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[Jinfash]

So GAF, decide: Shank, Gratuitous Space Battles or NightSky?

I've tried Gratuitous Space Battle a few pages back. It's not bad per se, but it's a slow paced space simulator, the other two seem to be more accessible and instantly rewarding.

 

[Toma]

Game: Trapped Dead
Playtime: 15 Minutes

Very interesting play style, but had frame rate issues on an i3 laptop. It's a very mouse based real time RPG. Heavy on inventory management and party members. There's a heavy comic book narrative with some awesome art, also stresses multiplayer, which I did not try.

Think you'll go back to it?

 

[vocab]

It is similar to the hacking minigame in Deus Ex: Human Revolution except not as fun or colorful.

lol

 

[Toma]

Alright: Updated so far.

These posts will be updated for a while, as long as this thread is still somewhat active, and they are divided atm into 4 parts, sorted aphabetical:

A-C
D-H
I-R
S-Z

All impressions sorted by user name

This post is about all games from A-C

A Game of Thrones (RTS)

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Gez

Alice: Madness Returns

Liked it: SpacePirateRidley
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Alien Breed: Impact

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Joe Molotov

Alien Breed 2: Assault

Liked it: Cisce
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: OmegaDragon

Alpha Prime

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: kamspy
Disliked it:

Ancients of Ooga

Liked it: chixdiggit
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda

Liked it: rybrad
Indifferent about it: Toma
Disliked it:

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood

Liked it: ChoklitReign
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Audiosurf

Liked it: Jaxter09
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Avadon: The Black Fortress

Liked it: Dice
Indifferent about it: Durante
Disliked it:

Aztaca

Liked it: TyrantGuardian
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Atom Zombie Smasher

Liked it: Jinfash
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Vampire Baseball

Aquaria

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Cyrano
Disliked it:

BC Kings

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Eel O'Brian
Disliked it:

Beat Hazard

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: kafiend
Disliked it:

Beep

Liked it: SuperLurker, Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Binding of Isaac

Liked it: sikkinixx
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Cyrano

Birth of America

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Unison
Disliked it:

Bit.Trip.Runner

Liked it: Esnel Pla
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Kong Fisso

Blocks That Matter

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Milchmann
Disliked it:

Blueberry Garden

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Snuggler

Blur

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Kritz

Botanicula

Liked it: Tenck, MrNyarlathotep
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Braid

Liked it: Dambrosi
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Breath of Death VII

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it: Grakl
Disliked it:

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Fredescu

Capsized

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: MrNyarlathotep
Disliked it:

Cogs

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Jaxter09
Disliked it:

Company of Heroes

Liked it: Dambrosi
Indifferent about it: Nert
Disliked it:

Containment - The Zombie Puzzler

Liked it: quickwhips
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Crayon Physics Deluxe

Liked it: Snuggler
Indifferent about it: Jaxter09
Disliked it:

Critical Mass

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: megalowho
Disliked it:

Cthulu Saves the World

Liked it: Graffgor, Gileadxv, red731
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

 

[Toma]

These posts will be updated for a while, as long as this thread is still somewhat active, and they are divided atm into 4 parts, sorted aphabetical:

A-C
D-H
I-R
S-Z

All impressions sorted by user name

This post is about all games from D-H

Dangerous Waters

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: SteveWinwood

Dark Messiah of Might & Magic

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Toma
Disliked it:

Darwinia

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: sixghost
Disliked it:

Depths of Peril

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Kong Fisso
Disliked it:

Dinner Date

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Wessiej

Dino D-Day

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Typographenia

Doc Clock - The Toasted Sandwich of Time

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Riverfield
Disliked it: Toma

Dogfighter

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: MrNyarlathotep, Toma
Disliked it:

Duke Nukem Forever

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Toma

Dungeons

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Dungeons of Dredmor

Liked it: Jinfash, ASilva
Indifferent about it: lettermassing
Disliked it:

Edge

Liked it: Shig
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Eets

Liked it: Incendiary, Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Eversion

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Snuggler
Disliked it:

Evochron Mercenary

Liked it: Gattsu25
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Faerie Solitaire

Liked it: ThaiGrocer
Indifferent about it: JoeTheBlow, Toma
Disliked it:

