Recent reviews by DaNCeSWiTHBuLLeTS

If you have ever wanted to rob a bank but were too afraid of the consequences, then Overkill Studio’s heist simulator might just be the next best thing to let you enact your criminal fantasies. Payday 2 is one of two games under Overkill’s brand, the first being its prequel, Payday: The Heist. The core gameplay of the original Payday amounted to nothing more than fighting army after army of law enforcement. With Payday 2, Overkill promised to make a game bigger and better in every way. If Payday 2 is a safe that we play to open, what can we expect to find within? Disappointment? Promises fulfilled?

You can decide at:

http://danceswithpixels.wordpress.com/2013/09/03/review-payday-2/

If its title were not a clear enough indicator, Borderlands 2 is a follow-up to Gearbox’s 2009 hit Borderlands, a loot-based first-person shooter role-playing game that touted millions of weapons ripe for collection. My initial impressions of the first Borderlands were highly positive, and I praised it for its solid gameplay mechanics, cel shaded art style, and humorous (albeit otherwise lacking) narrative. But by the 85th hour, I became privy to its flaws and repetitive nature. Was Borderlands 2, a title so similar in nature, able to remedy its predecessor’s faults?

Find out more at:

http://danceswithpixels.wordpress.com/2013/08/05/review-borderlands-2/

If I could describe Thomas Was Alone in one word, it’d be “ingenious.” Everything from its visuals to its gameplay screams simplicity, but strung together, they form a masterpiece. But before I start gushing over this wondrous title, allow me to provide a little background. Thomas Was Alone (hereafter simply called “Thomas”) was single-handedly developed and published by Mike Bithell. On the surface, it appears to be nothing more than your typical platformer, tasking the player with moving some character(s) from one location to another. Witnessing such a simple concept blossom into a work of art is something that can only be experienced by actually playing the game. And while mere words are not enough to convey its artistic merit, I will still try my best.

Thomas doesn’t try to be something it is not. There are no cinematic cutscenes, no fancy special effects, and no intricate artwork. It offers only the bare necessities it needs to tell its story. Playable characters are nothing more than squares distinguished by varying sizes and colors, but the surprise here is just how much depth these blocks of pixels have. Each square is characterized by their own personal concerns, be it their fear of loneliness or their constant need for attention. You’ll find yourself growing emotionally attached to these two-dimensional blocks upon realizing how accurate they are as reflections of the internal turmoil regular people, like you and me, face daily. Fortunately, Thomas doesn’t drown its players with feelings of pessimism and hopelessness. Quite the opposite, Bithell uses his characters to show how much they rely on each other in order to thrive. At the end of the day, this here is a tale of triumph over adversity through courage and teamwork.

However, Thomas’ minimalism isn’t its crowning achievement, but its unforgettable narration and soundtrack. British humorist Danny Wallace lends his rich and soothing voice to the opening of each level, commenting on the protagonists’ mental state and their current predicament. It is a brilliant mechanism to drive the plot forward without interfering with the flow of gameplay. But the cherry on top that ties the whole emotional package together is the music composed with 8-bit sounds layered upon a melodic piano track. It is one of the few soundtracks to have ever tugged on my heartstrings and that, my friends, is a feat worth mentioning.

Ironically, it is Thomas’ strongest quality that also holds it back from being the “perfect” game. The levels, of which there are about a hundred, are not at all challenging and many players should be able to breeze through the entire game in three hours or so. The narrative also takes a dive in quality around the halfway mark, when an entirely new cast of squares is introduced. The poor characterization of these new protagonists may have been forgivable had we been given the opportunity to revisit the lovable blocks we fell in love with in the first half of the game, but alas, they are quietly swept under the rug. But above all, it was a single technical problem that tainted the experience for me. As players are given access to more and more characters, navigating between them became more and more unwieldy. Instead of mapping each of them to a number key, the player must select his desired character by first parsing through the preceding ones. This cumbersome approach can be time consuming, particularly when six or more blocks are at your command.

