Recent reviews by Franz

Well, this without any doubt is one of the worst games in my steam library. I got it as a part of a dirt-cheap bundle, so I don't really complain about wasted money, but this game is just ridiculous.
When I saw the screenshots my first thoughts were "Well, it looks like a nice little flying arcade", then I noticed the "rail shooter" part, but even this piece of news didn't discourage me... But then I tried to play it.
Terrible graphics are one thing, I am tolerant to all that stuff, but when the resolution is fixed at 800x600, so you can't play without your eyes starting to bleed is just beyond good and evil. The design of levels is "Hey, Ma, look, I'm using 3DsMAX!"-tier, however boss models and designs are not half bad, I have to admit. Basically it's the only good thing in entire game: it has no plot, no good gameplay as it's hard to dodge all of enemy projectiles, however bosses are too easy, so even the simplest balance is absent too. All the levels can be beaten in a couple of hours and the only thing that can drive you to play more is beating high scores. But why would anyone want to beat one's score in this piece of ♥♥♥♥? It's just what people call 'lazy' in any way possible. I see no point of this being ported from WII.
Seriously, don't buy it. Don't. Even if you are an idiot who collects games and never plays them: don't buy it. Even if you are going to get it for free. Never.

It's rather a pixelated silent movie than a game. Is it a bad thing? Well, not this time. To the Moon provides a descent story with a few interesting twists that nicely combines both funny and tear-jerking moments. However, as it was mentioned above, the gameplay is as primitive as tribes in central Africa: you go around tiny locations and just click on everything you see... and that's all. No pixel-hunting, no puzzles (I can't call those mosaic stuff for toddlers puzzles), no inventory, nothing.
But in spite of all these things it was fairly exciting for me to pla... wha... rea... to beat this game. Also, in my opinion it is a bit overpriced. Two-three dollars would be alright for this one, not seven.
However, at least it lasts almost twice as long as Stanley Parable that is sold for fourteen bucks for five hours of gameplay.
Long story short: game is quite good, price is too high, yarrr.

This tiny game has literally become a classic over all these years. A dozen of guns, hordes of enemies, simplistic, yet dynamic and fast-paced gameplay and lots of gore. What else is needed for a good game about killing aliens? Well, maybe a little more than ten fairly modest levels that can be beaten in just two hours. But considering when and by whom Alien Shooter was made these problems are understandable. This game also has a number of sequels that somewhat help with it's short length, but I would prefer all them compiled in one 'big' game (a re-release, maybe?) than in five different short ones.

Another "artsy" game that looks quite primitive from a gameplay perspective but feels really good when you actually play it. It's main flaw is somewhat weird in-game logic that can leave you somewhat disappointed or even stuck in the beginning, but after you get it everything becomes clear.
Of course, Serena's story is fairly simple and even has some plot holes (like the ending), but they don't make you mad, like in some cases, but rather provide even more intrigue and mystery. This game reminded me Scratches in some way with it's grim atmosphere and permanent feel of light panic, as if you are waiting for some kind of a jumpscare to appear, however it never happens. But you can't actually call this game neither a quest, nor a horror. It is just a sad story of love between a writer and his wife, that has driven him mad. Although, some mysticism is present here too. Overall, this is how such story-driven short exploration games should be made. And it's simplistic love story is so much better than the piece of crap from another similar "game" called Gone Home, that is also hugely overpriced, compared to completely free Serena.
This game can be beaten in less than an hour. Give it a try and you won't regret.

Alpha Prime is not a bad game, it's just boring. When I started playing it, I expected something Doom-3-esque, with elements of thriller and an atmosphere of a dead mining station, and first couple of levels looked exactly the same, but 30 minutes into the game it became dull. I really appreciate the fact that you can die fairly easily if you are not careful and an encounter with two enemies is already a problem, but it's done the way you wouldn't want it to be: enemies absorb bullets like sponges and can survive even after half of a machine-gun clip is shot in their head. The other problem is a permanent lack of ammo towards the end of the game. "Hardcore" you may say, "Bad game design" i may reply. This game also has some interesting features, like hacking system, and it's a shame that it hasn't been developed enough anв there's almost no use in it, except the parts where you must hack something to proceed further into the game. The last, but not the least problematic thing is the plot: it is silly, illogical, predictable and even naive, not to tell that voice acting is fairly below average (seriously, I couldn't keep a straight face while listening to that Italian guy).
I found myself enjoying playing some of it's parts and rather liked than disliked the game overall, but I'm almost sure that you won't. Every gamer has his own standards and mine are low enough to play this boring piece of crap and even don't mind some of it's major problems, but seriously, go play Doom 3 or Escape from Butcher's Bay, or FEAR instead, they are worth your time much more than this.

A nice little game . Unlike some other "art" games, this one handles it's job pretty good. Short, brief, yet very atmospheric and actually looks like a game despite all of it's artness: this is how experimental games should be made. Without any quasi-philosophical texts, unrelated quotes that are supposed to sound clever, and all other pretentious crap that such games often have. Just a tiny fly, flying through numerous obstacles towards the light. Point. You can or can not make some allegories about the meaning of life and it's pointlessness, or some other stuff, it depends only on you. After all, you can find some kind of philosophical context almost everywhere if you really want to.
Of course, this game and the impact that it had on me are not the strongest ones I've ever experienced, but I recommend everybody to give it five minutes of your life, it's worth it. Instead of spending 10 minutes on pretentious slag like Coil, Passage or Graveyard, I'd rather play The Plan twice.
Oh, and the music is like the most beautiful one of what I've heard in games for a long time. One of the main reasons to play this.

This is one of the most pretentious games I have ever played. Pretentious in the worst way it's possible. Coil is one of those type of quasi-intellectual pseudo-art indie games, that has primitive gameplay, literally no plot, and some text intertitles between levels that mean nothing and are not connected to what is happening on the screen in any possible way and lasts for hardly 10 minutes. Though the graphics is sure simplistic, thanks god it isn't some pixel art, and the style is quite solid if to compare it to some other "art"-games. But the only thing in this co-called "game" that is really great is ambient music. Well, not music, rather a single ambient track that combines some dreadful noises, a lullaby and creepy children singing. A descent use of sound, I must say. But still, only sound isn't enough for providing a good expirience (not to tell, GAMING experience) and on my opinion, this one fails in both of these categories.
Long story short: this is an "art" indie game in a nutshell, pretentious, short, without gameplay, meaningless. I'd better waste my 10 minutes on something else.

It could be a really great game if the developers would fix all the problems with multiplayer, weird optimization and a ton of various bugs. Even almost three years after the game release, they continue to make loads of ♥♥♥♥♥♥ DLCs, that no sane person would buy, but completely forgot that their game still needs polishing and the co-op can hardly be played at all. Why do they act such way? It's beyond me.
But, overall, it's a descent game even in spite of it's huge bag of flaws.