Recent reviews by Evilhippie

Just play it.

Full Disclosure: A key was provided by the developers for review purposes.


The Flock is a first person one versus all multiplayer experience that takes a radical departure from from the shooter genre. Boasting a controversial gimmick where the game servers will shut down indefinitely when the total number of lives run out (as of now, around 215 million), the concept behind The Flock is unique, to say the least. However, given how difficult it even is to find a match online due to the woefully empty player base, there's no chance of the game ending any time in the near future.

All of that aside, The Flock manages only to excel in mediocrity. There is all but one game mode, a one vs all where players vie to find the light artifact and fend off the other players, the shadow monsters . Only three maps are available at the moment, so The Flock does feel a bit light on content. Barring the short tutorial, the game is multiplayer only, yet even finding an active game has been an exercise in futility given the almost non-existent player base.

If you actually do manage to find a game, upon entering the match, the players are thrust into the role of shadow creatures, racing each other to the light artifact to become the light carrier. The light carrier can kill the shadows with their movement based kinetic powered light gun (a flashlight), though shadows are immune when they aren't moving. The person who survives as the light bearer the longest wins the game, so it’s a relatively simple game in execution.

The controls, though relatively easy to master are clunky at best, and the game as a whole feels slow in execution. Maps feel too large to find players, and the movement as a shadow monster feels a bit disorienting with the amount of head bobbing (though this can be turned off in the options). The graphics and sound don't fare much better either, and while serviceable, are not exactly anything to write home about. When it works, the game's presentation is acceptable, yet bland overall.

There are a myriad of technical problems in the game as well, some crippling, and some just annoying. I experienced several crashes to the desktop and black screens when attempting to start the game or join a match. In its current state, it seems to be a gamble whether the game will work or not, though some issues encountered could unlikely be due to Windows 10.

Either way, it would be difficult to recommend The Flock in its current state. There's not much content in the game, and given its relatively high price on the Steam Store ($16.99/€16.99), this game should be skipped unless you're the type of person that enjoys frustration. Though the concept remains an interesting one, the lack of an online community ultimately kills this bland multiplayer-only title.

Overall, a 3/10. Not Recommended.

If there’s one thing that remains constant in Shattered Planet, it’s that you’re going to die, and die a lot. Indeed, in this particular subset of the RPG genre, it’s not a matter of if you’re going to die, but just a matter of when. Shattered Planet, as a space themed dungeon crawler, embraces the inevitability of death, taunting the player to conquer just one more floor before sealing their impending doom.

As an isometric rogue-like adventure, Shattered Planet looks and plays very well. The character sprites and environments are beautifully detailed, though the game lacks variety somewhat in the number of tile-sets and enemy types. Similar to other games in the genre, combat is turn based, with the usual array of weapons, armor, and potions one would expect. The main game mode, Explorer, throws the player into an infinite dungeon, and though each floor itself is short, the descent into the dungeon is effectively endless. When the player succumbs to their inevitable death, all items found in the dungeon are lost, though currency is found on each run to spend in the waiting area on upgrades and character development, or the player can spin a random item wheel with 3 potential tiers. Unfortunately, there is no real crafting system present, nor the ability to sell accumulated junk to for currency.

Being an adaptation of a mobile port, the micro-transaction currency shop has been removed, though the mobile version is marketed as free to play. At times, collecting currency to upgrade can seem to be frustratingly slow, as once you are teleported back to the main area, you will more than likely spend that currency obtaining new weapons, armor, and items for the next run. The class variety is also somewhat narrow, with the only differentiation being a different starting bonus that wears off rather quickly. While players receive experience and items for “identifying” new things found along each new run, it’s apparent that the variety of dungeon types and item-sets is limited. After a few runs, everything begins to blend in and seem a bit familiar, leading to that undesirable tedium so often loathed as the “grind”.

That’s not to say Shattered Planet is not a fun game in its own right. Despite the lack of variety in the content, what’s there is well done and quite polished. You might see the bulk of what Shattered Planet has to offer fairly quickly, but it’s enjoyable along the way. Though there are five different player characters, they’re all similar enough that they essentially only differ in character sprites. Of course, you could play through multiple times with different characters, but there doesn’t feel to be any reason to do so without more clearly a defined delineation between the classes. The lack of a crafting system in Shattered Planet really feels like a missed opportunity.

Though it has its roots as a mobile game, Shattered Planet is a surprisingly fun for what’s there. While it may be one of the more stylistic rogue-likes to come out recently, the game would benefit greatly from additional content at its current $14.99 asking price.

For more game reviews and in-depth information make sure to visit Feed Me Pixels[www.feedmepixels.com].

-Evilhippie

Dieselstormers: A Tale of Two Orks

For every misguided youth of the last century who grew up on a healthy diet of Nintendo and Sega, run and gun platformers like the ubiquitous Contra were a staple of multiplayer gaming. Long before the days of online first person shooters with dozens of players from around the globe, technologically primitive children like ourselves would gather around our ginormous radiation emitting square televisions, fighting each other for a chance to wield the controller next. Everybody’s household on a weekend was sort of like Lord of Flies, except we had to blow into cartridges before the mayhem could begin.

Dieselstormers, the latest effort from Black Forest Studios, is reminiscent of those old school multiplayer shooters of the past, but without the broken controllers (and friendships). Despite having just entered Early Access on Steam, Dieselstormers is already quite polished for an alpha. Stylistically, the game stands out with a uniquely detailed art style and beautiful, colorful backgrounds. Weapons hit the various goblin enemies with a satisfying thud, and the controls are well executed with both keyboard and mouse and gamepad. Though a full featured single player campaign is already included, the real meat of the game is in the cooperative multiplayer experience, supporting up to four players at a time.

At the start of Dieselstormers, the player is taken to a main area which houses both their main crafting inventory and the mission selection portal. The first weapon given is a weak, ineffectual pistol, but with the completion of each successful mission another gun part and crafting piece is unlocked. Missions are short, generally taking around 5-10 minutes to complete. Multiplayer progress carries over to single player, so players are free to jump between modes as they choose.

Intriguingly, in multiplayer, your character remains alive at “death”, though with diminished powers and barely the ability to push enemies back. Upon a player finding a health pick up, the deceased will be revived. What’s most interesting is that death is not necessarily the end if both players die, as long as some sort of health can be found.

Of course, it must be remembered the game is early access and is still a bit buggy at the moment. During our multiplayer sessions, we had a few crashes and a bit of slowdown, but considering that this is an early alpha, the game shows great promise. Despite the minor issues we encountered, we found Dieselstormers to be quite enjoyable.

For the adventurous, the developers allow work in progress levels to be toggled in the options menu, what they call “construction site mode”. As the developers jokingly proclaim on the options page, “unfinished content can look like an ork’s backside and play like its underpants. You have been warned.” It’s nice to see a developer with a sense of humor, and of course Dieselstormers plays quite well, even in its early state. Of course, it’s not Black Forest Games’ first foray into the platformer genre, having developed the recent Giana Sisters titles. Expect Dieselstormers to only improve as time goes on.

Dieselstormers succeeds in bringing back that old school platformer vibe, and is the kind of game you can play over and over again with your friends, whether it be in bite sized sessions or for hours on end. Pick up one copy, or grab four for some intense side scrolling co-op action. It is available for Early Access purchase on Steam.

For more game reviews and in-depth information make sure to visit Feed Me Pixels[www.feedmepixels.com].

-Evilhippie

Give it to someone you love... or hate... if you're going to give them this game there's probably not much of a difference.