Forgive me for being a bit underzealous as of late, but between my Art History and Russian Literature classes, I've been squeezing my brain dry for any semblance of wit I can wring out of the poor overworked bastard. It doesn't help that most of these games make no real mistakes but make no real triumphs, either, leading me to just phone it in and say "yeah, it's well made"
well made is a term I shouldn't throw around as much as I do, though. If a game simply doesn't offend me, that doesn't mean it was well-made, just that it was competently made. "well made" should be a term reserved for games like Super Squirrel; games that rely not on some creative gimmick to be fun to play, but on the ingenuity of its design and its mastery of pre-established formulae.
Super Squirrel is a platformer in which you have a gun and a sword to chop and blast enemies with. You start out in tutorial forest where you learn the basic ropes through a combination of good level design and obtrusive, unnecessary text. After that, you move to an overworld whence you can enter one of four levels.
Now, it's worth noting that I only completed the forest level and then went on to the desert, where I died and had to start from the very beginning of the game. That's right, once you lose all your lives, it's game over for realsies, which I think is one of the game's biggest missteps. I was very impressed, for example, of how the game gave me a wall-jump ability after the forest level and how useful it was during the desert level. I assumed that a new ability would be given at the end of each level and that all the levels were designed with ample opportunities to use them. However, since I don't have enough time or willpower to continue from the start every time I make a mistake, I can only assume, and I can't make recommendations based on assumptions.
I can, and will, however, recommend this game based on what I experienced: a genuinely well-made platformer with fantastic art style and game feel (the feeling of collecting massive amounts of acorns provides a sense of accomplishment not felt since A Flipping Good Time). If you're up for a challenge, check it out. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay careful.
Links
widdwe squirr: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=483
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Monday, September 30, 2013
Super Space
Can't do it, guys. Sorry. The game makes it very clear that in order to play it, you need Xbox360 controllers and friends. I have neither of those things.
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26067
Links
https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26067
Super Massive Shooter
You've got to be careful about adding words that are synonymous with "good" in the titles of your projects. In fact, pretty much any adjective used to describe the game itself rather than something in the game (The "Dark" in "Dark Souls" for example, is fine) is generally a bad idea. Super Massive Shooter decided to forget all that and pretty much name itself "you will have fun playing this."
And, for all it's worth, you will have fun. There are, however, a few frustrations that you'll have to deal with. First, though, let's talk about what this game does right.
First off, the "level design." I put the air bunnies there because I'm really talking about enemy design, but in a shoot 'em up like this, those two terms are pretty much synonymous (I've been using that word a lot lately, huh. Maybe I should find some synonyms...whoa). The screen fills up with just enough enemies and their projectiles to keep the game challenging without ever feeling like demise is inevitable. For me, the hallmark of a badly made bullet hell is when I've just given up on trying to conserve my supply of lives and I just bombard the enemy with as many shots as I can before I'm dead for realsies. That never happened in this game; I was always trying to maintain a bit of strategy. Gold star for that.
As you progress throughout the levels, you will gain bigger and better weapons to take down bigger and badder enemies. This keeps the player immersed at all times and gives them the rewarding feeling of getting stronger. It's the kind of lip-biting satisfaction that games like Sugarbaby will never be able to achieve. The presentation is great; the hitsparks are beautifully satisfying and the game runs at a cool 60fps.
Then there are some things that just seemed pointless. For example, throughout the entire tutorial, your ship will be blinking and emitting a noise similar to the one when your health runs low in a Zelda game. In Zelda, though, the noise serves a purpose both as a punishment for being careless with your life and a motivation to get some life back. in SMS, it's just there for no apparent reason.
What got my goat the most, though, are the things that genuinely decrease the quality of play. There's a reason most bullet hell games have enemies come exclusively from the top of the screen: that's because anything else will make the game feel cluttered and confusing. In SMS, not only do enemies blend into the background very easily, but they also spawn at random locations, leading to more than one occasion where I was killed by a completely invisible enemy. That just ain't fun.
And you know what else? I don't even think you can pause the game. Maybe I'm wrong, but "esc" didn't work. When I play games, I like to be able to stop what I'm doing and chat with a friend on the facebooks or something. A game that demands that you devote your attention to it nonstop until you're done with it is just selfish.
Anyways, while Super Massive Shooter is not entirely super nor to any degree massive, it's certainly a shooter, and an entertaining one at that. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay kersplosive.
Links
Standard Message Service: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25997
And, for all it's worth, you will have fun. There are, however, a few frustrations that you'll have to deal with. First, though, let's talk about what this game does right.
