Alright, I want to make up for lost time, so the next few reviews are going to be pretty short. That said, let's jump right in to Body o Bob
very simple game, this one. All you do is use the mouse to fly all around collecting vitamins and avoiding viruses.
Really the only noteworthy thing to talk about here is the control. It's way too floaty. I get that they were trying to mimic the feel of actually swimming through someone's digestive system, but the hitboxes are...generous, to say the least, and three hits can usually mean death. Sometimes it happens that I am flying around, collecting collectibles, and suddenly I see a germ approach from the far side of the screen. I immediately turn around, but I've built up so much inertia by this point that I careen into the germ and lose a life anyway.
On top of that, the spaces in which you're expected to maneuver can just be cruel at times. I've touched upon this before, but I think now is a good time to bring up the fine line between challenging and frustrating. Games like Blockhead or Arc Angle are challenging. They really test your skills and are designed in such a way that you feel like everything that happens is your own fault. Kill an enemy? Good. You deserved it. Got killed by an enemy? Good. You deserved it. Body O' Bob is frustrating because it doesn't feel warranted when you die. The sloppy controls and sporadic enemy movement make it feel like the game is being played by some vengeful puppeteer god and not you.
For this reason, I can't recommend Body O' Bob. Honestly, I can't even say I like the concept very much. There's nothing that sets this apart from any other game on this list and there are certainly things that draw it toward the lower tiers. It's not straight up dysfunctional like some other games (*cough* A series of Tubes *cough*) but its still just, in my humblest of opinions, not an exceptionally well designed game.
I appreciate what they were trying to do with this game, but I still say give it a miss.
Links
Gastrointestinal adventures: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25993
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Blockhead
It's the little things in life that keep ya goin.
Blockhead seemed like an average affair at face value. Another puzzle platformer with a large-headed protagonist and world manipulation mechanics? It seemed to me like I was in for a carbon copy of BLINK, which, if you'll remember, was pretty much a carbon copy of Braid. Of course, all three of these games, while having similarities (like starting with "b"), are centrally different in many ways. Blockhead is the real outsider of the group if, for no other reason, it's in 3D!
Now, I won't lie. I only played about a quarter of Blockhead because of time constraints. However, I played enough of it to get a wholly enjoyable and endearing experience.
The plot, while being deliberately cliched, is oddly adorable in the way it's presented. I think it's the character design that resonates with me the most. There's something about little Blocky that just makes you wanna go "aww"
Each level has a simple objective: Get to the flag by picking up and replacing world blocks like the Enderman from Minecraft. The puzzles get more and more difficult as the levels go on, and new mechanics (such as rotating the world and springy blocks) are introduced at a gradual but not patronizing pace.
I think what I like most about Blockhead is that there doesn't seem to be only one solution to each of the puzzles. As long as you can run logical calculations in your brain, it doesn't really matter whether you're operating on the same wavelength as the level designer. This kind of open-ended design keeps the game fresh and enjoyable, and I really think that game designers, even in the AAA realm, could benefit from this kind of approach to level design. It really makes completing a level feel more rewarding because there's something personal about the solution you used.
Other than that, the aesthetic is charming, the control is solid and the whole experience is just fun and relaxing. The best way, in my opinion, to think about it is AEscher with personality. Same seamless controls but with a new layer of paint. An actual narrative, aesthetics that don't make your eyes hurt, etc.
This game just put a big ol' smile on my face. For that reason, it gets my seal of approval
Links:
sunshine and puppies: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25992
Explain yourself, Rodman
Okay, okay. I have some explaining to do.
I was at a debate tournament this weekend, which is why I didn't post a review yesterday. I just got home now and, honestly, am so tired that I might not even post a review tonight. I hope I'll make up for it with one of the most prolific weekends this blog will ever see.
It pains me greatly to not post a review tonight, so look out for it later. I project that if I decide to put one up, it'll be here by 11:00pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Peace,
-Dean
I was at a debate tournament this weekend, which is why I didn't post a review yesterday. I just got home now and, honestly, am so tired that I might not even post a review tonight. I hope I'll make up for it with one of the most prolific weekends this blog will ever see.
