Recent reviews by Heisenbear

First things first: If you're expecting "Storage Wars" - The Game, look elsewhere because it ain't.
There are 3 small parts of the game later on where you're actually bidding on storage lockers but they are simply not that fun because if you want to beat the level and/or collect all the items and collectibles you have to buy all the storage lockers anyway. So if you go in expecting some business sim elements, you'll definitely be disappointed but if the concept of a 3D Hidden Object game sounds interesting to you, then this is probably the game for you.
The core gameplay is all about travelling to different locations and looking for items in order to sell them at your pawnshop.
And I gotta say, I'm actually glad that this game wasn't what I was expecting because what I got was way more entertaining than anticipated. I really had a lot of fun searching for all those hidden items and collectibles in these great locations.
The graphics range from surprisingly gorgeous to...well, not so gorgeous.
So let's take a closer look at the pros and cons.

THE GOOD:

+ Some really beautiful locations that you wouldn't expect in a game like this.
+ Quite humorous throughout. Very immature though. Might not be for everyone.
+ Very fun core gameplay if you're into searching for hidden stuff.
+ Large variety of items to find and a lot of fun and silly ideas on offer

THE MEH:

~ Some of the character's voices are...I dunno...just plain weird and/or annoying.
~ The character models kinda don't fit in this otherwise great looking game.
~ The repair gameplay mechanics are half-baked.
~ The controls are mostly fine but can be quite frustrating in some parts especially when you have be to do some parcour to get to some secret collectibles.

THE UGLY:

- Selling of your items is boring and needlessly tedious.
- Encountered a few bugs. Some of them needed me to restart the level.
- Very long loading times at the beginning.
Always took me about 3 minutes to get into the game.

7/10 - Try the demo first. If you enjoy it, you'll definitely enjoy the full game as well (for the most part).

This is probably a game which mostly people who suffer from anxiety, paranoia or depression etc will appreciate the most, but I think the target audience should actually be people who don't suffer from any mental illnesses.
Most people nowadays at least know someone who is affected by any of those mentioned illnesses and it's especially hard if that someone is a friend or loved one and dealing with people who are afflicted in that way can be extremely difficult or even frustrating especially if you don't understand what they go through.

How do they feel? What is their worldview like? What challenges do they face every single day? Would it change my behaviour towards them if I had an idea about what they have to go through?

To be honest I wasn't quite sold at first. The game began with a very quirky and awkward tone and I thought it was going to be a crappy and pretentious artsy-fartsy 'Stanley Parable' or 'The Beginner's Guide' knockoff.
And I'm sure for many people it'll be their final verdict because they just can't get into the mindset of someone who suffers from a mental illness. This game really tries as hard as possible though using sounds and visuals to make you see the world through their eyes and it comes very damn close which is quite the achievement in my opinion.

There are potentially 3 playthroughs and I would highly recommend to play through all of them to get to the true ending.
Do keep the warnings on the store page or at the beginning of the game in mind though.
If you suffer from severe depression with suicidal tendencies, DO NOT play this game as it really goes to some very dark places, but for anyone else who would want to know how it might feel like, it's probably the closest you'll ever get (if you're lucky).

Oh, and did I mention it's completely free?
Easy recommendation from me for anyone with an open mind.

Limbo was undoubtably an amazing game and a critical success.
Unfortunately it opened the flood gates for countless uninspired clones.
Monochroma isn't one of them, but sadly it just can't quite reach the level of polish that Limbo had. Many segments demand precision but the controls are a bit clunky and the collision detection is pretty bad sometimes. Monochroma features beautiful 2.5D graphics, a great, atmospheric art style and many clever puzzles.
In the beginning of the game your brother hurts his legs and you'll have to carry him nearly the entire game, which provides some interesting puzzle opportunities, because you can't jump very high while carrying him and you can only set him down in the light because he's afraid of the dark. It's a shame though that you never really feel that brotherly bond and he's basically just a burden that you have to drag through the entire game which results in him being reduced to just a gameplay mechanic.
"Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons" did this masterfully for example and this aspect really was missing in Monochroma.
Also the story which seemed to be intriguing at first, never really develops or comes to an interesting conclusion.
Though overall I still enjoyed my time with it.



