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29 Game Reviews

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Frustrating

I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the concept. The jumping was a little unresponsive at times, and after a while, I found the constant praying to be a bit of nuisance. My main complaint is A) a lack of any sort of map, and B) the slow, boring rate of exploration. Honestly, my second complaint wouldn't matter if you fixed the first. I don't think you should have a map right off the bat; but after exploring for a bit, you definitely need something to aid your progress. I got to the point where I had all the ship parts, all the personal items, and all but one body and one ghost. After crawling around for what felt like forever, I couldn't find the remaining body and ghost, so I just gave up. It would have been nice, after all that work, to have something point me in the right direction; I really wanted to open that temple door.

Interesting concept

Well, I like the concept a lot, but I have to admit that I didn't think too highly of game until after I read the developer's notes (and maybe that's part of the point?). After being told not to go into the trees, I immediately went into the trees, and so before I even walked around town, talked to the adults, or saw the rotating cameras, the "truth" of this "town" was shoved right into my face. I then played through again, this time doing the card game, which was subsequently underwhelming.

Since this game is mostly an experiment, I can understand why you didn't want to flesh things out a little bit more. But, as an experiment, the game is too limited to provide much insight. It's true that video games often have one linear path to walk, but its equally important to ask how something so simple can be so compelling. In a lot of games, the "carrot on a stick" approach, with constant upgrades/level-ups/equipment/etc. offered as incentives, seems to work well; in others, its the story or the atmosphere; in others, its simply the gameplay and the gameplay alone. My point is that, in your game, the gamer doesn't have to commit to anything. We don't have to invest much time, we don't have to exercise any skill, there's nothing to lose and nothing to gain. So whether we go into the woods or play the card game, its all kind of arbitrary. Or maybe that's your point? Tell me if you're two steps ahead of me, Gregory!

Ultimately, I liked your concept, but your game is very short and rather uninvolved, so it only deals with a very minute, limited aspect of videogames. And as a game itself, it offers too little to warrant a higher score.

Well, I'd LIKE to play...

What can I say? The game looks interesting, and I was excited to play it; I like RPGs, and it seemed like there was a lot of upgrade options, which is another thing I look for in a flash game. But I ran into the same problem as several other reviewers: namely, after I beat the Mafia boss, the game stops working, and its impossible to click anything. I tried it three different times, once in a pop-out window, and the same thing happened. If it was just me, I wouldn't bother writing a review; but since this is a recurring problem, I'm willing to blame it on the game. My computer is fairly good, for the record.

On a side note, while the game looks like its fun to play, and the detail is very well done is some areas, I do agree that the presentation is uneven. The main menu, the map, as well as the introductory white screen just kind of feel rushed, like you got tired of making the game and just wanted to upload it already.

Good, but lacking

Well, I'm a fan of the space survival-horror genre, so this game is right up my alley. The plot is basically a watered-down Deep Space, as other people have pointed out, but Deep Space was an awesome game, so whatever. The similarities did, however, rob your game of a lot of suspense; I felt like I always knew what was right around the corner.

The strength of this game, obviously, is its presentation. The graphics are superb, the sound effects are realistic, and the transitition between gameplay and cut-scenes was seamless. The brief clip before each boss battle was a nice touch, and everything was very detailed. One of my favorite visuals was when you're trying to find the engine, and suddenly the ship transforms into a giant pyramid in the distance. The symbology here, as well as the color yellow, are interesting details; I wish you'd expanded upon them further.

As a result, I want to rate you higher, but the gameplay just doesn't warrant it. Every enemy in this game, from normal zombies to boss battles, was ridiculously weak. I finished every boss under 30 seconds; all I had to do was stand still and hold down the fire button. Sergei is just too over-powered; you never feel frightened or cautious, because nothing ever challenges or threatens you. Sergei is also a pretty clunky individual; I don't know if I'm the only person having this problem, but I felt that his jump was rather unresponsive at times, and frequently when I'd press jump he just refused. The dash function at the end of the game comes to late and is equally unreliable, so you don't really have any evasive tactics. In other words, the entire game is based around you holding down fire and walking forward. This might be okay if there were a larger degree of exploration involved, ala Metroid or Castlevania (or even Dead Space, to a certain degree), but its unfortunately way too linear. The only thing you have to go "out of your way" to get is the spread upgrade; everything else is literally handed to you.

