MEMBER PROFILE FOR Actingman-XBA
Average Overall Score Given: 7.66667 / 10
Total Forum Posts: 2
Reviews
This Is the Police
I've played a lot of simulation games. I've run towers, cities, and lives. I've even simulated off world colonies and prisons. But I've never run a police force before. Well, not until I played This is the Police.This is the Police is a police management simulation game. Yes, you heard me right, you manage a police force. I believe it is the first of its kind. You take the role of Jack Boyd, an aging police chief who who has just been told that he is being forced to retire in 180 days. Who knew policeman would have to be forced to retire eh?
Jack's goal is to leave the force with a cool half a million dollars so he can live out his days in peace, or at least in some level of comfort befitting someone who has been in the public's eye for so long. This is where the story of the game really takes off. Between simulation moments you live Jack's life and see how the city of Freeburg is run. You make decisions that are supposed to affect the game, and in essence they will effect if Jack will get to his eventual goal.
The story of This is the Police is a lot like watching an old noir film. It takes a lot of tropes from old police movies and churns out a story rife with corruption, greed, and crime. Jack is a cop on the straight and narrow, working against the criminals in the town, but once the game begins you get to decide what he does.
The story is a really strong point of this game. The characters are interesting and the decision making is tough. One issue I had is I found the actual decisions didn't seem to have lasting consequences. For example, I chose not to join the mafia, and later found I had to anyway. Early in the game I was told to fire all the black cops on the force or a racial supremacist group would take action against us, so I did. That should have had consequences, but in the game nobody seemed to care.
The story is told through little comic-like panels with voice over. It splits up the gameplay nicely and really gives you a reason to keep going.
The majority of the gameplay takes place in your day-to-day management of the police force. From scheduling the two shifts of cops, to sending cops on calls, to even allowing your officers the day off or not. My favourite part of the simulation is when you get to investigate crimes. You assign some detectives to the case who gather witness reports and then give you photos of what may have happened. You then have to piece the photos together to get the whole story. This can sometimes take several in-game days to decipher.
As you play through the virtual days you choose to send cops on calls. If you send the correct amount of experienced cops you are successful on the call and gain points. If you do not send enough cops, or they are too inexperienced, you will be unsuccessful and the suspect will escape. On the other hand, if you send too many cops out at once you won't have any available cops to tend to any new calls that come up. It is really fun to balance necessity of sending cops with keeping some around for upcoming issues.
You also get to make decisions sometimes in different situations. Unfortunately, and again, the decisions don't seem to have lasting consequences and often times the right ones are incredibly obvious in terms of which ones to pick. I wish the game would make it harder or more morally ambiguous how to handle situations and make your choices have longer lasting effects.
In between each day of police simulation you return to Jack's story as he lives out his last 180 days on the force and tries to amass his $500k for retirement.
Overall the game can tend to get repetitive after a while, but when looking at the sum of all its parts it acutally is incredibly fun, something I didn't expect. The story points break up the simulation parts, and honestly the police sim is really well done and it is a lot of fun to run your own police department. This is the Police is a very enjoyable title, and one that that is worth playing for anyone who enjoys simulation games or noir police stories.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Subterrain
Subterrain is a top-down survival horror game set at a research colony on Mars. You play as Dr. West, and at the start of the game you break out of prison only to find that everyone is dead and the security is down. Thus begins an adventure where you must do everything you can to keep yourself alive.Subterrain is a deep and complex game with many systems to juggle all at once; unfortunately it does a poor job of explaining how it all works. During the tutorial you are informed on how to play. This is done via text boxes that pop up as you enter a new room. It makes for a lot of reading to just be able to properly begin playing the game. As you start your adventure, you'll learn that you have to juggle/manage systems that include hunger, fatigue, oxygen, infection level, and even when to use the washroom. Once you understand how to juggle all of these the game picks up, but at first it was too daunting to really delve into.