THE GOOD:

+ Beautiful 2.5D graphics
+ Good soundtrack
+ Clever puzzles (most of the time)
+ Perfect length (about 4 hours). Any longer and the gameplay would have outstayed its welcome.
+ Very fair checkpoint system which keeps frustration to a minimum

THE MEH:

~ Story is a bit too vague and ultimately disappointing
~ Controls are serviceable, but should be more precise
~ A few trial & error puzzles and some puzzles that just kinda waste your time

THE UGLY:

- No emotional connection to your brother or to the story in general
- Encountered two bugs that forced me to reload the last save game


6.5/10 - Worth a try if it's on sale or in a bundle

This is a tough one to review.

Episode 1 just throws you into this weird cartoony noir world and you just kinda have to accept it. Nothing is explained. Things just are how they are and there's usually nothing wrong with that. Unfortunately, there's not much there that really hooks you in until quite late in Episode 3 where you'll figure out what's really going on in the game. And, oh boy, does it pay off...

Personally, I didn't like the humor all that much, mostly because I thought it didn't mesh well with the overall dark story and themes of the game. I usually like meta jokes and don't mind pop culture references or the occasional breaking of the fourth wall, but I didn't think it fit very well into this game. And there are a lot of those...A LOT.


THE GOOD:

+ Beautiful and crisp black & white cartoon graphics
+ Good voice actors & a great menu theme that's equally creepy and cute
+ Powerful and touching story that gets pretty dark once you're able to put all the pieces
together at the end
+ Didn't encounter any bugs

THE MEH:

~ The story takes a while to really get going
~ Humor didn't fit that well with the noir style they were going with (imo)
~ Puzzles are a bit uneven. Some are too easy and some too hard
~ Barely any background music

THE UGLY:

- Excruciatingly slow movement speed
- One particularly difficult puzzle in Episode 3

7/10 - Give it a try

I really wanted to like this game, I really did, but it just wouldn't let me.
Every level is basically the same.
Meet your ticket quota and talk to painfully unfunny and racist stereotypes.
It's totally possible to design a game around repetitive tasks and make it tense and interesting.
Just do yourself a favor and play "Papers, Please" for example, if you haven't already done so.


THE GOOD:

- beautiful pixel art & animations
- good soundtrack (but there are not many tracks)
- the main concept is pretty good, but the execution unfortunately isn't

THE MEH:

- the story is very bland
- humour is extremely lazy
- gameplay is quite tedious and boring
- the game makes you feel that there will be huge consequences on how you play, but they were very subtle and vague and didn't really matter in the end

THE UGLY:

- the writing and dialogue is very immature, racist and needlessly vulgar
- countless bugs, even game-breaking ones that forced me to restart several levels

4/10 - Skip this one

A truly beautiful game which tackles very mature themes like depression, anxiety, loneliness and paranoia. I'd like to keep this short because it really needs to be experienced.
Great visuals, amazing sound design, excellent storytelling and stellar voiceover-work.
It's probably not for everyone, though.

Psst, hey you!
Whatever you do, do ### play this game!
It is the ̶l̶̶a̶̶s̶̶t̶̶ ̶̶ best game you will ever play!
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Fun gameplay, good controls, awesome music!
Gunslugs really nails that oldschool arcadey feeling, which isn't that easy to achieve.
The random level generation adds replayability, but isn't perfect.
Sometimes landmines will pop-up in places that are impossible to avoid.
It also may be a bit too difficult for some players (me),
but may be great for those who like a good challenge.
As the positives massively outweigh the negatives, this is a definitive "Thumbs up" for me.

Do you like soccer? Do you like racing?

Well, I bloody don't.

But somehow the combination of those two things make one hell of an incredible experience.
I've been a big fan of the predecessor 'Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle-Cars' on the PS3 and I'm really happy they stuck to their formula and kept it simple, enjoyable and challenging at the same time. So do yourself a favor and buy it already, you silly goose!