Without the financial support of a big company, independent developers have always been ones forced to innovate, finding shortcuts that are beneficial to them without detracting from the quality of their work. What Bithell has done here is nothing short of brilliant, taking numerous familiar elements and packaging them into what I can only describe as a work of art. In an era where we are surrounded by big budget games that rival the quality of most action-packed movies, it feels nice to just sit back once in a while and enjoy something reminiscent of simpler times.

Grade: 4/5

If you ask any Resident Evil fan their opinion on the latest installment of their beloved franchise, they will likely tell you how far it has fallen from its roots. Some would consider the first Resident Evil game a pioneer of the survival horror genre. With scarce resources and a daunting atmosphere, the game made every encounter felt tense and nerve wracking. Resident Evil 5, released in 2009 and a good 13 years after the first game, took this formula and turned it upside down. Maybe the creators felt that the series needed to evolve. Perhaps they wanted to cater to a wider audience. Regardless of intent, this significant change was poorly received. But contrary to what the most hardcore “fans” have to say, Resident Evil 5 is far from a bad game.

The thing that struck me immediately as most impressive about Resident Evil 5 was its game engine, one internally developed by Capcom themselves. It is extremely optimized and capable of rendering impressive visuals at playable frame rates even on low-end systems. Unfortunately, Capcom never capitalizes on its engine’s abilities. Instead, players are treated with boring brown scenery after brown scenery. It would have been a pleasant surprise to see the engine render something other than foliage and sand so that the audience may witness its potential in full.

If you came into Resident Evil 5 expecting a thought-provoking plot driven by ethical dilemmas and life-changing lessons, you really should first reevaluate what you think narrative focused games are before looking elsewhere. Resident Evil 5 doesn’t aim to be a social commentary (and if it is, it probably does so unintentionally). It doesn’t aim to make its players question their morality. It just tells a simple story of two agents trying to stop the outbreak of a virus and honestly, that’s all it really needs, since the main driving force behind this game is its solid gameplay.

Resident Evil 5 can be played solo or with a friend. Prior to release, this was a very controversial inclusion as the community argued that co-op would diminish any sense of horror. While this argument is valid even today, having a partner to play with actually enhances the game’s enjoyment by allowing two players to share the experience of being overwhelmed by zombies. Even if you do prefer to play alone, the game forcefully pairs you with an unresponsive A.I. partner, so ultimately co-op is still the lesser of two evils.

The aforementioned major addition aside, Resident Evil 5 feels and plays very much like its predecessor bar the horror aspect. The controls are extremely responsive and every bullet fired or punch thrown has an “umph” to it. If you’ve never played the previous installments, you might be disappointed to find that the characters cannot shoot and move simultaneously. While unrealistic (and occasionally frustrating), this limitation does make a rather laid back game slightly more intense during fights against overwhelming odds. Staying true to its heritage, Resident Evil 5 also retains an inventory system that encourages players to be strategic with their supplies. With only nine available slots, players must give careful thought to how diverse of an arsenal, how much ammo, and how many herbs (essentially potions) he or she should carry.

Resident Evil 5 gets a lot of things right and had it not carried the burden of following its predecessors, I suspect it would have been wholeheartedly accepted by the gaming community. As long as you keep your expectations at bay, I can guarantee you that there is much fun to be had, especially when playing with a friend.

Grade: 4/5

Although I have not written a review in a while, I can still vividly recall my month-long indie game spree, beginning with Devolver Digital’s Hotline Miami and culminating in Superflat Games’ Lone Survivor, which I will be reviewing today. Lone Survivor bills itself as a post-apocalyptic survival horror game in which the player controls an unnamed protagonist who spends his days exploring the dark hallways of his apartment complex in search of companionship amidst a “zombie” apocalypse. What distinguishes Lone Survivor from other survival horror games is twofold: everything is rendered in 2D, an aesthetic choice not typically associated with the horror genre, and it was all made by one man, Jasper Byrne. So is immersion still possible in such unconventional circumstances? Read on to find out!

The moment you launch Lone Survivor, you can easily see the amount of care Byrne has put into his game. Each pixel is carefully placed and every nuance, from the character animations to the background scenery, is extremely detailed. While some may argue that the pixelated composition of the game’s monsters and objects makes visual cues all the more confusing, I personally found the art style helpful in simultaneously maintaining an aura of mystery and urging the player’s own imagination to take hold. Equally as impressive is the game’s soundtrack which features not only your eerie but generic horror music, but also soothing guitar riffs which supplement the more lighthearted segments of the game.

