Recent reviews by BornFlunky

An absolutely welcome return of a small delight from my earlier life, with quite a bit more than a fresh coat of paint. Fun, simply physics platforming, cute quirks, a delightful soundtrack, and community support. A steal for the price.

TL;DR -- If you enjoy fun movement systems and speed, you'll enjoy this. However, it's so short that I can't confidently recommend this at full price unless you live and breathe speedrunning.



Picked this up for a buck during a 90% off sale. I definitely enjoy what's on offer, but I'd struggle to recommend this at more than half-off, unless you feel you can get the -absolute most- bang for your buck out of speedrunning opportunities. Of those, there are definitely a lot in Defunct.

The game's movement is the core selling point -- wonderfully smooth, borderline cathartic when you string a bunch of perfect movements together just right to sail through a level. At this point, everyone's played one of those mobile games where you dive into valleys and launch off of hills; Defunct brings that concept to its total fruition in a 3D space.

Your ability to simply drive forward is pitifully slow, due to your tiny robot's broken engine. You rely on three other tools instead -- Gravitizing, which increases your gravity to allow you to fall faster and blitz down hills; Magnetize, which lets you stick to pipes, loops, and ramps; And Boost, with little collectables along every level that gives you a jolt of speed, eventually evolving into fuel that lets you speed up at your leisure. Stringing all of these tools together perfectly enables you to go at breakneck speeds through the world, and it feels wonderful.

Unfortunately, traveling at these speeds is a double-edged sword, as the game is -incredibly- short. I have an hour on record at the time of writing this review, and I've played through the entire campaign, and also replayed a few levels. For someone who doesn't really care about speed running such as myself, the only replay value to be found is in the form of hidden collectables and a handful of secret areas. And, of course, the pure enjoyment of blitzing around at high speeds around these hills.

When taking into account the small development team, this is definitely a competent, fun little game. But unless you're part of a narrow subset of gamers -- the speedrunning community -- I'm afraid I can't confidently say there's enough meat to chew on for this to be worth $10.

I still give this my recommendation, because I picked this up for cheap, and had a fulfilling, if short-lived, blast with the game.

(See, and I got through this whole thing without comparing it to Sonic.)

I recommend the game. It's a solid port. However, while I appreciate Rockstar's effort, Take-Two is absolutely NOT a trustworthy company for PC gamers.

So, in addition to stringing along the PC community for years since GTA V's announcement, the countless absurd delays, and now the Summer Sale price gouging?

Everyone's missing that all those bundles they're packaging with GTA V? They're non-refundable because they go straight to Rockstar's service.

It took them days to decide to abuse and circumvent Valve's refund service. Days.

You may have finally made a solid PC port, Rockstar, but unfortunately, your publisher is absolutely f*cking with things any person or company with a shred of morality would not be f*cking with.

Edit: Oh, and now Take-Two has decided mods are illegal! Because that's always gone over so well.

You don't have this game yet?

What, you -don't- want a platformer that freakin' nails it, with multiple characters with radically different playstyles that make the same stages feel entirely different and new?

Are you not keen on the idea of enjoying a story that is engaging, but not overdescriptive to the point of being dull?

Does the idea of enjoying a great score, venue-appropriate visuals, expertly-constructed levels, and sometimes-annoying-but-still-charming-and-likable characters not appeal to you?

Then you're right to not have this game, you absolutely shouldn't get it if you agreed with all those bullet points.

A fantastic, atmospheric game, through and through. A killer score, impressive visuals, open-yet-in-depth story elements, fantastic narration, and a combat system that makes every fight a tense and satisfying one.

This will probably be my Game of the Year, just as Bastion was. Expect the best from Supergiant Games -- they will deliver.

I absolutely cannot recommend this game enough.

From the simple-on-the-surface gameplay that is ultimately packed with variety, to the beautiful, oil painting-like landscape that materializes before you as you play.

From the stellar and emotional voice acting performance by Logan Cunningham and company, to the incredible fusion of fantasy and frontier that is Darren Korb's soundtrack.

From the incredible story that reveals itself to you as you play, to the equally fantastic presentation thereof.

There are just not enough words for this game. It is a true indie gem that I cannot convey my appretiation for to a satisfactory degree. All I can say is, I wholeheartedly recommend this, and hope that you will enjoy the outstanding journey Supergiant Games created.