Recent reviews by ryan0110

The game play is extremely fun and reminiscent of Smash TV. Start in one room, clear it, and select the next door you want to go through. Ultimately there is one path that leads to the end of the level but you can sidetrack to pick up bonus points for upgrades between levels. Sprites look great and the soundtrack is very fitting as well. Everything is great except for:

CONTROLS!!!!
I started on game pad using the analog sticks to move and fire(its possible to use d-pad and face buttons alternatively). Classic problems with using analog on 8 way controls apply here. It is very easy to move or shoot in an unintended direction if you are moving impulsively or rapidly changing the direction of fire. It's not a huge problem until you start using the dodge roll in tight situations and roll off your intended path and into an enemy or bullets. Hitting a wall while dodge rolling will end the animation immediately and often lead to unintended hits.

Switching to d-pad and face buttons eliminated some of the issues but still feels a little odd when moving and firing diagonally. You can restrict yourself to 4 way movement but it will hinder your overall ability.

I then switched over to keyboard which seemed like it would solve my gripes, however, movement is assigned to arrow keys while firing uses WASD. I am trying to unlearn every game that uses the opposite control scheme because this game is very fun and I want to play it. In case you haven't thought it already, the controls CANNOT be switched in options. Unless I am overlooking something very basic you are stuck using arrow keys to move. I can somewhat get around this if playing cross-handed but then the dodge (space bar) is out of reach since my thumb is on the other side now.

In summary:
This is an awesome game severely crippled by the controls. If I am wrong about I am more than happy to change my opinion since that is the one thing keeping me from recommending this.

Wheatley Called...

The one positive I have is it looks nice if you are standing still. Animations are stiff but I don't even factor that in for the measure of fun. You have very limited control options and are not able to re-bind keys. Not a huge deal since your actions consist of walking, jumping, and interacting. No running, which can be reasonable for balancing earlier puzzles but a detriment for trying to expand later.
Every puzzle I have solved so far led me to say "huh, that was it." No Eureka moment or reflecting upon the cleverness of a set-up. There are some ok-ish implementations of moving machinery or platforms.
The first 5 minutes nearly killed the game instantly. You wake up to a smarmy British man who belittles your intelligence and gives expository monologues about what happened and what to do. Your first mission is to turn on the lights. Doing this does not give any insight or teach any of the games mechanics other than the interact button exists. Your reward are more monologues by this unlikable head honcho.
Now you are introduced to work lamps (lights on a stand). You can pick them up and walk with them but you can't jump with them or angle the lens. Nothing hints about the functionality of the lamps, you just figure it out. As far as I know that's it, that's the rest of the game.

Two of my biggest problems with this game aren't even relevant to the mechanics:
1)annoying speaker guy
2)tapes left by people talking about "head scientists in the field of science". Anyone who uses the term "science" to explain anything other than "the field of" or "progress in" probably has no idea what they are talking about. Maybe in 100 years when people start getting hired for reasons other than merit, but not today.

It's fun for about 30 seconds. Waves repeat in the exact same pattern and you will be stuck with the basic weapon for the majority of the game. Power-ups last about 5 seconds and seem to appear randomly. Usually the rule is the red or different color enemy will drop a power-up upon death; this doesn't seem to be the case. Fight a tedious boss due to slow rotation, cleaning up small enemies, and waiting for the boss to return to the screen.

Level 2: Do the exact same thing with different shapes of enemies. Press start, highlight quit.

Send it Back, It's Not Done

I have less than an hour in this game because I beat it in 55 minutes and have no desire to go through again.

