Recent reviews by Ripzsaur

I usually try to go in-depth with reviews but this one won't be that. But in attempt to take my review twice as serious as the game takes itself, I'll write a little something. First off, this game only barely got positive recommended. So a DISCLAIMER, DON'T BUY THIS GAME EXPECTING SOMETHING FANTASTIC. It looks like a meme game, and guess what, it absolutely is one.

The concept is in the title; rush through increasingly difficult levels and fight against the ragdoll physics. Beat the game within 2 hours, request your money back from Steam. The concept draws you in because you're like yeah, I'm that guy. I'm the man. I've got a couple Fiber One brownies in me, I'm a little cooky. A little whacky. And maybe you are. Yeah you, maybe you are the guy.

Me? I'm not the guy. Nor do I want to be the guy. I got through two levels, 30 minutes in and I was done. I didn't care anymore. BUT, YOU might care. This game is funny, goofy and doesn't control like complete trash. However, it also does control like trash, and the point of the entire game is that it does. It is in fact challenging, and certainly frustrating, but I don't really like games that are intentionally designed to be that way.

So why am I leaving a positive review? Two reasons. 1.) If you like meme games that are frustratingly hard with a challenge gimmick, this might be your fetish. Go for it. 2.) I think this game would be good Streamer or YouTube bait. "CaN I BeAt ThIs GaMe? IMPOSSIBLE REFUND CHALLENGE" or something like that. Would probably be funny, and the game is cheap.

And HEY! If you don't like it, refund it! If you can beat it... or not. Who cares.


For more reviews like this (and more serious ones), check out whats inside the Curio Cabinet!

https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43500478/

CHARGED: RC Racing

I'm a pseudo-cheerleader for this game. I stumbled across it from the developer's page, immediately intrigued from the screenshots. RC car racing games are a niche on their own and a solo developer taking on a project like this is surprising in of itself. Then came the next twist, being that CHARGED was good. I mean, its damn fun and filled with content. I reached out to the developer to talk with them for a bit, and unexpectedly came their humble and pleasant demeanor. I shared with them some notes I had made for this review and they were kindly accepted.

From that point, I decided I wanted to take my time when reviewing it. I wanted to save my thoughts and see how the developer handled the title in the future. This was about a month ago, and since then, THREE updates have dropped for this title. Two of the updates added quality of life improvements and tweaks, where the third is a content update in a title already filled with tracks, game modes and cars.

This game deserves a player-base, more attention and support; its clear the developer will give it back.

CHARGED is a title that respectfully draws inspiration from a fantastic RC arcade racer named Re-Volt. If you are a fan of the sub-genre, I don't need to explain Re-Volt to you, but if you are new then Re-Volt was released in 1999 across most consoles and still has significant community engagement 24 years later.

The premise of CHARGED is simple. Select a RC car from varied offerings and progress through Championships. This primary gameloop is repeated throughout the game, as you progress through increasingly challenging locations with more opponents. In addition to the general racing mechanic, there are also power-ups (if you haven't played Re-Volt, think Blur, Mario Kart etc.) to attack and defend against the other racers. These power-ups include boosts, shields, attack drones, oil slicks and debris (in the form of littered garbage, which I loved).

There is a lot to progress through here, and that is one of the main ideas I want to leave with you through this review. This ISN'T your typical no content, no thought, low review offering on Steam. Instead, this game provides value for its asking price and with the 6 hours I have invested, I still haven't completed everything. For starters, the racing mode includes 15 base tracks, and the majority of the tracks have a reverse or small variation making the total closer to 30. As far as racing goes, there are 39 vehicles to choose from across the various cups. CHARGED was able to give me the rare “just one more race” bug, as each championship made me excited to see what I would unlock for the next set of races.
That would be a nice collection of content on its own, but there is a good bit more.

Out of the 39 cars above, 1 is isolated to a customizable RC. You are able to unlock parts for it by completing Single Player or Multiplayer races. You can change every component from some of the other offerings, letting you customize the stats through the chassis and bring whichever body, wheels and decoration you’d like to your build. This little feature gives the game a Rocket League like feel, which is a good transition into….

Currently, the game offers 4 gameplay options, where 2 modes are essentially mini-games to the core gameplay loop of racing, and one is a sub-option named "Mini". "Mini" is a bonus championship that adjusts the scale down to Micro Machines proportions. This was an awesome addition, as subjectively I love that scale, but objectively it added variety to the maps without removing consistency. The other 2 modes are Drift, and the newly added Soccer mode.

Drift is playable with an unlockable vehicle after getting to a certain point of championship progress and is a fun way to rip around the track. Its more of a mini-game, but a great break away from the main point of the game. The Soccer mode, attempts a Rocket League like approach to a secondary game mode and its fun. Newly implemented, so needs some fleshing out (and multiplayer support!) but it pits you against AI opponents to race towards a set score amount. Oh, and it includes 4 maps.

Another thing to send home here is the attention to detail added to car control in CHARGED. A big fault in small titles like this usually falls somewhere in controls, but the developer hit the sweet spot between realism and arcade physics that make the RC cars feel accurate and satisfying to drive. There are some physics issues, such as getting stuck, clipping, etc but in general there are no complaints. The crashes can be frustrating, but a game like this works because of how a RC car crashes in real life. Also, servo and motor sound effects for the vehicles add to the immersion and were one of my favorite details.

This category is the biggest fault, and I would be leaving a biased review if I didn’t comment on the issues with the game. