oh dear oh dear...where to begin here...
Alright, well I guess I'll start with an overview of the aesthetics. Scrapped is a side-scrolling battle arena wherein you play as one of 5 (and no more than 5, despite what the description would have you believe) robots, each with their own unique ability. The game's visual style has that organic "MS Paint" feel, but is certainly no eyesore. The characters move fluidly and the bells and whistles (like screen distortion, my fave) keep the game from ever looking bland.
The game has three play modes: Tutorial, Scurrybot and Battle. Naturally, I played the tutorial first and found myself quite impressed. The robots' abilities are varied enough to keep gameplay constantly interesting. There's cloak, rope swing, machine gun, rocket, and gravity-reversal.
Now, the tutorial was fairly straightforward, ending with me killing a quite challenging opponent with my own arsenal of 3 out of a multitude of weapons. I had high hopes for this game. I thought it was going to be a platformer wherein you solve different problems with the different robots. Swing across a fire pit, change into a ninjabot to cloak behind a big baddie and change into machinegun bot to kill it swiftly, etc. Like Megaman, but with an emphasis on the numbered platform-centric powers. Bottom line: this game had potential. Lots of potential. Enough potential to make me ready to call this the best platformer on the list.
And then...I played the rest of it.
First, let's talk about Scurrybot. You are put into a room with a bunch of little robots and...well, that's it. go nuts, take no prisoners. I didn't even notice whether or not the scurrybots were able to damage me. The most significant threat to my health bar was the splash damage caused by my own weapons. So yeah, Scurrybot mode is insubstantial and not at all challenging, but that's fine for a supplemental game mode. The real game must be hidden in Battle mode.
Aaaaand nope. Battle mode is one hell of a frustrating experience. There's no respawning. Once you're dead, you're dead. The weapons are very powerful, too, meaning your health bar can be drained in a second if you're not careful. Couple that with the fact that all enemies immediately have their sights trained on you from the start of the match and you've got yourself a very anticlimactic battle. I tried every map and match style, but it always had the same result. 2 seconds of gunfire followed by "you have been destroyed" standing menacingly on the screen.
The developers of this game were able to create the tools to make this game wonderful. It's as if they spent hours preparing seasonings and side dishes to complement the meal they were cooking, but someone misplaced the lamb shank and they had to replace it with a handful of dirt. There is some value to reaped from playing around with the robots' varied powers, but the game as a whole absolutely wreaks of lost potential.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay complete.
Links
Scarp: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=548
Friday, August 23, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
I return unto thee all that I taketh away
sorry about yesterday and sorry about today, folks. The last two days of my college tour road trip cacophonous extravaganza turned out to be a bit more eventful than I'd planned, so I wasn't able to review any games. I can't promise to be back on schedule by tomorrow, but I can promise to try my gosh darn best.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Scavenger Hunt
One major difficulty people have when trying to come up with valuable IP is that whole "think of something that's never been done before" gambit. The problem with that approach is that it's simply not how the human brain works. It's very difficult to imagine something that you haven't experienced, let alone something that's never even been conceived.
Often, the most successful ideas, even the ones most praised as "original," seem to come from the exact opposite school of thought. Scavenger Hunt exemplifies this mentality. "Let's hide some stuff and make you find it," they say. "Once we have a game that works, let's just keep adding bells and whistles until our deadline comes around."
While simple, the gameplay in Scavenger Hunt is quite enjoyable. You run around your small, circular neighborhood (kind of like that one Matrix-esque simulation world from Fallout 3 but much less depressing) and search for goodies to bring back to the center. The different goodies are color coded, so it's very easy to immediately determine which giant arrows you should run toward and which you shouldn't.
Of course, just running back and forth can get very monotonous very fast, which is why the developers spiced up the world a little bit. One way they did this was with a sprint function, which works decently well until you run out of stamina, at which point you literally screech to an immediate halt and patiently wait for the meter to fill up again. It is to this game's sense of flow what a pool full of crocodiles is to a chicken with one wing.
Another way they spice up the world is with "gags." These are weapons that you can pick up and use against the other players. The gags can do anything from obstruct your vision with cream pie to lower your running speed and limit your carrying capacity. These gags are very frustrating to experience, which might be a good quality in a multiplayer game where you can look over at your friend's writhing face after you've just launched a successful attack against him or her, but against AI, the gags don't have any noticeable effect. You only notice them when they happen to you, which is the absolute worst way to present a deliberately frustrating powerup. If I were programming this game, I would make the gags do something a bit more immediately apparent, like make the victim drop an item or just knock them on their rear ends for a few seconds.