First off, the "level design." I put the air bunnies there because I'm really talking about enemy design, but in a shoot 'em up like this, those two terms are pretty much synonymous (I've been using that word a lot lately, huh. Maybe I should find some synonyms...whoa). The screen fills up with just enough enemies and their projectiles to keep the game challenging without ever feeling like demise is inevitable. For me, the hallmark of a badly made bullet hell is when I've just given up on trying to conserve my supply of lives and I just bombard the enemy with as many shots as I can before I'm dead for realsies. That never happened in this game; I was always trying to maintain a bit of strategy. Gold star for that.
As you progress throughout the levels, you will gain bigger and better weapons to take down bigger and badder enemies. This keeps the player immersed at all times and gives them the rewarding feeling of getting stronger. It's the kind of lip-biting satisfaction that games like Sugarbaby will never be able to achieve. The presentation is great; the hitsparks are beautifully satisfying and the game runs at a cool 60fps.
Then there are some things that just seemed pointless. For example, throughout the entire tutorial, your ship will be blinking and emitting a noise similar to the one when your health runs low in a Zelda game. In Zelda, though, the noise serves a purpose both as a punishment for being careless with your life and a motivation to get some life back. in SMS, it's just there for no apparent reason.
What got my goat the most, though, are the things that genuinely decrease the quality of play. There's a reason most bullet hell games have enemies come exclusively from the top of the screen: that's because anything else will make the game feel cluttered and confusing. In SMS, not only do enemies blend into the background very easily, but they also spawn at random locations, leading to more than one occasion where I was killed by a completely invisible enemy. That just ain't fun.
And you know what else? I don't even think you can pause the game. Maybe I'm wrong, but "esc" didn't work. When I play games, I like to be able to stop what I'm doing and chat with a friend on the facebooks or something. A game that demands that you devote your attention to it nonstop until you're done with it is just selfish.
Anyways, while Super Massive Shooter is not entirely super nor to any degree massive, it's certainly a shooter, and an entertaining one at that. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay kersplosive.
Links
Standard Message Service: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25997
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Sugarbaby
First impressions for this one were good when I noticed that the menu screen, instead of just telling me to click "play," "options," etc, had me drag a little sugar cube over buttons that said "play," "options," etc, thus telling me early on that I will be dragging sugar cubes around. It's little things like this that I think more games nowadays should remember more often.
Well anyway, how's the game? Well, it's not bad if you like dragging things. Each level has you using little cubes of sugar to attract these lemming-like creatures called sugarbabies (rather unfortunate name choice if you ask me, but I digress) into portals. As the levels go on, they get more and more complex, having you do things like click buttons or manipulate the attractiveness of certain sugar cubes, etc.
Do not pick this game up expecting to be challenged or tested in any way. Don't pick it up if you're looking for pulse-pounding action or brain-destroying puzzles. This game isn't meant for that. What this game is is relaxing, charming; it's something to put you in a good mood.
The downside to this kind of game, at least for me, is that it doesn't feel as fulfilling to play. See, when I play games, it's usually because there's a mountain of work that I don't want to do somewhere around me, so I want every minute of gaming to make me feel like I've accomplished something. Sugarbabies doesn't really deliver that feeling.
Again, though, that's not really what the game is about. Bottom line, I guess, the game does what it sets out to do: put a smile on your face. There's plenty of levels to keep you occupied, too, so I suppose it's a useful thing to have on your hard drive for whenever you need a pick-me-up. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay manipulative.
Links
Sugarbaby The real Sugarbaby all the Other Sugarbabies are Just Imitatin: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26016
Well anyway, how's the game? Well, it's not bad if you like dragging things. Each level has you using little cubes of sugar to attract these lemming-like creatures called sugarbabies (rather unfortunate name choice if you ask me, but I digress) into portals. As the levels go on, they get more and more complex, having you do things like click buttons or manipulate the attractiveness of certain sugar cubes, etc.
Do not pick this game up expecting to be challenged or tested in any way. Don't pick it up if you're looking for pulse-pounding action or brain-destroying puzzles. This game isn't meant for that. What this game is is relaxing, charming; it's something to put you in a good mood.
The downside to this kind of game, at least for me, is that it doesn't feel as fulfilling to play. See, when I play games, it's usually because there's a mountain of work that I don't want to do somewhere around me, so I want every minute of gaming to make me feel like I've accomplished something. Sugarbabies doesn't really deliver that feeling.
Again, though, that's not really what the game is about. Bottom line, I guess, the game does what it sets out to do: put a smile on your face. There's plenty of levels to keep you occupied, too, so I suppose it's a useful thing to have on your hard drive for whenever you need a pick-me-up. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay manipulative.
