S'BROKEN!
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25986
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Dark Labyrinth
Whew! Finally, a game that works!
Dark Labyrinth is a simple little time-waster with a few prominent flaws. What are those flaws, you ask? Be patient, I'll get to them as soon as I'm done padding this intro.
First off, I should note that this game does have a 2-player mode. I tried it, but ended up dying randomly, so I went into the singleplayer mode, where I was greeted with a tutorial. That's a bit strange. What if you wanted to play with a friend who's never played before? Don't they deserve to know about the game too?
The most glaring flaw about this game is that it takes WAY too long to get moving. It wasn't until level 5 that I even heard the first moan of a mummyghost, and a new one is introduced every 5 levels. It was only by replaying the game and skipping the tutorial that I got the idea to click "f1" in the main game. Doing this instantly teleports you to level 26. This exploit is a must-use for anyone who doesn't want to mindlessly walk to all 4 corners of the same room 25 times.
In case that last sentence didn't give it away, this game is just boring. The only challenge or threat whatsoever comes from the mummyghosts, which can easily be outsmarted. I only ever got killed by one because I was screwing around with it and trying to make it do figure-eights. Essentially, all this game amounts to is wandering around a maze, picking up treasures. That's not enough to hold up a game.
I do feel like I have to mention the torches. This seems to be the game's unique selling point, but as far as I can tell, you never ever need to use it. You're constantly being rewarded with more wicks with which to light torches, but again, they're utterly useless. Every now and again, lighting a torch will give you a speed boost or something, but it's completely unnecessary. Every mechanic in a game has to have a purpose, otherwise its just deadweight programming that saps time and energy from portions of the game that could have benefited from them.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay scary.
Links
ooOOoooOOOh: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24355
Dark Labyrinth is a simple little time-waster with a few prominent flaws. What are those flaws, you ask? Be patient, I'll get to them as soon as I'm done padding this intro.
First off, I should note that this game does have a 2-player mode. I tried it, but ended up dying randomly, so I went into the singleplayer mode, where I was greeted with a tutorial. That's a bit strange. What if you wanted to play with a friend who's never played before? Don't they deserve to know about the game too?
The most glaring flaw about this game is that it takes WAY too long to get moving. It wasn't until level 5 that I even heard the first moan of a mummyghost, and a new one is introduced every 5 levels. It was only by replaying the game and skipping the tutorial that I got the idea to click "f1" in the main game. Doing this instantly teleports you to level 26. This exploit is a must-use for anyone who doesn't want to mindlessly walk to all 4 corners of the same room 25 times.
In case that last sentence didn't give it away, this game is just boring. The only challenge or threat whatsoever comes from the mummyghosts, which can easily be outsmarted. I only ever got killed by one because I was screwing around with it and trying to make it do figure-eights. Essentially, all this game amounts to is wandering around a maze, picking up treasures. That's not enough to hold up a game.
I do feel like I have to mention the torches. This seems to be the game's unique selling point, but as far as I can tell, you never ever need to use it. You're constantly being rewarded with more wicks with which to light torches, but again, they're utterly useless. Every now and again, lighting a torch will give you a speed boost or something, but it's completely unnecessary. Every mechanic in a game has to have a purpose, otherwise its just deadweight programming that saps time and energy from portions of the game that could have benefited from them.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay scary.
Links
ooOOoooOOOh: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24355
Danger Zone
Man, it's turning out to be a good day to be a DigiPen game reviewer, because this one doesn't work either. At least this time they straight up tell me on the game's webpage that there is no download link available.
Dandellos
Downloading this game is kinda the same deal as downloading Crazy Cross. The DigiPen download link just brings me a "not real" exe.
Unfortunately, this game is a bit more elusive than Crazy Cross, and I don't have the kind of free time I did back in the glorious days of vacation. Thus, I'm gonna have to declare this one broken. If anyone manages to find a link to the actual game, feel free to hit me up and I'll get a-writing. For now, though, I got nothing.
Unfortunately, this game is a bit more elusive than Crazy Cross, and I don't have the kind of free time I did back in the glorious days of vacation. Thus, I'm gonna have to declare this one broken. If anyone manages to find a link to the actual game, feel free to hit me up and I'll get a-writing. For now, though, I got nothing.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Damage Control
Hey guys. In case you haven't noticed, it's rather late in the day for me to be blogging. I've also got a lot more stuff I want to get to tonight, so I'm going to keep this one short (surprise surprise).
The first problem I noticed is that the game closes out every time you hit "esc." This is one of those design choices that could enhance the game in some cases, but could detriment it in others. For example, in horror games, having the "esc" key work as a "chicken out" button actually increases tension as the player is constantly being urged to just click that one button and be done with it. I've never played any of those SCP games, but I've heard they implement that concept and that it works. In Damage Control, there's no tension, and thus no reason I can think of to make "esc" an instant quit button. Furthermore, this design choice contradicts the design of the game as a whole. The game is rife with little transitional animations in the menu screens. I guarantee you, at one point when you're navigating a menu, you will press "esc" unknowingly and close out the game. Luckily, the game autosaves the choices you make in the customization screen, so this isn't a huge problem. Also, it's worth noting that "esc" only closes the game when you're navigating the menu, which is the only time it would really be a problem. That's just plain sloppy.
But now let's talk about the meat of the game: the battles.
The first thing that annoys me is the level design. There are three levels to choose from and only one of them is passable. See, the goal of the game is to collect gears. One level has all the gears conveniently placed in the middle of the arena, so you can basically just camp there and turn the game into king of the hill with the added bonus of horrendous controls, which I'll get to in a second. Another also has the gears in the middle but with an obnoxious death pit waiting to kill all those hubristic enough to try and actually win the game.
Now I just want to talk briefly about the game design in general. The only competitive part of this game is that you can kill your opponents, thus removing any gears they've collected. The problem is that the cars move so fast and are so hard to control and the weapons are so useless that you'll never be able to catch up to your enemies efficiently enough, and they'll never be able to catch up to you. Running around collecting gears is the best strategy, and that becomes boring after like a minute of use.
Lastly, the weapon design is also sloppy. It seems they just put certain weapons in without thinking about how well they'll work with the games mechanics. The mentality seems to be something akin to this:
Linksbumper cars minus the bumper: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=489
The first problem I noticed is that the game closes out every time you hit "esc." This is one of those design choices that could enhance the game in some cases, but could detriment it in others. For example, in horror games, having the "esc" key work as a "chicken out" button actually increases tension as the player is constantly being urged to just click that one button and be done with it. I've never played any of those SCP games, but I've heard they implement that concept and that it works. In Damage Control, there's no tension, and thus no reason I can think of to make "esc" an instant quit button. Furthermore, this design choice contradicts the design of the game as a whole. The game is rife with little transitional animations in the menu screens. I guarantee you, at one point when you're navigating a menu, you will press "esc" unknowingly and close out the game. Luckily, the game autosaves the choices you make in the customization screen, so this isn't a huge problem. Also, it's worth noting that "esc" only closes the game when you're navigating the menu, which is the only time it would really be a problem. That's just plain sloppy.
But now let's talk about the meat of the game: the battles.
The first thing that annoys me is the level design. There are three levels to choose from and only one of them is passable. See, the goal of the game is to collect gears. One level has all the gears conveniently placed in the middle of the arena, so you can basically just camp there and turn the game into king of the hill with the added bonus of horrendous controls, which I'll get to in a second. Another also has the gears in the middle but with an obnoxious death pit waiting to kill all those hubristic enough to try and actually win the game.
Now I just want to talk briefly about the game design in general. The only competitive part of this game is that you can kill your opponents, thus removing any gears they've collected. The problem is that the cars move so fast and are so hard to control and the weapons are so useless that you'll never be able to catch up to your enemies efficiently enough, and they'll never be able to catch up to you. Running around collecting gears is the best strategy, and that becomes boring after like a minute of use.
Lastly, the weapon design is also sloppy. It seems they just put certain weapons in without thinking about how well they'll work with the games mechanics. The mentality seems to be something akin to this:
That's not good game design. Also, do not ever use the blades. Using those things is a fate worse than death.
Overall, there are ways to manipulate this game so it becomes fun, but you shouldn't have to manipulate a game. It should just be good from the get go. This game is miles away from earning my seal of approval. I'm not trying to be harsh, but the only basis I have for recommending this game is that it's functional.
Linksbumper cars minus the bumper: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=489
Monday, February 25, 2013
Cubed
So, you think you're pretty smart, huh? do ya, punk? Well I'm about to prove you wrong. Ready for it?
Cubed.
This game is pretty easy to explain: It's Tetris on steroids. The premise is simple: place Tetris bricks anywhere on a Cartesian grid to try and form 3x3 blocks. Once you form a 3x3 (or larger) block, it will disappear. The goal is to form those blocks using pre-placed "bug" blocks. Once you get rid of all the bugs, you win.
As the brief intro alluded to, this game is tough with a capital "WTF." I've never been the best at puzzle games, but I can usually hold my own against anything less challenging than a rubik's cube. Cubed, however, put me right in my place. And that's just in the 2D game. This game also comes with a 3D mode, which I won't even begin to describe. Try and survive that one. I dare you.
Surprisingly enough, that's all I have to say about this game. The only outstanding feature is the challenge, but you know what? That's enough for me. All a game really has to do to earn my seal of approval is accomplish what it appears to set out to do. This game seems to have been made for the purpose of delivering a quick, fun challenge. It certainly does that, so this game gets my seal of approval
Until next time, stay crafty
Links
It hurts: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=500
Cubed.
This game is pretty easy to explain: It's Tetris on steroids. The premise is simple: place Tetris bricks anywhere on a Cartesian grid to try and form 3x3 blocks. Once you form a 3x3 (or larger) block, it will disappear. The goal is to form those blocks using pre-placed "bug" blocks. Once you get rid of all the bugs, you win.
As the brief intro alluded to, this game is tough with a capital "WTF." I've never been the best at puzzle games, but I can usually hold my own against anything less challenging than a rubik's cube. Cubed, however, put me right in my place. And that's just in the 2D game. This game also comes with a 3D mode, which I won't even begin to describe. Try and survive that one. I dare you.
Surprisingly enough, that's all I have to say about this game. The only outstanding feature is the challenge, but you know what? That's enough for me. All a game really has to do to earn my seal of approval is accomplish what it appears to set out to do. This game seems to have been made for the purpose of delivering a quick, fun challenge. It certainly does that, so this game gets my seal of approval
Until next time, stay crafty
Links
It hurts: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=500
Cub3
Alright, school's back in session, which means the reviews are back with twice the angst in half the length.
Cub3 reminds me of a less advanced Black Hole. Both games utilize the same basic control scheme, which is good because now I can just tell you all to read my Black Hole review instead of recounting the controls here. I love it when I already do my job for me.
unlike Black Hole, however, in Cub3, there is one main objective: kill anything that happens to have four blue triangles all pointing to it. This kind of setup makes the game somewhat mindless, as all you ever really need to be thinking is "there's the target, bang bang."
It's not a bad mindless space shooter, mind you. you can clearly hear the bullets make contact with the targets, making the game feel good in general. That is, once you get the feel of the game, which I'll admit is a bit frustrating at first. Once you get the controls down, however, the game becomes everything you'd expect from a space shooter with a one-track mind.
Before I go on, a quick disclaimer: I usually only give myself 20-30 minutes with these games, and then another 20-30 to write the review. That said, There are a lot of games that I don't finish. This is one of them. For all I know, Cub3 could introduce really cool various missions as well. I'm only going based on what I experienced.