Farming Simulator 2011

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: SteveWinwood

Fowl Space

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Lijik
Disliked it:

Freedom Force

Liked it: Jinfash
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Fuel

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: deduce
Disliked it:

Future Wars

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Shorty11857, Toma

Galcon Fusion

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Toma
Disliked it:

Gemini Rue

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Dambrosi

Geneforge 1

Liked it: Of All Trades
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Ghostbusters: The Videogame

Liked it: Dambrosi
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Glowfish

Liked it: Gattsu25
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City - The Lost and Damned

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Indie Jones

Gratuitous Space Battles

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it: Jinfash
Disliked it: Dambrosi

Greed: Black Border

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Greed Corp

Liked it: DrKirby, Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Gridrunner Revolution

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Toma
Disliked it:

GundeadliGne

Liked it: Thoraxes
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Guardians of Graxia

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Dambrosi

Hack, Slash, Loot

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: TheRagnCajun
Disliked it:

Hammerfight

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Grakl
Disliked it:

Hard Reset

Liked it: Stronghammer22, Gustav
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Hoard

Liked it: Drkirby
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Horrid Henry

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Joe Molotov

Hydrophobia

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Dambrosi
Disliked it:

 

[Toma]

These posts will be updated for a while, as long as this thread is still somewhat active, and they are divided atm into 4 parts, sorted aphabetical:

A-C
D-H
I-R
S-Z

All impressions sorted by user name

This post is about all games from I-R

i-Fluid

Liked it: Lijik
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

In Momentum

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Hellix
Disliked it: Dambrosi

King’s Bounty: Armoured Princess

Liked it: OmegaDragon
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Legend of Fae

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Ken
Disliked it:

Lightfish

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Toma
Disliked it:

Limbo

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: slaughterking

Lucid

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Shorty11857
Disliked it: DrKirby

Lugaru HD

Liked it: Grakl
Indifferent about it: Snuggler
Disliked it: rybrad

Lume

Liked it: sixghost, Lijik
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Mafia

Liked it: The Mana Legend
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Magic - The Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012

Liked it: Tragicomedy
Indifferent about it: Dambrosi
Disliked it:

Max Payne

Liked it: Gav47
Indifferent about it: Vlad
Disliked it:

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes

Liked it: Dambrosi, Ichor
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Mirror's Edge

Liked it: Shadow Hog
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Night Sky

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: EternalGamer, balladofwindfishes
Disliked it:

Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Nimbus

Liked it: Ardvent, Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Osmos

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: alazz
Disliked it:

Plants vs Zombies

Liked it: Ifrit
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Post Apocalyptic Mayhem

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: rybrad

Puzzle Agent

Liked it: OmegaDragon
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Puzzle Dimension

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Toma
Disliked it:

Quake Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Semblance
Disliked it:

Quantz

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Q.U.B.E.

Liked it: Tambini, Dambrosi
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Railworks 3: Train Simulator 2012

Liked it: megalowho
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Really Big Sky

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: n8BitMan
Disliked it:

Realm of the Mad God

Liked it: Dambrosi
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Red Dead Redemption

Liked it: ChoklitReign
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Red Faction: Armageddon

Liked it: arts&crafts
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Renegade Ops

Liked it: Grakl
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Ricochet

Liked it: kai3345
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Runespell: Overture

Liked it: Gileadxv
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

 

[Toma]

These posts will be updated for a while, as long as this thread is still somewhat active, and they are divided atm into 4 parts, sorted aphabetical:

A-C
D-H
I-R
S-Z

All impressions sorted by user name

This post is about all games from S-Z

Saira

Liked it: megalowho
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Dambrosi

Sanctum

Liked it: Jinfash
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Samorost 2

Liked it:SUBZERO-08, Toma
Indifferent about it: EternalGamer
Disliked it:

Scoregasm

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Gav47
Disliked it:

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Lionel Mandrake
Disliked it:

Serious Sam 2

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Dambrosi

Shank

Liked it: PunjabiPlaya, Scy
Indifferent about it: CecilRousso, Ravensmash
Disliked it:

Shadowgrounds

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: PBalfredo, Toma
Disliked it:

Skydrift

Liked it: chixdiggit
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Sniper Elite

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Gileadxv

Sol: Exodus

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Kritz

SpaceChem

Liked it: injurai, Jinfash, RustyD
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Space Giraffe