Links
Sugarbaby The real Sugarbaby all the Other Sugarbabies are Just Imitatin: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26016
Saturday, September 28, 2013
SugarSwarm
I have to admit, even after all these months of lame-brained reviews, I still feel kind of guilty when a game gives me a lot of content but I don't have much to say about it, like what happened with Subsonic. I wish I could write 30 page dissertations on each of these games, and if I wanted to devote my entire life to this blog, I probably would, but since I only have a year, I have to just write what's on my mind and move on, which doesn't always give me the best feeling. There are certain games, however, that I don't feel guilty at all in writing 2-paragraph reviews for. Sugarswarm is one of them.
Sugarswarm takes place in 3 acts, each no more than a couple minutes long. The first one is a tutorial, wherein you learn how to send and recall your maros, little marshmallow buddies that follow you around. One of the things you learn in this tutorial is that maros can break walls. Interesting, especially considering you will never ever use this ability again for the rest of the game. Seems kinda silly, doesn't it?
in act II, you're tasked with avoiding different kinds of enemies and getting from one side of the room to the other. You could use the mechanics you just learned to efficiently dispatch the enemies, but it's much quicker, easier and more effective to just run across the room. Sure, you'll lose a few maros that way, but they're not dead, see, they're just sleeping. In the game's quest to be as kid-friendly as possible, maros never die, and they can always be woken up my walking over to them.
This makes act III, the boss fight, insanely easy. All you need to do is click on the thing you want dead and run around the room waking up maros and avoiding enemies. With the exception of the damage I took when an explodey enemy was dropped on me with no warning whatsoever, I got through the whole thing unscathed on my first try.
Sugarswarm isn't a terrible game, and it's over before the adorable factor wears off, but it'll take more time to install than it will to complete, so I can recommend it only if you're very bored.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay sweet.
Links
aww, wook a da widdwe marshmawwows: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26706
Sugarswarm takes place in 3 acts, each no more than a couple minutes long. The first one is a tutorial, wherein you learn how to send and recall your maros, little marshmallow buddies that follow you around. One of the things you learn in this tutorial is that maros can break walls. Interesting, especially considering you will never ever use this ability again for the rest of the game. Seems kinda silly, doesn't it?
in act II, you're tasked with avoiding different kinds of enemies and getting from one side of the room to the other. You could use the mechanics you just learned to efficiently dispatch the enemies, but it's much quicker, easier and more effective to just run across the room. Sure, you'll lose a few maros that way, but they're not dead, see, they're just sleeping. In the game's quest to be as kid-friendly as possible, maros never die, and they can always be woken up my walking over to them.
This makes act III, the boss fight, insanely easy. All you need to do is click on the thing you want dead and run around the room waking up maros and avoiding enemies. With the exception of the damage I took when an explodey enemy was dropped on me with no warning whatsoever, I got through the whole thing unscathed on my first try.
Sugarswarm isn't a terrible game, and it's over before the adorable factor wears off, but it'll take more time to install than it will to complete, so I can recommend it only if you're very bored.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay sweet.
Links
aww, wook a da widdwe marshmawwows: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26706
Subsonic
You all know that I love me a good stealth game. When I started this blog, I was midway through a playthrough of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I actually just started playing that game again with the intention of this time going for a louder, less stealthy approach, but I just couldn't do it. To me, there's no more fun to be had than sneaking around guards and navigating around enemies' cones of vision.
Subsonic takes those gameplay elements and puts them in a top-down minimalistic perspective, kind of like that flash game The Classroom. In Subsonic, you're given three different types of sound guns. One distracts guards, one breaks glass, and one lets you move silently, as explained in the relatively hilarious tutorial screens.
The most identifiable feature about the game is that it's haaarrrrdddddd. Seriously, this game takes no prisoners, but in a good way. The levels are short, so starting from the beginning isn't too much of a pain. It frustrates you just enough to make beating the level immensely rewarding.
and...yeah. That's all I can really say about this one. It's a good game that's worth your time. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay quiet
Links
Don't wake daddy: Revengeance: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18538
Subsonic takes those gameplay elements and puts them in a top-down minimalistic perspective, kind of like that flash game The Classroom. In Subsonic, you're given three different types of sound guns. One distracts guards, one breaks glass, and one lets you move silently, as explained in the relatively hilarious tutorial screens.
The most identifiable feature about the game is that it's haaarrrrdddddd. Seriously, this game takes no prisoners, but in a good way. The levels are short, so starting from the beginning isn't too much of a pain. It frustrates you just enough to make beating the level immensely rewarding.
and...yeah. That's all I can really say about this one. It's a good game that's worth your time. That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay quiet
Links
Don't wake daddy: Revengeance: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18538
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Stronghold (lol nope)
so, I can't get stronghold to run. Also, it's my birthday today, so I think my conscience can survive my taking the day off.
Peace and love.
Links
Stronghold: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26680
Peace and love.
Links
Stronghold: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26680
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