In addition to its survival horror roots, Lone Survivor also prides itself in being a psychological thriller—and with good reason. The plot is all sorts of crazy, and to even mention any particular event in detail would be a potential spoiler. Unfortunately, this also makes the ending a bit easier to guess as all the nonsensical happenings can only suggest so much. Maybe there is a twist waiting at the end of the journey. Maybe there isn’t. Maybe the twist is that there is no twist! Lone Survivor’s narrative, or at least its method of storytelling, isn’t its strongest quality. However, that is not to say that its world lacks depth. Byrne did a fantastic job with the writing. None of the dialogue I came by struck me as cringe-inducing. Quite the opposite: every word uttered by the protagonist effectively fleshes out his character and conveys his feelings of hopelessness.

But what really matters, beneath the aesthetics and story, is the gameplay and it is with this that I have my biggest gripe. I wouldn’t go as far as claiming that the mechanics behind Lone Survivor are bad, but I found them rather frustrating. There are some stealth elements present such as hiding behind curtains to avoid monsters, but there is no sense of danger once concealed and it all boils down to waiting for the creature to pass by. At some point in the game, the protagonist will acquire a firearm but the aiming mechanism hinders its usefulness. Shots can only be fired at 45 degree angles, making it difficult hit foes at their weak points until they are too close for comfort. What I did grow fond of were the survival aspect of the game, which encourages resource management and exploration, and its side quests, which help further flesh out the post-apocalyptic world our protagonist finds himself in.

Lone Survivor is a decent indie title that can be had for a dollar or two plus change during any video game sale. For the three plus hours of entertainment to be had, this is far from a bad deal. If the idea of a psychological thriller told with unconventional visuals appeals to you, there is no reason you shouldn’t make the purchase. But I suppose if you stand adamantly against pixelated graphics, the survival horror genre, or supporting stellar developers, then there really is no convincing you, is there?

Grade: 3/5

I personally believe that behind the development of every game, a war wages on between gameplay and storytelling. Improving one requires sacrifices at the other’s expense and very rarely does a title succeed in both. Ken Gao, the visionary behind To the Moon, seemed quite aware of this as he worked on his first commercial debut. A heavy emphasis on plot and near complete neglect of gameplay has placed To the Moon at the center of an ongoing controversy: at what point does a visual novel become a game? With that said, it is important to manage your expectations before purchasing To the Moon because it may not be what you perceive a game should be.

To the Moon is the Inception video game that never came to be. Its story focuses on two doctors, Dr. Eva Rosalene and Dr. Neil Watts, with very peculiar jobs: they construct artificial memories for those on their deathbed. In this first chapter of a planned series, the doctors find themselves hired by Johnny, an elderly man at the brink of death who wishes nothing more than to go to the moon. However, he cannot seem to recall why or what spurs his desires. To fulfill his dying wish, Rosalene and Watts must tap into Johnny’s memory and visit key points of his life, attempting to unravel the origins of his desire so that their reconstruction feels authentic to Johnny’s subconscious.

Unlike other games with strong narratives (Bioshock and Deus Ex, for those curious), To the Moon is not a social commentary. Its narrative focuses on something more personal: the death and mourning of a loved one. It is a tragic tale, and the player starts with already knowing how it end while still forced to witness the heart-wrenching moments that lead up to it. By the end of your 3-4 hour journey, I can almost guarantee that you will be at least emotionally moved, if not brought to tears.

At this point, Gao has already proven that he can successfully create an emotional bond with his audience through strong storytelling, but he still manages to one-up himself by self-composing one of the most memorable soundtracks I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. Each piece, driven by strong, melodic piano chords and backed with harmonious violins, finds a place in To the Moon, making moments big and small memorable, even when no dialogue is being exchanged.

