Party of Sin Review

Game Reviews, Games

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Every once in a while, a game comes along that relies heavily on religious iconography for its story telling.  Usually, these games also come bundled with some degree of controversy (whether intentional or not), and they run the risk of scaring off gamers who see the use of their beloved beliefs as nothing more than mythological fantasy exploited for entertainment purposes.  Party of Sin doesn’t appear to have an anti-religious agenda behind it.  More likely, it seeks to marry old school platformers with the modern gaming conventions we have come to expect from action puzzlers.

There is both some good and bad to report about Party of Sin.  The controls are stiff and combat is simplistic and boring.  Fortunately there is a whole lot of interesting puzzle gameplay that redeems Party of Sin from the Hell it would otherwise deserve.

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Deadlight lurches onto Steam

Games

We reviewed Deadlight on the Xbox Live Arcade platform in July.  But now a new audience can partake in Tequila Works’ zombie apocalypse survival simulator.

PC gamers get an updated version of the game with a new NIGHTMARE difficulty, as well as some “making of” videos.

And just a short list of tips from those of us who have “survived” Deadlight:

  • Don’t feel like you need to kill every zombie; running is your best defense.

I told you it was short.

Trailer:

Developer Interview – SpikySnail(The Splatters)

Games

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When Xbox Live Arcade game The Splatters launched in April of 2012, my first look at the game was a launch trailer, the trailer persuaded me to download the demo, and the demo convinced me to buy the game.  I played it with my 11 year old son and we loved trying to beat our best scores and we marveled at the top scores on each of the levels.  The Splatters features some really cool “jelly physics” and some brilliant use of slow motion effects.  It also features a replay theater similar to the Trials games and allows you to see how the insane scores at the top of the leaderboard were achieved.

The Splatters also has a cute and humorous charm to it.  It’s got a wide variety of levels and several modes of play.  It also reviewed well.  Many of the larger video game review sites scored it 80/100 or above, and the Metacritic user reviews put it at a respectable 8.7 out of 10.  So then why is The Splatters developer and indie game studio SpikySnail more than a little concerned about their financial state?  Despite The Splatters being a generally well received game, it didn’t sell well enough to make all of their money problems go away.  So they labor on.  Doing that which they love most, making fun games.

Being a small team is a big job (just ask anyone at fizmarble).  SpikySnail co-founder Sagi Koren shed some light on how an indie developer gets it done.

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Zombie Driver HD Review

Game Reviews, Games

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Zombie Driver HD giveaway details:  Follow @Fizmarble on twitter and Retweet our post on this review to be entered to win one of 4 Xbox avatar award codes (skull shirt) or a full version of Zombie Driver HD for XBLA.

There may be some time in the future (whether near or far, no one knows for sure) where it will be boring to face wave after wave of various types of zombies, smashing them into pieces with your car and watching their mangled torsos roll off of the hood of your car.  Now is not that time.

While many gamers people may be bothered by use of zombies in…everything, driving your car into innocents isn’t as accepted as it may have been when video games were less mainstream.  Most folks are ok with killing zombies, so we won’t likely see the end of the zombie killing simulator soon.  And that’s ok, because it means we get fun, if flawed, diversions like EXOR Studios’ Zombie Driver HD.

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Ravaged Review

Game Reviews, Games

2 Dawn Games has a fine lineage.  They bring experience from Battlefield and Frontlines.  They know how to make things go “bang” and “boom”.  Ravaged is the culmination of that experience and then some.  If it isn’t already on your radar, get it there now!

Gameplay

Ravaged pits you and your rough-necked marauders against a band of equally rough-necked marauders.  Teams square off for some good old fashioned killing and stealing. The game mode available to me at the time of review was Capture The Resource.  In this mode, players must travel from their spawn point, moving across the map and capturing bases and eventually, resources that are held in the enemy camp.  Capturing bases grants your team the ability to spawn there, while capturing resources nets your team points.  Kills don’t count towards your team’s score, but it’s still important to take out those rascals trying to steal your team’s resources.

