Yup. Time to change those bookmarks again.
http://www.mengsbizarreadventure.com/
Thursday, 6 June 2013
Little Inferno
Little inferno was released in late 2012, it's developed by 'Tomorrow Corporation' and features work by Kyle Gabler, the same artist and musician from World of Goo - To the extent where many people, myself included, just sort of logically came to the conclusion that this is a sequel by the same people.
Unlike World of Goo, Little Inferno didn't achieve critical acclaim, nor is it going to anytime soon.
It's a bizarre little thing which plays similar to many odd flash games of the past, and sort of actually reminds me of the 'desktop destroyer' program I used to mess around with as a child (the one where you can take a chainsaw to your desktop and stuff).
Majority of Little Inferno is set infront of a fireplace, and 'Gameplay' is based around purchasing stuff for coins, waiting around for it to arrive, and then setting it on fire - upon which it'll drop more coins than it was purchased for, its a vicious cycle, buy, burn, buy , burn, yet is oddly satisfying for an hour or two, some items have unique effects when burned, some items explode, others get up and leave, some spawn more items.
There are also puzzles to figure out, in the form of 'combinations', essentially a list of 100 combos with hints as to what they consist of, for example, 'Poker Hand' combo is achieved by burning both a Hand and some poker cards at the same time. These vary in complexity and obscurity, with certain combinations making borderline no sense (to me at least).
Graphically, the game looks wonderful, the fire effects are very pretty, and item descriptions/animations are entertaining. Similarly, the music is pretty good for the few short instances where it stirs up, the music sounds very World of Goo though, and often you'll wish you were playing that instead.
The story does sort of progress, but it's really not worth the payoff, the final segment could easily just not exist and nobody would be any worse for it.
Verdict:
Little Inferno was pretty disappointing overall, yet setting things on fire for a couple of hours is oddly satisfying, Its in the Humble Bundle right now, and for the price of 'what you want'? its probably worth it, but the regular asking price of £7 is absurd.
Approximate Game Length : 3 Hours
Actual Worth / Steam Price: £2 / £7 = 0.14
Actual Worth / Humble Price: £2 / £PWYW = Sure, why not.
Should you play it : Meh, give it a go if you stumble upon it, it's nothing too great though.
Rating: 2/5
https://www.humblebundle.com/
Go grab the humble bundle! You get Hotline Miami if you beat the average (and that game is fucking sweet) or you can just pay something minimal and a copy of this and Dear Esther (with some other meh games tacked on)
ps. Awesomenauts is fucking terrible. Just putting that out there.
Unlike World of Goo, Little Inferno didn't achieve critical acclaim, nor is it going to anytime soon.
It's a bizarre little thing which plays similar to many odd flash games of the past, and sort of actually reminds me of the 'desktop destroyer' program I used to mess around with as a child (the one where you can take a chainsaw to your desktop and stuff).
Majority of Little Inferno is set infront of a fireplace, and 'Gameplay' is based around purchasing stuff for coins, waiting around for it to arrive, and then setting it on fire - upon which it'll drop more coins than it was purchased for, its a vicious cycle, buy, burn, buy , burn, yet is oddly satisfying for an hour or two, some items have unique effects when burned, some items explode, others get up and leave, some spawn more items.
There are also puzzles to figure out, in the form of 'combinations', essentially a list of 100 combos with hints as to what they consist of, for example, 'Poker Hand' combo is achieved by burning both a Hand and some poker cards at the same time. These vary in complexity and obscurity, with certain combinations making borderline no sense (to me at least).
Graphically, the game looks wonderful, the fire effects are very pretty, and item descriptions/animations are entertaining. Similarly, the music is pretty good for the few short instances where it stirs up, the music sounds very World of Goo though, and often you'll wish you were playing that instead.
The story does sort of progress, but it's really not worth the payoff, the final segment could easily just not exist and nobody would be any worse for it.
Verdict:
Little Inferno was pretty disappointing overall, yet setting things on fire for a couple of hours is oddly satisfying, Its in the Humble Bundle right now, and for the price of 'what you want'? its probably worth it, but the regular asking price of £7 is absurd.
Approximate Game Length : 3 Hours
Actual Worth / Steam Price: £2 / £7 = 0.14
Actual Worth / Humble Price: £2 / £PWYW = Sure, why not.