It pains me greatly to not post a review tonight, so look out for it later. I project that if I decide to put one up, it'll be here by 11:00pm (Eastern Standard Time)
Peace,
-Dean
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Block Breakers
Well, for a game with such a simple title, this game certainly has more than its fair share of girth. The install file for this thing is almost a whole gigabyte (which, yes, is not much when dealing with games, but most of these games are 50MB, tops).
The question is, does Block Breakers squander its generous memory space? Or does it use all it has to deliver an experience as jam-packed as my hard drive?
Well, to be perfectly honest, this game isn't much in terms of depth. The gameplay is as simple as the title, though the control scheme is a bit wonky. There's an optional tutorial, but with out playing it, I'm not sure how you'd figure out that you use the arrow keys to attack when movement is already handled by WASD and the mouse buttons are completely unused. Oh well. The tutorial is short and sweet, so i can forgive this game for now.
This game is arcade-style, which is good for me because it only takes me about ten minutes to play it before I've gained enough info to write a review. The main selling point of this game is the aesthetic. They really try to impress you with their 3D rendering skills. I wasn't blown away, but honestly I think that's only because I was comparing it to bLight the whole time. True, the game isn't quite as pretty as bLight, but it's still got charm, personality, and enough polygons to make my graphics chip sweat a little.
The gameplay is absolute madness. Everything moves so quickly and sporadically that it's nigh-impossible to tell what you're doing. True, the characters are varied enough that you can spot the difference between you and an enemy easily, but that doesn't help when you're careening down into the void because you didn't see that hammer flying at the block you happened to be standing on. In fact, the game would be confusing even if it weren't for the crazily paced environment shifts and particle physic nightmares. See, you are given a hammer and some enemies. Every human instinct should tell you to aim your hammer at your enemies, but that doesn't do anything. What you're aiming for is the ground beneath them, which creates a weird disconnect that leaves the game feeling overall sloppy and imprecise.
As odd as this may seem, I think I'm going to end up recommending Block Breakers for the very reasons that I've just spent three paragraphs complaining about. See, a game like this isn't meant to test your skill, and the player should know that going into it. It's very similar in my opinion to a variation of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (oh dear, I've said it. Let the firestorm begin).
Like Brawl, the controls are messy and designed in such a way that you end up blindly mashing buttons rather than learning the nuances of the game. It's not a game you compete with your friends in. It's a game you play because you want to turn your brain off and escape for a bit. And escape I did. The music, graphics and gameplay meld together in such a way that I was unable to maintain my analytical viewpoint and instead just relaxed and played. And you know what? If a game can do that, I give it my seal of approval (even if falling into the depths of space every 2 nanoseconds does ruin the flow a bit).
Links
a Mario Party minigame on 'roids: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=8714
PS - the music keeps playing indefinitely, even after you close the game...WHY?!
The question is, does Block Breakers squander its generous memory space? Or does it use all it has to deliver an experience as jam-packed as my hard drive?
Well, to be perfectly honest, this game isn't much in terms of depth. The gameplay is as simple as the title, though the control scheme is a bit wonky. There's an optional tutorial, but with out playing it, I'm not sure how you'd figure out that you use the arrow keys to attack when movement is already handled by WASD and the mouse buttons are completely unused. Oh well. The tutorial is short and sweet, so i can forgive this game for now.
This game is arcade-style, which is good for me because it only takes me about ten minutes to play it before I've gained enough info to write a review. The main selling point of this game is the aesthetic. They really try to impress you with their 3D rendering skills. I wasn't blown away, but honestly I think that's only because I was comparing it to bLight the whole time. True, the game isn't quite as pretty as bLight, but it's still got charm, personality, and enough polygons to make my graphics chip sweat a little.
