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
Saturday, September 28, 2013
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
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Stratalyst Blastegy
A little part of me dies every time I review a tower defense game. I've said this many a time before, but I just don't even know how to judge the quality of a tower defense game. I can tell you how boring it was for me to play it, but that only tells you that I don't like the genre, which you all know by now. What am I supposed to critique, the rate at which baddies shuffle through your shoddily assembled defenses and kill you?
Another reason Stratalyst Blastegy is not nearly as fun to review as it is to pronounce is that it's just such an average tower defense game. There are killable things trying to kill you, so you have to put things in the way of the things that will shoot things at the things to make the things dead things. The 3D art is cool, I guess, but other than that, there's not much to distinguish it.
I suppose there is one unique feature, though, and that's that you can modify the baddies' paths by putting things in their way. The level is pretty much just a flat surface to start off with, but by building towers in the enemies' way, you can force them to take a more roundabout route, adding to the time they'll spend soaking up bullets. It's a neat way to add a layer of strategy (or, blastegy!) to the game, but that does little to distract from the fact that 90% of it is still waiting for your slow ass towers to kill enough enemies to let you build more.
Also, there's a bit of an issue with balancing. The only thing I ever ended up building was attack towers. There are 2 other structures you can build: slowers and slicers. The slowers, obviously, slow enemy movement, which is helpful, but they cost so damn much that I always decided it more prudent to slap another attack tower in the way. The slicers ostensibly damage enemies that are close by; they're cheap and very small, so they could be a useful tool in determining the enemies' routes before slaughtering them with attack towers, but they do so little damage that you're better off just using attack turrets from the get go.
So, yeah. Once again I have to conclude the review with "if you're a fan of this kind of game, you should try it out." For what it's worth, Stratalyst Blastegy's unique selling point was unique enough to sell a least a small part of me, so if you're a tower defense enthusiast, maybe you really will have a great time with this one.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay blastegical
Links
Strata bada bing bong: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1474
Another reason Stratalyst Blastegy is not nearly as fun to review as it is to pronounce is that it's just such an average tower defense game. There are killable things trying to kill you, so you have to put things in the way of the things that will shoot things at the things to make the things dead things. The 3D art is cool, I guess, but other than that, there's not much to distinguish it.
I suppose there is one unique feature, though, and that's that you can modify the baddies' paths by putting things in their way. The level is pretty much just a flat surface to start off with, but by building towers in the enemies' way, you can force them to take a more roundabout route, adding to the time they'll spend soaking up bullets. It's a neat way to add a layer of strategy (or, blastegy!) to the game, but that does little to distract from the fact that 90% of it is still waiting for your slow ass towers to kill enough enemies to let you build more.
Also, there's a bit of an issue with balancing. The only thing I ever ended up building was attack towers. There are 2 other structures you can build: slowers and slicers. The slowers, obviously, slow enemy movement, which is helpful, but they cost so damn much that I always decided it more prudent to slap another attack tower in the way. The slicers ostensibly damage enemies that are close by; they're cheap and very small, so they could be a useful tool in determining the enemies' routes before slaughtering them with attack towers, but they do so little damage that you're better off just using attack turrets from the get go.
So, yeah. Once again I have to conclude the review with "if you're a fan of this kind of game, you should try it out." For what it's worth, Stratalyst Blastegy's unique selling point was unique enough to sell a least a small part of me, so if you're a tower defense enthusiast, maybe you really will have a great time with this one.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay blastegical
Links
Strata bada bing bong: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1474
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
StoneAge and Strangeways (kinda)
Well, yesterday I reviewed an interesting mix: a survival horror and a platformer. Today, I played another interesting mix: a survival horror and a platformer. Huh...
Well, I use the word "played" loosely. Strangeways crashed at startup, so all that leaves is the platformer, StoneAge. Strangeways actually looked really good, though. Read the description on the game gallery and tell me that's not the coolest thing. Still, it is a senior game, so I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up to begin with.
At least nobody can accuse StoneAge of overstaying its welcome. The levels are each about a minute long and there are a grand total of 4 of them. I was ready to call this game "just another plafromer" with nothing too interesting to talk about, but then the last level happened, which is, and I'm being as nice as I can when I say this, a very poorly designed level. The whole game until then had been about moving to the right, but suddenly you're expected to go downward. Not a big deal in and of itself, but the game puts hazards right underneath your field of vision. There's no skill to it, it's just memorization. Remember which areas to fall from are dead zones and which aren't.
So yeah. Today we had a game that didn't work and an anemic platformer that left a bad taste in my mouth. Doesn't make for the most interesting read, I guess, but whatever. That's all I got for today. Until next time, stay entertaining.
Links
Oonga Bunga: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25894
Strangeways: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1654
Well, I use the word "played" loosely. Strangeways crashed at startup, so all that leaves is the platformer, StoneAge. Strangeways actually looked really good, though. Read the description on the game gallery and tell me that's not the coolest thing. Still, it is a senior game, so I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up to begin with.
