Recent reviews by HAZE

Perfect Angle is a pretty cool game. It´s short but very fun, though it has it´s issues.

Pros:
+ A cool new style of puzzle
+ It has a story, and it´s alright (for a puzzle game)
+ Different modes
+ Makes you feel cool if you solve a level straight away ;)
+ Totally overuses the word "perverse" (I counted 14)

And now you see that the pros are going to get... funny. And that´s not funny in any way, because there are the cons too:

- Voice actors are boring
- Some levels are buggy
- Sometimes too easy, sometimes too difficult
- "Earning" tips for free has some kind of MMO browser game style: poor

The biggest problem is, as the title says, the advertising ingame. Nearly every level has some kind of advertising for other "Ivanovich Games" in it. You probably absolutely don´t care, but I care and the way it´s beeing implemented is not something similar with e.g. the "advertising" in "Shadow Warrior", where you can mostly smile over the elements of other games (like Serious Sam, Hotline Miami or Hard Reset). No, the fact is that this implementing is such overused that the game sometimes seems to be "built around" the ad. For example: Not only one facade of the building is covered by a "random street commercial", no, the whole complex is full of posters, neon signs or other stuff. They´re of course NOT implementing game elements as solutions for their puzzles as an ad, NO: "The terrorist is just going to distract you..." -> Of course...

Beside that poorly decision to make every 5th level an ad, the game is good. The voice actor changes one time (I found that pretty confusing, but the old guy probably wanted too much cash - because ads cost money too you know? :D ba dum tss), but the second VA doesn´t seem even a little more enthusiatic. You can "turn the story off", but if you want that story, it´s pretty annoying to listen to the VA after EVERY level... a little voice act every chapter would´ve done it, too, because (between level 5-90) it´s always the same crap what he´s talking about.

The difficulty level is OK, even when some levels are totally easy, while others are ridiculously difficult. I can accept that, though, because I think it´s even more difficult to invent levels that are perfectly increasing their difficulty level on a curve. The "getting tips for free" button is totally trash. I didn´t even come on the idea to farm 10 tips. Where´s the point on doing MMO browser game style like stuff, just because then you can literally skip the next 5 levels? Where´s the "puzzle factor" here? I think waiting 5 minutes for one tip is enough, because after the second tip the level is playing "Hot and Cold" with you and you surely can´t miss the solution.

I know, the weak points of the game are described pretty long, but that´s me. I like critising stuff, and maybe the game gets some adjustments (oh devs, please remove some of the ads and debug the "Red-blue-white"-levels, will you? ;) ).

Neverless the game was short but fun. I recommend it to buy it on sale or (like me) in a bundle.

Thanks for reading and have a nice one,

Mike
a.k.a. BlackBurningHaze

Unlike my other reviews, with intro, explanations, pros and cons, is is going to be short:
This game is AWESOME.

It may be short, but the achievements are a heaven on earth (not too easy and not too hard or time wasting). The playtime is just perfect, the story is good and this game is a rare case of "really worth the full price"! Buy it!

EDIT (I played it again):

I love this game. There´s not much to tell: The atmosphere´s great. Speedrun is a heaven but still you want to suck in every bit of this game. There are funny moments but also lonely moments: These moments give you the time thinking about the ship, the crew, yes maybe about yourself. You can make your own story: If you are pretty creative you can write your own story into this game because it is still pretty empty... Sounds weird? The game is weird! But let me tell you, don´t give something about graphics this time, because if you want to FEEL then play this wonderful little game.

Anders als bei anderen Reviews hier muss ich zugeben, dass mein Vater mir "Z" empfohlen hat: Er war es nämlich der damals süchtig danach war. Zwar kann ich verstehen warum, doch die Zeiten ändern sich. "Z" hat fast nichts mehr gegen moderne RTS-Games aufzubringen: Außer dann vielleicht dem Klassikerstatus.

Um es kurz zu sagen, diese "Z" Version ist "schlechter" als die originale. Andere haben es auch schon angesprochen: Tastatursteuerung, viele Optionen (Audio, Grafik),... ist alles (noch?) nicht verfügbar. Im Angesicht dessen, dass das Release nun 2 Jahre her ist, kann man sich denken das da nicht mehr viel passiert. Warum auch Zeit in ein Spiel pumpen das vielleicht 50 Spieler am Tag spielen? Naja, das kann man nun selbst beurteilen.