Almost everything about To the Moon suggests it should be or have been adapted into a screenplay—and that is the crux of its problems. The game focuses so much on storytelling that it neglects to include any form of engaging gameplay elements. Sadly, this is reason enough for many to turn their backs on this unique gem of a game. Progress is made by interacting with several objects onscreen, reducing To the Moon to nothing more than a point-and-click adventure.

If you can endure a slow first hour and are looking for a game with a compelling narrative, I suggest you immediately purchase To the Moon. If to you, story should be second to gameplay, then it might be better to hold off. After all, To the Moon is not really a game; it is an experience.

Grade: 3/5

I Am Alive was once a survival horror game with big dreams and high hopes. When first conceived, it was purposed to be set in an explorable, expansive, post-apocalyptic world with deep gameplay mechanics focused on human interaction in times of crises. But two years after its ambitious beginnings, the original developers, Darkworks, handed the project off to Ubisoft Shanghai. In its new home, I Am Alive was rebuilt as an arcade title with many of its intended features either removed or condensed. So how does it fare in its current state?

I had not heard much about I Am Alive prior to release, but if its original narrative was anything like the final product, then the idea probably was not very good to begin with. The game takes place a year after America is struck by a massive earthquake known as “The Event.” You play as an unnamed survivor, separated from and in search of his family—at least, that is how the story begins. The plot makes a sudden shift early in the game and becomes centered on the protagonist helping reunite someone else’s family for the remainder of the campaign. By the time we reach the end credits, our protagonist’s personal mission has made almost no progress. Some may find this hugely unsatisfying, though I suppose in some ways, it is poetic and fitting to such a morbid game.

While I Am Alive’s narrative is devoid of creativity, its gameplay mechanics fortunately are not. Being aware of your surrounding is pivotal to survival. “The Event” has left much of America uninhabitable, filling the atmosphere with ash and dust, and to escape the hazardous environment, you must scale structures high enough to reach fresh air. This process eventually loses its novelty after the first few times, but it deters players from rushing and encourages exploration. But the most innovate idea I Am Alive offers is the idea to threaten and bluff. I say “idea” because its implementation is just deeply, deeply flawed. During confrontations, you may raise your pistol, loaded or not, to halt enemies in their tracks. At this point, the ability to negotiate would have been a hugely welcomed feature, but alas, the system never gets deeper. The moment you look away, your enemies will attack, rendering threats extremely useless since you are forced to kill regardless.

I Am Alive’s single redeeming element is its atmosphere, which captures all the greatest facets of survival horror. The thick dust at ground level obscures vision beyond a few feet from your character. The element of surprise comes from not knowing who or what you will run into until it is too late. Ammo is extremely scarce, and your character is fragile, so knowing when to flee or fight becomes essential. Dying NPCs taking refuge throughout the city convey a genuine sense of desperation and futility. This is survival horror done right.

Atmosphere and missed ideas aside, nothing else about I Am Alive is very memorable. The graphics are bland, the soundtrack forgettable, and the animations clunky at best. There are side quests, but those are far and few in between. Remnants of Darkworks’ original ideas are still apparent in the final product, but all of them marred by poor execution. I sincerely hope that Darkworks’ vision will resurface one day, refined and in all its entirety. Until then, you should find your survival horror fix elsewhere.

Grade: 2/5

The zombie craze has gone full swing in recent years, permeating into just about every form of media, most prominently in video games. In just the past year, we saw the releases of The Walking Dead, Resident Evil 6, ZombiU, Lollipop Chainsaw, etc. 2013 looks no different, with the recent release of The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct and the impending releases of Dead Island: Riptide, The Last of Us, and many, many more. The market is becoming saturated by games with similar themes which, by now, feel repetitive and uninspired. In this particular instance, if a developer is intent on making a game with zombies, the least one could ask for is for it to be unique. And if you are reading this recommendation, then you are probably wondering, “Does Deadlight have what it takes to stand out?”

Deadlight is an indie title developed by Tequila Works and published by Microsoft Studios. Amidst the sea of other zombie games, this one delivers the experience as a 2.5D platformer. In terms of gameplay, it is no different from a side-scroller—only here, the background adds another layer of visual depth. While the player is limited to moving in a two-dimensional plane, ambient objects will still appear three-dimensional. This illusion helps bring the atmosphere to life with backdrops that depict shuffling zombies and crumbling buildings.

