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April 22nd, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

RefleX Review

RefleX Boxart

Developer: SITER SKAIN
Publisher: Nyu Media
Platform: Desura, GamersGate, Nyu Media, Rice Digital, Steam

Digital distribution is quickly changing the landscape of games available to players. In the days when arcades still existed, it was likely most had tried at least one shoot ’em up there. Afterwards, the genre trended toward niche with releases that mostly just fans were aware of. Nyu Media, known for their doujin releases, recently brought RefleX to a western audience.

Interestingly, RefleX is the second game in The Tale of ALLTYNEX trilogy by independent developer SITER SKAIN. Yet, it is the first released to Steam. The game includes eight stages complete with large bosses and tons of regular enemies. Of course, this is what is par for the course with shooters.

RefleX Featured

What is it that makes the game stand out against countless others? The most interesting feature is a reflect system. Using a shield during battle protects your ship but also reflects enemy bullets. Where bullets bounce back is dependent on the angle they struck your shield to begin with. So, in theory, these reflected bullets are a great way to weaken enemies. In play I found this hard to control simply because there’s so much going on.

Bullet hell shooters are famous for having tons of visual clutter thanks to ridiculous bullet patterns and enemies. With so much going on, using the reflective shield to its best is beyond my reach (at least right now). At least RefleX grants failing players extra continues! There’s a lot good about the game, but it seems opposed to novices, despite appealing to them with more lives. RefleX is best played by fans of the genre or those who really, really want to play a solid shooter regardless of difficulty.

Score: 3

3 out of 5 alpacas

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April 18th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews 1 Comment »

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Review

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Boxart

Developer: SCS Software
Publisher: SCS Software
Platform: PC – Amazon, Direct, GamersGate, Green Man Gaming, Humble Store, Steam

Thanks to a continuous deluge of them on Steam, many gamers are tremendously annoyed with simulation games. Getting into extreme minutia such as Munich Bus Simulator and Warehouse and Logistics Simulator, well, it is easy to see why such distaste exists. Euro Truck Simulator 2 blended into that lot for me until I finally played it. Then I realized that this is not just a dull budget release but an excellent game overall.

As you might guess, the game is focused on driving through the European continent in a big truck. You’re a trucker who takes on the missions of others and can even run their own company. To start with players can only tow newbie cargo for lower prices, but eventually you level up to transport fragile and dangerous materials.

Much of Euro Truck Simulator 2 is spent on the road between destinations. If you need your gameplay fast and exciting then run away now. Everything about this experience is slow but it works well. I’m someone who has always enjoyed simply “touring” games such as Grand Theft Auto and obeying the traffic laws. Doing so here is expected (unless you want to get ticketed all the time).

Euro Truck Simulator 2 Featured

Only this time, all the minutia I’ve always wanted to live out my mundane driving fantasies are available here. There are windshield wipers, turn signals, headlights, and more on every truck that players have total control over. Many won’t find this exciting but this is just the kind of simulated features my interests trend toward.

My inaugural drive with the game lasted five straight hours. That says something, especially when my average gameplay sessions typically last an hour. Euro Truck Simulator 2 is such a simple concept and is executed near to perfection.

Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas

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April 16th, 2014 Featured, Reviews No Comments »

Cho Dengeki Stryker Review

Cho Dengeki Stryker Boxart

Developer: OVERDRIVE
Publisher: MangaGamer
Platform: PC – MangaGamer*

Dengeki Stryker is a visual novel that tells the story of a young boy named Yuuki Yamato and his unyielding desire to be a hero. Thanks to some extremely strange circumstances, h gets his wish and the superhero Dengeki Stryker comes to life. Cho Dengeki Stryker is the ultimate version of the game as it adds on new chapters to fully flesh out the story. If you’ve never played Dengeki Styrker then check out our review. This review is focused purely on the new content. Interested players can purchase Cho Dengeki Stryker as either a patch or complete game depending on their needs.

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April 15th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews 2 Comments »

Moebius: Empire Rising Review

Moebius Logo

Developer: Phoenix Online Studios
Publisher: Phoenix Online Publishing
Platform: PC – Direct, GamersGate, GOG*, Steam

In 2012, beloved game designer Jane Jensen started a Kickstarter campaign for her own development studio named Pinkerton Road. Money was raised for Moebius and Mystery Game X (which was later revealed as a Gabriel Knight remake). I backed the project because of my longstanding love for her work and waited impatiently. We’re finally at that point. Moebius: Empire Rising has launched and it does not disappoint.