Gäbe es einen "Mittelmaß"-Daumen, dann wäre der hier jedenfalls angebracht. Da mich die Mankos des Spiels aber nicht derart am Spielen gehindert haben, kann ich doch einen Daumen nach oben geben. Errungenschaften, Karten, usw. hat das Spiel auch, somit kommt ETWAS Spielermutigung dazu. Alles in Allem aber ein ordentliches Spiel für Zwischendurch, oder für knallharte Retrofans.

Danke für´s Lesen und macht euch ein Ölbier auf,

Mike
a.k.a. BlackBurningHaze

Das ist ein wirklich kurzes Review, da ich das Spiel letztes Mal vor ein paar Monaten gespielt habe. Daher kann ich nicht mehr auf Details eingehen, werde ich aber vielleicht später nochmal ändern.

Ich habe das Spiel in einem Bundle gekauft, und hat mich deshalb ca. 50 Cent gekostet: Das war fast Diebstahl. Das Spiel hat einige Schwächen, von denen man aber wirklich leicht absehen kann. Insgesamt wären selbst im Sale 5€ oder sogar 10€ nicht zu viel für das Spiel - Dabei kostet es doch schon ohne Rabatt genau 5€! Wenn man rusht schafft man das Spiel in ca. 10 Stunden komplett, trotzdem: Es lohnt sich es auf 20 Stunden zu verzögern, da die Story sowieso oftmals derart immer das Gleiche bietet, das man förmlich dazu gezwungen wird, mal einen Dieb zu jagen oder Quatsch mit der Glocke oder den Tomahawks zu machen. :)

Wenn ihr das Spiel für unter 1 Euro ergattern könnt ist das, wie gesagt, eine Frechheit. Kauft es euch wenn ihr auf ein Rollenspiel ohne abwechslungsreiche Story, dafür aber mit coolem Setting und akzeptablen Gameplay hofft. 5€ ist es allemal Wert!

Dankeschön für´s Lesen und habt noch eine schöne Session,

Mike,
a.k.a. BlackBurningHaze

This will be a short review because I don´t have so much time. First off, this game is good, but not worth the (now) 6 euros. Really, the dev team made a right step to lower the price a bit, but even 5€ were too much, because you can beat the game in less than 30 minutes, if you´re good in horror games. But not the lengthen but the quality of the game is the crucial factor being responsible for my negative review.

I really liked the idea behind the game. OK, that a random guy who´s in the "I-need-to-get-answers"-mood is stepping through a haunted house is nothing enterily new for a horror game, but the house´s ability (or manor) itself non-mainstream: By finding different little model parts of the manor´s rooms you´re able to explore more of it.
Overall I think the ideas that the guys had are really cool: If you look around you can find books and documents which tell you a bit more about the history of the Kraven family and maybe you´ll find out what could happen to you if you make the wrong desicion(s). I can understand why lots of people like the game and give it a positive review.

But there´s no "middle-rate"-finger and that´s why I have to give, like it or not, a negative review. I fully understand that after a game comes out, you´re not so ambitious as a dev to debug the game you made during a long period of time. But after 2 years, even a game costing 6 bugs does not to have such kind of bugs:

- Picking up items is tricky, sometimes not possible (>Restart)
- Moving backwards through doors is nearly impossible, don´t ask me why (Nightmare Mode ahoy!)
- Some scenes just don´t trigger if you don´t do exactly that what the game is awating (which is annoying because you HAVE those options to move around and that had made the game better. Let me explain: The game wants you to go from A to B. But you have the possiblities to go from A to B, C and D. From C you can go to B. So you think "If I choose A > C > B", the scene will trigger. No, it won´t. (>Restart)).

Even worse, the game (my PC is pretty good) crashes every 20 minutes. Luckily I know the game by heart, that´s why I can complete it within 15 minutes... (For achievements e.g.).

I really don´t like giving negative reviews, but the game will (probably) keep it´s "90% free of bugs" state. That´s why: Please, don´t waste 6 euros on a dead game. If you want to support the devs, allright, but if you´re looking for a cool and quick horror game, do yourself a favor and get it on sale or (even better) in a bundle.

Thanks for reading and have a nice one,

Mike
a.k.a. BlackBurningHaze

This game is good. Nothing enterily new, but enough for a "free to play" game. Why "free to play" and not free to play? Because it´s not. I´m not saying that it is pay to win - no! You will get the hang out of this quickly and even your basic equipment is good enough to kill most of the players. But then why it isn´t free to play?