Outside the action sequences are cutscenes rendered in sketches very reminiscent of comic books. Each character looks distinct, and even with the poor voice acting, these drawings do a fantastic job of conveying emotions. All this artistic investment immensely contributes to the dark and gloomy mood of the post-apocalyptic setting.

Unfortunately, the great visuals are the only positive thing I have to say about Deadlight. Both its plot and its mechanics feel generic. The premise revolves around some protagonist, Randall Wayne, looking for his family in the aftermath of the outbreak. He, along with several companions, journey through the city and cross paths with beings they realize are more dangerous than the undead: other humans. The venture ultimately cumulates to a conclusion that is both nonsensical and laughable. Fortunately, there is an alternate ending that adds a neat little twist and puts a darker spin on the events of the game. However, unlocking this requires the player to beat Deadlight in one sitting and without deaths. How much stress this is worth is entirely up to you.

The crux of the problem, though, lies in its gameplay. There is nothing inherently wrong with it, but it lacks anything memorable. Deadlight encourages (and occasionally forces) the player to avoid confrontation despite presenting him with an arsenal of weapons. Doing so severely limits the freedom and variation in gameplay. With movement already confined to a two-dimensional plane, it might have been nice to at least give players both the options to act violently or to flee, not just the latter.

Another irritating issue I came across was jumping. Randall seems to lack the ability to jump in any direction other than straight up. Consequently, the player must be position Randall almost perfectly below a ledge if he is to grab onto it while jumping. This can be extremely rage-inducing when a horde of zombies is right on your heels.

I can see that Tequila Works tried to be different and on an artistic level, they were. Sadly, graphics are only a minor factor in the overall quality of a game. Deadlight is not a terrible game, but you shouldn’t settle for average. There are other indie games that are more deserving of your time and money. But if you really insist on having zombies and platforming, then maybe, just maybe, Deadlight is for you.

Grade: 2/5

Hotline Miami is notable for a number of things: its 80s-esque soundtrack and aesthetic, its violence, and its roots as an indie title made with the widely available development software GameMaker. This is not a game backed by an enormous budget, nor was it forged from the labor of numerous developers. It is, however, the lovechild of a very small but passionate studio, Dennaton Games. And as with many other indie games, it is important to harbor reasonable expectations before diving in.

Hotline Miami’s gameplay is very reminiscent of Grand Theft Auto’s earlier top-down days, wherein the action was viewed from a bird’s eye perspective. The mechanics are simple, but extremely effective. The player-controlled character (who remains nameless through the duration of the game) possesses a very limited collection of actions, boiling down to only moving and attacking. Every button vital to gameplay is easily accessible, from discharging a weapon with a single right click to restarting an entire level with a tap of the “R” key. The ease with which everything can be controlled makes for a very fluid and fast-paced experience. Not even death can halt the player for more than a split second.

Graphically, Hotline Miami is not at all impressive, even when compared to other indie titles released years ago. However, the 8-bit aesthetics still work in the game’s favor by reinforcing its homage to the 1980s. Do be wary that since Hotline Miami is so grounded in a specific time period, its atmosphere may not be to everyone’s taste. The bright neon colors may be off-putting to some (myself included), and the soundtrack is unlike anything you would hear in a modern game (but whether or not that is a good thing is up to you). Soundtrack aside, Hotline Miami does make great use of its audio. The repeated thuds of beating down your enemies with a baseball bat is eerily soothing and hypnotic, and watching their pixelated blood splatter is even more so.

But for all the praise I can give to Hotline Miami, I still cannot wrap my mind around its plot. Its story follows an unnamed individual who is more or less a hitman taking orders from an answering machine. It is never fully explored why he does what he does so willingly, and unless you take the time to find all the hidden messages (or watch a video), you won’t know the masterminds behind it all—and even when you do, it might still make very little sense. What I do admire is the dialogue. Unlike many other indie titles, the text here isn’t remotely cringe inducing. The many ways the assassination contracts are relayed via answering machine are quite clever, even humorous at times.