At least nobody can accuse StoneAge of overstaying its welcome. The levels are each about a minute long and there are a grand total of 4 of them. I was ready to call this game "just another plafromer" with nothing too interesting to talk about, but then the last level happened, which is, and I'm being as nice as I can when I say this, a very poorly designed level. The whole game until then had been about moving to the right, but suddenly you're expected to go downward. Not a big deal in and of itself, but the game puts hazards right underneath your field of vision. There's no skill to it, it's just memorization. Remember which areas to fall from are dead zones and which aren't.
So yeah. Today we had a game that didn't work and an anemic platformer that left a bad taste in my mouth. Doesn't make for the most interesting read, I guess, but whatever. That's all I got for today. Until next time, stay entertaining.
Links
Oonga Bunga: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25894
Strangeways: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=1654
Monday, September 23, 2013
Stonewick Manor and Starside Continuum
One of the biggest bummers I've faced in maintaining this blog is the tendency of the games on this list to fall into categories. There are, obviously, way more tower defense and RTS games on here than I'd like (but whatever, de gustibus non est disputandum, it can't be helped), but there is also a saturation of the kind of games I tend to like. A good platformer every now and again is wonderful, but make it a daily staple and before long you'll be crying out for something new and interesting...something like...survival horror.
I only recall one game on this list so far that can actually claim to be survival horror, even though it kind of tripped over the whole "survival" aspect, forgetting that games become significantly less scary when you play in god mode. That game is Erebus, and other than that one flaw, it certainly knew how to keep me on edge.
Stonewick Manor started out in a similar fashion. Its trippy screen effects and weeping cherubs that only move when you don't look at them had the little man in my brain screaming with terror...for the first 5 minutes of the game. Eventually, you realize that the little baby angels are literally the only threatening thing in the game. That doesn't sound too bad, right? After all, that one SCP: Containment Breach game was super scary and it used a very similar type of enemy. The difference is that in SCP, getting anywhere near the enemy would leave you with three of your vertebrae where your teeth should be faster than you can say "oops." In Stonewick Manor, I only got hurt once unintentionally, and all that resulted was the world's least intimidating hit sound effect and the loss of about a fifth of my health, which replenished the second I got out of the room. It was an almost cosmic loss of tension. Suddenly, the game became nothing but a fetch quest with a new coat of paint. Good try, Stonewick Manor. You made it one step past Erebus and made it actually possible to die, but you're just too anemic and nonthreatening to hang out with it and the other greats.
Well, that was a nice breath of fresh air. Time for some more plafromers....uuuggghhhhhh....
To be fair, Starside Continuum is not a bad platformer. It's actually very well put together and holds up fine save for some nitpicky things. For example, your armor is literally the exact same color as the background, making you seem more like if the dude from Perspective and King Fluff from Kirby's Epic Yarn had a baby and it went into space.
You are armed with devices that literally allow you to bend space and time to your will, yet you're only allowed to use them to combine certain items and make floating platforms. A missed opportunity, perhaps, but again, the game is far from boring. The mechanics are conveyed neatly without pandering and it's fun to toy around with different combinations of things to see what happens. It's like Dead Rising 2 but without needing to truck it back to a workbench every time you want to try something new. Definitely an improvement in my book. Of course, there are no zombies here...boo.
Starside Continuum is definitely the more competent of the two games, but Stonewick Manor is more interesting. Unfortunately, I've probably already spoiled the latter for you, but if I hadn't said all that stuff about the babies being harmless, you'd be on edge for a little while, I know you would. If you're a platforming enthusiast, I'd give Starside Continuum a shot. Will it blow your mind? no, but there's nothing to complain about, and hey, lesser games will have the gall to charge you upwards of $5 for a similar experience, so check it out if only in the name of opportunistic frugality.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay scary
Links
Pardon me, where are my Stonewick Manners?: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25905
Big Words that mean "Sci Fi:" https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25443
PS- yes, I know I skipped over Stone Age, but I had already written this by the time I realized it. Shut up...I'll get to it tomorrow...
I only recall one game on this list so far that can actually claim to be survival horror, even though it kind of tripped over the whole "survival" aspect, forgetting that games become significantly less scary when you play in god mode. That game is Erebus, and other than that one flaw, it certainly knew how to keep me on edge.
Stonewick Manor started out in a similar fashion. Its trippy screen effects and weeping cherubs that only move when you don't look at them had the little man in my brain screaming with terror...for the first 5 minutes of the game. Eventually, you realize that the little baby angels are literally the only threatening thing in the game. That doesn't sound too bad, right? After all, that one SCP: Containment Breach game was super scary and it used a very similar type of enemy. The difference is that in SCP, getting anywhere near the enemy would leave you with three of your vertebrae where your teeth should be faster than you can say "oops." In Stonewick Manor, I only got hurt once unintentionally, and all that resulted was the world's least intimidating hit sound effect and the loss of about a fifth of my health, which replenished the second I got out of the room. It was an almost cosmic loss of tension. Suddenly, the game became nothing but a fetch quest with a new coat of paint. Good try, Stonewick Manor. You made it one step past Erebus and made it actually possible to die, but you're just too anemic and nonthreatening to hang out with it and the other greats.