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Manax

Star Trek Online

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Meatpuppet

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Liked it: Grakl
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Still Life

Liked it: speedpop
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Superbrothers - Sword and Sorcery EP

Liked it: Forkball
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

The Blackwell Legacy

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

The Dig

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

The Great Art Race

Liked it: Fredescu
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

The Last Remnant

Liked it: Dambrosi
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Darkky

The Polynomial

Liked it: Typographenia
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

The Scourge Project

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: chixdiggit
Disliked it:

The Settlers 7

Liked it: Tymerend
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

Liked it: haikira
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Tidalis

Liked it: EternalGamer
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Time Gentlemen, Please!

Liked it:
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: chixdiggit

Titan Attacks

Liked it: Joe Molotov
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Tobe's Vertical Adventure

Liked it: Lijik, XDDX
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Kong Fisso

Tomb Raider: Anniversary

Liked it: Shadybiz
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Trapped Dead

Liked it: Ardvent
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Trauma

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: PBalfredo, Typographenia
Disliked it:

Trine 2

Liked it: Dice
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Tropico 3

Liked it: Gustav
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Uplink

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: arts&crafts
Disliked it:

Wasteland Angel

Liked it: MrNyarlathotep
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Toma

Waves

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Shai-Tan
Disliked it:

Windosill

Liked it: thebeeks
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Wings of Prey

Liked it: SpacePirateRidley
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

World of Goo

Liked it:
Indifferent about it: Jinfash
Disliked it:

Xotic

Liked it: Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it: Semblance

Zen Bound 2

Liked it: Family Fry
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Zeno Clash

Liked it: Kong Fisso, MrNyarlathotep
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Ziro

Liked it: Fredescu
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

Zombie Shooter

Liked it: Tambini, Toma
Indifferent about it:
Disliked it:

 

[scy]

Finally got around to playing something so:

Game: Shank
Playtime: 40 Minutes (according to the stage select, this was five stages).

All I really have to say is this: Why didn't I do this sooner? Side-scrolling beat 'em up with a heavy focus on a build-your-own combo system all wrapped up in a colorful package. I played it with a 360 Controller and it was really easy to pick up and get right into some satisfying combat. If I had to levy any criticism at it so far, there doesn't seem to be much immediate feedback on what my sweet combos are doing (e.g., like a better score or working towards unlocking something).

Forgot to take screenshots of anything since I was too busy chainsawing dudes. And I will now go back to chainsawing dudes.

 

[Toma]

Alright, A.R.E.S.

How long did I play: 20 minutes

Seems to be some sort of Contra game with some slight Metroidvania ideas mixed in. I thought that I would be annoyed by it pretty early on, since it feels rather cheap, and I dont really like the art style. I guess I was a bit positively surprised to see that there are some systems in the game that interested me somewhat. The upgrading system seemed alright, and if there are other main weapons in the game, the "gunplay" could be interesting as well. Enemy patterns/design are rather bland, but there is some satisfaction to be had while fighting off enemies, and especially the boss fight I had was even somewhat enjoyable, although easy. But that might change later.

One thing I immensely disliked is the fixture of the camera, I always feel like it should be zoomed out 30% more since some dangers here are cheaply constructed simply because you can't see the ground you are jumping on.

Also, I stopped playing because the game introduced me to some sort of EMP bomb and told me to use it to open a door. Couldnt get that door open, might have done something wrong there, but either its bugged or badly explained what I am supposed to do as I did as I was told (Equipping the EMP weapon).

Control layout was also a bit weird, for changing your suits you need to press Ctrl+T, while T has no other use at all. Not too comfortably designed for PC gamers. The camera, controls, and onscreen displays make it fairly obvious that this is a game originating on X360.

Would I play again?: I'd have some fun with it on a portable I guess, won't be playing much of this on PC, though.

 

[Fredescu]

Game: The Great Art Race
Time Played: 38 mins


From the makers of Sacred 2 apparently.

Your uncle has two years to live and his artwork has been stolen. You have to race against other people to retrieve his collection somehow. The winner receives the uncles entire inheritance.