Despite the visceral and violent nature of Hotline Miami, it does bear some “artistic” merit. Hotline Miami does a fantastic job of desensitizing the player and putting him in the shoes of a psychopath. The easily or deeply invested might find themselves discomforted after every level when the “protagonist” retraces his steps to the entrance, bearing witness to all the carnage he has wrought. The player will be doing so much slaughtering that, by the end of the game, it will be as natural as breathing.

My five hours spent on Hotline Miami certainly did not feel wasted, though I personally felt the incentives to replay the campaign (like unlocking achievements or equipment that give unique stat boosts) were not worth the grind. Nevertheless, Hotline Miami definitely stands out for its distinctive atmosphere and exhilarating gameplay. It is an exemplary title that shows the potential of a limited development software. Despite its lack of variety in gameplay, Hotline Miami excels in all aspects of its core mechanics.

Grade: 4/5

The first Darksiders, developed by the now defunct Vigil Games, was a decent but unremarkable game. Time and time again, I have heard it heralded as an edgy reincarnation of Zelda with a pinch of God of War: a combination of exploration, puzzle-solving, and hack-and-slash combat. Nonetheless, it left a positive impression on me and I strongly believed that Darksiders II would be a must-have. Was I wrong?

Those who have not played the “prequel” should consider doing so, although it is not necessary. I say this because the timelines in both games actually run parallel to each other. In Darksiders, the player controls one of the Four Horsemen, War, who is framed for prematurely unleashing the apocalypse unto Earth. Darksiders II is told in the perspective of War’s brother, Death, as he journeys through heaven and hell to exonerate his kin by reviving mankind.

Barring the story’s poor execution (more on that later), there is a lot of good to be found in this game. Each and every element fits together seamlessly, from its music and art direction to its impressive—I dare say, even perfect—gameplay. Despite the grim predicament our hero finds himself in, Vigil manages to keep things lighthearted with witty dialogue, a droll supporting cast, and a majestic soundtrack that compliments your every action.

The core gameplay consists of two components. You have your run-of-the-mill hack-and-slash battles, and then you have puzzles. As with many games that incorporate the former, Darksiders II fails to encourage players to diversify their combos. If you are anything like me, you will just spam the same overpowered combo for the majority of the game out of sheer convenience. However, that is not to say that combat isn’t rewarding. Darksiders II is not just visually stunning in its landscapes, but also in the fluidity of Death’s motions. The animated executions are a sight to behold, and when taking down a boss many times larger than you, it genuinely feels gratifying.

On the other side of the coin lies the puzzles. Reflecting on my time with Darksiders II, I can confidently say that without them, the game would not even be half as good. They not only force the player to think, but also serve to reinforce pacing. These puzzles are neither too simple nor too challenging; they are exactly difficult enough to engage the player while providing him with a moment to relax and enjoy the scenery after each and every visceral confrontation.

A slew of other improvements from the original Darksiders is worth mentioning. First is the new leveling system. Unlike War, Death can now earn experience by killing enemies and finishing quests. Leveling up unlocks skills from one of two distinct combat trees: powered attacks or minion summoning. Also unlike War, Death’s wardrobe has been vastly expanded. Players can mix and match different pieces of armor to create a look most appealing for Death. Lastly, Darksiders II offers a handful of side quests ranging from multistage tournaments to more boss fights, all of which, at least in my opinion, are worth investigating, if not completing.

But at the end of the day, what holds Darksiders II from being the “perfect” game? Its poorly executed narrative. For the entire game, Death has only one task: to reach the Well of Souls to revive mankind. To accomplish this, Death ends up running errands for 20+ hours for strangers who either will not let him pass or must be bribed for information. This not only demeans our protagonist, but it also becomes noticeably repetitive. There is minor character development, but the internal conflicts Death faces are nothing we have not already seen in dozens of other games.

So, did I feel like my $30 purchase was justified? Absolutely. With its amazing mechanics and tight, intuitive controls, Darksiders II, at the very least, deserves a free pass for its lackluster story. While Vigil Games is no longer with us, they can at least be proud of their final product. In the face of Death, they went out not with a whimper, but with a bang.

Grade: 5/5