So this game is actually very similar to the last one I reviewed. It had the foundation to be a unique and fun little adventure but it messed up programming-wise.
Actually, this game also has a problem with momentum, but honestly that's the least of our worries. The main problem is how buggy this game is. The physics are non-existent. At any moment you can press space to leap from a rope only to get flung down into an abyss.
The game builds itself around swinging, which invokes a fun Bionic Commando kind of feel. The problem is that the swinging physics are so damn choppy that the whole game ends up feeling more like Sonic '06 in that the only way to prosper is to manipulate the glitches to your advantage.
Don't get me wrong, this game had a lot of neat ideas. In fact, I think that's its strongest point. swinging mechanics, proximity lighting...nothing too original, but they seem like well-implemented ideas. There's enough in this game to make you go "oh, that's kinda cool."
Unfortunately, that feeling is far outweighed by the overall feel. Everything in this game seems to be programmed to do the exact opposite of what you want it to do. Hitbox sizes are inconsistent, the rope mechanics are a nightmare, hazards and platforms are placed inauspiciously...everything.
This game was another swing and miss, but I can respect that. Yes, it has a lot of flaws...too many for me to recommend it, in fact. Still, it has an appeal.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay hydrated
Links:
splat: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25114
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
Hot Chick
yeah, this game certainly turned me into a hot chick....er...wait, that came out wrong...
Hot Chick is a platformer based around bomb-propulsion mechanics. In short, it had a good foundation but failed in the implementation. Allow me to elaborate:
The number one problem with Hot Chick is the momentum. When you're in the air, you're pretty much inert. Even though this is technically more realistic than the Mario approach, it's a lot less fun. There's nothing quite as frustrating as frantically holding down a directional button trying desperately to mount a platform.
This flaw is made all the more menacing by the fact that you die in one hit. Not only is this going to lead to a lot of unwanted spike deaths that feel undeserved, but it also paves the way to getting suckerpunched by enemies you only saw once you propelled yourself toward them. This may be more a fault with the level design than the mechanics, but it still makes the game frustrating.
There are some good points to the game. The art direction is competent and it does feel rewarding to conquer certain environment puzzles. Essentially, whenever there's nothing around that can kill you, the game is fun. Dying in one hit and a lack of mid-level checkpoints make every hazard in this game a walk through hell.
Not the worst game I've played, but I can't recommend it. That's all for now. Until next time, stay hot.
Links
Title Pun Swing and Miss: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25440
Hot Chick is a platformer based around bomb-propulsion mechanics. In short, it had a good foundation but failed in the implementation. Allow me to elaborate:
The number one problem with Hot Chick is the momentum. When you're in the air, you're pretty much inert. Even though this is technically more realistic than the Mario approach, it's a lot less fun. There's nothing quite as frustrating as frantically holding down a directional button trying desperately to mount a platform.
This flaw is made all the more menacing by the fact that you die in one hit. Not only is this going to lead to a lot of unwanted spike deaths that feel undeserved, but it also paves the way to getting suckerpunched by enemies you only saw once you propelled yourself toward them. This may be more a fault with the level design than the mechanics, but it still makes the game frustrating.
There are some good points to the game. The art direction is competent and it does feel rewarding to conquer certain environment puzzles. Essentially, whenever there's nothing around that can kill you, the game is fun. Dying in one hit and a lack of mid-level checkpoints make every hazard in this game a walk through hell.
Not the worst game I've played, but I can't recommend it. That's all for now. Until next time, stay hot.
Links
Title Pun Swing and Miss: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25440
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Hookshot
yeah it's broken. Can't get past the menu screen. Unfortunately I don't even think I'll be able to get a legitimate review out today, either. Sorry guys.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Hollowpoint
Hollowpoint betrays everything you've been taught since childhood. Get ready to have your mind blown: turtles run fast. It all makes sense now! That explains how that one pet turtle I had that one time escaped so quickly while my dad was cleaning his tank. Golly gee...
Well other than that, Hollowpoint plays by the rules. Guns are fun, so let's make a game with them. The guns run on time rather than ammo, so it's another blank-minded shootstravaganza.
Alright, let's not pretend it's something it's not. Let's just judge it based on what it is. In a game like this, the most important factor by far is game feel, and Hollowpoint pulls that off pretty well. The guns are satisfying to shoot and galloping around looking for health and gun upgrades is definitely appealing.
Difficulty is fine. The game derives its challenge from the typical bullet hell formula: just throw a bunch o' stuff at 'em and see what they can do. Yeah, the levels are designed pretty haphazardly, but it works in this context.
At first I really liked the visual style, but once I got over the feeling of "I am a turtle killing things with high-powered weapons" I realized that there wasn't much variety to anything.
This is a delightfully average sensory stimulation machine. If that sounds appealing to you, go for it. It's certainly enjoyable, so if you're bored and feel like going on a rampage, give it a shot.
That's all for now. Until next time, stay shelled
Links
Hello, point: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=402
Well other than that, Hollowpoint plays by the rules. Guns are fun, so let's make a game with them. The guns run on time rather than ammo, so it's another blank-minded shootstravaganza.