I was half expecting a hidden object game, but it's a sim of some sort. You travel from city to city, building up enough money and taking enough art courses so you can buy the right paintings at auction. If you don't take the art courses, you're likely to buy a forgery. It does tell you whether the other auction attendees have taken a course, so I guess you can game it without attending the courses.

There are other ways of earning money. You can bet at horse races. You can buy forward contracts for various commodities like coffee, tabacco, silk, and so on. To fulfill these you have to buy plantations in various countries. To pay the workers, you need to visit the location, so when your uncle takes you on a 30 day mountain trip, you're likely to come back to a revolt.

There is no in game help or tutorial so I was figuring this out as I went. I restarted the game once when I realised I'd spent all my money on courses and couldn't afford to do anything else without a bank loan.

I'm now two for two on games that pop up with random educational messages. The game is set between 1918 and 1920, so there are random news items popping up as they occur. Obviously a lot of WWI stuff to start with. There are options to turn these off or increase their frequency.

I think I will play this again, because it looks like there's an interesting game in there somewhere once you figure it out.

I'm not going to rate it as I barely scratched the surface.

 

[Cyrano]

You're awesome Toma.

 

[Toma]

Game: The Great Art Race
Time Played: 38 mins

I think I will play this again, because it looks like there's an interesting game in there somewhere once you figure it out.

I'm not going to rate it as I barely scratched the surface.

My interest has been piqued, I havent bought it yet, but I'd love to read a bit more of a conclusion whether you think the game will be fun in the long run later. I love all kinds of sims, so that would be good to know Havent heard much about it yet either, but looks interesting.

You're awesome Toma.

Was bored today, why not do something for GAF

 

[Shig]

You can bump me into the 'Liked' column for Edge. I may have been a bit critical but I'm definitely going back, it's a good game.

 

[Toma]

You can bump me into the 'Liked' column for Edge. I may have been a bit critical but I'm definitely going back, it's a good game.

Alright, thanks for cross checking that.

 

[Snuggles]

Lugaru HD

I must have got this from an older Humble Indie Bundle, don't think I bought it unless it was on a drunken whim. It's from 2005 so resolution support sucks, and it can't run windowed so I had to play it with a fucked aspect ratio, which is the worst thing ever. Anyways, the game is pretty shoddy. The environments look like something straight out of an Nintendo 64 game and there's really not much too it. You just run around barren fields and kick the shit out of anthropomorphic rabbits. That might sound awesome, but the limited move set and the awkward moon physics drag down the somewhat interesting combat and it gets old fast. Feels like a tech demo more than anything, I'd regret spending money on it.

Time played: 27 minutes
Will I play it again?: Maybe, but only for the WTF factor (plus it's only 35mb, no point in uninstalling)

 

[PBalfredo]

Trauma

I have no idea how this game ended up in my game list in Steam. Did it come with another game. Maybe it was part of a humble bundle.

Mystery aside, Trauma is a point-and-click adventure game. It takes place in the dreams of a woman recovering from a car accident. There are four chapters, each with an explicit goal such as "Save my childhood teddy bear" or "Catch a ghost". The whole thing is very surreal.

Scattered in each chapter are polariod pictures. Some contain random tidbits of the woman's past, but others teach the player symbols that can be drawn with the mouse to solve puzzles. The main puzzle in each chapter resolves around finding the right symbol and applying it to the right thing. They're all pretty easy; I wouldn't describe this adventure game as a brain teaser in any sense. There are a few extras to uncover by applying symbols from other chapters to something in the current chapter.

The game is narrated by the hospitalized woman as you play. I think she's suppose to sound lost and melancholy, but instead just sounds monotone. There's lots of different abstract imagery that pops up in her dream, but none of it ever really comes together in any "ah HA!" moment, even when completing the main storyline and getting to the credits. I'm sure something would be unveiled if I complete all the secondary objectives or something.

Time played: 30 minutes

Will play again: Nah, I feel I got the most out of it already

 

[rybrad]

Lugaru HD
I must have got this from an older Humble Indie Bundle, don't think I bought it unless it was on a drunken whim. It's from 2005 so resolution support sucks, and it can't run windowed so I had to play it with a fucked aspect ratio, which is the worst thing ever. Anyways, the game is pretty shoddy. The environments look like something straight out of an Nintendo 64 game and there's really not much too it. You just run around barren fields and kick the shit out of anthropomorphic rabbits. That might sound awesome, but the limited move set and the awkward moon physics drag down the somewhat interesting combat and it gets old fast.