The gameplay is absolute madness. Everything moves so quickly and sporadically that it's nigh-impossible to tell what you're doing. True, the characters are varied enough that you can spot the difference between you and an enemy easily, but that doesn't help when you're careening down into the void because you didn't see that hammer flying at the block you happened to be standing on. In fact, the game would be confusing even if it weren't for the crazily paced environment shifts and particle physic nightmares. See, you are given a hammer and some enemies. Every human instinct should tell you to aim your hammer at your enemies, but that doesn't do anything. What you're aiming for is the ground beneath them, which creates a weird disconnect that leaves the game feeling overall sloppy and imprecise.
As odd as this may seem, I think I'm going to end up recommending Block Breakers for the very reasons that I've just spent three paragraphs complaining about. See, a game like this isn't meant to test your skill, and the player should know that going into it. It's very similar in my opinion to a variation of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (oh dear, I've said it. Let the firestorm begin).
Like Brawl, the controls are messy and designed in such a way that you end up blindly mashing buttons rather than learning the nuances of the game. It's not a game you compete with your friends in. It's a game you play because you want to turn your brain off and escape for a bit. And escape I did. The music, graphics and gameplay meld together in such a way that I was unable to maintain my analytical viewpoint and instead just relaxed and played. And you know what? If a game can do that, I give it my seal of approval (even if falling into the depths of space every 2 nanoseconds does ruin the flow a bit).
Links
a Mario Party minigame on 'roids: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=8714
PS - the music keeps playing indefinitely, even after you close the game...WHY?!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Blitzkrieg
Okay, folks. You know the drill. Wednesday = lousy review day, so bear with me.
Actually, this week it seems Wednesday also = lousy game day. Remember when I said that Berserk was the most average game I've played? Well Blitzkrieg is literally Berserk. The two games are nigh identical.
Same controls, same graphical style, and I swear one of the enemies is a direct copypasta of one of the enemies from Berserk. The two games were made by separate students in the same grade in the same academic year, too, so maybe the two teams were collaborating at some point and then there was some sort of split, so each team took their ball of source code and went home. I'm not sure. If this post somehow makes it to someone who knows, be sure to comment away (and so, the first step toward selling out was taken).
The only real criticism I can level at Blitzkrieg is that the difficulty curve is absolutely off the walls. The first 10 or so levels are walks through the park that anyone with two functioning hands should be able to get through on their first shot. Just when I was ready to declare that the game was too worried that the player might die every now and again, I hit a brick wall of a level that took me about 5 tries to get past. Not even three levels after that one, the difficulty was reduced to zero and literally all you had to do to beat the stage was hold "up." A bit more care in handling the difficulty curve would have been greatly appreciated.
Apart from that, the flow isn't executed very well. To begin with, the movement speed is sluggish enough to get slightly annoying. The real flow killer, however, is that every time you clear a level you have to wait for an obnoxious and unskippable score counter to do a flirtatious little dance for you.
Well that's all the time I have for now. Honestly I'm relieved that an insubstantial game like Blitzkrieg should fall on my off day.
Until next time, stay glowy
Links
Berse-uh-I mean-Blitzkrieg: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25881
Actually, this week it seems Wednesday also = lousy game day. Remember when I said that Berserk was the most average game I've played? Well Blitzkrieg is literally Berserk. The two games are nigh identical.
Same controls, same graphical style, and I swear one of the enemies is a direct copypasta of one of the enemies from Berserk. The two games were made by separate students in the same grade in the same academic year, too, so maybe the two teams were collaborating at some point and then there was some sort of split, so each team took their ball of source code and went home. I'm not sure. If this post somehow makes it to someone who knows, be sure to comment away (and so, the first step toward selling out was taken).
The only real criticism I can level at Blitzkrieg is that the difficulty curve is absolutely off the walls. The first 10 or so levels are walks through the park that anyone with two functioning hands should be able to get through on their first shot. Just when I was ready to declare that the game was too worried that the player might die every now and again, I hit a brick wall of a level that took me about 5 tries to get past. Not even three levels after that one, the difficulty was reduced to zero and literally all you had to do to beat the stage was hold "up." A bit more care in handling the difficulty curve would have been greatly appreciated.
Apart from that, the flow isn't executed very well. To begin with, the movement speed is sluggish enough to get slightly annoying. The real flow killer, however, is that every time you clear a level you have to wait for an obnoxious and unskippable score counter to do a flirtatious little dance for you.