Ultimately, I feel that your presentation is unmatched, but that poor gameplay drags down an otherwise amazing game. I would recommend a larger number of upgrades, like the ability to switch between different suits with different advantages, as well as a larger variety of weapons. A more expansive leveling system would also be appreciated; perhaps we could be allowed to pick what we wanted to improve. Finally, a larger element of exploration would definitely help your game's atmosphere.

That's all I got; good job, and I enjoyed playing.

A Very Good Start

While fairly generic, I did enjoy playing Battle Turtle, and I thought it brought a few unique things to the table. My favorite aspect of the gameplay was the ability to store and use three power-ups at once. Since you could only use one ammo-upgrade (and one shield) at a time, it forced me to ration out my power-ups and use them strategically. It also created some memorable moments; for example, I once got a circle, machine-gun, and 3-way shot upgrade at the same time, ensuring that I sprayed the entire screen with bullets.

The graphics could use a little polishing, especially the enemies, but they weren't bad either. I like Battle Turtle and his jet pack feet, and the avian antagonists looked pretty interesting too. It doesn't really matter, but I guess I'd like to know more about Battle Turtle? I can't say that I'm particularly interested, but at the same time, all of the characters in this game seem arbitrary. Why have an animal hero, and animal villains, but robotic enemies?

From a gameplay perspective, my main suggestion is to make the turtle move a little faster, and maybe make him a little smaller. As it stands, he's just too bulky and slow. Otherwise, I think you've got a solid backbone for a game here.

Boring

I like the previous Bubble Tank entries, including the tower defense, but for all of its features, Arenas is just plain boring. In reality, the "gameplay" of Bubble Tanks has never been expansive or strategic by any stretch of the imagination. You could choose to be a slow-moving heavy-hitter, or you could choose to be a quick fighter with machine-guns, but either way, you were basically just pointing towards the enemy and holding down the mouse button until you evolved again. And that's really the only fun to be had in Bubble Tanks: watching your tank evolve from little bubble to big bubble, and enjoying the increased firepower as you get there.

Arenas does make an attempt to expand the gameplay by giving you control over your tanks armor and arsenal; but this process is, unfortunately, too tedious to be entertaining. The main problem is that gun points are rationed out like water in a desert. I felt like my firepower was only barely keeping up with the enemies, if that; instead of evolving, I felt like I was struggling to stay alive. That prevented any sense of satisfaction from completing a stage, and by stage 9, I was ready to quit. On a random note, the color red seems far too dreary for this game; I think the blue of previous titles works much better.

I did enjoy the random commentary you put in the game, though, like the descriptions for the double and tripleshot gun. Little details like that are appreciated.

Terrible Controls

The game looks and sounds well enough, and I suppose the concept is okay (I mean, "summer heat" is a terrible theme, so I don't know what other direction you were supposed to take it).

Unfortunately, terrible controls make the game overly difficult and un-enjoyable. While I actually sort of like the pump-action water gun, pressing left and right every 10 seconds to reload is awkward and gets annoying pretty fast. Pressing space to fire, and only being able to shoot left, right, up, and down (no diagonals), makes aiming way too frustrating. I feel as though this game would have been much better if you were allowed to aim with the mouse.

Engaging, but...

Well, I really enjoyed this game for the most part. I thought the system of exploration was really neat, and searching the dead bodies for clues to narrow down your search made each room feel important. I agree that pressing up to go down a ladder seemed odd at first, but since up is used for all actions in the game, you get used to it pretty fast.

I have a few minor complaints. First, friendly fire. In a 2D game like this, instead of providing realism, its just really annoying. Its not that bad when the survivors have a long-range weapon; you can just stand behind them and conserve ammunition. But when a survivor has a melee weapon, their AI is very poor; they seem to just wander around, and its difficult to protect yourself without killing them first.

Second, melee weapons are basically useless. It seemed like the hit detection was a little off, and they rarely dealt the damage I expected them to (for example, I felt the chainsaw should have been a little more powerful). I suppose melee is supposed to be a last resort, but if you do opt to make yourself vulnerable by fighting within arms reach, there should be some sort of payoff.