That said, there are a few flaws that I don't think the game would remedy as levels whizz by. First, crashing into anything, and I mean ANYTHING, kills you instantly. This might not be too bad if you had more than one life to complete a mission in, but nope. You only get one. That means you can flawlessly clear out 90% of your objectives and then get blindsided by an asteroid that looked dodgeable and have to start all over again. The hit detection on your ship is also a bit too generous. Just because you can see an asteroid shouldn't mean you are guaranteed to hit it. The deaths don't always feel deserved, which is an easy way to make your game frustrating.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay sensitive.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24670
Cub3 reminds me of a less advanced Black Hole. Both games utilize the same basic control scheme, which is good because now I can just tell you all to read my Black Hole review instead of recounting the controls here. I love it when I already do my job for me.
unlike Black Hole, however, in Cub3, there is one main objective: kill anything that happens to have four blue triangles all pointing to it. This kind of setup makes the game somewhat mindless, as all you ever really need to be thinking is "there's the target, bang bang."
It's not a bad mindless space shooter, mind you. you can clearly hear the bullets make contact with the targets, making the game feel good in general. That is, once you get the feel of the game, which I'll admit is a bit frustrating at first. Once you get the controls down, however, the game becomes everything you'd expect from a space shooter with a one-track mind.
Before I go on, a quick disclaimer: I usually only give myself 20-30 minutes with these games, and then another 20-30 to write the review. That said, There are a lot of games that I don't finish. This is one of them. For all I know, Cub3 could introduce really cool various missions as well. I'm only going based on what I experienced.
That said, there are a few flaws that I don't think the game would remedy as levels whizz by. First, crashing into anything, and I mean ANYTHING, kills you instantly. This might not be too bad if you had more than one life to complete a mission in, but nope. You only get one. That means you can flawlessly clear out 90% of your objectives and then get blindsided by an asteroid that looked dodgeable and have to start all over again. The hit detection on your ship is also a bit too generous. Just because you can see an asteroid shouldn't mean you are guaranteed to hit it. The deaths don't always feel deserved, which is an easy way to make your game frustrating.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay sensitive.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24670
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Crystaline
I've got severe last-day-of-vacation blues. It was fun while it lasted, but all good things must come to an end. Anyways, let's get this review done.
Crystaline is a first-person 3D platformer that requires you to manipulate your environment and activate switches to progress through the levels. It reminds me a lot of Portal, but without the portals.
You traverse the levels by either moving yourself to an object with LMB or moving an object toward you with RMB. The puzzles get gradually harder and eventually, you're introduced to robots that shoot you if you enter their field of vision. I think there's a word for that...oh yeah, turrets!
Crystaline is a first-person 3D platformer that requires you to manipulate your environment and activate switches to progress through the levels. It reminds me a lot of Portal, but without the portals.
You traverse the levels by either moving yourself to an object with LMB or moving an object toward you with RMB. The puzzles get gradually harder and eventually, you're introduced to robots that shoot you if you enter their field of vision. I think there's a word for that...oh yeah, turrets!
alright, I'm done with that.
Anyways, this is another game with no save feature and no level select, so I felt no need to finish the whole thing. You already know how much I despise games that make you beat em in one go, so I'm gonna move on.
I'm having a lot of trouble thinking of things to say about this game because everything is so drastically okay. There are minor frustrations, like not being able to stop once you launch yourself to a platform or not being able to tell from where you're getting shot at because there are no bullet sparks when the robots shoot you. Then again, there are some real perks like genuinely challenging but fun puzzles.
As short as this was, I think I gotta end it here. I would probably give this game my seal of approval if it didn't forget the save feature. Other than that, it's kinda forgettable, but certainly not a bad game. Give it a shot if you are in the mood for some indie fun, but still want to maintain your rep as a graphics whore,
Until next time, stay dextrous
Links
hurry, hurry! https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25912
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Crystal Nebula
Hey look, a blog post! Yeah, I got rained out of my snowboarding trip, which is a huge bummer, but at least I get to play more DigiPen games. Let's see what's in store for me today.
Crystal Nebula is one of those games with big ideas and little results. You can definitely tell that the creators of this game were trying to be revolutionary and certainly could have been if they carried on until the game was done. I get the sense that somewhere along the line, someone said "screw it, it's good enough." I know this feeling all too well. When you start a project, there's this little glimmer in your eye...a glimmer of hope and joy that slowly fades into darkness as your beloved project takes its toll on your sanity...
*ahem* right, back to the game.
In Crystal Nebula, you play as a little yellow circle whose objective is to get all the stars around him to stop pestering him. You do that by blowing them to smithereens. Your primary weapon is asteroids that are strewn about the levels. If a star and an asteroid are in the same vicinity, you use LMB to suck the asteroid into orbit and launch it at the star. The game then tells you to suck up the star's remains in order to grow stronger (hey, this is starting to remind me of Critical Mass...). Of course, the game never tells you how to do that. I had Critical Mass on the brain, so I tried RMB to no avail. It was only after madly pounding randomly on my keyboard that I discovered that the magical button is SPACE. Why was it okay to tell us how to shoot asteroids but not okay to tell us how to suck up star essence? Whatever...
This game's main flaw is how unfinished it seems. At first, I thought the game consisted of only the tutorial level because the prophesied teleporter that was supposed to take me to the next level never came. It was only after thoroughly scouring the level that I found a blue octagon that looked a bit like a deformed star. Out of sheer curiosity, I touched it and was zapped to the next level. Even past that, there are a lot of aspects about the game that don't seem to make sense. Until the third level, I was under the impression that enemies couldn't damage you. Then I got to level 3 and was almost immediately greeted by a "you lose" screen. I still have no idea what I did wrong, but I have a perfect idea of what this game did wrong. Nothing is conveyed properly.
The big, revolutionary idea that the creators were trying to support through all this bad game design isn't even a very good one. Attacking with the environment only works if the environment is generous enough with ammo. Remember the gravity gun from Half-Life 2? Remember how fun that was? That's because everywhere you looked, there was a saw blade or an exploding barrel to throw. In Crystal Nebula, there's no variety: only asteroids; the asteroids are not as common as they should be, leading to many cases where you are sure to find yourself trying to escape an onslaught of enemy fire, desperately searching for an asteroid that you'll probably waste anyway because of how poor the aim assist is.
All in all, I didn't have fun with Crystal Nebula. I say give it a miss, but that's just me. Until next time, stay functional.
Links
Crystal Methbula: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1647
Crystal Nebula is one of those games with big ideas and little results. You can definitely tell that the creators of this game were trying to be revolutionary and certainly could have been if they carried on until the game was done. I get the sense that somewhere along the line, someone said "screw it, it's good enough." I know this feeling all too well. When you start a project, there's this little glimmer in your eye...a glimmer of hope and joy that slowly fades into darkness as your beloved project takes its toll on your sanity...
*ahem* right, back to the game.
In Crystal Nebula, you play as a little yellow circle whose objective is to get all the stars around him to stop pestering him. You do that by blowing them to smithereens. Your primary weapon is asteroids that are strewn about the levels. If a star and an asteroid are in the same vicinity, you use LMB to suck the asteroid into orbit and launch it at the star. The game then tells you to suck up the star's remains in order to grow stronger (hey, this is starting to remind me of Critical Mass...). Of course, the game never tells you how to do that. I had Critical Mass on the brain, so I tried RMB to no avail. It was only after madly pounding randomly on my keyboard that I discovered that the magical button is SPACE. Why was it okay to tell us how to shoot asteroids but not okay to tell us how to suck up star essence? Whatever...
This game's main flaw is how unfinished it seems. At first, I thought the game consisted of only the tutorial level because the prophesied teleporter that was supposed to take me to the next level never came. It was only after thoroughly scouring the level that I found a blue octagon that looked a bit like a deformed star. Out of sheer curiosity, I touched it and was zapped to the next level. Even past that, there are a lot of aspects about the game that don't seem to make sense. Until the third level, I was under the impression that enemies couldn't damage you. Then I got to level 3 and was almost immediately greeted by a "you lose" screen. I still have no idea what I did wrong, but I have a perfect idea of what this game did wrong. Nothing is conveyed properly.
The big, revolutionary idea that the creators were trying to support through all this bad game design isn't even a very good one. Attacking with the environment only works if the environment is generous enough with ammo. Remember the gravity gun from Half-Life 2? Remember how fun that was? That's because everywhere you looked, there was a saw blade or an exploding barrel to throw. In Crystal Nebula, there's no variety: only asteroids; the asteroids are not as common as they should be, leading to many cases where you are sure to find yourself trying to escape an onslaught of enemy fire, desperately searching for an asteroid that you'll probably waste anyway because of how poor the aim assist is.
All in all, I didn't have fun with Crystal Nebula. I say give it a miss, but that's just me. Until next time, stay functional.
Links
Crystal Methbula: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1647
Friday, February 22, 2013
Critical Mass
whoa.
Critical Mass is a relatively simple game, which is good because I don't have to waste too much effort describing it before I pick it apart. You are a little molecule trying to become a big molecule. How do you accomplish this? By beating the crap out of other molecules (yikes). Strewn about the levels are such weapons as baseball bats, swords and even palm trees (double yikes). Once you become big enough, you can go critical and destroy the entire map with a nuclear explosion (Jeez, this game is brutal).
In terms of gameplay, eh, it's nothing to brag about. First, there's the balancing issues. The combat is really frustrating when you're smaller than everyone else, but the only way to get bigger is through the combat. Naturally, you want to take down the bigger opponents, but this only leads to you getting squashed down to an even smaller size. It reminds me of that dumb courtesy rule my friends used to enforce when we played basketball; if you scored a basket, why the hell should you get to start with the ball again? If you're any good at shooting, that just means whoever scores the first basket has a huge advantage. Same thing in this game. However, I've been smacked down to size multiple times after getting really big, so I guess it's not that big a problem, but getting rocketed off into the sun by a big guy that you've just spent 5 minutes trying to kill certainly creates the feeling that this is a problem.
Next, there's the game feel itself. It's kinda messy; you're either given no feedback or way too much feedback. All it really amounts to is rushing into the battlefield mashing LMB and hoping for the best. At any given moment it seems an enemy can blindside you and completely reverse all the progress you've worked so hard to achieve. In short, it can be good, like if you're beating the snot out of other molecules, but having the game play you is not a very fun feeling. I think this is where the term "counter-play" comes in handy, but I'm not entirely sure how applicable that is. I'll link the Extra-Credits on that down below. Also, the mega-punch is anything but mega. I wish it was a little more fun to use, because usually when I used it I just ended up getting intercepted in midair and utterly squished.
Finally, we gotta talk about conveyance. I do appreciate that this game doesn't tell you much in-game and kind of leaves you to figure it out on your own, but the controls should be intuitive enough that I learn what everything does early on. See, What you're supposed to do is beat up other molecules with LMB and then collect the ions they drop with RMB. However, that was never explained to me. All I saw in the battlefield was molecules killing molecules. Therefore, when I used RMB, I thought it was just an extremely inefficient attack and never used it. Perhaps if the enemies actually demonstrated more than just the "grab item and kill people with it" strategy, I would feel more comfortable experimenting with the controls without feeling the need to conform to an unimmersive and frankly boring strategy.
That said, I do think the game has some good points to it as well. As I said, when the combat works it really works. The sound effects are pleasing and the aesthetic is nice enough that you forget how unmercifully brutal the game is. The mega-punch, while ineffective in combat, is very useful for recovery, making getting tossed off the map less of a frustration (even though it still is very much that) and more of a fun little side-game of "launch yourself back onto the platform." If you get bored, you can just mega-punch skyward and leisurely drop back down to earth.
All in all I think this game made some really smart choices but didn't pay enough attention to the little details and the game as a whole suffers because of it. It was a fun little romp, but doesn't quite get my seal of approval. Until next time, stay at least a little merciful, I mean jeez...