I feel I've been saying this too often lately, but the game really does look nice. The 3D art isn't even all that complex, so games like this really put things in perspective when a far more graphically capable game fails to deliver decent visual design. The textures are simple but charming, as is the soundtrack, game feel, and really everything about this game in general.
All-in-all, this is a good game that could've benefited from more thoughtful gag design. It's quite fun if you have a few moments, but once you figure out how everything works, it is a little too easy. I'm pretty sure any player can win every game without even hitting one enemy AI as long as they use their sprint responsibly and avoid enemies whenever possible.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay diligent.
Links
Rascals' Funtime in Idyllic Suburbia: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=523
Often, the most successful ideas, even the ones most praised as "original," seem to come from the exact opposite school of thought. Scavenger Hunt exemplifies this mentality. "Let's hide some stuff and make you find it," they say. "Once we have a game that works, let's just keep adding bells and whistles until our deadline comes around."
While simple, the gameplay in Scavenger Hunt is quite enjoyable. You run around your small, circular neighborhood (kind of like that one Matrix-esque simulation world from Fallout 3 but much less depressing) and search for goodies to bring back to the center. The different goodies are color coded, so it's very easy to immediately determine which giant arrows you should run toward and which you shouldn't.
Of course, just running back and forth can get very monotonous very fast, which is why the developers spiced up the world a little bit. One way they did this was with a sprint function, which works decently well until you run out of stamina, at which point you literally screech to an immediate halt and patiently wait for the meter to fill up again. It is to this game's sense of flow what a pool full of crocodiles is to a chicken with one wing.
Another way they spice up the world is with "gags." These are weapons that you can pick up and use against the other players. The gags can do anything from obstruct your vision with cream pie to lower your running speed and limit your carrying capacity. These gags are very frustrating to experience, which might be a good quality in a multiplayer game where you can look over at your friend's writhing face after you've just launched a successful attack against him or her, but against AI, the gags don't have any noticeable effect. You only notice them when they happen to you, which is the absolute worst way to present a deliberately frustrating powerup. If I were programming this game, I would make the gags do something a bit more immediately apparent, like make the victim drop an item or just knock them on their rear ends for a few seconds.
I feel I've been saying this too often lately, but the game really does look nice. The 3D art isn't even all that complex, so games like this really put things in perspective when a far more graphically capable game fails to deliver decent visual design. The textures are simple but charming, as is the soundtrack, game feel, and really everything about this game in general.
All-in-all, this is a good game that could've benefited from more thoughtful gag design. It's quite fun if you have a few moments, but once you figure out how everything works, it is a little too easy. I'm pretty sure any player can win every game without even hitting one enemy AI as long as they use their sprint responsibly and avoid enemies whenever possible.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay diligent.
Links
Rascals' Funtime in Idyllic Suburbia: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=523
Monday, August 19, 2013
SAPFA2GTE
this game's installation process was as hair-brained as its name. I couldn't figure it out. I'll keep trying, but for now, it's broken.
Sorry,
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&download=559
Sorry,
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&download=559
Sunday, August 18, 2013
RydenStryke (nope) and Salvage Youth
Hey guys, guess what? My hotel has Wifi! YAY! Here are some reviews:
RydenStryke (I'm so sorry):
I think I messed up. The setup files are apparently corrupted, which sounds like nothing a simple reinstall couldn't fix, but I don't have any internet. Oops. For now, this is a broken game. As soon as I can, I'll reinstall and see if that fixes anything. If it does, I'll update this post. Many apologies :(
Salvage Youth:
To me, the most interesting thing about this game is its message in the lower right-hand corner of the screen throughout the game. It reads: "For educational use only." I can think of a lot of games that would have benefited from that caveat. A Series of Tubes, for example. Lots of terrible experiences can be redeemed at least somewhat with the simple phrase "it was a learning experience." Thing is, Salvage Youth isn't a terrible experience. Not even close. It's got its flaws, but it's a mostly enjoyable experience overall.
I'll admit, my experience with Salvage Youth was short. All I was able to do was watch a quick intro cinematic explaining the plot to Wall-E and play 5 minutes worth of the first level. I'm probably going to play around with this game a bit more in my spare time, but it did give me a reason to ragequit fairly early on, so I'm going to go ahead and use that as my excuse for calling this review legitimate.
First thing to note: this game looks amazing. It's not very often I see textures this detailed from a 3D DigiPen game, but even without the graphical quality, the visual direction is still well done. Everything is stylized with that cell-shaded look that I love so dearly, and the color placement makes the whole thing that much more enjoyable to look at.
