Thursday, May 30, 2013

Skyward Collapse Gameplay Review



Saturday, May 25, 2013

Reus Gameplay Review

I'm playing Reus, a real-time god game by Abbey Games.

The game features three tutorials, a time-based mode that unlocks advanced structures by completing objectives called “developments”, and an achievement-free sandbox. The smooth interface allows for efficient control, with mouse-wheel zooming, click-and-drag panning, quick giant access, land tile information, and village and project displays. Giants are your method of interacting with the game world, and they can perform several tasks: morph the landscape, place plants, animals, or minerals, buff resource locations with “aspects”, and attack naughty humans. Your first step is to turn wasteland into fertile areas where resources (food, wealth, technology, and nature) can be placed; humans will automatically settle pleasant regions. The goal is to maximize resources by placing specific items near each other, which will increase the benefits of each through the “symbiosis” system; more resources will increase the prosperity of the world. Humans will need lots of resources to complete projects; when finished, they provide an ambassador whom will unlock one “aspect” buff for a giant, and a specialization which will increase resource income even more. These “aspects” can be used to transmutate existing resources into more beneficial forms. Over time, villages that expand quickly without nearby dangerous exotic animals will become greedy, and will attack nearby towns. You must then use your giants to attack the armies or lose your carefully crafted cities. While Reus is not a challenging game, the complex additive relationships between resource locations and multiple avenues for development do provide some depth and variety. The limited scope may inhibit the enjoyment for some, as each game generally follows the same pattern with very broad objectives, but Reus is a well-executed god game.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Cubemen 2 Gameplay Review



Friday, May 17, 2013

Anomaly 2 Gameplay Review

I'm playing Anomaly 2, a real-time tower defense game by 11 Bit Studios.

The single player story mode is a retread of the original game: playing offense only with scripted enemy encounters. The missions can be very difficult with lots of enemy towers. You still cannot save your game mid-mission, and the game also lacks a map editor. Multiplayer is new this time around, however, where one player controls the squad and another places turrets, both sides earning points by destroying enemy units. Collected resources can be used to purchase new units and improve the technology level, unlocking more advanced units. The interface allows you to change squad movement paths and purchase new units pretty easily. The ability to accelerate time reduces potential tedium. Both units and towers have various attacks, and Anomaly 2 has a nice strategic balance with good counters for different adversaries. The squads can now morph units for quick tactical changes, and the towers have complementary attributes. Both sides can accentuate their efforts with different abilities (health, decoys, damage, build speed). While the single player game is a lot of the same, the multiplayer of Anomaly 2 is a big draw: it adds a lot of replay value and solid strategic competitive gaming.

Monday, May 13, 2013

Race The Sun Beta Preview

I'm playing the beta of Race The Sun, a procedurally-generated racing game by Flippfly.

The goal is to survive as long as possible before the sun sets. The game features procedurally generated infinite maps divided into regions, each of which has many different paths to follow; these help to keep replay value high. Controls are very simple: left and right arrows to steer, plus a button to activate an ability (jump). Collecting triangles increases your score multiplier, and boosts increase movement speed while delaying the sun’s inevitable journey below the horizon. Completing specific objectives (like collecting a number of triangles) unlocks new items and abilities. The difficulty is unforgiving: one head-on collision ends the game, although you can side-swipe objects (which resets the score multiplier). Despite its simplistic nature, Race The Sun has appealing score-chasing gameplay at a fast pace, and the randomized levels extend the value of the title. Look for the game to be released near the end of May.

Thursday, May 09, 2013

Leviathan: Warships Gameplay Review

I'm playing Leviathan: Warships, a urn-based naval strategy game by Pieces Interactive and Paradox Interactive.

The game features cross-platform (mobile and desktop) multiplayer skirmish and cooperative campaign options. You can also play the nine-mission campaign offline, but it is much less enjoyable alone. Leviathan: Warships has asynchronous turn-based gameplay where you can have multiple active matches at a time and switch freely between them (although most players seem to concentrate on one game at a time). There are robust ship and fleet customization options: you can place cannons, beams, rockets, mines, smoke, shields, and cloaking items on several ship hulls, and none of these components are locked from new players. A points limit allows you to design small, medium, and large fleets, and the results are somewhat balanced (railguns are too powerful when spammed) with many options. Controls are mouse-driven, with click-and-drag movement and targeting. The interface is limited in several areas, however: it is difficult to determine when items are active (such as radar), and inactive periods after weapons fire and their cooldown timers disappear are simply confusing. Action plays out ten seconds at a time, and since each weapon has effective minimum and maximum ranges, the tactics of Leviathan: Warships have some depth. Individual weapons and systems (vision, movement) can get damaged and are automatically repaired over time. While the interface shortcomings of Leviathan: Warships are discouraging, the ship customization and action-oriented gameplay are welcome features.

Sunday, May 05, 2013

Surgeon Simulator 2013 Gameplay Review

I'm playing Surgeon Simulator 2013, a surgery “simulation” game by Bossa Studios.

The game has three surgeries (heart, kidney, brain), both in a hospital setting and in an ambulance (with randomized bumps and turns that move everything around haphazardly). There are very lenient objectives: you only need to place the new organ near the correct location, and can discard all other “unnecessary” organs. It would be nice if more operations were available, but there is some additional fun to be had in the main menu. The controls are awkward on purpose: separate keys for closing each finger, while the mouse moves your arm and holding the mouse buttons lowers your arm and rotates your wrist. The result is hilarity, as you fumble about trying to complete even the simplest task; objects will “stick” to your fingers (whether you want them to or not) to assist in grabbing things. Various surgical instruments are available (scalpel, saw, hammer) to expedite untimely death. The game ends when your patient bleeds out, but you can stop the bleeding by poking them (in the eye, preferably) with a green syringe (just don’t poke yourself). Your score depends on the time the surgery takes and how much blood is left; online leaderboards would have been a nice touch. The physics engine is good enough to make everything as clumsy as possible. There isn’t much depth or longevity in Surgeon Simulator 2013, but the humor that permeates throughout the game will be worth the $10 price tag for some.

Wednesday, May 01, 2013

Don’t Starve Impressions

I'm playing Don’t Starve, an exploration survival game by Klei Entertainment.

(FRAPS does not play nice with Don’t Starve, so I had to use an alternative recording program which does not work well, resulting in poor framerates and short videos)

You start by selecting a character (unlocked by playing, with different attributes) and customizing a randomly generated map where you must find five items to progress to the next level. Don’t Starve also features an adventure mode with more scripted levels, and permadeath to act somewhat like a roguelike. The interface displays crafting recipes for items, which helps to alleviate a lot of confusion. Collecting various resources allows you to create tools, fires, traps, weapons, magic staffs, research items, farms, and more. You must keep an eye on your hunger, health, and sanity; you can get easily distracted doing tasks in the game and forget to eat or camp. The environment is quite hostile, providing ample opportunities to die. There is a wide range of strange animals and monsters to encounter, plus several avenues for resource and food production for some flexibility. While the initial start is very repetitive each new game, the compelling, challenging gameplay of Don’t Starve has a lot to like.