Malachi Rector is an antiques dealer with more than just a keen eye for detail. For reasons unknown, he has incredible powers of deduction that allow him to “see” things not apparent to normal people. Because of his talent, his antiques business is quite successful, but there’s not much else to his life. This changes once Malachi gets wrapped up in a very unusual murder and subsequent investigation.

Moebius Empire Rising Screenshot 1

A mysterious government agency takes him in and asks him to comply with very strange requests. They want to use his power to match living people with the historical figures their biographies most mirror. Both Malachi and the player are initially in the dark, but agree to the request. Even if you’re not a history buff you’ll leave Moebius with a great deal of new information thanks to an interesting puzzle system.

Most of the game plays as a standard point and click adventure. From a third person perspective you click on objects to look and interact with them. Inventory is kept in check to keep it from getting unwieldy, and there’s always the option to look at hints if you get stuck. Where Moebius diverges from the crowd is in asking you to identify characters as people from the past. After gathering clues about their lives, you sort through a list of pre-determined historical names to see which is the best match. In doing so, you get a huge dose of information about these people and their contributions to society, whether positive or negative. It’s not all based in “literal” history either as names like Medea make an appearance.

Moebius Empire Rising Screenshot 2

One of the most exciting aspects of Gabriel Knight for me was always the amount of history intertwined in the storyline. Moebius attempts the same goals although I feel it doesn’t do so with quite as much tact. Yes, the storyline revolves around it, but you are still “taught” a lot directly through the identification puzzles.

As has always been the case, any game involving Jane Jensen has stunning backdrops. In this specific instance, areas appear hand drawn and are expertly designed. Colors are bright or dulled as need be and bring locations to life. Unfortunately, the character models do betray their gorgeous setting somewhat. Mostly, that’s thanks to the incredibly off animations on display. Malachi shambles weirdly around, stopping and going with no regard for actual human movement. Eventually you get over it and stop noticing (at least I did) but it was an unfortunate note to start off on.

Moebius Empire Rising Screenshot 3

All of that is fine and good, but what of the story? Moebius was anticipated for a reason and it should stand proudly as another great tale by Jane Jensen. Malachi has a dry wit that endears us to him and the other characters have wonderfully distinct personalities as well. The way the story intertwines between everyone is intriguing and urged me to continue playing despite sleep, work, and other tasks. On the rare occasion I got stuck in a puzzle, it would frustrate me primarily because that meant I couldn’t yet get to the next part of the story.

Adventure fans who have been waiting for this game should feel secure in purchasing it immediately. Moebius offers an immensely engaging story, great characters, and a neat mechanic. There are points where it stumbles but they can mostly be forgiven. It’s a shame the package couldn’t be a bit more polished, but even then Moebius: Empire Rising still shines through as a must-have title.

Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas

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April 14th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews 1 Comment »

Harvester Review

Harvester Boxart

Developer: DigiFX Interactive
Publisher: Merit Studios / Night Dive Studios
Platform: PC – DOS, GOG*, Steam

Harvester, along with a few other FMV adventure games, paved the way for ridiculous violence in the 90s gaming scene. Of course, this was right around the time that people began to express concern and attempt to enact legislation about violence in video games. Instead of taking on the issue in a professional manner, developers rushed to make the most foul media possible. Harvester is a tremendous product of that era and somehow still manages to be shocking.

The town of Harvest is stuck in the 50s. Women are obsessed with the PTA bake sale and little else while men appear to have their own fascination with meat. Everyone is in love with the mysterious Lodge. Steve wakes up in Harvest with no memory and realizes the townsfolk are completely out of it. He finds his supposed wife-to-be Stephanie is also aware of the disturbing nature of Harvest. Steve decides to join the Lodge in hopes of finally leaving this ridiculous town.

As this is an adventure game, there’s a ton of puzzles to solve as you point and click your way around the small town. Most aren’t too difficult but some do seem to expect solutions without ever hinting at them. One nice feature of Harvester is that it won’t let the game progress if you’ve missed out on any key items. There are a good deal of colorful townsfolk and you’ll want to talk to most of them each day, although some are best left alone (nuclear base, anyone?).