The control scheme of the game is such that I found, in my opinion, that it was not as refined as it could have been. I often found myself opening the menu screen instead of interacting with the environment, because they're the same button. I also found some of the button choices unintuitive at first, but after a while I got used to it. It is definitely not a deal breaker, but I felt that it could have used a bit more thought put into it.
The way the game progresses is that you move throughout the abandoned Martian colony using a tram system. But in order to go to different areas you must first return to the central hub and power the life support systems. For some this will be a fun task; you are essentially the owner of this colony and you have full control over it, but for others this may just feel like another task to busy your time with, on top of making sure Dr. West is fed, rested, and feeling well. This is definitely a niche game that is not for everybody. There is always something to take care of, upgrade, or acquire; and if you don't keep on top of yourself, and the Martian colony you're exploring, you will get overwhelmed.
Combat is simple enough for a top-down twin-stick type of game. I started out with a baton that I beat creeps over the head with, as I progressed I quickly found knives and guns to add to my arsenal. I didn't find combat to be a big part of the game though, rarely did I have to defend myself or my facility. Most of the game is adventure, survival, and collection.
Visually the game really gives off the feel of an abandoned sci-fi facility. It's creepy, it's dark, and it feels like an underground city. This is important for the mood and tone of the game, but the blacks, greys, and greens really get old on the eyes after a while. It has a real retro vibe to it, which is fun to see a developer play with. Overall the graphics and colours work for this game; it wouldn't make sense to have bright flashy colours even if just to break up the monotonous dark tones
Overall Subterrain is a deep and complex survival game. It gets a few things wrong, but for such a large undertaking I think overall it is a success; however, it is certainly not a game for everyone. There's a large learning curve at the start, and you'll find some things you don't use or use often enough and you'll have to re-learn them throughout the game as you will forget them.
For players who enjoy a complex game with lots to learn, and lots to have to take care of, this is a solid game. The upkeep on the entire colony mixed in with taking care of Dr. West makes for a unique, albeit complicated, experience. Personally I would want a less complex but slightly more enjoyable game, but there are many who will enjoy the incredibly complex experience.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Dear Esther: Landmark Edition
Dear Esther is a strange game. I'm really not sure I can call it a game, though maybe to not do so would be a disservice to the creators, as your participation in the game is what makes this more than just an audiobook. Dear Esther is more art than game. There is no gameplay besides walking around and listening to a voice over, no puzzles, and no enemies. You cannot interact with anything; in fact, every button besides the analog sticks just zooms you in so you can look at your surroundings. This game is best described as an experience; it's something you just follow along with and enjoy. If you are looking for something fun that has actual gameplay then this is not for you. If you want an experience within a video game; something that transcends classic gaming and has its own artistic merit, then Dear Esther is a perfect starting point.I am going to keep this as spoiler free as possible, as the entire game just needs to be experienced to fully immerse yourself. In Dear Ester you walk around an island while listening to the narrator tell a story. As you hit certain areas on the island he will talk and you just look at the environment and listen. It's about 1.5-2 hours long in total, so it can easily be completed in one sitting. As you walk across the island the tale cryptically unfolds as you listen to the narrator tell his story. The developers specifically made it very ambiguous while keeping the game's path in focus as it is entirely linear.
You cannot stray off in any way, though you can look around at the environments. Things like a lighthouse, ships, and caves litter this island for you to walk past. You may have to play the game multiple times to hear every voice clip and get the whole story, as they are triggered when you go to certain points, and there's an achievement for listening to them all.
The beauty of the game lies in the art. The textures, music, ambiance, and sound effects are all incredible. From the wind howling in your ear to the caves and cliff faces of the island, everything is gorgeous and really immerses you in the story the narrator is telling. It is creepy and beautiful all at the same time. The night sky is the best I've seen in a game, and the view from any high point on the island is amazing. The Chinese Room really made the island and the narrator come alive; which is necessary for a game where that's all you do is walk, watch, and listen.