Well, that was a nice breath of fresh air. Time for some more plafromers....uuuggghhhhhh....
To be fair, Starside Continuum is not a bad platformer. It's actually very well put together and holds up fine save for some nitpicky things. For example, your armor is literally the exact same color as the background, making you seem more like if the dude from Perspective and King Fluff from Kirby's Epic Yarn had a baby and it went into space.
You are armed with devices that literally allow you to bend space and time to your will, yet you're only allowed to use them to combine certain items and make floating platforms. A missed opportunity, perhaps, but again, the game is far from boring. The mechanics are conveyed neatly without pandering and it's fun to toy around with different combinations of things to see what happens. It's like Dead Rising 2 but without needing to truck it back to a workbench every time you want to try something new. Definitely an improvement in my book. Of course, there are no zombies here...boo.
Starside Continuum is definitely the more competent of the two games, but Stonewick Manor is more interesting. Unfortunately, I've probably already spoiled the latter for you, but if I hadn't said all that stuff about the babies being harmless, you'd be on edge for a little while, I know you would. If you're a platforming enthusiast, I'd give Starside Continuum a shot. Will it blow your mind? no, but there's nothing to complain about, and hey, lesser games will have the gall to charge you upwards of $5 for a similar experience, so check it out if only in the name of opportunistic frugality.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay scary
Links
Pardon me, where are my Stonewick Manners?: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25905
Big Words that mean "Sci Fi:" https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=25443
PS- yes, I know I skipped over Stone Age, but I had already written this by the time I realized it. Shut up...I'll get to it tomorrow...
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Starfall: Alyssa's adventure
I'm going to start out by saying that this game takes way too long to load up. I guess a game's gotta do what a game's gotta do, but I started this game up for a second time just to check and make sure I got the title right, but the loading screen had burned such an infernal memory into my brain that I alt+f4'd as soon as I saw it. So yeah, I'm not 100% sure this game is in fact subtitled "Alyssa's Adventure," so let's just call it Starfall
Starfall is a third-person platformer, and if I could maintain any semblance of credibility as a reviewer and just say "iz rly gud," I would, because I have very little to comment on that isn't simply a summary of mechanics....
...so here's a summary of the mechanics.
You have 3 abilities: dash, double-jump and platform. By right clicking in the air, you can place a platform underneath you, holding left click makes you go super fast, and you can double-jump. Pretty self explanatory, right? You use these three mechanics to reach the top of a spiral mountain type place and do some stuff with stars that I didn't really catch onto.
With a little more fine tuning, I would've been ready to call this game great...fantastic, in fact. The three movement abilities work together nothing short of beautifully. They allow for freedom while maintaining focus. If this game had abit of a bigger budget and was more open, even my Spartan behind would be inspired to fork up some cash to have it in my collection.
Now, when I say "if this game had a budget," included in that is the fine tuning I was talking about before. Sometimes, the mechanics simply refuse to work. Obviously, you can't double-jump from a platform and create another platform underneath you; such freedom would be game-breaking, but there's this weird half-second cooldown period between your moves that will undoubtedly have you fall into more abysses than you would like.
It's also worth noting that I got stuck in a loop in the level at one point, which probably means the level design should have been a tad more refined, but once I died and respawned without consequence Prince of Persia style, I was pointed in the right place, so who really cares. All-in-all, this is a very well constructed game. I say give it a shot. This one gets my seal of approval.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay stellar
Links
ponytail of destiny: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26170
Starfall is a third-person platformer, and if I could maintain any semblance of credibility as a reviewer and just say "iz rly gud," I would, because I have very little to comment on that isn't simply a summary of mechanics....
...so here's a summary of the mechanics.
You have 3 abilities: dash, double-jump and platform. By right clicking in the air, you can place a platform underneath you, holding left click makes you go super fast, and you can double-jump. Pretty self explanatory, right? You use these three mechanics to reach the top of a spiral mountain type place and do some stuff with stars that I didn't really catch onto.
With a little more fine tuning, I would've been ready to call this game great...fantastic, in fact. The three movement abilities work together nothing short of beautifully. They allow for freedom while maintaining focus. If this game had a
Now, when I say "if this game had a budget," included in that is the fine tuning I was talking about before. Sometimes, the mechanics simply refuse to work. Obviously, you can't double-jump from a platform and create another platform underneath you; such freedom would be game-breaking, but there's this weird half-second cooldown period between your moves that will undoubtedly have you fall into more abysses than you would like.
It's also worth noting that I got stuck in a loop in the level at one point, which probably means the level design should have been a tad more refined, but once I died and respawned without consequence Prince of Persia style, I was pointed in the right place, so who really cares. All-in-all, this is a very well constructed game. I say give it a shot. This one gets my seal of approval.
That's all I got for now. Until next time, stay stellar
Links
ponytail of destiny: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=26170
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