Time played: 27 minutes
Will I play it again?: Maybe, but only for the WTF factor (plus it's only 35mb, no point in uninstalling)

God I just played this too and I want my 14 minutes back.

Lugaru HD
Playtime: 14 minutes

Lugaru HD (lol) was incredibly bland with an impressive mixture of awful graphics, terrible combat and no content.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

IIRC, the guys who made Lugaru are the guys who invented the humble indie bundle.

It is effectively a demo too, they've been working on a sequel / remake called overgrowth for years.

 

[Ardvent]

Think you'll go back to it?

I'm planning on giving it another shot when i'm back at my main gaming desktop. The RPG elements seemed fun, and the first challenge was all based on stealth. The game also combines some RTS elements with how it handles attacking multiple enemies. It's neat, I can't wait to give it a proper shot.

 

[namDa65]

God I just played this too and I want my 14 minutes back.

Lugaru HD
Playtime: 14 minutes

Lugaru HD (lol) was incredibly bland with an impressive mixture of awful graphics, terrible combat and no content.

This game is amazing. The combat is pretty old school and complex. You definitely will not learn it in 14 minutes.

Grappling and dodging gracefully around enemies never gets old for me.

 

[Toma]

Beep

How long: 30 minutes, would like to play more

Its hard to put into words why I like this game. Its a platformer with well done and simplistic graphics, jumping controls are a bit floaty, but work alright and most of all I like the small dude. Simple expression changes and some beeping that make it rather cute. Usually, I'd say its "just" a physics platformer, which there are thousands of, but they had some cute puzzle elements including pushing blocks that sort of made me want to go through the levels. I'll put it down as a game I "like" so far, however I hope they change up the puzzle design and keep adding new elements or I can see this getting a bit boring after a while.

Would I play more? I'd say after the first impressions that the game is still rather simple, but its definitely charming and although it is not the best platformer ever, I'll think I'll go back to it for more small puzzles.

This game is amazing. The combat is pretty old school and complex. You definitely will not learn it in 14 minutes.

Grappling and dodging gracefully around enemies never gets old for me.

Perfect example of a game you'll either love or hate.

 

[Dice]

Game: Trine 2
Playtime: 90mins? Beat first boss

Thoughts: Pretty kickass. Some of the best visuals ever. Like, I honestly can't think of a way to improve them. Story is purposefully generic yet charming, which is kind of funny, but different from trying to be funny and failing. The character voices are good and the animation is fantastic. The puzzles are fun, both the "this is a puzzle" parts and simply reaching all the orb things. Switching between characters to use different powers reminds me of Banjo-Kazooie. Combat was a bit annoying only because I was using a trackball mouse so moving the cursor to switch aim to enemies that pop up behind you isn't as fast.

Will I play again? Hell yeah.

 

[Fredescu]

My interest has been piqued, I havent bought it yet, but I'd love to read a bit more of a conclusion whether you think the game will be fun in the long run later.

It might be a while before I get to it, but I'll post in this thread once I've put a few hours into it.

Trauma

I have no idea how this game ended up in my game list in Steam. Did it come with another game. Maybe it was part of a humble bundle.

Mystery aside, Trauma is a point-and-click adventure game. It takes place in the dreams of a woman recovering from a car accident. There are four chapters, each with an explicit goal such as "Save my childhood teddy bear" or "Catch a ghost". The whole thing is very surreal.

Sounds interesting, I might grab it if it gets cheap. Added to wishlist!

 

[SteveWinwood]

I need to review all my games before everyone else does them!

 

[Toma]

It might be a while before I get to it, but I'll post in this thread once I've put a few hours into it.

Sure, sure. No hurry. I might grab it on the next sale, and I think I'll keep visiting this thread here for a while.

Sounds interesting, I might grab it if it gets cheap. Added to wishlist!

My interest has been piqued too. I already had it on my radar, but somehow forgot about it. Oh well, next sale.

I need to review all my games before everyone else does them!

Why? Multiple impressions are nice.

On a different note: Finally off to bed, dont you guys dare to post 5 pages while I am in bed now that I finally caught up with creating the summary posts.