Pros:
- It's a twin stick shooter
- It cost 3 Dollars on sale

Cons:
- It's a bad twin stick shooter
- Cannot change the button layout. I like to keep my thumbs on the sticks, the layout makes it so I have to take my thumb off the sticks to roll, activate a special, etc.
- Bugs: 1)Reloading while transitioning areas will keep the reload icon up until you reload again.
2)If you hold a direction while transitioning you will move during a blank screen and potentially run into traps.
3)On the main menu, if you exit out of controls and immediately re-enter controls, the credits play.
4)Killing the boss in the arcade room during one of his attacks will make the sound continuously play until the next
stage. That includes the power up screen.
5)Not really a bug but the image on the extended part of my monitor stays up while the rest fades out. I've seen it
in other games but those were way better and didn't make me regret playing them.
-the weapons suck. The basic weapon was my favorite since it shoots straight and I don't have to repeatedly tap the button to fire. Several weapons either use a spread pattern that hits nothing or requires button taps.
-the power-ups suck. You can only acquire and equip them in between stages. There is no upgrades for weapons, power ups, or special abilities. you have 3 slots for power ups and that's it.
-each stage follows the same layout. Kill enemies and go to the next room a couple times until you reach a locked gate. Go one room away to get the key. Use the key and continue until you reach the boss. You move slow as hell and have to traverse screens which are dedicated solely to vending machines which you won't need.
-as I type this, ghetto trash are driving around with their ♥♥♥♥♥♥ music blasting making me even more irate.

the developer can keep my money, he's going to need it if his games are this bad. I realize i'm being harsh but how can you make a twin stick shooter and include nothing that makes them great?

Oh Yeah, There's Your Problem

If you are looking to learn more about cars I highly recommend this game. Some of the functions were a little confusing at first (which is why I'm reviewing the 2018 version in 2021) but luckily I came back to this and got into the meat of it. There are little things I wish I could do like order a part while I am in disassembly mode or lift the car halfway up to eliminate having to constantly lift it up and down to reach some certain parts (using a roller to get under it). These may have been implemented in the 2021 version so I'll put that aside.

Baby Steps:
The game is well structured in starting with the easy stuff (tires, oil, everything on the outside) and then working further in where more work is needed. I do wish you were somewhat forced to work on different models and years to highlight the different configurations, see how rear wheel drive cars may have different size tires, do they need brake shoes or brake pads, etc. I just happened to pick an older model car about 8 hrs in and ran into these issues.

3/4 or 18mm:
I'm not sure if I'm disappointed that these choices aren't present. I get that you have to maintain some element of fun while learning. Maybe a professional mode where you have to choose the correct oil type, using a torque wrench, and so on. Again, this is a lot of extra work on the development end and it may not even be something the player wants.

Endless amusement:
While I'm playing I like to role-play as a shady mechanic who replaces good parts and charges for extra work. If a car needs a new gearbox I picture myself talking calling up the customer: "Well, I was taking a look at your transmission and noticed you had some bad tie rods so I went ahead and replaced them for ya. I did notice your brake pads were a little worn and I just happen to have a couple of barely used pads (from that other sucker, heh heh heh) I could throw on there. I wasn't going to ask but I saw that stick family on the back and thought what a shame it would be if you couldn't stop at an intersection."
The customer reluctantly says yes and later reads a Yelp review where it was noted that you often do this to customers and use bad parts to save money. The customer confronts you and threatens to report you to the Better Business Bureau. You then profusely apologize to the customer and explain that was years ago an you are now a changed man; offering to do the work at a reduced price. What they don't know is that you stopped taking your medication and have violent outbursts of rage. So you do what anyone else would do, you loosen some parts and fray the brake-line so a couple weeks out, that ***** gets what she deserves.
Maybe in Car Mechanic 2024.

So Close....

I don't hate this game. The beginning led me to believe I was in for a way different game experience then what played out. Instead of committing to one genre, Annie tries to be a bunch of things it doesn't need to be. First, the story could have been dropped altogether. It's a weird mix of every survival horror game you've played and it leads no where. The weapon upgrade system could have also been dropped almost entirely which would also take care of having to include the weapon shop guy who appears out of nowhere. Traveling from point A to point B is also an issue. You walk very slow and there is a lot of dead space in between going from one fight to the other. You can pick up items for upgrades but a lot of it can be skipped since you'll end up with more money than you need to get all weapons.