One of my favorite aspects of Dear Esther is that as you climb mountains and stairs, your character slows and you can feel the weight of having to trudge uphill. It makes every step feel like it's important and that you are actually achieving something. The beauty of the game is in the tale it tells, and every aspect of the design really enforces that feeling. The details are all there and really do a service to the story.
The Landmark Edition of Dear Ester includes a directors commentary, which I do not recommend listening to the first time you play. Play the game once, or even more, to understand it, and if the director's thoughts interest you then turn on the commentary. They discuss their reasoning for creating such an ambiguous storyline, but they don't explain what it actually means.
When I first heard about Dear Esther they told me it was a “walking simulator”. I assumed that was just a fancy genre title and that you would walk around, collect items, or solve puzzles, but no, you walk, you look, and you listen. You immerse yourself in a beautiful story and once it's done you Google the ending to try to actually understand it. It is an enjoyable experience for the 1-4 hours you may get out of it (depending how many times you play it through), but as I said, it's an experience, not a game, and it has to be viewed as such. If you can appreciate video games as art and want to enjoy a unique and interesting way to tell a story then definitely give Dear Esther: Landmark Edition a shot.
Overall Score: 8.0 / 10
Pharaonic
I have a strange relationship with indie games. On one hand, one of my favourite all time games started as a small indie game made over a weekend in a guys basement. On the other hand, a lot of indie games come out and they just aren’t as polished as they could be. They lack a certain punch that AAA titles tend to have. That being said, indie games can provide a great experience once you accept that you’re not playing the next AAA title with an unlimited budget. They are usually made by a smaller team (even some by a single person) and a smaller budget. Pharaonic is the type of game that’s not entirely polished, as it has its issues here and there, but in the end can be a fun experience. Pharaonic is a side-scrolling game set in an Egyptian backdrop. The graphics and different environments really do a good job of setting the tone. You play as a prisoner who is awoken by a strange wizard and told to escape, and that’s about all you’re told. The story and dialogue unfolds as you read in-game speech bubbles. It definitely feels like the game could have been enhanced with voice acting. When you speak to NPCs it definitely feels oddly quiet, and it’s a noticeable issue that kind of lurks in your mind when it happens.
You quickly acquire your first weapon, a torch, and move through the prison trying to escape. The interesting thing about the levels in this game is that while you only move side to side, there are doorways that go in and out of the screen, though your viewpoint always changes with the shift. This allows the game's levels to be more than just scrolling left to right, and it gives the experience a small sense of exploration. As much as this helps, the game still feels very linear though.
Combat is punishing, and feels very much like a Dark Souls game (yes, I just made that comparison). The controls work well; the right shoulder button has two varying strengths of attacks. You can also block, dodge, and parry, which all are very important in your success in this game. Don’t expect to just mash buttons as you attack your enemies as you will need to block and time your attacks well or you will find yourself dying fast and dying often. This can be a frustrating experience if you haven’t saved in a while.
Make sure you save often by praying at shrines found in the games levels, as these are also where you heal yourself. If you happen to die you are returned to the last shrine you were at, so missing any and you will be sent quite far back and all the enemies you previously faced will respawn. You then have to fight all the enemies over again to return to where you died and recover your memories. Multiple times I lost over a half an hour of gameplay because I just missed a shrine. This is gameplay that seems to be borrowed from the Dark Souls games, and it doesn’t try to be anything different. It feels like a scaled down version that tries to fit the side-scrolling progression.
The upgrade system is very simple; you get gems as you progress and you can spend them to make you more powerful in different areas or purchase items like light shields or heavy weapons. You also find weapons and armor in chests and from enemy drops, which are very standard for this type of game. This could have been more interesting with abilities, or even if they added more ways to upgrade your weapons rather than just pure stats and damage.
