You wanna know how to tell if a game may be oversimplified? If it only uses one button.
But seriously, folks. If that doesn't capture how simplistic Helvault is, nothing will. The only thing you have the power to do is jump. This makes the game easy to play, if nothing else.
The visual style is one step further than that whole "retro-NES" style I talked about in my Haven review and goes for something of a "retro-Atari 2600" look. The animations are limited and the whole thing is very plain. Nothing to behold but nothing to scorn.
The game itself, despite having literally the most simple control scheme possible, can actually get pretty intense. It goes for an arcade feel, which shows through its difficulty. Yeah, this game is a token taker, alright. See, the way you power up is by collecting more teammates, so when those teammates die, you get substantially weaker. You enemies, which kill you just by touching you, do not. Thus, it becomes nigh impossible to survive once a few of your guys get taken out. This isn't a bad thing, mind. I appreciate how unforgiving the game is, and since the game takes no time at all to get moving, it makes for a fun and intense experience. Who knew timing jumps could be so fun?
The other thing that can make this game super chaotic is that your teammates can spread out. See, they form a line behind you as you collect them, and they all jump simultaneously when you press the jump button. This means that if you have a large team, you're likely going to end up with three separate rows of platforms all being covered by your guys. Keeping track of your characters under these conditions can be quite exhilarating.
Yeah, that's all I got. Simple concept, fun game. Until next time, stay prehistoric.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26008
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Helios
"We are Daedalus. We are Icarus. The barriers between us have fallen and we have become our own shadows. We can be more if we join with you."
Helios is a 3D, straightforward space shooter. Its most distinguishing feature, if you ask me, is that it's played exclusively with the mouse. It's altogether functional minus a few manageable flaws and, ultimately, it's a fun experience. Here's why:
First, let's talk about presentation, which is something this game absolutely nails. As soon as you start it up, the game greets you with a fun, active electronic tune, which is a sped up version of a song I remember hearing in other games, so either the guys who provide DigiPen with their music were out of ideas or someone on this game's team decided to leave an auditory mark on their project, which I can respect.
The sun in the background contrasts beautifully with the space atmosphere (or lack thereof...hehe) and the bright trail of your ship is a delight to behold...not that you'll have much time to behold it, because as soon as the 30-second tutorial wraps up, you're launched into an onslaught of enemies and obstacles, all well designed and fun to shoot at.
Alright, let's get into the problems with the game. Really, there are 3 big ones: a sound glitch, the enemy fire, and the obstacles.
Let's start with enemy fire. It's tiny and impossible to avoid. Mostly, this is because if an enemy situates itself right in front of you, your ship will prevent you from seeing the enemy projectiles. See, in Starfox 64, the camera is angled slightly downward so that you can see enemies that are directly in front of you. As a result, every hit you take feels like you deserved it. Here, almost every time you take damage seems like a cheap shot.
speaking of cheap shots, let's talk obstacles: All-in-all, this game controls quite well, even on my trackpad. However, dodging the giant obstacles is made artificially difficult by some sort of design flaw I might be able to point out if I were a design student. All I know as a player is that one second the opening to escape unharmed couldn't be clearer and the next you've just collided with a piece of 3-ton space debris. Not fun, not challenging, just frustrating.
Speaking of space debris, there's the sound glitch. The first song you blast away enemies to is catchy and immersive. Perfect for setting the mood. However, at some point, whether it's when you collide with space debris or when 2 pieces of space debris collide against each other, that music will stop and you will be catapulted out of the experience. Couple that with the fact that collision sound effects are way too loud and you've got yourself a real sound editing problem.
Other than all that, Helios is quite fun and definitely worth your time. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay inevitable.
Links
can't get away: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18573
Helios is a 3D, straightforward space shooter. Its most distinguishing feature, if you ask me, is that it's played exclusively with the mouse. It's altogether functional minus a few manageable flaws and, ultimately, it's a fun experience. Here's why:
First, let's talk about presentation, which is something this game absolutely nails. As soon as you start it up, the game greets you with a fun, active electronic tune, which is a sped up version of a song I remember hearing in other games, so either the guys who provide DigiPen with their music were out of ideas or someone on this game's team decided to leave an auditory mark on their project, which I can respect.
