combat.  The problem is that each class is unbelievably frustrating to use.  The control is off the walls!  It's hard to explain, but the targeting reticle is always relative to the front of your vehicle, meaning moving the mouse one direction will yield any one of 360 results, depending on where you're facing.  Trying to control something this batty while moving at speeds that are either way too fast or way too slow makes for one frustrating experience.

Honestly, though, I like that this game exists.  It has much more of a right to be here than games like Cat Nap, which, in my opinion, teaches us nothing about game design.  Cease Fire Whenever, on the other hand, is a brilliant example of how to make every single aspect of a team-based shooter frustrating.  Think of it as a sort of how-to-not guide on how not to program a game.  I think a game developer would do well to play this game in order to learn what makes games frustrating.  This knowledge may end up improving the medium as a whole.

Obviously, this game is far from getting my seal of approval.  However, I'm glad I experienced it.  Give it a shot to see how frustrating a game can truly be.

Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=510

Catalyst

Alrighty then, let's get this show on the road.

The first thing I'd like to say about Catalyst is that the description gave me high hopes.  As I've said before, scrolling shooters are my personal favorite genre of video game.  They have a very simple formula that equates to mountains of fun.  It seems the perfect kind of game to be handled by the folks at DigiPen, because its simplicity also leaves a lot of room for creativity.

The main gimmick this time around is that before you start the game, you pick 4 out of 16 weapons to use.  Those weapons correspond to the E,S,D and F keys, depending on the order in which you chose them.  As a gameplay mechanic, this is pure genius in my opinion.
I feel it necessary to mention Starfox 64 again, which, if you'll recall, is my 2nd favorite game of all time.  The main reason I love that game so much is that due to the multiple branching paths you can take to reach your objectives not only within the levels but in the game as a whole, every time you pop that game in, you'll be greeted by a new experience that's familiar enough to avoid that nervous feeling you get when trying out a new IP.
That said, the mechanic that lets you pick 4 weapons going into a level would be the icing on the cake for a game like Starfox 64.  It would add that much more depth to each of the levels, and each playthrough would leave you thinking "what if I'd used that weapon on that level?"  If executed correctly, this mechanic might make a good game amazing.  In Catalyst, it makes a playable game amusing.

The main gripe I have with the game is that it's horribly balanced, and I mean horribly balanced.  Some weapons are literally useless.  The strangest of all turns you into what looks like the skeletal remains of a trout with a gaseous brown field surrounding you.  I haven't found a single way to hurt the enemies with this thing, making it a "pick this and the game laughs at you" kind of weapon.
On the other side of the same coin is what I like to call the "doomsday ship."  This weapon leaves a trail of anti-matter (or something) wherever you fly.  If the trail makes a closed shape (see? 1st grade math terminology pays off), the space that shape occupies becomes a black hole, killing anything caught inside it.  Use this, and it's pretty much impossible to die unless you want to.

Other than that, the graphics are nice, the character design makes me smile, the music does a great job of keeping the player engaged, and there are a good enough variety of weapons that actually do something to keep the game fun.  This is one of those games that I would really like to see expanded upon.  If this mechanic is designed well and implemented into a scrolling shooter with more than one setting and an actual plot, I would be the first one in line to buy it.

Until next time, stay inventive

Links
hopefully a CATALYST for change...heh: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=524

P.S the people who worked on this game didn't give each other titles, which reminds me of the way Valve makes games.  Maybe take a hint, business people, this no-system system works.