Pharaonic doesn’t do much to turn video games on their head, but for the most part it does what it’s meant to do. It’s a vicious side-scrolling combat adventure that punishes even the tiniest of mistakes. Some people enjoy rage-inducing games, and that’s ok as that is exactly what this game does. Sure, the combat is enjoyable, exploring is fun, and the graphics are easy on the eyes, but the game is fun until the fifth or sixth time you die and have to restart and re-do everything you just did, and no amount of satisfaction will make that a worthwhile experience. At the end of the day if you’re not patient, and don’t take your time with the combat that is found in Pharaonic, you will not have a good time with it, and that is something you must consider before hitting the 'buy' button in the Xbox Store.
Overall Score: 7.0 / 10
Superhot
SUPER. HOT. SUPER. HOT. What is Superhot you ask? Well, it is an indie developed stylish FPS puzzle game where time only moves when you do, and at your speed as well. You can dodge bullets by moving slowly out of the way or you can catch falling objects easily by slowly moving towards them. This means that in order to succeed you have to take it slow and make your decisions carefully. It feels more like a puzzle game with some FPS elements than a true FPS, but that is what makes it so interesting, and so good too.The game begins with a text based DOS like menu. A message comes up and somebody tells you to play this cool new game “Superhot.exe.” As anyone who sees a message like this, you listen and start to play. As you progress through the game the storytelling continues this way, simple, but proper, when you consider the game's style and content. I don’t want to spoil a great story, so I’ll leave it there; but know that this game isn’t exactly as it seems. It will make you uneasy at times, which is something that I don’t think very many video games have mastered, and for Superhot to be able to do this is a testament to its developer and the job they've done.
The pace of the levels can begin very quickly, and then all of a sudden it can slow down. In one level you are instantly dropped in front of a moving car and have to jump over it, only to be attacked by an enemies right away. This stage alone resulted in my dying more times than I’ll admit, but the load times to reset levels that you must replay is almost instantaneous, which is much appreciated. After quick moments like this you can slow down and think each move through. You can figure out how to tackle each level and then just do it. There were times where I would have to change up my strategy after dying a few times only to realize I had missed an enemy shooting at me from behind. Simple, yes? But I can say that changing strategies is something you'll do often and doing so will only help you get through this game more efficiently.
The actual gameplay is very interesting. Enemies come at you from all angles as you move through each level, and you have to fight them off. Some of these enemies have guns, bats, or just their bare hands and you have the ability to use all these weapons too. For example, in one level I shot an enemy and when I ran out of ammo I threw my gun at another enemy, which made him drop his gun. I was able to catch his gun out of the air and shoot him all in one fell swoop. All while allowing time to move slowly so I could dodge bullets or other enemies on the level too. This is just one scenario in the game, and it’s very fun to solve scenarios on how to deal with all the enemies to get through alive (“Do I shoot this guy or that guy? Where is a gun? He has a gun, I’ll take his!” –> just one example of how this game can play out).
Something that is kind of tough in Superhot is figuring out how far you have to lead your shots to hit moving enemies. With the way time works in this game bullets can take a while to hit their target and if you don’t lead any given target enough you will miss your shot; a lot. Once you're on your 'A-game' though and you've mastered your timing, you'll learn that you beat each level when all the enemies have been dealt with.
At the end of each level a replay is played back in real time while the game shows and yells “SUPER. HOT” at you. It’s cool to see your sweet moves in real time, but I could have done without the large text in the middle and the loud voice. Luckily, with one button click you can get rid of that and enter a video editor to watch the replay.
Graphically, Superhot is very stylized, almost digital. The environments are pure white and the enemies are red polygonal humanoids. Bullets soar through the air with a red streak behind them and enemies crumble into tiny pixels/shards when defeated. The style is very cool and keeps with the story’s theme of playing a game within a game.
All in all, Superhot is a fun game. It executes its' unique and simple idea brilliantly, but yet it doesn’t do much more than that. Regardless, its core is very fun and that is what counts. The story is intriguing and the gameplay and controls are good. It’s a puzzle game first that has you shooting enemies in first-person. And while the game is short, it’s definitely fun. If you enjoy games like “Portal” then Superhot is for you.
Also everyone should play Superhot, (SUPER. HOT., the way the game says it in replays, is now forever stuck in my head) it’s the best game ever.