The thing that bugged me the most is that I couldn't seem to find my daughter. I unlocked 100% on every section of the map...but no daughter. Maybe you have to complete all the side missions? There was still a section where I hadn't handled the fugitive and a section where I had to find letters, but otherwise, everything was completed. If those missions were a pre-requisite for finding my daughter (which doesn't make much sense), I would have liked a heads up.

Overall, though, I think this is a really great game, and I think you deserve the front page.

Not Quite There

Here's the thing...you have this excellent environment, with unique looking creatures and a very detailed backdrop, and you have the ability to explore both the sea and air, a twist I was pleasantly surprised to discover. On top of that, there is plenty of things to collect; purple pills for points, yellow pills for "God mode", white balls for boosts, and I already covered the wings. So why does this game get boring so fast?

The problem is we never get to engage the environment or the game. Once you've snagged the yellow pill and the wings once, you've pretty much done the most exciting things in the game; there's no incentive to continue other than to gain more points, but lets face it, who really cares about points? I never look at the scoreboards myself, escpecially considering 99% of the time somebody hacks them. What's more, your little guy never gets stronger and only has one life, so instead of exploring/enjoying/etc. the lush environment, you're focused purely on evasion.

My suggestions? There's the obvious "make the fish grow larger so it can eat larger fish" route, which admittedly would work, but that's been done before. What I do love is this whole "grab some wings and explore the sky" concept, so here's my grandoise vision for Blue 2-3...

This time, there are four different spheres you can traverse, all of which are stacked vertically: earth, ocean, sky, space. You enter each area the same way you do in this game, by picking a power-up, except this time, the power-up lasts as long as you stay in that area. In the water, obviously, you swim; underground, you have a drill and you dig; in the air, you have wings again; and in space THRUSTERS mwah ha ha. You have seven stats, which you can increase as you level up (by eating other fish); size, speed, acceleration, wings, thrusters, drill, and tailfin. Upgrading size, obviously, makes you larger and you can eat larger fish. Speed and acceleration should be obviously. Upgrading the last for stats will affect how well your creature maneuvers in the four spheres. Here's the catch, though; getting eight purple pills still multiples your score, but the pills will be split evenly amongst the four areas. You could make each sphere of movement either have different controls or different types of enemies; either way, you could upgrade your drill if you suck at underground movement and leave your wings alone if you're good at the air.

Damn, dude, as Jimmy Neutron would say, "brain blast." Yeah, I just quoted Jimmy Neutron. Deal with it. Seriously, this long response is brought to you by boredom and insomnia. Good luck, kiddo.

jjwallace responds:

luckly insomnia was able to help me read all this reviews... thanks a lot for the input dude...
i am currently working on red custom and blue custom 2... i will be putting in a couple types of play...
http://jjwallace.newgrounds.com/news/
post/215300
if you have any ideas just send them to me.. when i have a beta version ready you can test it if ya like..
just shoot me a message some time.

Meh

Great artwork, bad flash. I mean, I know the point of this wasn't to awe people, just to garner some appreciation for the poster (so, mission accomplished). Unfortunately, I think you had a good idea that could have been much more fleshed out. I was a bit disappointed when I clicked on a character and was simply redirected to another page; after all, only a NG veteran is really going to appreciate this, but a NG vet should already know all of those series. So, I have to ask, who is this is for?

That aside, I think this could be a helpful tool for new visitors if revised a little bit. Instead of opening a new window, how about this: a window opens up in flash which gives a quick overview of the series, including:

- The flash author.
- The year the series began.
- Genre (if any) or the general rating (Mature, Teen, Etc.).
- A brief explanation/overview of the series.
- Multiple (think 2-3) links to highlights from the series (think Newgrounds Rumble, where clicking on a character gives you links to both movies and games that relate to the series)

As it stands, this isn't comprehensive enough to benefit new visitors, and it isn't engaging enough to keep the attention of old ones. Then again, if you really just wanted to show off the artwork...I just wasted a helluva lotta time, huh?

Anyway, viva la Newgrounds!

I only review. If you think "those who can, do, those who can't, review," go screw yourselves.

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Philosopher?

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Joined on 9/10/06

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