Should you play it : Meh, give it a go if you stumble upon it, it's nothing too great though.
Rating: 2/5
https://www.humblebundle.com/
Go grab the humble bundle! You get Hotline Miami if you beat the average (and that game is fucking sweet) or you can just pay something minimal and a copy of this and Dear Esther (with some other meh games tacked on)
ps. Awesomenauts is fucking terrible. Just putting that out there.
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
Rotastic
'Rotastic' , Released in October 2012 for PSN, XBLA and Steam, I can see where they were going with the name, but if im honest, I can only think of Rotisserie chicken when I see the name 'Rotastic'
The gameplay here is based around rotating around pivots, and im sure i've played another game like it, but I cant for the life of me think where i've seen this game concept before.
I got up to world 5 during my half an hour playthrough, that's about half the game I might add since there are only 8 worlds.
Levels are split roughly into 'Collect the Gems', 'Break the crates' (which oddly turns the game into 'breakout' of some form), 'Survive' and 'Duels'.
Pretty much all of the level types play out exactly the same, hookshot onto pivot points and use centrifugal force to fly your way around the level to pickup/dodge shit, there are tricks and little maneuveurs you can do to boost your points, but honestly most of them just reward you for playing the game normally.
The Dueling/Battle mode however is a little more interesting, this still essentially the same gem collecting game as before, but now there are between 2-4 players on the field, and crossing other's ropes will allow you to cut them - its equal parts collection and trying not to be caught out and is actually pretty good - of my experience with the game, the small multiplayer bits were the best and so I would presume that local 4 player would be pretty good.
Graphics and sound are pretty terrible, the art is just about good enough to pass for this sort of game, but many of the levels are incredibly dull looking. The music was horrible, some shitty flute track which seemed to loop every 10 seconds.
I'd also like to add that the game crashed on me twice in the 30 ish minutes I spent playing. Which is less than ideal.
Verdict:
Honestly, im surprised they managed to get released on XBLA/PSN/Steam, it doesn't really seem much more fleshed out that some flash games out there, and for the most part, its not even particularly fun.
I wouldn't waste time with this unless you have 3 friends onhand to give the 4 player local multiplayer a go.
Approximate Game Length : <2hrs
Actual Worth / Shop Price : £1 / £8 (Steam) = 0.125
Should you play it : Nope, Barely worth the 450mb bandwidth allocated towards downloading it, and certainly not worth £8 , though perhaps give it a download should you have some friends come over, it might see 15 minutes of play, maybe.
Rating: 1/5
http://store.steampowered.com/app/204580/
The gameplay here is based around rotating around pivots, and im sure i've played another game like it, but I cant for the life of me think where i've seen this game concept before.
I got up to world 5 during my half an hour playthrough, that's about half the game I might add since there are only 8 worlds.
Levels are split roughly into 'Collect the Gems', 'Break the crates' (which oddly turns the game into 'breakout' of some form), 'Survive' and 'Duels'.
Pretty much all of the level types play out exactly the same, hookshot onto pivot points and use centrifugal force to fly your way around the level to pickup/dodge shit, there are tricks and little maneuveurs you can do to boost your points, but honestly most of them just reward you for playing the game normally.
The Dueling/Battle mode however is a little more interesting, this still essentially the same gem collecting game as before, but now there are between 2-4 players on the field, and crossing other's ropes will allow you to cut them - its equal parts collection and trying not to be caught out and is actually pretty good - of my experience with the game, the small multiplayer bits were the best and so I would presume that local 4 player would be pretty good.
Graphics and sound are pretty terrible, the art is just about good enough to pass for this sort of game, but many of the levels are incredibly dull looking. The music was horrible, some shitty flute track which seemed to loop every 10 seconds.
I'd also like to add that the game crashed on me twice in the 30 ish minutes I spent playing. Which is less than ideal.
Verdict:
Honestly, im surprised they managed to get released on XBLA/PSN/Steam, it doesn't really seem much more fleshed out that some flash games out there, and for the most part, its not even particularly fun.
I wouldn't waste time with this unless you have 3 friends onhand to give the 4 player local multiplayer a go.