 

[Koroviev]

Game: Trine 2
Playtime: 90mins? Beat first boss

Thoughts: Pretty kickass. Some of the best visuals ever. Like, I honestly can't think of a way to improve them. Story is purposefully generic yet charming, which is kind of funny, but different from trying to be funny and failing. The character voices are good and the animation is fantastic. The puzzles are fun, both the "this is a puzzle" parts and simply reaching all the orb things. Switching between characters to use different powers reminds me of Banjo-Kazooie. Combat was a bit annoying only because I was using a trackball mouse so moving the cursor to switch aim to enemies that pop up behind you isn't as fast.

Will I play again? Hell yeah.

This might be on of the first games I try. Is it true that it makes the typical GPU cry?

 

[Dice]

I'm on a 5850 and I played buttery smooth on max settings except for the AA which was the next-to-highest settings.

 

[chixdiggit]

Time Gentlemen, Please!
Playtime: 30 minutes
I pretty much couldn't wait to turn this off the moment I started it. It gave me all kinds of problems until I disabled my second monitor only to be treated with poor UI, lousy graphics and slow ass game play. It just all seemed to take way longer than it should have. Everything I clicked on started a long drawn out dialogue between the two characters that was neither interesting or funny. This would make me rapidly click through it only to accidentally start another string of dialogue from over clicking to skip the text...Urgh!

Will I go back?
No. uninstalling along with Ben there Dan that.

 

[SteveWinwood]

This topic just keeps making me sadder.

 

[Toma]

Just because Steve has it on his list:

Spoiler

and to make him even more sad

Lightfish

Time: 15 minutes

I actually thought its some sort of flOw variant with you steering the fish, getting bigger. To my surprise its actually a Tron inspired game, where you use the fish to divide the playing field into smaller pieces that any enemy on the field cant access anymore. Bit by bit, you try closing off more sections of the playing field while not being hit by the enemies when doing so. In this variant they included obstacles, items and different types/behaviour of enemies. It sure looks nice and I dont think its a bad game per se, but I never managed to enjoy these kind of games, so I wont be playing that any further.

Time Gentlemen, Please!
Playtime: 30 minutes
I pretty much couldn't wait to turn this off the moment I started it. It gave me all kinds of problems until I disabled my second monitor only to be treated with poor UI, lousy graphics and slow ass game play. It just all seemed to take way longer than it should have. Everything I clicked on started a long drawn out dialogue between the two characters that was neither interesting or funny. This would make me rapidly click through it only to accidentally start another string of dialogue from over clicking to skip the text...Urgh!

Will I go back?
No. uninstalling along with Ben there Dan that.

Didnt think that game was THAT bad, but I certainly tried pushing myself to the end instead of enjoying it all the way through. It had some nice moments, but I can think of many Adventure games I enjoyed more. I am curious trying out Ben there, Dan That at some point, though.

 

[PBalfredo]

Shadowgrounds

Top down shooter with aliens, space marines, pulse rifles, radar bleeps and pretty much anything you can think of lifting out of Aliens. Simple run and gun gameplay, with a weapon upgrade system and limited flashlight to use in dark spaces. Graphics are very dated, though the style is clean enough and they use lighting well. Wooden voice acting but a good soundtrack. It's competent but unoriginal. Nothing we haven't seen done better in several other games.

Time played: 45 minutes

Will I go back? Nope

 

[Jinfash]

Thank you for your hard work, Toma.

OP has been updated.

This topic just keeps making me sadder.

It's ok man. You can always offset the negativity, with your own impressions, to your heart's content.

 

[AzureSkies]

Alien Breed 2: Assault

I picked up this game back for free in the Summer Sale and thought I'd give my opinion on it:

A surprisingly entertaining remake of an old game created by Team 17, I was impressed with the amount of detail that was in the game that I assume wasn't in the original. However, the game felt like despite it being a top down shooter that it would be far more comfortable on a gamepad: The control scheme was all over the place. I tried out the Survivor mode and expected something similar to Smash TV and was impressed quite a lot.

Overall, it's an enjoyable game but I feel like it could have been improved in some areas, turning the angles using Q and E is simply just horrible.

Time played: 15 minutes

Will I go back?  Maybe

3/5 - I'm bound to play it again at a later point, but it loses points for a completely confusing control system and a strange turning system that really wasn't needed.