See, you can purchase either the "Basic" version for 10€, or the "Premium" version for 20€. If you really like a game, even 20 is not too much: You will unlock everything (and with that lose the only motivation playing this game ->unlocking stuff), get a nice "Premium player" icon on your profile pic - fine. The basic version grants you unlimited place in your inventory (for your vehicle upgrades). Fair price, too, even it´s a bit of a "I support the devs" pack.

So, the game´s fun. Cool, y´can see my playtime. You see the game is fun, unless I wouldn´t have played it for so long.
BUT: Do you like achievements? Do you like playing with or for achievements? Maybe you are something like a so-called "achievement hunter"? If you are so: DELETE THIS GAME. DO NOT PLAY IT. MARK IT AS NOT INTERESTED. Unless you want to spend 20 euros of course.

Say what?! Yes, you HAVE to spend 20 euros in order to get all achievements. And that´s because it´s NOT, and I repeat NOT right to call a game F2P if you even can´t get all the achievements without paying. Well, we could now discuss what "F2P" exactly means, what it does include or exclude. But you know what? It doesn´t matter because I think this borders on insolence to believe players would spend 20 euros for one ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ achievement. And if you´re still not convinced, listen to this:
I tried to reach the support in order to discuss the matter with them. I know that Doctor Entertainment is a 2-man-team. I know they can´t look in their inbox every single day. I wrote a mail and waited for 2 weeks. No answer. Not even a "We will see what we can do" or "We are glad that you contacted us -" NOTHING.

NOW: You know how it feels like? Playing a game for like 20 hours trying to get the 100% Mark and then you see it´s all for nothing?
It´s like a punch in your face.

That´s why I simply can´t recommend this game. If you don´t give a ♥♥♥♥ on achievements, then play it. But if you like getting perfect games, don´t play it!

I hope that review WAS read by Doctor Entertainment. Gamers, have a nice day. And my swedish friends, go ahead and read some mails. ♥

Mike,
a.k.a BlackBurningHaze

Let me explain Vol. 0:
3 euros for 5 minutes fastskipping and 5 minutes just looking (*cough* - no really, I swear!) at the bath scene. And spamming "P" ofc. For the boob shake, yu no?
I think the common guy would just say: "Great waste of money 11/10 would waste again".
And that´s it.

Solides Tower-Defense-Spiel. Zwar kein Titel der mit irgendetwas Besonderes heraussticht (außer vielleicht das "Kartonbastelei"-Setting), dafür macht das Spiel aber Spaß. Im Grunde ist bei Tower-Defense immer die Schwierigkeitsbalance wichtig (also ob man das Level nun mit 3 oder 300 Versuchen packt). Hier ist diese gelungen. Jedes Level kann schnell mit 2 Versuchen durchgespielt werden, für die 3 Sterne zu erhalten muss man sich aber etwas Mühe geben, besonders bei den letzten Leveln. Den sog. "Expert-Mode", also die schwierige Variante der Levels, sollte man nach dem letzten Level aktivieren. Somit kann man dann sein Können ein letztes Mal auf die Probe stellen. Das ist zwar eine tolle Idee, nur leider gibt es 2 Level die dadurch ihre Balance verlieren (Level 12 (ooh f*** dich bitte) und Level 22). Die Entwickler hätten wirklich besser über den "Expert-Mode" schauen müssen, da dieser zum Spaßkiller³ wird. Besonders dann, wenn man alle Errungenschaften freischalten will.

Also hier einige Tipps: Kauft ihr es im Sale, seid ihr auf der sicheren Seite. 2-3 Euro darf man den Entwicklern in die Hand drücken. Wenn ihr das Spiel besitzt: Es gibt eine "Turret View"-Option (klickt auf den Turm und dann links auf das gleichnamige Symbol um diesen zu aktivieren). Ist ganz lustig "im" Turm zu sitzen und auf die Papierpanzer zu knallen.

Empfehlung ja, aber bitte mit Vorsicht genießen. Könnte für manche doch zu wenig sein.

Short but interesting point and click adventure. The puzzles are a bit confusing sometimes and if you want to solve everything by yourself you will have a playtime over 6 hours. That´s cool if you like the genre. If you just want to have a time killer you should buy this game when it´s on sale. Sole minus: The voice actors could have put a bit more enthusiasm into their sentences.
Overall a good "rainy-day" game.

A great but short puzzle game with an interesting story. I recommend buying it on sale, because the average playing time is just about 2 hours. Beautiful graphics. Cool and not too-difficult puzzles.