The gameplay is solid for the most part. The basic gist is that you control 3 kids, swapping between them with the tab button. Each kid has their own unique abilities: there's the tech wiz, the track star, and the tank. You must utilize these three characters' abilities to progress throughout the level. This style may work from a narrative standpoint, as dialogue between the main characters is an effective method of characterization that doesn't seem quite as contrived as most monologues do, but it doesn't make much sense as a gameplay mechanic. Why couldn't I just control one character with three sets of abilities, kind of like in Rock-it Rails? The only difference is that here, there's some unnecessary travel time when one character has to catch up to the rest in order to do their jobs.
The game mitigates this problem in 2 ways: First, it requires that the three amigos sometimes be in two different places at the same time in order for the game to progress. This does alleviate the aforementioned problem, but that's exactly what it feels like: a contrivance that solves a gameplay flaw rather than serving the game as a whole. Second, the game allows you to call all the kids together at certain spots to minimize travel time. This, I have no problem with.
Do note, of course, that these are but nitpicks in the face of a much more beautiful product. The characters are fun to play with, especially the track star, and the whole game is just so damn charming that it was tough for me to put it down...that is, until I ran into the ragequit moment.
One of the three amigos, the fat one, has the ability to pick up and move blocks. This ability manifests itself in block-stacking puzzles: my favorite! Seriously, I love it when a game incorporates something so silly and game-y as a block stacking puzzle. It worked fantastically in Deus Ex and it would work fantastically here too if the blocks didn't react with each other about as stably as francium reacts with water (chemisty joke, check). At one point, I placed a block on top of another block only to have one block rocket up into the sky, never to be seen again, effectively ending the level and forcing me to restart.
So yeah. That was the ragequit moment. All-in-all, I say this game is worth checking out. You just might learn something.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay educational.
Links
Ryden Dirty: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=412
Salvagery of the Young: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25915
RydenStryke (I'm so sorry):
I think I messed up. The setup files are apparently corrupted, which sounds like nothing a simple reinstall couldn't fix, but I don't have any internet. Oops. For now, this is a broken game. As soon as I can, I'll reinstall and see if that fixes anything. If it does, I'll update this post. Many apologies :(
Salvage Youth:
To me, the most interesting thing about this game is its message in the lower right-hand corner of the screen throughout the game. It reads: "For educational use only." I can think of a lot of games that would have benefited from that caveat. A Series of Tubes, for example. Lots of terrible experiences can be redeemed at least somewhat with the simple phrase "it was a learning experience." Thing is, Salvage Youth isn't a terrible experience. Not even close. It's got its flaws, but it's a mostly enjoyable experience overall.
I'll admit, my experience with Salvage Youth was short. All I was able to do was watch a quick intro cinematic explaining the plot to Wall-E and play 5 minutes worth of the first level. I'm probably going to play around with this game a bit more in my spare time, but it did give me a reason to ragequit fairly early on, so I'm going to go ahead and use that as my excuse for calling this review legitimate.
First thing to note: this game looks amazing. It's not very often I see textures this detailed from a 3D DigiPen game, but even without the graphical quality, the visual direction is still well done. Everything is stylized with that cell-shaded look that I love so dearly, and the color placement makes the whole thing that much more enjoyable to look at.
The gameplay is solid for the most part. The basic gist is that you control 3 kids, swapping between them with the tab button. Each kid has their own unique abilities: there's the tech wiz, the track star, and the tank. You must utilize these three characters' abilities to progress throughout the level. This style may work from a narrative standpoint, as dialogue between the main characters is an effective method of characterization that doesn't seem quite as contrived as most monologues do, but it doesn't make much sense as a gameplay mechanic. Why couldn't I just control one character with three sets of abilities, kind of like in Rock-it Rails? The only difference is that here, there's some unnecessary travel time when one character has to catch up to the rest in order to do their jobs.
The game mitigates this problem in 2 ways: First, it requires that the three amigos sometimes be in two different places at the same time in order for the game to progress. This does alleviate the aforementioned problem, but that's exactly what it feels like: a contrivance that solves a gameplay flaw rather than serving the game as a whole. Second, the game allows you to call all the kids together at certain spots to minimize travel time. This, I have no problem with.
Do note, of course, that these are but nitpicks in the face of a much more beautiful product. The characters are fun to play with, especially the track star, and the whole game is just so damn charming that it was tough for me to put it down...that is, until I ran into the ragequit moment.
One of the three amigos, the fat one, has the ability to pick up and move blocks. This ability manifests itself in block-stacking puzzles: my favorite! Seriously, I love it when a game incorporates something so silly and game-y as a block stacking puzzle. It worked fantastically in Deus Ex and it would work fantastically here too if the blocks didn't react with each other about as stably as francium reacts with water (chemisty joke, check). At one point, I placed a block on top of another block only to have one block rocket up into the sky, never to be seen again, effectively ending the level and forcing me to restart.
So yeah. That was the ragequit moment. All-in-all, I say this game is worth checking out. You just might learn something.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay educational.