Approximate Game Length : <2hrs
Actual Worth / Shop Price : £1 / £8 (Steam) = 0.125
Should you play it : Nope, Barely worth the 450mb bandwidth allocated towards downloading it, and certainly not worth £8 , though perhaps give it a download should you have some friends come over, it might see 15 minutes of play, maybe.
Rating: 1/5
http://store.steampowered.com/app/204580/
Tuesday, 4 June 2013
Game Project Progress - Area 1-1
So after about 5 days on-off work with Maya, the very first environment of the game is pretty much done. Obviously this may change slightly as I continue to learn new techniques, or perhaps after playtesting if we realise that its way too small, but for now...
Here's Area 1-1, the interior of 'The Silver Sky', a bar in Nevada.
 |
| Shitty concept art drawn by myself |
 |
| Horrific first attempt. |
 |
| Lot of work for something that is going to be in the background on the wall of a bar where literally 15 seconds of the game is going to take place.. |
Heres the (for now) finished level.
Looks p. decent to me, though im starting to worry if the game will ever get finished, we may have been slightly overambitious in terms of... everything. Not to mention that it feels like its essentially turned into a 2 man project for now.
Just the thought of having to make about 12 more areas, characters, weapons, enemies....
One can only hope the characters will turn out slightly better than my deer head.
Monday, 3 June 2013
Save the Date
Save the Date is a unique twist on the Visual Novel genre, it is a short indie game from 'Paper Dino Software'
Save the Date is a game about saving your date, funny that.
You take your girlfriend out for dinner, and... bad things happen.
Its very hard to talk about the game without spoiling the twist which makes it so good, but know simply, that is IS good.
The less you know, the better your experience will be.
Approximate Game Length : 30 mins
Actual Worth / Shop Price : £3 / £FREE = 10
Should you play it : Totally, this game is awesome, and the twists are pretty unique.
Rating: 5/5
DOWNLOAD FROM HERE (17mb) - http://paperdino.com/games/save-the-date/
Mirror just in case the dev website blows up - http://www.mengsbizarreadventure.com/uploads/savethedate-1.0-win.zip
ps. Cant find the 'Good Ending(s)?' - Read here when you've given up -
Save the Date is a game about saving your date, funny that.
You take your girlfriend out for dinner, and... bad things happen.
Its very hard to talk about the game without spoiling the twist which makes it so good, but know simply, that is IS good.
The less you know, the better your experience will be.
Approximate Game Length : 30 mins
Actual Worth / Shop Price : £3 / £FREE = 10
Should you play it : Totally, this game is awesome, and the twists are pretty unique.
Rating: 5/5
DOWNLOAD FROM HERE (17mb) - http://paperdino.com/games/save-the-date/
Mirror just in case the dev website blows up - http://www.mengsbizarreadventure.com/uploads/savethedate-1.0-win.zip
ps. Cant find the 'Good Ending(s)?' - Read here when you've given up -
Sunday, 2 June 2013
Element4l
Element4l is going to ride under the radar for a long time, but then eventually, it's going to be included in a sale of some sort, and this game is going to EXPLODE and join the list of indie classics - you heard it here first.
The game is essentially a physics based platformer, you control a being that can morph into 4 elements - Ice, Fire, Stone and Air - warping into them drains a little energy but provides you with the strengths of that element, the game basically builds around this by setting up levels to force you to master the elements to be able to progress.
Air makes you float upwards and be carried by winds
Stone thrusts you downwards
Ice makes you slide around
Fire throws you sideways and lets you bounce off lava.
There are 16 levels, ranging from 'childsplay' act1, to 'leetskills' act4, you'll be able to tell for yourself when the difficulty is ramping up, because the playtime counter shown at the end of each stage will eventually start entering 4 digits (and it shows in seconds), that and the swearing - Infact, mostly the swearing. I was actually shocked at how hard the game was, im usually not the kind to get phased easily by skill based games, but my god the last few levels reminded me of sections of Super Meat Boy.
Element4l runs just around 2.5 hours maybe for a first playthrough, but it will vary depending on personal skill, and whether or not you succumb to 'easy mode'.
The artstyle is minimalistic yet beautiful, im a big fan of the silhouette artstyle provided by games like Limbo and Contre Jour, but Element4l is so very polished, id say it's the best looking game that uses this style. Quotes and little random pieces of text pop up throughout the game, occasionally hints, sometimes things which are slightly more random (the message referencing BMX rider 'Danny Way's great wall of china jump comes to mind).