Seriously, thanks Toma!

 

[SteveWinwood]

I'm being a real asshole in this thread and I don't even mean to lol. Sorry, just read most of my posts in a highly sarcastic tone. I don't mean what I say!

 

[chixdiggit]

Didnt think that game was THAT bad, but I certainly tried pushing myself to the end instead of enjoying it all the way through. It had some nice moments, but I can think of many Adventure games I enjoyed more. I am curious trying out Ben there, Dan That at some point, though.

To be fair, I am really picky when it comes to adventure games. Certain ones I love but most just do not do it for me.

 

[rybrad]

This game is amazing. The combat is pretty old school and complex. You definitely will not learn it in 14 minutes.

Grappling and dodging gracefully around enemies never gets old for me.

In fairness to the game, the tutorial was a pretty good chunk of that time but it just didn't click for me. While it is petty, the graphics were really jarring and a substantial distraction.

 

[Semblance]

Xotic
30 minutes played

I'm skeptical of games that beat the 'arcade' drum hard, and here's a good example as to why. I suppose the set up itself is fine: navigating through linear alien levels, shooting glowing spores to keep your multiplier up, collecting glowing jellybeans, killing silly creatures. It's all very anemic though, there's no excitement, no rush, the weapons have zero impact. Hell, some of them are barely even audible. Also mouse movement wasn't really to my liking, something felt off. I dug the ambient music and while I'm not crazy about the art, it's at least very colorful, it helps make the levels pop while also making targets easy to spot. That's about all I liked, though. How do you make a game with a giant fly rifle and still underwhelm?

Will I play more? I'm good.

Rating? 2 / 5

 

[Gileadxv]

Game: Runespell: Overture
Time Played 5 Hours (what?!)

I knew next to nothing about this game when booting it up. It ends up feeling like a cross between Puzzle Quest and Poker/Yahtzee. Like Puzzle Quest, the game has a story which attempts to provide motivation for the many battles you will encounter. Along the way you'll make allies and collect cards you can use in battles. Surprisingly, the game uses standard playing cards, and has you attempting to create punishing attacks on your enemy by creating a stack of five cards which you can steal from your opponent, or take from your own row. The power of your attack is based on the quality of the hand you created, so a Full House will hit harder than 2 pairs.

You will also start collecting various rune cards which have special attacks, buffs, or defenses that are activated using your rage bar, which is filled by dealing and receiving attacks. To keep things from becoming stationary, your special cards have limited charges, and when they run out you have to purchase additional charges from a trader to continue using them (this can turn out to be rather pricey on better spells). The story itself is unique in that it takes place in an alternate version of Europe, circa the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the overall writing and tone of the story is inconsistent, and hampered by what appears to be an uneven localization. Still, the gameplay itself is strategic and enjoyable enough in its own right to compensate for the forgettable narrative.

I intended to play the game for only a half an hour, only to get sucked into, "one more battle" syndrome. Like Puzzle Quest, it's a mixture of planning and luck, and feels like it would be a perfect fit for IOS. The game was great for shutting most of my brain off and enjoying a quiet evening of gaming (except for the few frustrating times I suspectied the game to be cheating! However, this could be chalked up to my increasingly sleepy state as the hours passed).

Score:: 4/5 I'm pretty sure I got this in a bundle, and it was very pleasant surprise.
Will I play again? Most likely.

 

[Kritz]

SOL: Exodus
Time: 21 minutes

Back of the Box: SOL: Subtitle is a space shooter set in the far reaches of 2D Skybox Land, where voice acting and budgets are but a distant memory.

Infodump:

SOL: Subtitle exists in that post-Halo time where every game needed a talking robot lady, a Capitan who goes down with the ship, and some super religious alien dudes. But the worry is that, the game just doesn't do anything. Nothing's going on.

There's neither the micromanagement from a simulation game, nor the finesse of a good arcade shooter. It lacks a sense of scale, of speed, or ramifications. It gives you some exposition during the first mission that kiiind of sounds like a certain season of Battlestar Galactica, though I'm pretending I gave it the time of day to intrigue me.

The Next Game, Probably:

This Fucking Thing

 

[Dice]

Oooo, I have Runespell...