Links
Ryden Dirty: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=412
Salvagery of the Young: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25915
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Rust
Game design 101 time, kids. Question: What's the fastest way to completely break down a game experience...Billy?
"Remove control from the player?"
Very good, Billy! Come up and get your cookie. Everyone else, sit your buts down, play Rust and tell me how long it takes for you to become so bored that you decide the best course of action is to kamikaze into one of the raiding enemies.
So here's how this game works: you circle around the small map and pick up scrap metal. You then throw that scrap metal at turrets and towers to upgrade their health and ammunition so that they can survive the onslaught of alien invaders.
The biggest problem with this is that you have no power other than to throw metal at things, so the game very quickly devolves from feeling like you're actually defending stuff to feeling like exactly what it is: quite literally running around in circles, mindlessly and routinely picking up metal and putting it in a place. I've had a more engaging experience putting furniture into a moving van.
Really, do you need anything more than that? The game could pull everything else off flawlessly and it would still be a less than enjoyable experience. People will tell me I just don't like tower defense games and that my opinion is biased, but I had a great time with other tower defense games on this list. Remember Base Invaders? That was fun. You know why? It actually let you do stuff!
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay defensive
Links
Crust: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25891
"Remove control from the player?"
Very good, Billy! Come up and get your cookie. Everyone else, sit your buts down, play Rust and tell me how long it takes for you to become so bored that you decide the best course of action is to kamikaze into one of the raiding enemies.
So here's how this game works: you circle around the small map and pick up scrap metal. You then throw that scrap metal at turrets and towers to upgrade their health and ammunition so that they can survive the onslaught of alien invaders.
The biggest problem with this is that you have no power other than to throw metal at things, so the game very quickly devolves from feeling like you're actually defending stuff to feeling like exactly what it is: quite literally running around in circles, mindlessly and routinely picking up metal and putting it in a place. I've had a more engaging experience putting furniture into a moving van.
Really, do you need anything more than that? The game could pull everything else off flawlessly and it would still be a less than enjoyable experience. People will tell me I just don't like tower defense games and that my opinion is biased, but I had a great time with other tower defense games on this list. Remember Base Invaders? That was fun. You know why? It actually let you do stuff!
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay defensive
Links
Crust: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25891
Runeshift
Hey, remember slide puzzles? Those infuriating little toys you would get at street fairs with 8 pictures that form a big picture? Hands up, everyone in the room whose experience with those toys didn't end when you threw them into a tree and watched them shatter into a million pieces. What's that? Nobody? That's because they're pretty much the most obnoxious things ever conceived. Toys like these have their place in gaming history, but it perplexes me how someone aiming to make a "relaxing and positive experience" would choose this as their central mechanic.
I will say this, though: this is probably the best one can make a game about slide puzzles. It is very clear where each block is supposed to go, the difficulty curve is fair and challenging, and the visuals are pretty enough. The only criticism I have in the aesthetic department is that the sound track is a tad annoying. You can, of course, turn off the sound and just run your favorite song in the background, but you can't turn off the music without turning off the sound effects as well, which ruins the atmosphere of the game somewhat.
The only other criticism I have is one that I make all the time, but it's especially apparent in a game like this. Why, why, WHY is there no save feature? I'm just gonna go ahead and say it, this game actually made slide puzzles relaxing and positive. I enjoyed playing around with it, but a game like this is best suited as a stress reliever, and being required to start from the beginning every time you fire it up is not a good quality for a stress reliever to have. At least throw in a level select or something, jeez.
All-in-all. Eh. 'Sgood. If you're having a bad day, give it a shot, but it's only good for one 5-minute relaxation session. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay slidin'
Links
Slippidy do-da: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18574
I will say this, though: this is probably the best one can make a game about slide puzzles. It is very clear where each block is supposed to go, the difficulty curve is fair and challenging, and the visuals are pretty enough. The only criticism I have in the aesthetic department is that the sound track is a tad annoying. You can, of course, turn off the sound and just run your favorite song in the background, but you can't turn off the music without turning off the sound effects as well, which ruins the atmosphere of the game somewhat.
The only other criticism I have is one that I make all the time, but it's especially apparent in a game like this. Why, why, WHY is there no save feature? I'm just gonna go ahead and say it, this game actually made slide puzzles relaxing and positive. I enjoyed playing around with it, but a game like this is best suited as a stress reliever, and being required to start from the beginning every time you fire it up is not a good quality for a stress reliever to have. At least throw in a level select or something, jeez.
All-in-all. Eh. 'Sgood. If you're having a bad day, give it a shot, but it's only good for one 5-minute relaxation session. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay slidin'
Links
Slippidy do-da: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18574
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