I mean what?
Overall Score: 8.5 / 10
Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure
I am sure we all remember those days in elementary school. The bell rings, you get changed, and run down to the gym for your P.E. block. You wonder what you'll get to play or do, and the teacher says "It's time for some Dodgeball". It was simple time, a time when when you could throw a red rubber ball at a friend, as hard as you could, hoping to hit them and knock them out of the game. Developer GameSwing remembers those days too, as their most recently released title harkens back to those days. Stikbold! A Dodgeball Adventure is a quirky little game. From its square graphics to its catchy little soundtrack, it definitely has a lot of heart, but a game can’t survive on heart alone.In Stikbold! the gameplay is quite simple: you play dodgeball. You grab a ball, run around a circular arena and throw the ball to hit people. The controls work very well, as you pick up the ball automatically when you run over it and you hold down the right trigger to throw. The left trigger dodges and the two sticks are for running and aiming. Learning the controls is simple, but mastering them is a technique. You can dodge into a ball thrown at you to catch it, you can curve the balls in the air using the right stick, you can run and throw in two different directions, and even hit people hard enough to make them drop the ball.
The different courts (levels) included in the game all have their own obstacles as well; there’s a beach with waves that will temporarily incapacitate you and a court with a van that circles the outside that will knock you out if you get hit by it. These are only two examples of all the other interesting stages to be found in the game. The different obstacles don’t really change your strategy too much, they’re just more things to look out for during the game.
Stikbold! has two modes: Story Mode and Quick Match. In story mode you follow the Stikbold! team, comprised of Bjorn and Jerome, who are about to play in the final match of the year. Before the match can start however the devil kidnaps the opposing team and you set off to try to save them. It’s weird, but it’s quite funny.
The story mode is essentially just a series of cutscenes that break up the individual games of dodgeball, but there are some very fun levels scattered throughout. In one level you have to beat some hippies while trying not to get run over by their van. In another you must defend an inflatable whale from a horde of lifeguards trying to destroy it. Each game of dodgeball has its own unique moments. Each level also has three challenges you can complete, which include things like “don’t take damage” or “knock a hippie so he gets hit by the bus”. The length of the story mode is probably under two hours if you ignore these challenges, maybe three if you try to get them all. The story mode can be played alone or co-op with another person.
In quick match you can jump in and play some dodgeball by yourself or with some friends. There’s the standard team vs. team gameplay or a free-for-all. The matches all have a good degree of customization to them. You can do two teams, three teams, and even a 6-man free-for-all. You can even edit the team sizes. My favourite was the 6-man free-for-all, as it was pure chaos. This mode is fun with a few people but not for long. The gameplay is fairly repetitive and it can get old, but it is certainly a decent party game for maybe an hour at a time.
One problem with this game is that most of the matches of dodgeball go up to three points (You earn a point when you take out the entire opposing team, usually two or three people), but this just feels like too much. Each round is already repetitive enough without making me play each level 3+ times to continue, whether in story mode or quick match. I would prefer a best 2 out of 3 system instead of a first to 3 wins.
The music and sound effects in the game are quite enjoyable. The “voice acting” is silly and entertaining at the same time. Victory music is catchy and the sound effects of a good ol' dodgeball hit are oh-so satisfying. Graphically the game is quite simple yet stylisitic. The simple character models have a good range of emotion and can be funny at times, which shows through the graphical choice. Each dodgeball arena is well designed and colourful and the graphics are never a hindrance to the gameplay.
In the end, Stikbold! is a fun game. The short story mode is goofy and entertaining, and the multiplayer is fun with a group. Unfortunately, the game feels like it would almost be at home as a mini game in Mario Party instead of its own game. It can get old rather quickly, and no matter how fun it is, the repetitiveness won’t keep you coming back to it that often. In the end the game is worth playing for an hour or two, and then it’s over, unless you have a party and you want some silly fun for a bit of time.
Overall Score: 7.5 / 10