Music is also fantastic, its a weird style but it reminds me a ton of Brian Transeau (BT)'s more chilled out works, and im totally okay with this. A kind of melodic electronica style, which is pleasant to listen to and adds to the overall mood of the game.
Verdict:
Element4l is a true gem, it does everything right - the graphics are lovely, the soundtrack is amazing, the controls are tight, the difficulty is challenging (and has a good curve), the levels are well thought out... I really enjoyed this game, and i'm sure most of you will too.
Approximate Game Length : 2-3 Hours
Actual Worth / Shop Price : £15 / £7 (Steam) = 2.14
(also, free soundtrack with the game)
Should you play it : Yes! Fantastic little gem in a sea of pretentious indie shite.
Rating: 5/5
http://store.steampowered.com/app/235820 - Steam market page
http://mindtree.bandcamp.com/album/element4l-original-soundtrack - Soundtrack
Rating System
The only reason I've been kind of reluctant to add a ratings system so far is because personally, I usually just skim read an article and then look at the rating at the end. I hope people won't start doing that but I figure if that's what y'all want, who am I to stop you.
I've gone back to the start of 2013 and added ratings for all the games i've given proper reviews to.
The ratings system is out of 5, why 5? Because in the video games industry everyone wants to rate stuff between 5 and 10 out of 10, Bad games often get scores above what they deserve, and eventually everything falls into the 8-10 category anyway, why bother.
Ratings Explained:
0/5 - The game was so bad that I 'tapped out' as soon as I had finished formulating my opinion
1/5 - Not worth your time, nevermind your money.
2/5 - I'd recommend against it, but these games can be appealing if you are into that sort of thing.
3/5 - Could swing either way depending on your personal preference, Not great, but playable, just enough enjoyment/satisfaction to keep you playing. Probably best to pirate a copy
4/5 - An enjoyable/interesting game, which you should probably play should you have easy access to it.
5/5 - A great game which you should definitely play, these games are either very well polished, extremely fun, unique or (preferably) some combination of the 3.
0/5 - The game was so bad that I 'tapped out' as soon as I had finished formulating my opinion
1/5 - Not worth your time, nevermind your money.
2/5 - I'd recommend against it, but these games can be appealing if you are into that sort of thing.
3/5 - Could swing either way depending on your personal preference, Not great, but playable, just enough enjoyment/satisfaction to keep you playing. Probably best to pirate a copy
4/5 - An enjoyable/interesting game, which you should probably play should you have easy access to it.
5/5 - A great game which you should definitely play, these games are either very well polished, extremely fun, unique or (preferably) some combination of the 3.
Heres the current scoreboard for 2013
| GAME NAME | SCORE | VALUE | |
| May | COJ: Gunslinger | 5 | 1.5 |
| March | Bioshock Inf | 5 | 1.07 |
| March | Tomb Raider | 5 | 1 |
| May | Monaco | 4.5 | 2.11 |
| May | Cart Life | 4 | 10 |
| March | Sniper GW2 | 4 | 0.52 |
| April | DeadSpace3 | 2 | 0.64 |
| April | Evoland | 1 | 0.35 |
| Feb | Aliens Cm | 1 | 0.066 |
| March | Resi6 | 0 | 0.125 |
I've also made 'Game Review' its own tag, incase you're looking for that sort of thing
Saturday, 1 June 2013
Phoenix Wright 5 Hype Train
Klavier, Edgeworth, Badass Apollo, Winston Payne, Pearl Fey and Trucy Wright confirmed for brawl.
Im so glad to see Pearl and Trucy reappear, something tells me we'll be seeing Maya again as well, and while im kind of upset that Phoenix has a new assistant instead of using one of these two, its nice to see that they will at the very least be in the game.
One can only hope we'll get some nicely remixed theme songs as well? Child of Magic? Please?
People so far unaccounted for: Larry Butz, Maya, Ema Skye, Gumshoe? , Oldbag, Von Karma's , Maggey Byrde , Lotta Hart...
See the new trailer for yourself here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxiF0Jt0ywo&feature=player_detailpage#t=164s
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