Harvester Screenshot 1

The real meat of the game is simply talking with the townspeople and seeing what ridiculous event transpires next. Everyone is just so odd that they captivate you for the hours it takes it beat the game. I was perturbed by certain characters because things have changed over the years.

Is it really a great gag when the firemen are all lisping interior decorators? No, not really, nor are other characters who refer to them in derogatory ways. There’s also Stephanie’s proclivity to wearing lingerie and nothing else multiple times during the game. If aspects such as these were left out the experience would be easier to recommend. And even so, Harvester lends itself to a car crash reaction, where you can’t help but explore it entirely despite its inherent nastiness.

Harvester is beyond the B-movie. It reaches Troll 2 levels of ridiculous and that’s why it makes you need to beat it, just to see this all through to the end. As it turns out, Steve isn’t nearly as much of a kidder as DigiFX Interactive were. Playing Harvester takes one back to an absurd era of gaming where developers would rather give legislators the finger then ever tone down their games.

Score: 3

3 out of 5 alpacas

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April 11th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

Mission Runway Review

Mission Runway Boxart

Developer: Virtual Playground
Publisher: ValuSoft
Platform: PC – Steam

Being a fashion designer is something I’ve never dreamed of, but for some reason I am still compelled to play any fashion-related game that comes into my hands. From Barbie Fashion Designer until now, I’ve been seeking the perfect fashion game. Nope, Mission Runway isn’t it, but it is better than some out there.

In Mission Runway you participate in a TV show competition (modeled no doubt after Project Runway). Each “week” the designers compete in a themed challenge, get their fashions judged by a panel of celebrity experts (Tyra Banks lookalike and all), and someone always gets sent home at the end of a show. Hopefully, you can become the contestant that wins big!

Mission Runway Featured

Like most mission-based fashion games you simply have to create designs that relate to the themes in question. If the contest is for business wear then you’d better not throw your model onto the stage with a ball gown. Similarly, beach outfits should not likely contain pants and a giant jacket. That said, you can still mess around with the different style types and clothing once you get a feel for how generous the grading is.

That’s one of my favorite things in these otherwise not particularly deep fashion titles. I love attempting to game the system by creating the strangest outfits that still succeed at their goal. Of course, there are times I try to make pretty outfits too but my eye for it is pretty poor. With that said, the game takes less than two hours to beat if you know what you’re doing and there are not enough outfit choices that look anything other than horrendous. Since Mission Runway is supposed to be all about fashion it would have been nice to see more on display.

Score: 1

1 out of 5 alpacas

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April 9th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender Review

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender Boxart

Developer: MicroProse
Publisher: MicroProse
Platform: PC – DOS, GOG*

If we were to be transported back to the start of the 90s we’d see that adventure games were still king. The two main combatants in the ring were Sierra and LucasArts, although many others tried to emulate them. One of MicroProse’s adventure game efforts was Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender. With its own brand of adult humor, it actually does succeed in certain respects, although it falls apart in others.

Our star is Rex Nebular,  an apparently for-hire thief, who regales a very strange tale that took place as he attempted to recover something for a mission. While searching through the galaxy his ship is intercepted by hostiles who shoot him down, landing him on their planet. As is quickly revealed, the planet seems inhabited purely by women. The Great Gender War proved women the dominant gender thanks to their incredible biochemical skills, which wiped all dudes from existence. Rex is set to either be killed or used as livestock to keep the population growing.

Although that might sound like some sort of tawdry sci-fi lit, Rex isn’t exactly enthused at either prospect. What he cares about most is his mission and heading home. Of course, puzzles slow his adventure. Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender has multiple difficulty settings which dictate how many of the puzzles a player has to deal with. Although none are impossibly obtuse, some are a bit mean. Inventory management is downright horrible as you must scroll through an ever-increasing list of items to find the one to use. Anyone who relies on guess and check for puzzles will be in a world of pain here.