 

[Goody]

Bit.Trip Runner
Time: 19 Minutes

Now I can see what everyone's been so gaga over. I had only played Bit.Trip Beat before this on the Wii, and while I didn't stick with it I did dig it quite a bit. Runner I dig quite a lot. I played most of the first "world" and after initially being a little off with my timing and constantly running into things I really got into the groove after a few minutes. Once there, I was really able to just sit back and enjoy the sights and sounds, repetitive though they may be.

It's fitting that this thread calls for 15-30 minute play sessions, because that's about perfect for me for Bit.Trip Runner. This will be a great way to cleanse the palette after marathoning playing an RPG.

Will I play again? Well, this will be my night cap after playing some Xenoblade Chronicles tonight.

 

[Fredescu]

There's neither the micromanagement from a simulation game, nor the finesse of a good arcade shooter

So what do you actually do?

 

[Koroviev]

I'm on a 5850 and I played buttery smooth on max settings except for the AA which was the next-to-highest settings.

Have a GTS 250, but was more concerned about heat. Have read that the game really stresses the GPU in that regard.

 

[Ledsen]

Have a GTS 250, but was more concerned about heat. Have read that the game really stresses the GPU in that regard.

Where's your avatar from?

 

[Koroviev]

Where's your avatar from?

It's Fumi from Devil Survivor 2

 

[Chuck]

ahhhhhh

no one saw that

>.>

<.<

 

[Rapstah]

Woah, thread of the year with those summary posts.

 

[Tenck]

Thread I can get behind. I was actually telling my friend I need to play more games that I own.

 

[Jinfash]

Game: Sanctum
Time played: 40 minutes?

It's a tower defense game with a 1st person twist. The levels are broken into two parts:

The first part, your usual tower defense planning phase, should be familiar to a lot of people. The game adds a few spins by having a fluid wave path that shifts according to where you place your towers. You can make it a quick, direct line if you choose to build them alongside the default wave path, OR alter it by blocking the default line with a tower at every chance you get, thus making a perplex, long path.

My only gripe is that you perform all of this is in 1st person as well. I feel like it could have been streamlined by allowing you to plan and build everything from an aerial view, but the devs probably went with this route for consistency's sake. I have to say though that I got a lot better, and overall quicker as time went by, especially after realizing I can build/upgrade by aiming at the tiles from afar. Also, being able to hit tab to get an overview of the map and teleport to from one elevator tower (which have higher altitude to begin with) to the other, helped a lot.

The second part, which kicks in after you initiate a wave, is where the first person action takes place. You're locked out of building/upgrading, and only tasked of defending you core by using a selection of weapons. Every weapon has a primary and secondary fires, and controls like you'd expect an FPS to do. You can still access the aerial view by hitting tab and teleporting back and forth, to quickly react to waves. It's like you're mobile tower, which is not a bad concept. You also get to aim at enemies' weak-spots when your towers fail you (you can view them at the pause menu). All your weapons are upgradeable as well during the planning phase.

The game has a clean, futuristic aesthetic and looks nice. It was simple to control as well with a m/kb, but I was disappointed by the barebone gamepad implementation. It pre-assigned and you can't re-map them, or even see view the key-bindings. It's all trial and error, afaik. Plus there are actions that can't be done with a controller if I'm not mistaken.

So yeah, it's a decent game with an honest effort to "reinvent" the formula. I'm not sure if it hit all the right marks, but I enjoyed it. The only problem is that I have more interesting and gripping tower defense games in my collection for that quick fix (Orcs Must Die <3).

Rating: 3/5
Will I go back to playing it: Possibly right away, I think it was decent enough for me to give it another try. I have a bad feeling that I'll stumble into more annoyances though, and I fear it might get repetitive real quick, thus prompting me to shelve it for good, but we'll see.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

Mmmm, played some more from Alice (all the second chapter), and even if I still love it I came to a part (last part of the second chapter) that was infurating because of bugs and shitty "the dark kills you, stay in a moving light" platforming, and if you die you have to start a shitty battle against an enemy that breaks you z targeting, so fuck him also.
Worst part of a great game, lets see how chapter 3 goes. BTW The story is starting to get really macabre.

BTW, thanks Toma, for the awesome compilation. There are already some games there that have catch my attention.