The sun in the background contrasts beautifully with the space atmosphere (or lack thereof...hehe) and the bright trail of your ship is a delight to behold...not that you'll have much time to behold it, because as soon as the 30-second tutorial wraps up, you're launched into an onslaught of enemies and obstacles, all well designed and fun to shoot at.
Alright, let's get into the problems with the game. Really, there are 3 big ones: a sound glitch, the enemy fire, and the obstacles.
Let's start with enemy fire. It's tiny and impossible to avoid. Mostly, this is because if an enemy situates itself right in front of you, your ship will prevent you from seeing the enemy projectiles. See, in Starfox 64, the camera is angled slightly downward so that you can see enemies that are directly in front of you. As a result, every hit you take feels like you deserved it. Here, almost every time you take damage seems like a cheap shot.
speaking of cheap shots, let's talk obstacles: All-in-all, this game controls quite well, even on my trackpad. However, dodging the giant obstacles is made artificially difficult by some sort of design flaw I might be able to point out if I were a design student. All I know as a player is that one second the opening to escape unharmed couldn't be clearer and the next you've just collided with a piece of 3-ton space debris. Not fun, not challenging, just frustrating.
Speaking of space debris, there's the sound glitch. The first song you blast away enemies to is catchy and immersive. Perfect for setting the mood. However, at some point, whether it's when you collide with space debris or when 2 pieces of space debris collide against each other, that music will stop and you will be catapulted out of the experience. Couple that with the fact that collision sound effects are way too loud and you've got yourself a real sound editing problem.
Other than all that, Helios is quite fun and definitely worth your time. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay inevitable.
Links
can't get away: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18573
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Haxsys 2.0
Despite having the most irritating title of any game on this list thus far, Haxsys 2.0 (grrr) has many qualities about it that make me smile. First and foremost, one of the ships you can choose from looks like an old-style Arwing, which made me squeal like a fangirl.
Other than that, though, the concept is a new spin on an old classic (domination). It's a delightful step forward in the process of evolving conflict in games to purely combat. It's tough to explain, so I'll just recommend that you give it a try so I can skip the summary of the mechanics.
I'm really at a loss for words with this game. Something about how it combines fast-paced action with Risk and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing in a genuinely fun and engaging way just leaves me kind of awestruck.
You know what? I think I have to leave it there. I just can't say anything more about this game. Sorry for the weak review, but at least I'm making your job easier. Play this game. It's worth your time.
Until next time, stay polygonal.
Links
Accualy f33l liek Hax0rz: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1433
Other than that, though, the concept is a new spin on an old classic (domination). It's a delightful step forward in the process of evolving conflict in games to purely combat. It's tough to explain, so I'll just recommend that you give it a try so I can skip the summary of the mechanics.
I'm really at a loss for words with this game. Something about how it combines fast-paced action with Risk and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing in a genuinely fun and engaging way just leaves me kind of awestruck.
You know what? I think I have to leave it there. I just can't say anything more about this game. Sorry for the weak review, but at least I'm making your job easier. Play this game. It's worth your time.
Until next time, stay polygonal.
Links
Accualy f33l liek Hax0rz: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1433
Monday, April 29, 2013
HAVEN
In a world where games like Realm of the Mad God and Shovel Knight get substantial praise, I find myself wondering if calling back to the days of pixel art increases or decreases a games's favorability. Don't get me wrong, I love Realm (though I've never played Shovel Knight), but, as I sort of alluded to in my Dig-n-Rig review, I find that style kind of pretentious. I'm a firm believer that limitations breed creativity, but artificial limitations just rub me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong, not everyone has to go the Deus Ex: Human Revolution route and try to pack the game with as much glorious HD goodness as it can while still maintaining a good aesthetic, but my logic is that if NES games didn't exist, or if the current technology were the starting point, nobody would even think of designing a game in that style. All it really does is call back to a time everyone views favorably as if to say "See guys? We can totally be this good!"