Links
Allegory for the competition in the games industry?:https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=419
Counter play: http://extra-credits.net/episodes/counter-play/
Critical Mass is a relatively simple game, which is good because I don't have to waste too much effort describing it before I pick it apart. You are a little molecule trying to become a big molecule. How do you accomplish this? By beating the crap out of other molecules (yikes). Strewn about the levels are such weapons as baseball bats, swords and even palm trees (double yikes). Once you become big enough, you can go critical and destroy the entire map with a nuclear explosion (Jeez, this game is brutal).
In terms of gameplay, eh, it's nothing to brag about. First, there's the balancing issues. The combat is really frustrating when you're smaller than everyone else, but the only way to get bigger is through the combat. Naturally, you want to take down the bigger opponents, but this only leads to you getting squashed down to an even smaller size. It reminds me of that dumb courtesy rule my friends used to enforce when we played basketball; if you scored a basket, why the hell should you get to start with the ball again? If you're any good at shooting, that just means whoever scores the first basket has a huge advantage. Same thing in this game. However, I've been smacked down to size multiple times after getting really big, so I guess it's not that big a problem, but getting rocketed off into the sun by a big guy that you've just spent 5 minutes trying to kill certainly creates the feeling that this is a problem.
Next, there's the game feel itself. It's kinda messy; you're either given no feedback or way too much feedback. All it really amounts to is rushing into the battlefield mashing LMB and hoping for the best. At any given moment it seems an enemy can blindside you and completely reverse all the progress you've worked so hard to achieve. In short, it can be good, like if you're beating the snot out of other molecules, but having the game play you is not a very fun feeling. I think this is where the term "counter-play" comes in handy, but I'm not entirely sure how applicable that is. I'll link the Extra-Credits on that down below. Also, the mega-punch is anything but mega. I wish it was a little more fun to use, because usually when I used it I just ended up getting intercepted in midair and utterly squished.
Finally, we gotta talk about conveyance. I do appreciate that this game doesn't tell you much in-game and kind of leaves you to figure it out on your own, but the controls should be intuitive enough that I learn what everything does early on. See, What you're supposed to do is beat up other molecules with LMB and then collect the ions they drop with RMB. However, that was never explained to me. All I saw in the battlefield was molecules killing molecules. Therefore, when I used RMB, I thought it was just an extremely inefficient attack and never used it. Perhaps if the enemies actually demonstrated more than just the "grab item and kill people with it" strategy, I would feel more comfortable experimenting with the controls without feeling the need to conform to an unimmersive and frankly boring strategy.
That said, I do think the game has some good points to it as well. As I said, when the combat works it really works. The sound effects are pleasing and the aesthetic is nice enough that you forget how unmercifully brutal the game is. The mega-punch, while ineffective in combat, is very useful for recovery, making getting tossed off the map less of a frustration (even though it still is very much that) and more of a fun little side-game of "launch yourself back onto the platform." If you get bored, you can just mega-punch skyward and leisurely drop back down to earth.
All in all I think this game made some really smart choices but didn't pay enough attention to the little details and the game as a whole suffers because of it. It was a fun little romp, but doesn't quite get my seal of approval. Until next time, stay at least a little merciful, I mean jeez...
Links
Allegory for the competition in the games industry?:https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=419
Counter play: http://extra-credits.net/episodes/counter-play/
Crazy Cross
Hey guys. I'm sorry I wasn't as prolific as I said I was going to be this week. To make matters worse, there's a good chance I won't be able to post anything for the next 2 days. Don't worry, though. I still fully intend to meet my deadline and play every game by the end of the year. Maybe this mini vacation is just what I need. I'll be going snowboarding over the weekend so maybe getting back to the great outdoors will clear my head enough to leave me with a burning desire to get back behind my glowing rectangle.
Anyways, Crazy Cross is a sequel to some other game I haven't played yet, but the use of "Cross" to indicate sequelage (if only that were a word) makes me think of Chrono Cross and thinking of that game fills me with anger. Hopefully Crazy Cross doesn't take the Chrono route and completely uproot and destroy the storyline of the original game. Even if it does, though, I haven't played the original so I guess it won't matter anyway.
The above was written before I attempted to download the game. Upon going to the DigiPen download link, I was greeted by a file that called itself "Not Real EXE.exe" and took up a whopping 0kb. Somethin ain't right here. I'm going to see if I can find a different dowload link somewhere. This game was an IGF showcase finalist after all, so it's safe to say it's relatively prestigious.
I googled it and followed a bunch of links, but they all took me to 404 pages. What happened to this game? I did manage to find an instruction manual for the game, but I can't really write a review based on that. I like to think I have at least a little bit of integrity. Gotta say, though, these screenshots are really whetting my appetite for this game. Apparently it's a 500MB package, meaning this is a monster I couldn't play in one day anyway (probably).
After like 10 minutes (or 98 internet years) of searching, I finally found a .zip file that looks promising.it's taking a while to download, though, so I'm gonna pass the time by reading that instruction manual...mmm....
Wow-ee! That was something. So, as predicted, this game is an absolute monster that's going to take me a lot longer to play, but I think I got the basic gist from what I've played so far. If you like RPGs and humor, this game is definitely for you. It's structured exactly like Chrono Cross. I mean, they weren't even trying to hide the fact that this game is essentially a carbon copy of Chrono Cross. However, remember a few paragraphs ago when I exclaimed how putrid the story was in the professionally made game? Well the story is pretty much the only thing these guys changed, and I love it. They have such a deliberate sense of self-parody that it just brings a smile to my face.
I know this wasn't really a review as much as it was a recounting of my experience with the game, but whatever. My blog, my rules. This game certainly gets my seal of approval, but I can only recommend it if you have a lot of spare time. Those 500MB weren't for nothing, I assure you.
Links
oh look not a DigiPen link: http://www.fileplanet.com/148139/140000/fileinfo/Crazy-Cross---Full-Version
Anyways, Crazy Cross is a sequel to some other game I haven't played yet, but the use of "Cross" to indicate sequelage (if only that were a word) makes me think of Chrono Cross and thinking of that game fills me with anger. Hopefully Crazy Cross doesn't take the Chrono route and completely uproot and destroy the storyline of the original game. Even if it does, though, I haven't played the original so I guess it won't matter anyway.
The above was written before I attempted to download the game. Upon going to the DigiPen download link, I was greeted by a file that called itself "Not Real EXE.exe" and took up a whopping 0kb. Somethin ain't right here. I'm going to see if I can find a different dowload link somewhere. This game was an IGF showcase finalist after all, so it's safe to say it's relatively prestigious.
I googled it and followed a bunch of links, but they all took me to 404 pages. What happened to this game? I did manage to find an instruction manual for the game, but I can't really write a review based on that. I like to think I have at least a little bit of integrity. Gotta say, though, these screenshots are really whetting my appetite for this game. Apparently it's a 500MB package, meaning this is a monster I couldn't play in one day anyway (probably).
After like 10 minutes (or 98 internet years) of searching, I finally found a .zip file that looks promising.it's taking a while to download, though, so I'm gonna pass the time by reading that instruction manual...mmm....
Wow-ee! That was something. So, as predicted, this game is an absolute monster that's going to take me a lot longer to play, but I think I got the basic gist from what I've played so far. If you like RPGs and humor, this game is definitely for you. It's structured exactly like Chrono Cross. I mean, they weren't even trying to hide the fact that this game is essentially a carbon copy of Chrono Cross. However, remember a few paragraphs ago when I exclaimed how putrid the story was in the professionally made game? Well the story is pretty much the only thing these guys changed, and I love it. They have such a deliberate sense of self-parody that it just brings a smile to my face.
I know this wasn't really a review as much as it was a recounting of my experience with the game, but whatever. My blog, my rules. This game certainly gets my seal of approval, but I can only recommend it if you have a lot of spare time. Those 500MB weren't for nothing, I assure you.
Links
oh look not a DigiPen link: http://www.fileplanet.com/148139/140000/fileinfo/Crazy-Cross---Full-Version
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Crayon Caper Rescue
Crayon Caper Rescue is a 2D platformer where you play as a little gray crayon who must rescue imprisoned bebos from the evil forces of sharpies, paper airplanes and tape. If you don't know what a bebo is, don't worry because they don't exist.
The gimmick that makes this game "unique" is that you can draw platforms in certain areas of the map to help you get to the bebos. Personally, I don't really like this mechanic and it appears the creators of this game don't either. Half of the levels take away your ability to draw platforms; even when you are allowed to draw platforms it's in such a limited space that they may as well have put the platforms there to begin with. See, drawing your own platforms can be fun if it allows for creativity. In Crayon Caper Rescue, all you can do is place crudely drawn squares in very specific places, turning what could have been a fun little side mechanic into an necessary step separating you from your goal.
The only other mechanic that separates this from every other 2D platformer is the powerup system. Throughout the game, you'll find little glowy things that turn your crayon into a different color, each with a different powerup. Red allows you to kill enemies, green allows you to jump higher, and brown allows you to destroy certain blocks below you. Once again, it's very contextual in that you only need the powerups a second or two after you get them. In an effort to keep at least a little challenge in the game, the powerups go away after a short period of time, meaning you need to get the powerup and get from point a to point b quickly. I don't mind this too much because the time limit kind of implies "yes, this game is very context sensitive but at least we don't hide it."
Honestly I think these two mechanics are a lost cause. The only purpose they seem to serve is making the game unique, but the aesthetic already does that. How many games do you know of that have a little crayon hopping about looking for smaller crayons while a 2 year old adorably says "save the bebos?" Once the uniqueness of the game is realized, the mechanics all seem kind of counterproductive.
This certainly wasn't a bad game by any means, but I can't help thinking that it was somewhat misguided. Good effort, but I can't quite give it my seal of approval.
Until next time, stay cute
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=425
The gimmick that makes this game "unique" is that you can draw platforms in certain areas of the map to help you get to the bebos. Personally, I don't really like this mechanic and it appears the creators of this game don't either. Half of the levels take away your ability to draw platforms; even when you are allowed to draw platforms it's in such a limited space that they may as well have put the platforms there to begin with. See, drawing your own platforms can be fun if it allows for creativity. In Crayon Caper Rescue, all you can do is place crudely drawn squares in very specific places, turning what could have been a fun little side mechanic into an necessary step separating you from your goal.
The only other mechanic that separates this from every other 2D platformer is the powerup system. Throughout the game, you'll find little glowy things that turn your crayon into a different color, each with a different powerup. Red allows you to kill enemies, green allows you to jump higher, and brown allows you to destroy certain blocks below you. Once again, it's very contextual in that you only need the powerups a second or two after you get them. In an effort to keep at least a little challenge in the game, the powerups go away after a short period of time, meaning you need to get the powerup and get from point a to point b quickly. I don't mind this too much because the time limit kind of implies "yes, this game is very context sensitive but at least we don't hide it."
Honestly I think these two mechanics are a lost cause. The only purpose they seem to serve is making the game unique, but the aesthetic already does that. How many games do you know of that have a little crayon hopping about looking for smaller crayons while a 2 year old adorably says "save the bebos?" Once the uniqueness of the game is realized, the mechanics all seem kind of counterproductive.
This certainly wasn't a bad game by any means, but I can't help thinking that it was somewhat misguided. Good effort, but I can't quite give it my seal of approval.
Until next time, stay cute
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=425
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Cosmic Armageddon
Well damn, that's certainly the most interesting title I've read thus far. Too bad the game isn't that interesting. Oh, oops. Did I spoil the review already?
Cosmic Armageddon is just another 3D shooting spree where you kill shapes. The meat of this game is that enemies drop different weapons that you can use. The catch is that you can only carry one weapon at a time. If you're thinking that this doesn't sound like a very interesting concept, that's because it isn't.