I was hoping for some kind of arena mode after the story was complete. I think the whole game should have focused on the action/combat aspect.

Pros:
-looks good
-control is fine albeit sluggish
-provides a weird sensation (wondering what direction this will take you)

Cons:
-story (can't skip cut-scenes and characters don't have enough development to care what happens to them)
-reload times (extremely slow!!! I would rather the monsters either be faster, stronger, tougher or all 3 to justify a faster reload time)
-game is short which is bad given the amount of story and forced walks you have to do. Took me 3 hours.

This is the perfect example of "less is more". Simple, fun, and has the option for greater difficulties on replays. There's no need to add anything else. I enjoyed it more than the main "bloodstained" game.

Do you like overused, random, male-feminist, humor? If you answered yes, this is the perfect game for you. The "humor" alone is enough to negate any good aspect of the game and make me regret buying this on sale.
If you've played the previous games, there is nothing for you here. Start by riding a bus and getting dropped off by the "Jar Jar Binks" of Borderlands otherwise known as Claptrap. I know there's a 4 in that name but who cares? Immediately, claptrap launches into the same spiel as every other game but instead of "minion" calls you pledge or candidate. Again, I don't have the will to make sure which one it is. Do something to open the gate and do missions to unlock Marcus's Vending Machines and Catch-a-Ride. Here comes Lilith! Remember her? Of course you do! I have no particular love or hate towards her and she is easily the best character in the game because she isn't trying to make a lame joke every sentence.
Unless I missed it, the best option in this game would be the ability to MUTE ALL CONVERSATIONS. Vaughn is easily the worst I have encountered so far and he is ALWAYS TALKING. Here's a typical monologue: "Woah, my dude bro! I totes love being violent and quirky. Go Sports!" I wish I had the fallout option of murdering a character and failing their entire quest line. Vaughn would be in a ditch providing useful nutrients to plant life rather than burning precious oxygen.
I will admit, thanks to the tireless efforts of gearbox I was notified that my co-op name was "abusive". Not "potentially offensive" but flat out "abusive". Boy, would I have been super embarrassed if my name offended someone old enough to play this Mature rated game.
No hard difficulty from the start either and Normal is way too easy. Not that it matters, this game has no real penalty for death. I'm just guessing it's the same as every other game in the series since I haven't died yet, nor do I even care to make sure if that is true for this one.

Buy this during a sale. At 50 dollars (american full price) you are paying 25 dollars for the death metal and VIP pass, with the other 25 dollars essentially buying the decal. It's a good decal if you need to scratch the itch of getting a good buff without gambling 10 death metal a pop or farming a million kill coins to get stuff you probably already have. 25 dollars on sale is a great price, go for it.

Everything else that comes in the pack is essentially useless if you've cleared the main game. If you are reading this and have just started the game there are about 25 dlc packs for a dollar that give you 10 death metal each. That's 250 death metal for 25 dollars. Easily the best value in the game.

Making Planetary Exploration a Mediocre Chore

Good:
-movement and controls are good (i.e. Jumping is responsive, things like auto climb work, etc)
-game looks very colorful and well designed

Bad:
-the humor. If I could give life to an overused meme or twitter account this would be it. There's so much I hate about the "jokes" that I could do a review on that alone.
- the challenge. For the amount I played there was none. Life regeneration is overly abundant in the rare instances you need it.
- the stamina bar. Why does this exist? Or why is it even a factor in the beginning of the game? You are able to run for about 3 seconds before you run out of stamina. Guess what this game has you do? Travel long distances to get items and then return to your ship at the beginning. This leads to another point.
- having to return to the ship to get new items/abilities. This is what officially killed the game for me. It's not bad enough you have the stamina of a lifelong smoker bound to a wheelchair. You have to use that stamina to travel vast distances and come ALL THE WAY BACK. This is something you have to experience to see how bad it is. It makes the music and scenery which was once quirky into agonizing punishment.
- everything else.

This seems like an alien race or sentient robots tried to copy the formula for a good game and had no idea that fun was one of the components.