Jeez, what will this guy rant about next? Next he'll spend 2 pages talking about how much he hates HD remakes (don't worry, I'm sure that time will come soon).
Anyway, let's talk about HAVEN from a non-graphical perspective. The game builds itself around combat, as so many games do, and it does so quite well. The blocking and attacking mechanics all flow really nicely into one another. Every enemy has a pattern that you have to figure out and counter. There are not so many enemies that this gets stale and before you know it, the game has taught you how to fight well enough that you can take on the final boss.
It seems like the designers really put thought into every aspect of this game (or just had a series of really luck guesses) because everything sort of acts as a tutorial for what happens next. That's the hallmark of a really well designed game in my opinion.
The final boss fight is challenging enough without being too repetitive. Although, it does come rather close because, since there's no consequence for dying other than having to guide your ghost back to your body, there's no real way to fail at killing the boss, so the fight should be over as soon as the player figures out the pattern. This in mind, the boss's health meter should have been about half as long. Not a dealbreaker, but something to be cautious of.
So yeah. Haven is a neatly wrapped, adrenaline-fueled, fun, pixelated romp that earns my seal of approval. Check it out, it's worth your time, especially considering it's only about 10 minutes long (if even that).
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay retro
Links
hacky slashy 80s callback: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26142
Jeez, what will this guy rant about next? Next he'll spend 2 pages talking about how much he hates HD remakes (don't worry, I'm sure that time will come soon).
Anyway, let's talk about HAVEN from a non-graphical perspective. The game builds itself around combat, as so many games do, and it does so quite well. The blocking and attacking mechanics all flow really nicely into one another. Every enemy has a pattern that you have to figure out and counter. There are not so many enemies that this gets stale and before you know it, the game has taught you how to fight well enough that you can take on the final boss.
It seems like the designers really put thought into every aspect of this game (or just had a series of really luck guesses) because everything sort of acts as a tutorial for what happens next. That's the hallmark of a really well designed game in my opinion.
The final boss fight is challenging enough without being too repetitive. Although, it does come rather close because, since there's no consequence for dying other than having to guide your ghost back to your body, there's no real way to fail at killing the boss, so the fight should be over as soon as the player figures out the pattern. This in mind, the boss's health meter should have been about half as long. Not a dealbreaker, but something to be cautious of.
So yeah. Haven is a neatly wrapped, adrenaline-fueled, fun, pixelated romp that earns my seal of approval. Check it out, it's worth your time, especially considering it's only about 10 minutes long (if even that).
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay retro
Links
hacky slashy 80s callback: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26142
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Hack Attack
I don't know if it's the fact that the games today are getting less and less substantial, that my will is gradually decreasing, or some combination of both, but I don't have much to say about this one at all. It's one of those Asteroids-ey multidirectional top-down shooters. You know the kind. There are two main problems I have with this game: a design issue and a control issue.
First, this game is just way too cluttered for my tastes. There are bullets and enemies everywhere and getting hit by them seems to be more of an inevitability than an option. This is largely due to the control issue:
I don't know who on the dev team thought it would be a good idea to limit the movement buttons to the arrow keys as opposed to WASD, but whoever it was is responsible for 90% of the game's frustration. See, when holding the up arrow key, the left arrow key doesn't work, meaning you can't go forward and left at the same time. I know this isn't just a problem with my computer because I remember having the same problem on other computers, albeit with different programs.
That's all I got. Until next time, stay triangular.
Links
pew pew triangles: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25882
First, this game is just way too cluttered for my tastes. There are bullets and enemies everywhere and getting hit by them seems to be more of an inevitability than an option. This is largely due to the control issue:
I don't know who on the dev team thought it would be a good idea to limit the movement buttons to the arrow keys as opposed to WASD, but whoever it was is responsible for 90% of the game's frustration. See, when holding the up arrow key, the left arrow key doesn't work, meaning you can't go forward and left at the same time. I know this isn't just a problem with my computer because I remember having the same problem on other computers, albeit with different programs.
That's all I got. Until next time, stay triangular.
Links
pew pew triangles: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25882
Grimelins
yeah, there ain't much to say about this game. I feel a bit cheated because the game's description clearly mentions multiple bosses, but the entire game is just one boss fight. The description also mentions that you're "saving your friend," but again, no such thing happens.
Well anyway, the one boss fight that does occur is more formulaic than the front page of one of my physics tests. Step 1: throw bomb. Step 2: repeat until you win.
The only real plus to this game is the visual style. If this was just a test to see if the devs could make a functional sequence with really pretty 3D graphics, then I guess it succeeds. As a game, though, it falls flat.
That's all I got. Until next time, stay repetitive
Links
Don't move, little alloy: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25904
Well anyway, the one boss fight that does occur is more formulaic than the front page of one of my physics tests. Step 1: throw bomb. Step 2: repeat until you win.
The only real plus to this game is the visual style. If this was just a test to see if the devs could make a functional sequence with really pretty 3D graphics, then I guess it succeeds. As a game, though, it falls flat.
That's all I got. Until next time, stay repetitive
Links
Don't move, little alloy: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25904
GridWarrior
so yeah, it's allergy season again. I apologize for being a bit foggy-headed, but I...uh...what was I saying? Wait, where am I?
alright so GridWarrior is a really good game that gets screwed up by one design flaw. This kind of game is my least favorite to review because I really only have one thing to talk about. Anything else would be summary rather than analysis; if my English teacher caught me doing something like that, he'd break out the paddle again.
So what is this flaw you may ask? Well, first, let me talk a little bit about how the game frames itself...I mean analyze! I'm going to analyze how the game frames itself! See, different enemies use different kinds of weapons. You can get those weapons by whittling down their health and then using your grappling hook on them. This process is dangerous, as it leaves you open to attack and diverts your attention from the million other enemies on the screen. Thus, it makes for a really engaging player choice: "do I soak up the damage to get a new weapon or do I hold off?" That is, it would, if it weren't for this game's fatal flaw:
The sword is tremendously OP. There is not a single enemy in this game that can't be beaten by simply mashing right-click at them. The most efficient method of dispatching enemies is unlocked from the word go, turning what could have been a really fun game boring and repetitive.
Everything else in this game is great. Visuals, controls, everything. That one design flaw completely undermined an otherwise thoughtful game. Just goes to show how meticulous a dev team has to be. I mean, I was playing this game for like an hour before I noticed how powerful the sword was. Before that, I was having a blast.
Oh well. If you can convince yourself not to abuse the sword, I suppose GridWarrior can still be a fun experience. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay unbalanced.
Links
right click your way to victory: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26007
alright so GridWarrior is a really good game that gets screwed up by one design flaw. This kind of game is my least favorite to review because I really only have one thing to talk about. Anything else would be summary rather than analysis; if my English teacher caught me doing something like that, he'd break out the paddle again.
So what is this flaw you may ask? Well, first, let me talk a little bit about how the game frames itself...I mean analyze! I'm going to analyze how the game frames itself! See, different enemies use different kinds of weapons. You can get those weapons by whittling down their health and then using your grappling hook on them. This process is dangerous, as it leaves you open to attack and diverts your attention from the million other enemies on the screen. Thus, it makes for a really engaging player choice: "do I soak up the damage to get a new weapon or do I hold off?" That is, it would, if it weren't for this game's fatal flaw:
The sword is tremendously OP. There is not a single enemy in this game that can't be beaten by simply mashing right-click at them. The most efficient method of dispatching enemies is unlocked from the word go, turning what could have been a really fun game boring and repetitive.
Everything else in this game is great. Visuals, controls, everything. That one design flaw completely undermined an otherwise thoughtful game. Just goes to show how meticulous a dev team has to be. I mean, I was playing this game for like an hour before I noticed how powerful the sword was. Before that, I was having a blast.
Oh well. If you can convince yourself not to abuse the sword, I suppose GridWarrior can still be a fun experience. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay unbalanced.
Links
right click your way to victory: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)