In all honesty, this game works. It's fun. Not as fun as Claustrophere and much more fun than Comerade Ivan's Kannonwagens. It's just that there's nothing unique about it. Sure there's a slowmo button but that's been done to death by the gaming medium. Honestly the only thing that really stuck out in my mind was how atrocious the movement controls were. You character is way too slow at times and way too fast at others. I think your speed is determined by your incline, but trust me: it doesn't work the way you think it would.
I was never one to drag out reviews when I had nothing to talk about, so I guess I'm going to end it here. Until next time, stay interesting.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=418
Cosmic Armageddon is just another 3D shooting spree where you kill shapes. The meat of this game is that enemies drop different weapons that you can use. The catch is that you can only carry one weapon at a time. If you're thinking that this doesn't sound like a very interesting concept, that's because it isn't.
In all honesty, this game works. It's fun. Not as fun as Claustrophere and much more fun than Comerade Ivan's Kannonwagens. It's just that there's nothing unique about it. Sure there's a slowmo button but that's been done to death by the gaming medium. Honestly the only thing that really stuck out in my mind was how atrocious the movement controls were. You character is way too slow at times and way too fast at others. I think your speed is determined by your incline, but trust me: it doesn't work the way you think it would.
I was never one to drag out reviews when I had nothing to talk about, so I guess I'm going to end it here. Until next time, stay interesting.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=418
Corruption
Oh how I love it when games play to my demonic side.
Corruption is a 2D that I found to be kind of reminiscent of Yoshi's Island, except the roles are reversed. Instead of playing as a lovable green dinosaur protecting the world from the forces of evil, you play as a hideous creature of the night, slowly engulfing the world in the tendrils of darkness and despair. The enemies are cute little fluffballs whose free will you warp by eating them, digesting them, and excreting them.
This is gonna be fun.
the basic mechanics of the game are thus: you eat the fluffballs, thus turning them to your side. Once you have a sizable army of minions, you can turn them into bombs, rainclouds, or anything else you need to progress through the levels. If the fluffballs manage to whittle down your health to 0, you will turn into an adorable little creature with big ol' eyes. The charm of this game is nigh insurmountable. At the end of each level, there is a golden gate that you have to stand inert at for a while until the entire gate is corrupted and your conquest of the level is complete.
Let's don our shiny anime eyes and get the good stuff out of the way first so I have enough time to complain later: The aesthetic is wonderful. The word of the day is juxtaposition (which also happens to be my favorite word in the entirety of the English language). The soundtrack changes as you go through the level, turning from a pleasant little tune to a harsh romp as you continue to corrupt the world. This, I will admit, gets less and less cute as the game goes on, but never really steps into the realm of annoying. The platforming works well and the hitboxes are fairly sized. Another thing I liked was that the game tells you boldfacedly through the accursed medium of background signpost everything you need to know in order to complete the game, but not everything that the game has to offer. For instance, if you get to a ledge that is too high to jump to, the game will tell you that you can turn one of your minions into a block to stand on, giving you the boost you need to clear it. However, planting a bomb underneath your feet and rocketing skyward is an equally efficient strategy that the game never tells you about. This gives the rather short game a lot of replay value. Even as I write this I have the urge to fire it up again and see how creative I can be when traversing the levels.
Now that that's over with, what were the parts of the game that made me want to pluck my evilly triangular, single-shade eyes out? First off, your ground speed when you aren't in the eating stance is just too fast. It gets almost Sonic the Hedgehog-esque at times when you jolt through flat areas so fast that you can't possibly see the pink dog charging toward you until it already has you in its sinister, loving grasp. Also, using the mousewheel to control what thing your minions turn into is a pain for many reasons, but you can just use the 1,2, and 3 buttons to avoid this problem. I just wish the game would have told me that. See, there's a key difference between hiding the things like bomb-jumping that I mentioned earlier and hiding alternate ways of accessing the menus. I as a player don't gain anything from figuring out that the 1,2 and 3 buttons work that I wouldn't have gained if I was just told it. I don't feel like I've outsmarted the game or anything like that.
In conclusion, I like this game for 2 reasons: It's fun and it offers some insight into the medium. I think this is one of those games that future designers should play for study. There's a lot to learn from this game, some of which I've mentioned here but much of which I'm sure has eluded me. On top of that, this game is just fun to play. I do wish it had a save feature, but the game is less than half an hour long and the music stops when you pause it, so even if there is some pressing thing that you need to attend to in the middle of the game, you can alt+tab out without hindrance. This game gets my seal of approval.
Links
kill all the cute: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18528
Corruption is a 2D that I found to be kind of reminiscent of Yoshi's Island, except the roles are reversed. Instead of playing as a lovable green dinosaur protecting the world from the forces of evil, you play as a hideous creature of the night, slowly engulfing the world in the tendrils of darkness and despair. The enemies are cute little fluffballs whose free will you warp by eating them, digesting them, and excreting them.
This is gonna be fun.
the basic mechanics of the game are thus: you eat the fluffballs, thus turning them to your side. Once you have a sizable army of minions, you can turn them into bombs, rainclouds, or anything else you need to progress through the levels. If the fluffballs manage to whittle down your health to 0, you will turn into an adorable little creature with big ol' eyes. The charm of this game is nigh insurmountable. At the end of each level, there is a golden gate that you have to stand inert at for a while until the entire gate is corrupted and your conquest of the level is complete.
Let's don our shiny anime eyes and get the good stuff out of the way first so I have enough time to complain later: The aesthetic is wonderful. The word of the day is juxtaposition (which also happens to be my favorite word in the entirety of the English language). The soundtrack changes as you go through the level, turning from a pleasant little tune to a harsh romp as you continue to corrupt the world. This, I will admit, gets less and less cute as the game goes on, but never really steps into the realm of annoying. The platforming works well and the hitboxes are fairly sized. Another thing I liked was that the game tells you boldfacedly through the accursed medium of background signpost everything you need to know in order to complete the game, but not everything that the game has to offer. For instance, if you get to a ledge that is too high to jump to, the game will tell you that you can turn one of your minions into a block to stand on, giving you the boost you need to clear it. However, planting a bomb underneath your feet and rocketing skyward is an equally efficient strategy that the game never tells you about. This gives the rather short game a lot of replay value. Even as I write this I have the urge to fire it up again and see how creative I can be when traversing the levels.
Now that that's over with, what were the parts of the game that made me want to pluck my evilly triangular, single-shade eyes out? First off, your ground speed when you aren't in the eating stance is just too fast. It gets almost Sonic the Hedgehog-esque at times when you jolt through flat areas so fast that you can't possibly see the pink dog charging toward you until it already has you in its sinister, loving grasp. Also, using the mousewheel to control what thing your minions turn into is a pain for many reasons, but you can just use the 1,2, and 3 buttons to avoid this problem. I just wish the game would have told me that. See, there's a key difference between hiding the things like bomb-jumping that I mentioned earlier and hiding alternate ways of accessing the menus. I as a player don't gain anything from figuring out that the 1,2 and 3 buttons work that I wouldn't have gained if I was just told it. I don't feel like I've outsmarted the game or anything like that.
In conclusion, I like this game for 2 reasons: It's fun and it offers some insight into the medium. I think this is one of those games that future designers should play for study. There's a lot to learn from this game, some of which I've mentioned here but much of which I'm sure has eluded me. On top of that, this game is just fun to play. I do wish it had a save feature, but the game is less than half an hour long and the music stops when you pause it, so even if there is some pressing thing that you need to attend to in the middle of the game, you can alt+tab out without hindrance. This game gets my seal of approval.
Links
kill all the cute: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18528
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Coreship
Somewhere between the last review and this one I woke up with my head on my keyboard, casually drooling onto the touchpad. The reason I'm telling you this is so you know that my mental status is not exactly tip-top, so please excuse any spelling errors or incoherent ramblings.
With taht being siad, let's give ourselfs the good ol cream puddn
Coreship is an arcade style top-down shooter with an aesthetic like that of a modern day Asteroids. The main idea is that you are trying to defend a fortress for as long as you can. You start out with a pathetic little ship equipped with a tiny booster and a couple machine guns, but as you kill enemies, you get money. You can then spend that money in the shop to upgrade your ship
Here's where the game gets interesting. You chose exactly where the upgrades go on your ship. It's possibly the most engaging customization screen I've ever worked with. Instead of just scrolling through a menu of different guns and armors, you place the armor around your ship. In reality, this doesn't add too much to the game because there is still a statistically best way to customize your ship, meaning it's still just a linear upgrade system. However, being able to place the nodes slightly off center or construct your ship's armor to resemble a giant space phallus give it a very personal charm. The ship becomes yours. the fact that you have to kill ships to get the money gives your ship an even more personal feel. You earn your right to fly a pair of space breasts that lactate lasers.
That said, no game is without its flaws and this game has a lot of flaws. As I said before, the customization is pretty much just a facade. The giant space phallus will be nowhere near as efficient armor that just consists of a bunch of lines protecting your ship's core, so the incentive for creativity is unique to the player. If this game were done again, I'd like to see things like the option to fortify certain pieces of armor, doubling their strength for the same price as just adding another piece of armor. That way, you can design your ship however you want and still get the most bang out of your buck.
In addition, the movement controls are a little wonky, and that's not just because my head is currently perceiving the world around me in bright pastel colors while the walls sing jaunty folk tunes. I like the idea that they were working with; essentially, whichever direction you aim in becomes the front of your ship, so W, A, S, and D will do different things depending on where you're aiming. I realize that that's pretty much the same description as the movement from Cease Fire 20makeupyourdamnmind but I assure you the game controls nothing like that. The difference is that Coreship is in space rather than in tanks, so freestyle movement is key. It's tough to explain, but trust me: the movement system in Coreship definitely has the right ideas but is still a little sticky and hard to grasp.
All in all, despite this game's flaws, it still gets my seal of approval. The magic word of the day is "creativity," ladies and gentlemen. That magical human element goes a long way with me. It invokes that magical childish glee that video gaming is all about.
Until next time, stay creative
With taht being siad, let's give ourselfs the good ol cream puddn
Coreship is an arcade style top-down shooter with an aesthetic like that of a modern day Asteroids. The main idea is that you are trying to defend a fortress for as long as you can. You start out with a pathetic little ship equipped with a tiny booster and a couple machine guns, but as you kill enemies, you get money. You can then spend that money in the shop to upgrade your ship
Here's where the game gets interesting. You chose exactly where the upgrades go on your ship. It's possibly the most engaging customization screen I've ever worked with. Instead of just scrolling through a menu of different guns and armors, you place the armor around your ship. In reality, this doesn't add too much to the game because there is still a statistically best way to customize your ship, meaning it's still just a linear upgrade system. However, being able to place the nodes slightly off center or construct your ship's armor to resemble a giant space phallus give it a very personal charm. The ship becomes yours. the fact that you have to kill ships to get the money gives your ship an even more personal feel. You earn your right to fly a pair of space breasts that lactate lasers.
That said, no game is without its flaws and this game has a lot of flaws. As I said before, the customization is pretty much just a facade. The giant space phallus will be nowhere near as efficient armor that just consists of a bunch of lines protecting your ship's core, so the incentive for creativity is unique to the player. If this game were done again, I'd like to see things like the option to fortify certain pieces of armor, doubling their strength for the same price as just adding another piece of armor. That way, you can design your ship however you want and still get the most bang out of your buck.
In addition, the movement controls are a little wonky, and that's not just because my head is currently perceiving the world around me in bright pastel colors while the walls sing jaunty folk tunes. I like the idea that they were working with; essentially, whichever direction you aim in becomes the front of your ship, so W, A, S, and D will do different things depending on where you're aiming. I realize that that's pretty much the same description as the movement from Cease Fire 20makeupyourdamnmind but I assure you the game controls nothing like that. The difference is that Coreship is in space rather than in tanks, so freestyle movement is key. It's tough to explain, but trust me: the movement system in Coreship definitely has the right ideas but is still a little sticky and hard to grasp.
All in all, despite this game's flaws, it still gets my seal of approval. The magic word of the day is "creativity," ladies and gentlemen. That magical human element goes a long way with me. It invokes that magical childish glee that video gaming is all about.
Until next time, stay creative
Links
if Notch made Asteroids: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26002
Core
Before we begin, I just wanna be a sap for a second and mention a fellow blogger: my girlfriend, Lydia. She recently gave me a shout out in one of her blogs after doing an amusing mini-review of Portal in a format very similar to my own. I'll put a link to her blog down below. Check it out if you're in the mood for some touching anecdotes that are sure to make you go "aww."
Alright, back to Video Games:
Core is Metroid but bad. Let's start out with the first problem, the control scheme. I get that in Metroid you had a nice convenient controller with which to aim, but there's no reason a keyboard can't work just as well. When I emulated Super Metroid (don't pirate games, kids), I was able to set up the input in a manner that didn't confuse me, so why can't it work in Core? aiming the blaster is not easy to get used to.
And on the topic of the blaster, that's another problem. Why do the shots trail off after only about half a second on the screen? I feel like it would be more effective to use Simon Belmont's whip than to use this pathetic little pea shooter. See, when you make a design choice like that, there has to be a reason. I get that Core is trying to deliver a pseudo-scary experience much like in Metroid, but honestly I don't think having a blaster that actually blasts stuff would be too much of a hindrance to the atmosphere.
What is a hindrance to the atmosphere, however, is the platforming. The jump is straight up annoying. The second you let go of the spacebar, gravity has a lot of fun with your sprite. This means that if you try to time your jumps accounting for the distance you'll gain while falling, like in a good platformer, you'll fall short of whatever platform you were trying to jump on. This makes the game as a whole feel sticky and unmanageable like a chewed up wad of gum caught in hair that you haven't washed since you spilled talcum powder all over it.
The aesthetic is fine, but unoriginal. I'll give you all one guess as to which nintendo IP Core wants to be the most. I'll give you a hint: it starts with "M" and ends in "etroid."
This game failed to impress. Granted, I quit before anything cool was introduced, so there might be some kind of life-altering mechanic of the gods that gets introduced three levels in, but I'll respond to that the same way I respond to people who try to get me to play League of Legends: A game has to earn my playtime. If I'm frustrated by the first level, I'm not going to play on to find out what the rest of the game has to offer. Maybe if I paid for the game and was determined to make my purchase seem worth it, I'd grit my teeth and push through it, but these games are not only free, but numerous. I can't waste time playing through bad games when there are (probably) more than four hundred games left to play.
Until next time, stay original.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25900
Lydia's blog: http://vivalavidaconamor.blogspot.com/
PS- sorry for the hiatus, but I was away from the computer for the weekend.
Alright, back to Video Games:
Core is Metroid but bad. Let's start out with the first problem, the control scheme. I get that in Metroid you had a nice convenient controller with which to aim, but there's no reason a keyboard can't work just as well. When I emulated Super Metroid (don't pirate games, kids), I was able to set up the input in a manner that didn't confuse me, so why can't it work in Core? aiming the blaster is not easy to get used to.
And on the topic of the blaster, that's another problem. Why do the shots trail off after only about half a second on the screen? I feel like it would be more effective to use Simon Belmont's whip than to use this pathetic little pea shooter. See, when you make a design choice like that, there has to be a reason. I get that Core is trying to deliver a pseudo-scary experience much like in Metroid, but honestly I don't think having a blaster that actually blasts stuff would be too much of a hindrance to the atmosphere.
What is a hindrance to the atmosphere, however, is the platforming. The jump is straight up annoying. The second you let go of the spacebar, gravity has a lot of fun with your sprite. This means that if you try to time your jumps accounting for the distance you'll gain while falling, like in a good platformer, you'll fall short of whatever platform you were trying to jump on. This makes the game as a whole feel sticky and unmanageable like a chewed up wad of gum caught in hair that you haven't washed since you spilled talcum powder all over it.
The aesthetic is fine, but unoriginal. I'll give you all one guess as to which nintendo IP Core wants to be the most. I'll give you a hint: it starts with "M" and ends in "etroid."
This game failed to impress. Granted, I quit before anything cool was introduced, so there might be some kind of life-altering mechanic of the gods that gets introduced three levels in, but I'll respond to that the same way I respond to people who try to get me to play League of Legends: A game has to earn my playtime. If I'm frustrated by the first level, I'm not going to play on to find out what the rest of the game has to offer. Maybe if I paid for the game and was determined to make my purchase seem worth it, I'd grit my teeth and push through it, but these games are not only free, but numerous. I can't waste time playing through bad games when there are (probably) more than four hundred games left to play.
Until next time, stay original.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25900
Lydia's blog: http://vivalavidaconamor.blogspot.com/
PS- sorry for the hiatus, but I was away from the computer for the weekend.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Continuum Passage (guest review)
Today, we have a guest review! Ah, yes, I'm not above shamelessly shirking off my duties to those around me. Today's review will be done by Luis Gomez of Potentially Meaningful. Here's what he has to say:
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Continuum Passage
Dean’s either trying to work or busy slapping himself in the face, so today you get a guest review from me, Luis. As for the quality of the review, it’s going to be bumpy. I’m not really a review person. I’m more of a cynically-antagonize-everyone-around-me-until-they-loathe-my-opinion person, so if I start going off on wild tangents as to the negatives in this game, I apologize.
With that out of the way, Continuum Passage, made last (school) year by a group of three juniors.
The game advertises itself as a "first-person action exploration game with puzzling elements." If that seems like a lengthy, overly descriptive description for what amounts to a fifteen minute game, that's because it is.
But let me start with the good. Continuum Passage, in being the bastard son of about five different game genres, actually manages to create something uniquely entertaining. The object of the game is to get to the finishing point by utilizing floor pads that reshuffle the level. Step on a floor pad, the level continuously wraps in the direction the arrow’s pointing. It’s a very interesting mechanic, and works to further the idea of the ‘Continuum Passage.’ It seems like these devs, between the drunken parties and orgies DigiPen is famous for, took great care to make sure that their mechanics reinforced the general idea that the title introduces. The game has a vibrant and arcade-y color palette. Lots of neon, bright colors, but that’s indicative of a lot of the library. The music is...okay I guess. There’s one electronic track that the game plays on a loop. Not bad, but gets a bit annoying after awhile.
The annoying bits of this game still stick out obnoxiously, like a finger in your delicious Big Mac. For one, remember that lengthy description from two paragraphs ago? That’s a big issue. In combining so many elements into one game, the game loses focus and direction, like it doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up into a Kickstarter project. The puzzles aren’t really...puzzling, in a sense, and the mechanics reflect this. About midway through this game’s 15 levels, they introduce these little triangular barriers, which you can’t get through without a key. However, once you pick up a key, you never lose it. Well, let me phrase that better. If you pick up a key, and then die without reaching a checkpoint, you restart the level, still holding on to the key. All this does is remove the challenge from the puzzles and turn the game into a race. Speaking of races, the game occasionally feels like a racing game. No, I’m serious. Half of the time you're just running from the dissolving platforms, which to be honest isn't really that fun.
All in all, Continuum Passage is a short, mostly okay experience that could do with less variety and more specialization. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go tame the horses of Raxacoricofallapatorius.
See you space cowboy:
Continuum Passage-https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25898
Shameless Plug-potentiallymeaningful.blogspot.com
Dean’s either trying to work or busy slapping himself in the face, so today you get a guest review from me, Luis. As for the quality of the review, it’s going to be bumpy. I’m not really a review person. I’m more of a cynically-antagonize-everyone-around-me-until-they-loathe-my-opinion person, so if I start going off on wild tangents as to the negatives in this game, I apologize.
With that out of the way, Continuum Passage, made last (school) year by a group of three juniors.
The game advertises itself as a "first-person action exploration game with puzzling elements." If that seems like a lengthy, overly descriptive description for what amounts to a fifteen minute game, that's because it is.
But let me start with the good. Continuum Passage, in being the bastard son of about five different game genres, actually manages to create something uniquely entertaining. The object of the game is to get to the finishing point by utilizing floor pads that reshuffle the level. Step on a floor pad, the level continuously wraps in the direction the arrow’s pointing. It’s a very interesting mechanic, and works to further the idea of the ‘Continuum Passage.’ It seems like these devs, between the drunken parties and orgies DigiPen is famous for, took great care to make sure that their mechanics reinforced the general idea that the title introduces. The game has a vibrant and arcade-y color palette. Lots of neon, bright colors, but that’s indicative of a lot of the library. The music is...okay I guess. There’s one electronic track that the game plays on a loop. Not bad, but gets a bit annoying after awhile.
The annoying bits of this game still stick out obnoxiously, like a finger in your delicious Big Mac. For one, remember that lengthy description from two paragraphs ago? That’s a big issue. In combining so many elements into one game, the game loses focus and direction, like it doesn’t know what it wants to be when it grows up into a Kickstarter project. The puzzles aren’t really...puzzling, in a sense, and the mechanics reflect this. About midway through this game’s 15 levels, they introduce these little triangular barriers, which you can’t get through without a key. However, once you pick up a key, you never lose it. Well, let me phrase that better. If you pick up a key, and then die without reaching a checkpoint, you restart the level, still holding on to the key. All this does is remove the challenge from the puzzles and turn the game into a race. Speaking of races, the game occasionally feels like a racing game. No, I’m serious. Half of the time you're just running from the dissolving platforms, which to be honest isn't really that fun.
All in all, Continuum Passage is a short, mostly okay experience that could do with less variety and more specialization. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go tame the horses of Raxacoricofallapatorius.
See you space cowboy:
Continuum Passage-https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25898
Shameless Plug-potentiallymeaningful.blogspot.com
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Thanks for that, Luis!
Since that review was already the length of three of my normal reviews, I'm going to keep my own commentary short, so if I don't respond do something Luis said, you can assume I agree with it.
That said, here are the comments he made which i found to be only...potentially meaningful (GOT 'EM)
I wouldn't say the music gets annoying after a while, especially considering its pace matches the mood of the game. When you're in the world map, for example, if you zoom out, the music gets softer. A game's music score doesn't have to be fun to listen to, it just has to reinforce the feeling that the game wants you to experience, much like the graphical style does. Look no further that Silent Hill to see what I'm talking about.
I also wouldn't say that Continuum Passage is spread too thin. In fact, I wouldn't even say it takes influence from so many other genres. Continuum Passage is a first-person puzzler. That's it. I think it not only knows exactly what it wants to be but pulls it off in a very focused manner. It's certainly a bit of a stretch to say it feels like a racing game, though running from collapsing platforms does create that tension you usually get from racing games.
There are also a few flaws which I think Luis didn't pay enough attention to.
Most glaring is the jump. It's pathetic. I get that they only wanted you to be able to clear one block at a time, but the jump is so tiny I didn't even realize I had it until halfway through the game because it looks like the camera naturally bobbing up and down for a walk cycle. Also, it's difficult to see whether the jump you need to make covers one space or two at first glance, leading me to fall to my death during the last stage when I already had two of the three keys. This not only allowed the challenge to be lost, as Luis said, but forced the challenge to be lost.
That's pretty much all I have to say. Thanks for the help, Luis! Always appreciated.
And hey, if anyone else out there wants to send me their opinions of a game, I'll gladly feature and respond to their points as well.
Until next time, stay original.
Links
look in the guest review, sillypants!
Constellations
What the hell happened? We were doing so well with games that actually function, and now we have 2 broken games in a row! This one just plainly doesn't respond to input. I get to the menu screen, but none of the buttons do anything.
Oh well, at least I'll get to shake things up a bit with the next review. Now that I've confused everyone except the one person who knows what I'm talking about, I bid you adieu.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18577
Oh well, at least I'll get to shake things up a bit with the next review. Now that I've confused everyone except the one person who knows what I'm talking about, I bid you adieu.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18577
Comrade Ivan's Kannonwagens
Oopsie daisy
this game requires windows XP to run. Since I'm running win7 Home Premium, I can't run winXP programs. The only computer I have at my disposal that runs XP is my old Dell XPS, but that dinosaur needs a new motherboard, which I'm not gonna co out and buy just so I can run Comrade Ivan's Kannonwagens.
Sorry, folks. This one's broken for me. But hey, if any of you out there use XP and want to tell me your thoughts on this game, I'd love to hear them.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=458
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EDIT-2/19/13
who-ee I cannot believe I forgot about compatibility mode. Thanks for the tip, Yose.
Alright, let's get the real review going.
I agree with Yose that the game gets stale after about a minute of play, but there have certainly been worse games on this list. If you can imagine Battle Ball Brawl, minus the cool jumping mechanics, combined with the steering mechanics of Cease Fire 20somethingorother, then you can pretty much imagine Comrade Ivan's Kannonwagens.
The movement is sluggish and slippery. The landscape is very hilly, so prepare to fight gravity and fight it hard. On top of that, you move so unbearably slow that you may as well be occupying stationary guns instead of tanks. The aiming is not bad, but at times it feels very unreliable. If you're even a centimeter off from your target, it ain't going down. Combine that with the fact that the targeting reticle only gives you a basic idea of where you're aiming and the result is unsatisfying.
The biggest problem I have with this game is just how barren the landscape is. I think they only give you one enemy tank at a time to shoot at, which is a real problem in maps this big. The tanks are tough to kill as it is because you die just as easily as they do. In the first mission, you're expected to kill ten of them. This might not be so bad if the map was full of tanks, but I spend way more time finding the tanks than I do killing them. This feels less like a third person competitive shooter and more like spawning yourself in the middle of a field in Garry's Mod with nothing to do and just kinda walking around for a bit. It isn't fun. You have to fill the map up with interesting stuff in Garry's Mod before you start walking around the world you make.
Long story short: This game has competent controls, but sloppy movement and desolate maps make it a droning experience
Until next time, remember to google your problems before giving up
this game requires windows XP to run. Since I'm running win7 Home Premium, I can't run winXP programs. The only computer I have at my disposal that runs XP is my old Dell XPS, but that dinosaur needs a new motherboard, which I'm not gonna co out and buy just so I can run Comrade Ivan's Kannonwagens.
Sorry, folks. This one's broken for me. But hey, if any of you out there use XP and want to tell me your thoughts on this game, I'd love to hear them.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=458
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EDIT-2/19/13
who-ee I cannot believe I forgot about compatibility mode. Thanks for the tip, Yose.
Alright, let's get the real review going.
I agree with Yose that the game gets stale after about a minute of play, but there have certainly been worse games on this list. If you can imagine Battle Ball Brawl, minus the cool jumping mechanics, combined with the steering mechanics of Cease Fire 20somethingorother, then you can pretty much imagine Comrade Ivan's Kannonwagens.
The movement is sluggish and slippery. The landscape is very hilly, so prepare to fight gravity and fight it hard. On top of that, you move so unbearably slow that you may as well be occupying stationary guns instead of tanks. The aiming is not bad, but at times it feels very unreliable. If you're even a centimeter off from your target, it ain't going down. Combine that with the fact that the targeting reticle only gives you a basic idea of where you're aiming and the result is unsatisfying.
The biggest problem I have with this game is just how barren the landscape is. I think they only give you one enemy tank at a time to shoot at, which is a real problem in maps this big. The tanks are tough to kill as it is because you die just as easily as they do. In the first mission, you're expected to kill ten of them. This might not be so bad if the map was full of tanks, but I spend way more time finding the tanks than I do killing them. This feels less like a third person competitive shooter and more like spawning yourself in the middle of a field in Garry's Mod with nothing to do and just kinda walking around for a bit. It isn't fun. You have to fill the map up with interesting stuff in Garry's Mod before you start walking around the world you make.
Long story short: This game has competent controls, but sloppy movement and desolate maps make it a droning experience
Until next time, remember to google your problems before giving up
Friday, February 15, 2013
Commando Attack Sub
akshjgfadskjfakfdkjgavg
good lord, this game...
First off, a little context: downloading this game was no easy task. The file is more than 70MB and my connection speed seems to have caught the flu. Once I downloaded it, I was greeted by an error message saying the files were corrupt and had t be re-downloaded. I was about ready to give up on this game and do another one of my non-reviews.
Something convinced me to re-download, however. Once I got the damn thing working, I found I had no idea what to do. Instantly, and I mean instantly, the game had me fiddling with complex menus that I had no idea what to do with. This is not how you convey your game mechanics, guys. Finally I figured out how to customize my submarine (though I had no idea what the customizations did) and enter the battle arena.
Here's the best way to think of this game: It's Custom Robo's alcoholic cousin that had a drunken fling with Forsaken 64. Thing is, whereas both Custom Robo and Forsaken 64 were not only playable but enjoyable, Commando Sub is neither.
This is one of those IGF games, which really makes me think I'm not doing something right. How could a game in which you can unload literally your entire supply of ammo into an enemy (with no ammo pickups in sight, mind you) and literally not cause a chip in their health bars get into the Independent Game Festival, let alone be a showcase finalist?
I've never been one to let the opinion of others color my own, but the evidence is clear: something ain't right here. DigiPen's website has been having kind of a rough day today, so I'm going to assume something went wrong with the second download. Unfortunately, I can't afford more time to this game than I already have without risking falling behind schedule.
I encourage you to try this game out for yourself and see if you can unravel the mystery. All I can do is recount my play experience, which consisted of nothing but confusion and frustration...but mostly confusion. A lot of confusion.
Links
wha?: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=553
good lord, this game...
First off, a little context: downloading this game was no easy task. The file is more than 70MB and my connection speed seems to have caught the flu. Once I downloaded it, I was greeted by an error message saying the files were corrupt and had t be re-downloaded. I was about ready to give up on this game and do another one of my non-reviews.
Something convinced me to re-download, however. Once I got the damn thing working, I found I had no idea what to do. Instantly, and I mean instantly, the game had me fiddling with complex menus that I had no idea what to do with. This is not how you convey your game mechanics, guys. Finally I figured out how to customize my submarine (though I had no idea what the customizations did) and enter the battle arena.
Here's the best way to think of this game: It's Custom Robo's alcoholic cousin that had a drunken fling with Forsaken 64. Thing is, whereas both Custom Robo and Forsaken 64 were not only playable but enjoyable, Commando Sub is neither.
This is one of those IGF games, which really makes me think I'm not doing something right. How could a game in which you can unload literally your entire supply of ammo into an enemy (with no ammo pickups in sight, mind you) and literally not cause a chip in their health bars get into the Independent Game Festival, let alone be a showcase finalist?
I've never been one to let the opinion of others color my own, but the evidence is clear: something ain't right here. DigiPen's website has been having kind of a rough day today, so I'm going to assume something went wrong with the second download. Unfortunately, I can't afford more time to this game than I already have without risking falling behind schedule.
I encourage you to try this game out for yourself and see if you can unravel the mystery. All I can do is recount my play experience, which consisted of nothing but confusion and frustration...but mostly confusion. A lot of confusion.
Links
wha?: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=553
Thursday, February 14, 2013
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 spacemarine 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
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
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
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
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
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
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
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?
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?
Monday, February 11, 2013
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
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
Sunday, February 10, 2013
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
Saturday, February 9, 2013
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
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.
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.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Cat Nap
yeah, I could certainly use a cat nap right about now.
badum tish. Ace in the hole.
Cat nap is a sluggishly paced 2D platformer that plays like it was made in one weekend with a higher-end paint software and a copy of C# for Dummies.
The game feel is nonexistent. There's very little feedback with the environment, and as a result, the game fails to deliver that sense of flow that characterizes most platformers that aren't based around puzzles. The framerate is almost uncanny, as it's just slow enough to cause the sensation of lurching, and it is not very easy on the eyes.
Honestly, I'd probably have a lot more to say about Cat Nap if I didn't quit so early. As soon as I got to the first enemy, I immediately submitted myself to it because I just wanted to die in order to make something interesting happen. To my dismay, I was teleported to the beginning of the level to complete a platforming segment that took me more than 10 tries. The level design is sloppy and unimaginative, so I had pretty much seen enough at that point.
The length of these reviews tends to correlate to the magnitude of the impression a given game made on me. The fact that this review is ending here might be enough of an indication that Cat Nap is probably not worth your time. This game brings nothing to the table that you couldn't get from playing any other platformer.
Links
another platformer, but this time with a meow: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24639
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Capture the Dude
Oh, ain't this just the most creative of titles? Before I get too worked up over this small detail, I'm going to use the (admittedly stupid) logic that this game was made in 2001, and thus I will regard it as if I were 6 years old.
HARHAR OMQ GUISE GET IT CUZ ITS CALLED CAPTURE THA DUDE HAHAHA CUZ ITS A DUDE AND YOU CAPTURE HIM HAHA ITS NOT CATPRE THE MAN OR CAPURE THE PRSON ITS CARPTURE THE DUDE HAHA YO MAN DAS SO FUNNY HAHAHA
*cough* okay, back to reality.
capture the dude is a simple game which I like to describe as "capture the flag meets Double Dragon." Essentially, you beat the hell out of people wearing different colored shirts than your team; then, once they've been sufficiently pulverized, you can throw them into your team's dumpster for a point.
I like the mechanic fine enough, and I can see this being a really fun multiplayer game. Screaming at your friend to let you go as he slowly inches nearer to his base seems like it would make a great multiplayer experience. The graphics are nice (considering when it was made) and the whole thing has a lot of charm to it.
Where Capture the Dude falls down most is in the combat mechanics. The hit detection is so miserably off, and pretty much all you can do in terms of combat is mash buttons. Simply put, these flaws make the core aspects of the game unappealing, and thus Capture the Dude doesn't get my seal of approval. I'm going to end the review here for 2 reasons.
1) I've said all that needs to be said and don't feel like sacrificing concision would add anything
2) I alt+tabbed out of this review 4 hours ago and forgot about it until now. so oops.
until next time, stay responsible
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=555
HARHAR OMQ GUISE GET IT CUZ ITS CALLED CAPTURE THA DUDE HAHAHA CUZ ITS A DUDE AND YOU CAPTURE HIM HAHA ITS NOT CATPRE THE MAN OR CAPURE THE PRSON ITS CARPTURE THE DUDE HAHA YO MAN DAS SO FUNNY HAHAHA
*cough* okay, back to reality.
capture the dude is a simple game which I like to describe as "capture the flag meets Double Dragon." Essentially, you beat the hell out of people wearing different colored shirts than your team; then, once they've been sufficiently pulverized, you can throw them into your team's dumpster for a point.
I like the mechanic fine enough, and I can see this being a really fun multiplayer game. Screaming at your friend to let you go as he slowly inches nearer to his base seems like it would make a great multiplayer experience. The graphics are nice (considering when it was made) and the whole thing has a lot of charm to it.
Where Capture the Dude falls down most is in the combat mechanics. The hit detection is so miserably off, and pretty much all you can do in terms of combat is mash buttons. Simply put, these flaws make the core aspects of the game unappealing, and thus Capture the Dude doesn't get my seal of approval. I'm going to end the review here for 2 reasons.
1) I've said all that needs to be said and don't feel like sacrificing concision would add anything
2) I alt+tabbed out of this review 4 hours ago and forgot about it until now. so oops.
until next time, stay responsible
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=555
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Candela
Hey, y'all! Before we begin, I just wanna take a moment to contemplate the progress we're making. 6 days into the second month and We're already done with 2 of the letters of the alphabet. More than that, though, we've gone through the entirety of the first out of 9 pages in the DigiPen Game Gallery. Thanks for sticking it out this long, and I hope the next 8/9 of our journey is an enjoyable one.
Alright, Let's jump into Candela.
Well the first thing I want to say is that as this blog has been progressing, it seems that the games have been too. I was encountering games with fewer bugs, flaws, etc. Most importantly, I can't remember what the last game was that didn't include a save feature...Well, now I can.
I won't spend too much time on this but this is really the worst kind of game to forget such a feature. It's a puzzle game, and not a very easy one at that. This game proudly displays a splash screen for DigiPen Singapore, so maybe my feeble American mind is just not suited for a Malaysian challenge, but I got stuck on the third level after the tutorial! Puzzle games have never been my forte, but I'm at least decent enough at them to say that the challenge level is ramped up way too hard to beat this all in one go. You could probably do it if you had a few hours free, but a game that demands you devote more than an hour at a time to it is just poorly designed in my opinion. That's one of the things that makes Starfox: 64 my 2nd favorite game rather than my favorite (I might reveal my favorite some time later in this blog). While the average playtime of Starfox:64's campaign is only an hour, you can't save in between levels, so if you only have 45 minutes to spare before you have to go to [insert obligatory activity here], you're out of luck.
Back to Candela, though. I think this game has a lot of potential. I love how it goes about conveying the mechanics to the player, I love the (somewhat) innovative puzzle mechanics, I like the level design, I like the atmosphere, and I like the aesthetic. It would be really enjoyable if I could put it down after completing a puzzle. That's one of the things I liked most about Braid: after straining your mind to surmount a challenge, you can take a break and cool off without having to redo all the puzzles you've solved up to that point.
In short, simple design flaw ruins an otherwise charming little puzzle game. Until next time, stay shiny
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25116
Alright, Let's jump into Candela.
Well the first thing I want to say is that as this blog has been progressing, it seems that the games have been too. I was encountering games with fewer bugs, flaws, etc. Most importantly, I can't remember what the last game was that didn't include a save feature...Well, now I can.
I won't spend too much time on this but this is really the worst kind of game to forget such a feature. It's a puzzle game, and not a very easy one at that. This game proudly displays a splash screen for DigiPen Singapore, so maybe my feeble American mind is just not suited for a Malaysian challenge, but I got stuck on the third level after the tutorial! Puzzle games have never been my forte, but I'm at least decent enough at them to say that the challenge level is ramped up way too hard to beat this all in one go. You could probably do it if you had a few hours free, but a game that demands you devote more than an hour at a time to it is just poorly designed in my opinion. That's one of the things that makes Starfox: 64 my 2nd favorite game rather than my favorite (I might reveal my favorite some time later in this blog). While the average playtime of Starfox:64's campaign is only an hour, you can't save in between levels, so if you only have 45 minutes to spare before you have to go to [insert obligatory activity here], you're out of luck.
Back to Candela, though. I think this game has a lot of potential. I love how it goes about conveying the mechanics to the player, I love the (somewhat) innovative puzzle mechanics, I like the level design, I like the atmosphere, and I like the aesthetic. It would be really enjoyable if I could put it down after completing a puzzle. That's one of the things I liked most about Braid: after straining your mind to surmount a challenge, you can take a break and cool off without having to redo all the puzzles you've solved up to that point.
In short, simple design flaw ruins an otherwise charming little puzzle game. Until next time, stay shiny
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25116
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Bump
I almost forgot about you guys today! Let's just say it's another busy week, so don't look forward to any more review binges till at least the start of Winter Break.
Anyways, let's talk Bump.
It's a charming little bumper cars/capture the flag kind of game. The basic premise is that you have to collect starballs and get them into your goal before the other team (and by that I mean every NPC) gets them in theirs.
The main problem with this game is that it functions in pretty much the opposite way as Buggy X. Whereas that game gave you too much control over your momentum, this game doesn't give you enough. The booster doesn't work in midair, meaning if you're sent flying because some numbskull careened into you, there's nothing you can do to get back on the stage. You just have to wait and watch your demise. In addition, the movement is just too slippery. This is extra frustrating when you have to navigate sharp turns. So many times I would be carefully proceeding on until either I slipped off the side (and had no way to fix my situation) or was bumped into by an enemy and sent flying.
In a word, this is infuriating.
Other than that, though, the aesthetic is charming and the game feel isn't as broken as one might expect from a game with the control issues I mentioned above.
It's still a far way from getting my seal of approval because of it's slippery control, but if you can turn your brain off for a bit and laugh your way through the bugs, you might have a fun time.
Links
Bumper cars with balls that are stars: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1476
Anyways, let's talk Bump.
It's a charming little bumper cars/capture the flag kind of game. The basic premise is that you have to collect starballs and get them into your goal before the other team (and by that I mean every NPC) gets them in theirs.
The main problem with this game is that it functions in pretty much the opposite way as Buggy X. Whereas that game gave you too much control over your momentum, this game doesn't give you enough. The booster doesn't work in midair, meaning if you're sent flying because some numbskull careened into you, there's nothing you can do to get back on the stage. You just have to wait and watch your demise. In addition, the movement is just too slippery. This is extra frustrating when you have to navigate sharp turns. So many times I would be carefully proceeding on until either I slipped off the side (and had no way to fix my situation) or was bumped into by an enemy and sent flying.
In a word, this is infuriating.
Other than that, though, the aesthetic is charming and the game feel isn't as broken as one might expect from a game with the control issues I mentioned above.
It's still a far way from getting my seal of approval because of it's slippery control, but if you can turn your brain off for a bit and laugh your way through the bugs, you might have a fun time.
Links
Bumper cars with balls that are stars: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1476
Monday, February 4, 2013
Buggy X
Not gonna lie, I was really hoping this game was going to be one of those barely functional, bug-riddled games. If that were the case, I would have had a field day with the puns. Unfortunately, all we're left with is a game that's designed to be frustrating rather than a game that's just not very well designed.
Aesthetically, the game is quite similar to 0xCELERATOR, which was one of the least aesthetically pleasing games on this list. Actually, though, Buggy X isn't that hard on the eyes. It's presented in a kind of blueprint style that takes me back to the good ol days of playing Spy Fox where they had that mysterious blueberry flavored blueprint stuff...man, I should replay that game...
Where was I? ah, yes. Buggy X really wanted to test my patience, it seems. The game is unforgiving to say the least. I swear there are certain levels that you will fail straight away if you aren't perfect. And when I say perfect, I mean perfect. One nanosecond of delay can mean the difference between life and death in certain stages (*cough* level 7 *cough*). This is mostly because of the absolutely asinine braking mechanic. I get that the designers were trying to do something new, and yes, the levels are designed around the braking mechanic, but when would it ever seem like a good idea to have a simple press of the down arrow key instantaneously cancel all momentum? This should have been some kind of secondary function, not the main method for braking. It works in the air, too, which just defies the natural human urge to follow the laws of physics. Often I found myself braking in anticipation only to have my car stop moving midair and gracefully fall into the void.
Maybe I'm just being a baby about this. Maybe this game is only meant for true hardcore gamers who can conquer any challenge. But you know what? I've been gaming for 17 years (literally my entire life). I should be able to at least stand a chance, or I'm sorry, but your game is just not very well designed. I have no problem with unrelenting difficulty if it actually feels rewarding to carry on, but in Buggy X, the only part that feels good is actually making it to the finish line.
Okay, okay, that was a bit harsh. Manipulating the braking mechanics to your advantage takes a lot of skill and pulling it off can be quite rewarding, and in all fairness, they do provide a ghost for you to follow which always completes the level perfectly, meaning you wont have to waste brainpower trying to solve some of the less fair stage puzzles. In all honesty, it's not a bad game until you hit level 9, which made me ragequit faster than a rabbit soaked in kerosene during a forest fire. It's one of those levels that makes you play it at its own pace. You know, the kind where you're constantly standing still waiting for elevators and stuff. The first 8 levels are at the very end of the "challenging but fair" spectrum, and if you're willing to put your skills as a gamer to the test, I say try it out. Do yourself a favor and skip level 9, but check out level 10 when you're done with the first 8. Let's just say it made me smile. Though if any of you out there send me a video of yourselves getting a gold medal on level 10, I will personally mail you a tray of home-baked cookies.
This game was pretty close to getting my seal of approval, but it just took a few too many steps away from fairness and into frustration. Good effort, but it doesn't quite do it for me yet.
Until next time, stay calm and don't cut yourself with the shattered remains of your keyboard.
Links
ARRRGH WHYYY: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24354
Aesthetically, the game is quite similar to 0xCELERATOR, which was one of the least aesthetically pleasing games on this list. Actually, though, Buggy X isn't that hard on the eyes. It's presented in a kind of blueprint style that takes me back to the good ol days of playing Spy Fox where they had that mysterious blueberry flavored blueprint stuff...man, I should replay that game...
Where was I? ah, yes. Buggy X really wanted to test my patience, it seems. The game is unforgiving to say the least. I swear there are certain levels that you will fail straight away if you aren't perfect. And when I say perfect, I mean perfect. One nanosecond of delay can mean the difference between life and death in certain stages (*cough* level 7 *cough*). This is mostly because of the absolutely asinine braking mechanic. I get that the designers were trying to do something new, and yes, the levels are designed around the braking mechanic, but when would it ever seem like a good idea to have a simple press of the down arrow key instantaneously cancel all momentum? This should have been some kind of secondary function, not the main method for braking. It works in the air, too, which just defies the natural human urge to follow the laws of physics. Often I found myself braking in anticipation only to have my car stop moving midair and gracefully fall into the void.
Maybe I'm just being a baby about this. Maybe this game is only meant for true hardcore gamers who can conquer any challenge. But you know what? I've been gaming for 17 years (literally my entire life). I should be able to at least stand a chance, or I'm sorry, but your game is just not very well designed. I have no problem with unrelenting difficulty if it actually feels rewarding to carry on, but in Buggy X, the only part that feels good is actually making it to the finish line.
Okay, okay, that was a bit harsh. Manipulating the braking mechanics to your advantage takes a lot of skill and pulling it off can be quite rewarding, and in all fairness, they do provide a ghost for you to follow which always completes the level perfectly, meaning you wont have to waste brainpower trying to solve some of the less fair stage puzzles. In all honesty, it's not a bad game until you hit level 9, which made me ragequit faster than a rabbit soaked in kerosene during a forest fire. It's one of those levels that makes you play it at its own pace. You know, the kind where you're constantly standing still waiting for elevators and stuff. The first 8 levels are at the very end of the "challenging but fair" spectrum, and if you're willing to put your skills as a gamer to the test, I say try it out. Do yourself a favor and skip level 9, but check out level 10 when you're done with the first 8. Let's just say it made me smile. Though if any of you out there send me a video of yourselves getting a gold medal on level 10, I will personally mail you a tray of home-baked cookies.
This game was pretty close to getting my seal of approval, but it just took a few too many steps away from fairness and into frustration. Good effort, but it doesn't quite do it for me yet.
Until next time, stay calm and don't cut yourself with the shattered remains of your keyboard.
Links
ARRRGH WHYYY: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24354
Brake n Break
I assume this is one of those games a student threw together over a weekend for extra credit or something. It's literally just Snake. You know, that game that's kinda like the lightbikes from Tron. Also goes by the name Centipede...
Mind you, it's the most enjoyable version of snake I've ever played because you can press a button to speed up mid-game rather than just selecting one single speed throughout. In addition, the power ups are nice and add a little spice to the experience, but that doesn't stop the fact that this game is just Snake
I'm not mad or anything, it's just...Snake!
If you like Snake, download it. If not, don't.
That's all for now. Stay shiny.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24630
Mind you, it's the most enjoyable version of snake I've ever played because you can press a button to speed up mid-game rather than just selecting one single speed throughout. In addition, the power ups are nice and add a little spice to the experience, but that doesn't stop the fact that this game is just Snake
I'm not mad or anything, it's just...Snake!
If you like Snake, download it. If not, don't.
That's all for now. Stay shiny.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=24630
Bounce Bounce Fun
uuughhh
Alright, I'll review this...thing in a second, but first, a brief amusing anecdote
When I woke up this morning I had a case of the sniffles, so my nose was makin all kinds of weird noises. When I started up this game, I was greeted by a chorus of whistling that I thought was actually a well composed little tune, but then I noticed that half of it was just me. My nose just decided to join in the chorus, and it actually worked from a musical perspective.
Alright enough beating around the bush. Let's dive in. Again, quick disclaimer: I'm not a game designer. I'm sure whoever made this game knows way more about game design than I do, but this is just a review from a consumer's perspective. I'm not going to be nice.
Bounce Bounce Fun almost reviews itself in the title. 2 out of the three words are correct. Can ya guess which ones? Indeed, a more accurate name would have been "Bounce Bounce Frustration"
This is one of those games that's just completely devoid of game feel. The amount of helpful feedback you're given is almost nil. It was halfway through the first level that I even figured out that this game was played from a third person perspective rather than a first person perspective, and even then I had to decipher which of the bouncing things I was controlling. Once I figured that out, I realized why it was so difficult to arrive at that conclusion. The control is beyond awful. You're supposed to use the mouse to turn your character any of 360 degrees, and the way he's facing would determine where he goes. Think about this for a second: using the mouse to control rotary movement. If your wrist works in such a way that you can turn it 360 degrees, you should spend your time in a lab being studied rather than on a computer playing Bounce Bounce Fun. If your wrist doesn't work like that, then I'm sorry, but Bounce Bounce Fun just wasn't designed for you.
Put all that together and what do you get? A game that is simply bounce bounce unenjoyable. It's a bit patronizing, too. Even after I failed the first 2 levels, the game still let me progress. I assume this is because the actual goal of a level is conveyed so poorly that they figure nobody will ever figure out what they need to do. Thus, they just hold your hand and walk you straight on through the game regardless of how badly you screw up.
In short, I'm chalking this one up to another case of senioritis. Nothing about this game was competently executed. The sound direction is a mess, the graphics are meh at best, the gameplay just defies human design, and it's just not a fun game to play. Don't waste your time on this one.
Alright, I'll review this...thing in a second, but first, a brief amusing anecdote
When I woke up this morning I had a case of the sniffles, so my nose was makin all kinds of weird noises. When I started up this game, I was greeted by a chorus of whistling that I thought was actually a well composed little tune, but then I noticed that half of it was just me. My nose just decided to join in the chorus, and it actually worked from a musical perspective.
Alright enough beating around the bush. Let's dive in. Again, quick disclaimer: I'm not a game designer. I'm sure whoever made this game knows way more about game design than I do, but this is just a review from a consumer's perspective. I'm not going to be nice.
Bounce Bounce Fun almost reviews itself in the title. 2 out of the three words are correct. Can ya guess which ones? Indeed, a more accurate name would have been "Bounce Bounce Frustration"
This is one of those games that's just completely devoid of game feel. The amount of helpful feedback you're given is almost nil. It was halfway through the first level that I even figured out that this game was played from a third person perspective rather than a first person perspective, and even then I had to decipher which of the bouncing things I was controlling. Once I figured that out, I realized why it was so difficult to arrive at that conclusion. The control is beyond awful. You're supposed to use the mouse to turn your character any of 360 degrees, and the way he's facing would determine where he goes. Think about this for a second: using the mouse to control rotary movement. If your wrist works in such a way that you can turn it 360 degrees, you should spend your time in a lab being studied rather than on a computer playing Bounce Bounce Fun. If your wrist doesn't work like that, then I'm sorry, but Bounce Bounce Fun just wasn't designed for you.
Put all that together and what do you get? A game that is simply bounce bounce unenjoyable. It's a bit patronizing, too. Even after I failed the first 2 levels, the game still let me progress. I assume this is because the actual goal of a level is conveyed so poorly that they figure nobody will ever figure out what they need to do. Thus, they just hold your hand and walk you straight on through the game regardless of how badly you screw up.
In short, I'm chalking this one up to another case of senioritis. Nothing about this game was competently executed. The sound direction is a mess, the graphics are meh at best, the gameplay just defies human design, and it's just not a fun game to play. Don't waste your time on this one.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Bossinabox
I do love it when the game reviews itself for me.
Bossinabox is just that. A boss in a box. The game is only 4MB large, which has to be some sort of new record. That said, it's pretty insubstantial. You fight a giant tentacle mess, which looks like some kind of low-poly octopus orgy, until either it dies or you do.
the main problem with this game is that its a graphical nightmare. You will immediately have no idea where you are and will find yourself madly pressing the WASD keys while hearing some robotic voice scream "owie." Turns out, that little target on the side of the cube is you, and the monster attacks you by making certain parts of the cube red. Seems like someone slept through their conveyance classes.
That's really all I can say about this game. It's a really quick download, so I urge you all to check it out yourselves. It's a fun way to waste 5 minutes, if nothing else.
Until next time, stay sharp
Links
wat even is: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=400
Bossinabox is just that. A boss in a box. The game is only 4MB large, which has to be some sort of new record. That said, it's pretty insubstantial. You fight a giant tentacle mess, which looks like some kind of low-poly octopus orgy, until either it dies or you do.
the main problem with this game is that its a graphical nightmare. You will immediately have no idea where you are and will find yourself madly pressing the WASD keys while hearing some robotic voice scream "owie." Turns out, that little target on the side of the cube is you, and the monster attacks you by making certain parts of the cube red. Seems like someone slept through their conveyance classes.
That's really all I can say about this game. It's a really quick download, so I urge you all to check it out yourselves. It's a fun way to waste 5 minutes, if nothing else.
Until next time, stay sharp
Links
wat even is: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=400
Boost, Blast, Bomb
Didn't work. Don't know what else you want me to say. Didn't work.
It set up ok, but its a multiplayer-only game which requires 4 players on different computers. I might be able to get it to work if I could gather up three other people and maybe play with my router a bit, but, to coin a philosopher, ain't nobody got time fo dat.
I did find a video of a trailer for this game, and it looks really good. What a shame.
Links
game?:https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18592
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmdAl3he290
It set up ok, but its a multiplayer-only game which requires 4 players on different computers. I might be able to get it to work if I could gather up three other people and maybe play with my router a bit, but, to coin a philosopher, ain't nobody got time fo dat.
I did find a video of a trailer for this game, and it looks really good. What a shame.
Links
game?:https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18592
video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmdAl3he290
Bontago
Now, this was interesting.
When I scroll through the DigiPen game library and I see a game that proudly wears the title "IGF Game" or "IGF Finalist," I feel a bit conflicted. Part of me is happy that I'm about to play a game with ostensibly more time and manpower behind it than the rest, but another part of me silently weeps because these games tend to be the most massive, which is not optimal for a reviewer in my position.
While it took me over an hour to be able to get the info I needed from Bontago, the game itself is very simple. The objective is to stack blocks until your shadow reaches a goal marker, all the while racing against your opponent(s).
The game was pretty tricky to learn at first, but that's only because I left my mouse somewhere and had to use the good ol' trackpad for this game. See, mousewheel up and mousewheel down are two of the most integral parts of this game, as they dictate the height from which you drop a block. Even a small difference in height could mean the difference between neatly placing your block where you want it or having the block soar off into the distance, destroying your carefully arranged towers in its path of havoc. Since I was using the trackpad, I had to switch the controls so that page up and page down controlled the height, which worked well enough for me to be able to play the game.
While the meat of this game is simple, the bells and whistles are what makes it a truly massive game. There are certain "gifts" that you have a chance of getting instead of a block. I put quotes around "gift" because usually dropping them just destroys your progress in variously frustrating ways. Of course, you have to drop them in order to progress, making the powerups add a whole other layer of depth to the game. See, building upwards is by far the quickest way to expand your shadow of influence, but an earthquake gift will swiftly decimate a long tower, whereas the blocks that are closer to the ground will remain unscathed. All these factors have to be taken into account in a short time, as there is a timer that automatically drops the block you're holding if you hold on to it for too long.
I get the feeling this game would be really fun to play with friends. It's one of those games where you spend almost as much time setting it up as you do playing it, invoking the same kind of friendly discourse as do the item or stage screens in a game like Super Smash Bros (I know I mention that game a lot, but shut up. It's one of my favorites).
In addition, there's sandbox mode, a block-stacking creative experience that almost rivals Minecraft (except not at all). Usually though, when I play this mode I end up just randomly spawning blocks everywhere until the map resembles a carefully designed Lego city after a toddler's wreaked his vengeance upon it for an hour.
All in all, I recommend Bontago. It just might be the game that inspires me to figure out how to host a multiplayer match for these games. Until then, though, it's a fun experience that tests your mind and reflexes. It definitely gets my seal of approval.
Links
Blocks everywhere: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=535
When I scroll through the DigiPen game library and I see a game that proudly wears the title "IGF Game" or "IGF Finalist," I feel a bit conflicted. Part of me is happy that I'm about to play a game with ostensibly more time and manpower behind it than the rest, but another part of me silently weeps because these games tend to be the most massive, which is not optimal for a reviewer in my position.
While it took me over an hour to be able to get the info I needed from Bontago, the game itself is very simple. The objective is to stack blocks until your shadow reaches a goal marker, all the while racing against your opponent(s).
The game was pretty tricky to learn at first, but that's only because I left my mouse somewhere and had to use the good ol' trackpad for this game. See, mousewheel up and mousewheel down are two of the most integral parts of this game, as they dictate the height from which you drop a block. Even a small difference in height could mean the difference between neatly placing your block where you want it or having the block soar off into the distance, destroying your carefully arranged towers in its path of havoc. Since I was using the trackpad, I had to switch the controls so that page up and page down controlled the height, which worked well enough for me to be able to play the game.
While the meat of this game is simple, the bells and whistles are what makes it a truly massive game. There are certain "gifts" that you have a chance of getting instead of a block. I put quotes around "gift" because usually dropping them just destroys your progress in variously frustrating ways. Of course, you have to drop them in order to progress, making the powerups add a whole other layer of depth to the game. See, building upwards is by far the quickest way to expand your shadow of influence, but an earthquake gift will swiftly decimate a long tower, whereas the blocks that are closer to the ground will remain unscathed. All these factors have to be taken into account in a short time, as there is a timer that automatically drops the block you're holding if you hold on to it for too long.
I get the feeling this game would be really fun to play with friends. It's one of those games where you spend almost as much time setting it up as you do playing it, invoking the same kind of friendly discourse as do the item or stage screens in a game like Super Smash Bros (I know I mention that game a lot, but shut up. It's one of my favorites).
In addition, there's sandbox mode, a block-stacking creative experience that almost rivals Minecraft (except not at all). Usually though, when I play this mode I end up just randomly spawning blocks everywhere until the map resembles a carefully designed Lego city after a toddler's wreaked his vengeance upon it for an hour.
All in all, I recommend Bontago. It just might be the game that inspires me to figure out how to host a multiplayer match for these games. Until then, though, it's a fun experience that tests your mind and reflexes. It definitely gets my seal of approval.
Links
Blocks everywhere: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=535
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