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender Featured

Most point and click adventures that weren’t from the big companies had a hard time with humor. This game actually manages to (mostly) nail it. Jokes are ridiculous and silly without resorting to gendered jokes as I expected would be the case. Honestly, the whole “Gender Bender” thing seems overblown in an otherwise relatively tame adventure experience. Women in the game are routinely depicted as strong as they are the leaders of society and inhabit a great many roles. The biggest issue is that all the women fit a stereotypical Western depiction of beauty, minus one who is used as a completely useless sight gag.

So while it is actually a pretty funny romp, it is short and far less interesting than the name implies. The story feels like the beginning of a series of (as of yet unseen) Rex Nebular adventures. Rex just wasn’t cut out for that. Despite excellent writing overall, Rex himself is mostly a blank slate with a dash of machismo. Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender is best for adventure game lovers who can handle anything as long as it has snappy writing.

Score: 1.5

1 1/2 out of 5 alpacas

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April 7th, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews No Comments »

7th Legion Review

7th Legion Boxart

Developer: Epic Games, Vision Software
Publisher: MicroProse
Platform: PC – GOG*

Real-time strategy (RTS) games were big in the 90s on PC. Thanks in large part to Command & Conquer, there was a sudden deluge of other games hoping to work the same magic. It worked in some cases but often not entirely. 7th Legion was one game born of the RTS boom and it stands as an average attempt with some newly introduced flaws.

At least the storyline is kinda neat. The Earth has been nearly destroyed due to pollution, leading the world’s government to send people into space while the planet recovers. Of course, only the smartest, strongest, and riches humans get to go. Everyone else is left to toil on the now inhospitable Earth. 7 generations later, the chosen people return to claim Earth, but the citizens left there aren’t going down without a fight.

The “chosen” are basically depicted as a Nazi parable in color choice, salute, and mindset (they are the ‘best’ specimens of the human race). It’s because of this fact that it is incredibly odd how 7th Legion lets you play as them if you wish. There are two campaigns but anyone playing should probably choose Legion’s side.

7th Legion Screenshot

Gameplay is all about upgrading your base, increasing troops, and working through the fog of war to find and destroy enemies. Any competent RTS offers the same. Where 7th Legion attempts to be creative is with a power up system, shown as five cards on-screen. These are used to strengthen your side, lay waste to enemies, and the like. The enemy can also use them against you which is when you’ll feel how overpowered some are.

Bringing the game to modern machines appears to have caused some issues, however. The biggest is related to troop control. The game wants players to click quickly to move troops somewhere and then hold click to open up a menu that makes troops aggressive or defensive. Thanks to faster computers, the pop up menu usually comes up immediately during a routine click to move troops. Sometimes this leads to troops not being able to move at all since you haven’t issued the “quick” click command to do so. As of now there’s no fix for it officially from GOG.

7th Legion was the first RTS I ever played and I cherish it for that reason. Still, I wholly recognize that the game does not stand up as anything special in the genre. It has some cool troops mounted on dinosaurs, but that’s really the best you get. Online functionality has also been removed from the re-release, making it much easier to skip over this game.

Score: 1

1 out of 5 alpacas

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April 4th, 2014 Featured, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Sony Systems No Comments »

The Witch and the Hundred Knight Review

The Witch and the Hundred Knight Boxart

Developer: Nippon Ichi Software
Publisher: NIS America
Platform: PS3

Back before I became a curmudgeon old games reviewer, I spent hours upon hours in Diablo and Diablo II. There was something incredibly appealing about clicking away at enemies in these ARPGs. As such, upon hearing about The Witch and the Hundred Knight I found myself intrigued – if a bit wary. But, curiosity persisted and I’ve ended up playing it. So, is this a game worth pursuing?

Maybe. First, let’s get all the basics out of the way. In this game you start out as a teeny, cute blob creature (supposedly male). A crude, cruel witch finds and names you Hundred Knight because it sounds cool. After a brief tutorial session with her, you’re brought back to the real world where she introduces herself as Metallia and that you are now completely under her command.

Metallia is a monster. She might look like a swamp witch but her meanness never skips a beat. It’s hard to recall that many games where you actually are forced to work under someone who could be quantified as evil. With that weird perspective in place, you go about doing things that you know are wrong but simply have to do anyway. That’s where all the ARPG hacking away at enemies comes in.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight Screenshot 2

The Hundred Knight can equip multiple weapons and get to work beating on everything in sight. Well, there is a bit more strategy to it than that. There’s the ability to chain together multiple weapons for greater attacks, as well as types of weapons which enemies are weak or strong against. The latter is particularly annoying as you may have to frequently switch out weapons when dealing between two distinct creature types.