While on foot, game can be played in either first person or third person perspectives and is swappable at the press of a button.  I preferred the first person view, so that’s how I played.

There are five playable classes, and each class has a Primary weapon, a secondary weapon, some type of grenade, and a melee weapon.  The classes and their primary weapons are Bandit (SMG), Warrior (Assault Rifle), Bodyguard (RPG), Assassin (Sniper Rifle), Grunt (Heavy Machine Gun).

You start on foot, but like in Battlefield, you don’t need to stay that way.  Players spawn with several mobility options including quads, jeeps, pickup trucks, and helicopters, most of which allow you to buddy up with a teammate or two while one drives and the others do the shooting.  While you are not completely harmless against opponents who are in vehicles, you are mostly defenseless, so if you find yourself in the middle of the wasteland without a ride, you have a fair chance of ending up as someone’s hood ornament.

Both player movement speed and vehicle speed seemed right on and balanced.  Turning in the vehicles with the WASD is a little unnatural, but functional.  The vehicle physics have a nice balance of arcade and realistic behavior.  Crashing into another vehicle at high speeds doesn’t result in both vehicles crushed into unrecognizable masses.  Instead, you get a some thrilling spins and flips as both drivers struggle to be the first to regain control.

Graphics

While “post apocalyptic wasteland” doesn’t usually beg for beautiful vistas, if you’ve got the video card, Ravaged has the pretty.  I loved the details in the vehicles, and the look of the rocky terrain (I know it’s just rocks, but I am a sucker for geology).

Explosions are satisfying  Shooting and running animations are natural and realistic, and the look of choppers and land vehicles in motion was glassy smooth.

The level design is also impressive.  Hills and long inclines are present where many other games settle for flat maps.  This adds to the visual aspect of Ravaged, as well as the playability of the maps.  Enemy targets are harder to hit when cresting and falling over the dunes, but it just looks more interesting because of the rolling hills and natural structures that populate the game worlds.

The man-made structures vary from simple, small, single floor buildings to large ramshackle fortresses.  All of this fits the mood and setting of Ravaged nicely.

Sound

There isn’t much to say about the audio work here.  Gun and vehicle sounds are well sampled and executed, and there is some cool echoing and occlusion with the sounds seemingly acting like their real life counterparts would.

There is no epic score here, it’s kind of a “bring your own jams” occasion, but we don’t think you’ll mind the scarcity of tunes, what with all of the ‘shooting and dying’ going on.

This Means War

The nature of a multiplayer-only game means that it’s only as strong as it’s community.  Ravaged has the potential to take off and build a strong community.  The folks I played with were helpful and generally good sports.  A good start indeed.

Since this is a multiplayer-only game, there is no vast campaign to play through and there is no leveling up, meaning everyone is on the same footing from the start.  The only thing that will get your team the win is the skill and teamwork you bring.  This is a pro/con feature.  On the plus side, you won’t get worked by some level 50 that has unlocked the super sniper or some insanely overpowered killing machine.  Unfortunately, this means there is no carrot-on-a-stick dangling in front of those who may come from Call of Duty backgrounds and love their perks and unlocks.

But regardless of what camp you honed your shooting skills at, Ravaged brings a surprisingly fresh take (given the wasteland setting) on the multiplayer shooter genre and is worth a look.

Four out of Five

Preorder/Buy Ravaged here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/96308/

Hell Yeah! Review – Hell, Maybe

Game Reviews, Games

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Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit.  Simply based on the title alone, it sounds like we are going to have a good time.  We’ve got an enthusiastic name, some anger, and a dead leporid.  Throw them all together and it seems like you’ve got party central.  Unfortunately, the sum of the parts doesn’t quite add up.  While there are some fantastic elements to Hell Yeah! (HY!), a few persistent issues subtract from what could have been a brilliant package.

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