Well that's all the time I have for now. Honestly I'm relieved that an insubstantial game like Blitzkrieg should fall on my off day.
Until next time, stay glowy
Links
Berse-uh-I mean-Blitzkrieg: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25881
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
BLINK
Alright, folks, I've got a Physics test and an English paper to deal with, so I'm going to keep this snappy.
Blink is good. It's not great, but it's good. The best way to describe it is budget Braid. Yes, the two games have completely different mechanics and the playstyle of one is unlike the playstyle of the other, aesthetically the resemblance between the two games is uncanny. The suspicions starts when the player hears the classy piano piece being played in the background, which sounds almost exactly like the background music for Braid. Toss in a character with a frighteningly proportioned head, a stylized world with a minimalist graphical style and world manipulation mechanics and the similarities become hard to miss.
Like Braid, this game is going to take me a while to finish because the puzzles to get pretty difficult pretty fast and I don't have the time to really think of solutions now. Even though I didn't play through the game, I got a sense for its mechanics, which really do hold up well.
Because of my limited experience with the game and my cramped schedule, I'm going to end this little analysis with some closing remarks. The game is pleasant and thought provoking if a bit frustrating. If you like puzzles, check it out. If not, don't.
Links
ironically titled game because robots don't blink... https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25909
P.S- the development team also has a funny title of "team alien" with a logo of a robot. It's the little things that keep ya goin.
Blink is good. It's not great, but it's good. The best way to describe it is budget Braid. Yes, the two games have completely different mechanics and the playstyle of one is unlike the playstyle of the other, aesthetically the resemblance between the two games is uncanny. The suspicions starts when the player hears the classy piano piece being played in the background, which sounds almost exactly like the background music for Braid. Toss in a character with a frighteningly proportioned head, a stylized world with a minimalist graphical style and world manipulation mechanics and the similarities become hard to miss.
Like Braid, this game is going to take me a while to finish because the puzzles to get pretty difficult pretty fast and I don't have the time to really think of solutions now. Even though I didn't play through the game, I got a sense for its mechanics, which really do hold up well.
Because of my limited experience with the game and my cramped schedule, I'm going to end this little analysis with some closing remarks. The game is pleasant and thought provoking if a bit frustrating. If you like puzzles, check it out. If not, don't.
Links
ironically titled game because robots don't blink... https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25909
P.S- the development team also has a funny title of "team alien" with a logo of a robot. It's the little things that keep ya goin.
Monday, January 28, 2013
bLight
oh dear, where to begin with this one?
I suppose the first thing I should mention is the first thing that intrigued my about this game: the graphical style. Hot damn this game is pretty. I say that not only because the graphical quality is enough to rival even the most affluent of indie developers but also just because the game looks beautiful aesthetically. Like Aphotic Ascent, the game plays with the whole Light/Dark dichotomy, except this game is a lot more pleasing to the eye. For starters, the light is colorful. That's more than just a childish desire for pretty colors, mind you. Visually, more colors are simply prettier to look at. The game is very vibrant for the most part, which really makes the enemies stand out. When you go over a dark area to introduce light to it, you can see the shadows being replaced by twinkly moss, the character designs are wonderful...it's just a damn fine game to look at. Certainly the prettiest game on the list so far. But, the question still remains...how does it play?
Well, for the most part, the controls are solid. The setup is simple, but the implementation of the controls is kind of complex. I'll try to summarize it, but you would get a much better understanding from actually playing the game (yeah, big surprise). Basically, you WASD to move and use the arrow keys to change into any 4 colors: blue, red, yellow and green. These colors correspond not only to which kind of teammates you can spawn, but also the attack formation your teammates will take. This gives the game a good amount of complexity, leaving the player to constantly analyze in his head which position he or she wants to be in strategically while also needing to consider which enemies to spawn. In addition, teammates can be combined together to form significantly stronger teammates, but there are only a small amount of combined teammates you can have on the field at one time, giving the player even more to think about.The gameplay as a result could get very frantic as a result.