Another, stranger, feature of The Witch and the Hundred Knight is the GCal system. GCals are effectively a timer placed on you throughout every stage. Work through the whole thing before the GCals deplete or you’re dead! Luckily, there are a variety of ways to replenish it but I still died a lot before figuring out the most efficient methods. That honestly might be one of the biggest issues with the game: Its obsession with systems.

This genre of game doesn’t necessitate massive complexity. And yet, the experience is filled to the brim with them. And for all that work, you can basically ignore 80% of them. Perhaps some will find them intriguing, but that was not a favorable aspect in my opinion. No doubt many will be bothered by Metallia’s attitude as well, but I dug her no-holds-barred cruelty… and was much disappointed by the designer’s intentions with her outfit.

The Witch and the Hundred Knight Screenshot 1

Visually, many have suggested it looks like a game from the PS2 era but I just don’t see it that way. The character models might be simplistic but they honestly looked really good to me. Similarly, the backdrops were nicely fanciful. The biggest problem with them were that foliage would often obstruct the playing field view. The soundtrack definitely meshed with the visuals, and maybe even did it one better. Every song had a real “character” about it and that made levels more enjoyable than they otherwise would’ve been.

It’s a shame, then, that for as simple as the experience could be that it wasn’t all that compelling in the long run. The Witch and the Hundred Knight doesn’t contain that engaging spark that more famous games such as Diablo managed to have. Without it, you’ll simply have to get by on enjoying the visual design, excellent soundtrack, and unusual narrative. All told that’s not a horrible thing but it could have been better.

Score: 2

2 out of 5 alpacas

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April 3rd, 2014 Featured, PC, Reviews 2 Comments »

Actual Sunlight Review

Actual Sunlight Boxart

Developer: Will O’Neill
Publisher: Will O’Neill
Platform: PC – Desura, Direct, Steam

Depression is difficult to comprehend for anyone not suffering from it. Even those who live with depression can find it incredibly difficult to pin down in any certain terms. Despite being an affliction that people all over the world suffer from, many even fail to recognize it as a real issue. It’s likely some with that mindset will somehow stumble onto Actual Sunlight. Perhaps playing the game will shift perceptions.

Actual Sunlight stars Evan Winters. He is not a spry, spiky-haired teen nor a grizzled marine as per gaming conventions. He sits somewhere in the middle as a dejected, completely average guy. Every day he heads to work in an office with people who he either dislikes, or likes, but they don’t return those feelings. If you’ve ever felt alone or like a loser then try and amplify that many magnitudes over. Then maybe you’ll have the slightest inkling of how he feels.

Actual Sunlight Featured

Evan is down and painfully so. Playing the game basically involves interacting with nearby objects and people, most of which gets Evan to discuss the item in question. Usually, this results in spiteful comments about himself or others. Sometimes darkly humorous, it’s easy to see that he’s far from a healthy mental state. Regardless of what he says the reader is left with a tangible feeling of hopelessness. As the game progresses you can see as daily life pushes him further down.

Actual Sunlight tells this story primarily through Evan’s thoughts and the brief discussions he has with others. Interestingly, the visuals recall retro RPGs, with a top-down perspective and NPCs milling about. However, beyond interacting with the surroundings there’s little traditional gameplay to speak of. I’m much more compelled to call this a visual novel, despite the direct control scheme.

10

Lately there have been games launching that focus on telling a story directly from the creator – likely sharing very personal details. If that’s not your cup of tea then that’s a shame because you’re missing out. It was hard to play Actual Sunlight to completion, even though it took only an hour. I ached, perhaps for Evan, but in part for my own lived experiences. I was compelled to see how Evan’s plight would play out. I wanted to hear his thoughts and experience second-hand what that kind of life was like for him. Because the narrative doesn’t offer some sort of sappy conclusion it felt all that more real.

I couldn’t care less about droll storylines that get pumped out in games continuously because they impart no emotional impact. Games like Actual Sunlight need to continue hitting the scene. Maybe we’ll eventually see other developers test the waters.

Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas

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