Alright, let's not pretend it's something it's not. Let's just judge it based on what it is. In a game like this, the most important factor by far is game feel, and Hollowpoint pulls that off pretty well. The guns are satisfying to shoot and galloping around looking for health and gun upgrades is definitely appealing.
Difficulty is fine. The game derives its challenge from the typical bullet hell formula: just throw a bunch o' stuff at 'em and see what they can do. Yeah, the levels are designed pretty haphazardly, but it works in this context.
At first I really liked the visual style, but once I got over the feeling of "I am a turtle killing things with high-powered weapons" I realized that there wasn't much variety to anything.
This is a delightfully average sensory stimulation machine. If that sounds appealing to you, go for it. It's certainly enjoyable, so if you're bored and feel like going on a rampage, give it a shot.
That's all for now. Until next time, stay shelled
Links
Hello, point: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=402
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Hexcentric
hehe yeah this game is a bit hexcentric if you know what I'm saaaayinnnnnnnn
*ahem*
okay so this is one of those puzzle game type things that I'm not really good at so maybe I'm not the most reliable of sources to go with on this one. What I can tell you is that, from a game design perspective, Hexcentric tried to be fun for all the family and succeeded...to an extent.
The difficulty is perfect. The game modes range from the pathetically simple to the "I have no idea what's happening." Each game mode, regardless of your starting point, has pretty much the same difficulty curve, which is rather effective at reeling you into the game. Now, the question is: is the game itself fun?
Well it's an entertaining little toy, but I can't see myself ever investing more than a few minutes to tinker around with it. Honestly, there's just only so much tile arranging I can do before I start to get bored.
Again, the game is designed beautifully and it makes you feel kinda smart for figuring out how to play it (unless you click "how to play" in which case your only reaction will be "oh...oh that's kinda smart I guess")
If you like casual puzzlers, this is for you. If not, it's not. It's lacking in polish and depth, but a game doesn't need those things to be a fun experience.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay hexagonal
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=444
*ahem*
okay so this is one of those puzzle game type things that I'm not really good at so maybe I'm not the most reliable of sources to go with on this one. What I can tell you is that, from a game design perspective, Hexcentric tried to be fun for all the family and succeeded...to an extent.
The difficulty is perfect. The game modes range from the pathetically simple to the "I have no idea what's happening." Each game mode, regardless of your starting point, has pretty much the same difficulty curve, which is rather effective at reeling you into the game. Now, the question is: is the game itself fun?
Well it's an entertaining little toy, but I can't see myself ever investing more than a few minutes to tinker around with it. Honestly, there's just only so much tile arranging I can do before I start to get bored.
Again, the game is designed beautifully and it makes you feel kinda smart for figuring out how to play it (unless you click "how to play" in which case your only reaction will be "oh...oh that's kinda smart I guess")
If you like casual puzzlers, this is for you. If not, it's not. It's lacking in polish and depth, but a game doesn't need those things to be a fun experience.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay hexagonal
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=444
Helvault
You wanna know how to tell if a game may be oversimplified? If it only uses one button.
But seriously, folks. If that doesn't capture how simplistic Helvault is, nothing will. The only thing you have the power to do is jump. This makes the game easy to play, if nothing else.
The visual style is one step further than that whole "retro-NES" style I talked about in my Haven review and goes for something of a "retro-Atari 2600" look. The animations are limited and the whole thing is very plain. Nothing to behold but nothing to scorn.
The game itself, despite having literally the most simple control scheme possible, can actually get pretty intense. It goes for an arcade feel, which shows through its difficulty. Yeah, this game is a token taker, alright. See, the way you power up is by collecting more teammates, so when those teammates die, you get substantially weaker. You enemies, which kill you just by touching you, do not. Thus, it becomes nigh impossible to survive once a few of your guys get taken out. This isn't a bad thing, mind. I appreciate how unforgiving the game is, and since the game takes no time at all to get moving, it makes for a fun and intense experience. Who knew timing jumps could be so fun?
The other thing that can make this game super chaotic is that your teammates can spread out. See, they form a line behind you as you collect them, and they all jump simultaneously when you press the jump button. This means that if you have a large team, you're likely going to end up with three separate rows of platforms all being covered by your guys. Keeping track of your characters under these conditions can be quite exhilarating.
Yeah, that's all I got. Simple concept, fun game. Until next time, stay prehistoric.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26008
But seriously, folks. If that doesn't capture how simplistic Helvault is, nothing will. The only thing you have the power to do is jump. This makes the game easy to play, if nothing else.
The visual style is one step further than that whole "retro-NES" style I talked about in my Haven review and goes for something of a "retro-Atari 2600" look. The animations are limited and the whole thing is very plain. Nothing to behold but nothing to scorn.
The game itself, despite having literally the most simple control scheme possible, can actually get pretty intense. It goes for an arcade feel, which shows through its difficulty. Yeah, this game is a token taker, alright. See, the way you power up is by collecting more teammates, so when those teammates die, you get substantially weaker. You enemies, which kill you just by touching you, do not. Thus, it becomes nigh impossible to survive once a few of your guys get taken out. This isn't a bad thing, mind. I appreciate how unforgiving the game is, and since the game takes no time at all to get moving, it makes for a fun and intense experience. Who knew timing jumps could be so fun?