It could...but it doesn't.
The main flaw of the game is that it's just way too easy. In fact, it's so easy it becomes literally impossible. Allow me to clarify: the game starts up difficult enough when you only have a limited amount of troops to work with, but eventually you're so bogged down with troop-spawning crystals that every slot is filled up and you still have about 300 crystals in your inventory just wasting away. Also, the only way you can get rid of teammates and free up some space for more teammates is to have enemies kill them. Unfortunately, if you're like me and filled up half the screen with healing creatures, you're SOL because the little buggers never die. It got to the point where I needed to collect the power of blue (yes, that's actually how the game refers to it) and spawn some defensive guys, but there was no room for any more troops. I suppose this is why the game decided never to give me the power of blue, thus preventing me from advancing.
Perhaps this was a glitch, but still. The low difficulty is noticeable and spamming monsters is just too effective a strategy. This game would have really benefited from a fratricide button so you could clear out some space to rearrange your team.
This flaw is really glaring, and makes the game kind of unfun after 20 or so minutes of play. Nevertheless, I recommend it. Most of these games aren't 20 minutes long anyway, and the 20 minutes I had with this game were some of the best I've had since I started the list. This game gets my seal of approval.
Until next time, stay beautiful (hey, it actually works here!)
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18531
I suppose the first thing I should mention is the first thing that intrigued my about this game: the graphical style. Hot damn this game is pretty. I say that not only because the graphical quality is enough to rival even the most affluent of indie developers but also just because the game looks beautiful aesthetically. Like Aphotic Ascent, the game plays with the whole Light/Dark dichotomy, except this game is a lot more pleasing to the eye. For starters, the light is colorful. That's more than just a childish desire for pretty colors, mind you. Visually, more colors are simply prettier to look at. The game is very vibrant for the most part, which really makes the enemies stand out. When you go over a dark area to introduce light to it, you can see the shadows being replaced by twinkly moss, the character designs are wonderful...it's just a damn fine game to look at. Certainly the prettiest game on the list so far. But, the question still remains...how does it play?
Well, for the most part, the controls are solid. The setup is simple, but the implementation of the controls is kind of complex. I'll try to summarize it, but you would get a much better understanding from actually playing the game (yeah, big surprise). Basically, you WASD to move and use the arrow keys to change into any 4 colors: blue, red, yellow and green. These colors correspond not only to which kind of teammates you can spawn, but also the attack formation your teammates will take. This gives the game a good amount of complexity, leaving the player to constantly analyze in his head which position he or she wants to be in strategically while also needing to consider which enemies to spawn. In addition, teammates can be combined together to form significantly stronger teammates, but there are only a small amount of combined teammates you can have on the field at one time, giving the player even more to think about.The gameplay as a result could get very frantic as a result.
It could...but it doesn't.
The main flaw of the game is that it's just way too easy. In fact, it's so easy it becomes literally impossible. Allow me to clarify: the game starts up difficult enough when you only have a limited amount of troops to work with, but eventually you're so bogged down with troop-spawning crystals that every slot is filled up and you still have about 300 crystals in your inventory just wasting away. Also, the only way you can get rid of teammates and free up some space for more teammates is to have enemies kill them. Unfortunately, if you're like me and filled up half the screen with healing creatures, you're SOL because the little buggers never die. It got to the point where I needed to collect the power of blue (yes, that's actually how the game refers to it) and spawn some defensive guys, but there was no room for any more troops. I suppose this is why the game decided never to give me the power of blue, thus preventing me from advancing.
Perhaps this was a glitch, but still. The low difficulty is noticeable and spamming monsters is just too effective a strategy. This game would have really benefited from a fratricide button so you could clear out some space to rearrange your team.
This flaw is really glaring, and makes the game kind of unfun after 20 or so minutes of play. Nevertheless, I recommend it. Most of these games aren't 20 minutes long anyway, and the 20 minutes I had with this game were some of the best I've had since I started the list. This game gets my seal of approval.
Until next time, stay beautiful (hey, it actually works here!)
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18531
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