The other thing that can make this game super chaotic is that your teammates can spread out. See, they form a line behind you as you collect them, and they all jump simultaneously when you press the jump button. This means that if you have a large team, you're likely going to end up with three separate rows of platforms all being covered by your guys. Keeping track of your characters under these conditions can be quite exhilarating.
Yeah, that's all I got. Simple concept, fun game. Until next time, stay prehistoric.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26008
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Helios
"We are Daedalus. We are Icarus. The barriers between us have fallen and we have become our own shadows. We can be more if we join with you."
Helios is a 3D, straightforward space shooter. Its most distinguishing feature, if you ask me, is that it's played exclusively with the mouse. It's altogether functional minus a few manageable flaws and, ultimately, it's a fun experience. Here's why:
First, let's talk about presentation, which is something this game absolutely nails. As soon as you start it up, the game greets you with a fun, active electronic tune, which is a sped up version of a song I remember hearing in other games, so either the guys who provide DigiPen with their music were out of ideas or someone on this game's team decided to leave an auditory mark on their project, which I can respect.
The sun in the background contrasts beautifully with the space atmosphere (or lack thereof...hehe) and the bright trail of your ship is a delight to behold...not that you'll have much time to behold it, because as soon as the 30-second tutorial wraps up, you're launched into an onslaught of enemies and obstacles, all well designed and fun to shoot at.
Alright, let's get into the problems with the game. Really, there are 3 big ones: a sound glitch, the enemy fire, and the obstacles.
Let's start with enemy fire. It's tiny and impossible to avoid. Mostly, this is because if an enemy situates itself right in front of you, your ship will prevent you from seeing the enemy projectiles. See, in Starfox 64, the camera is angled slightly downward so that you can see enemies that are directly in front of you. As a result, every hit you take feels like you deserved it. Here, almost every time you take damage seems like a cheap shot.
speaking of cheap shots, let's talk obstacles: All-in-all, this game controls quite well, even on my trackpad. However, dodging the giant obstacles is made artificially difficult by some sort of design flaw I might be able to point out if I were a design student. All I know as a player is that one second the opening to escape unharmed couldn't be clearer and the next you've just collided with a piece of 3-ton space debris. Not fun, not challenging, just frustrating.
Speaking of space debris, there's the sound glitch. The first song you blast away enemies to is catchy and immersive. Perfect for setting the mood. However, at some point, whether it's when you collide with space debris or when 2 pieces of space debris collide against each other, that music will stop and you will be catapulted out of the experience. Couple that with the fact that collision sound effects are way too loud and you've got yourself a real sound editing problem.
Other than all that, Helios is quite fun and definitely worth your time. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay inevitable.
Links
can't get away: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18573
Helios is a 3D, straightforward space shooter. Its most distinguishing feature, if you ask me, is that it's played exclusively with the mouse. It's altogether functional minus a few manageable flaws and, ultimately, it's a fun experience. Here's why:
First, let's talk about presentation, which is something this game absolutely nails. As soon as you start it up, the game greets you with a fun, active electronic tune, which is a sped up version of a song I remember hearing in other games, so either the guys who provide DigiPen with their music were out of ideas or someone on this game's team decided to leave an auditory mark on their project, which I can respect.
The sun in the background contrasts beautifully with the space atmosphere (or lack thereof...hehe) and the bright trail of your ship is a delight to behold...not that you'll have much time to behold it, because as soon as the 30-second tutorial wraps up, you're launched into an onslaught of enemies and obstacles, all well designed and fun to shoot at.
Alright, let's get into the problems with the game. Really, there are 3 big ones: a sound glitch, the enemy fire, and the obstacles.
Let's start with enemy fire. It's tiny and impossible to avoid. Mostly, this is because if an enemy situates itself right in front of you, your ship will prevent you from seeing the enemy projectiles. See, in Starfox 64, the camera is angled slightly downward so that you can see enemies that are directly in front of you. As a result, every hit you take feels like you deserved it. Here, almost every time you take damage seems like a cheap shot.
speaking of cheap shots, let's talk obstacles: All-in-all, this game controls quite well, even on my trackpad. However, dodging the giant obstacles is made artificially difficult by some sort of design flaw I might be able to point out if I were a design student. All I know as a player is that one second the opening to escape unharmed couldn't be clearer and the next you've just collided with a piece of 3-ton space debris. Not fun, not challenging, just frustrating.
Speaking of space debris, there's the sound glitch. The first song you blast away enemies to is catchy and immersive. Perfect for setting the mood. However, at some point, whether it's when you collide with space debris or when 2 pieces of space debris collide against each other, that music will stop and you will be catapulted out of the experience. Couple that with the fact that collision sound effects are way too loud and you've got yourself a real sound editing problem.
Other than all that, Helios is quite fun and definitely worth your time. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay inevitable.
Links
can't get away: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18573
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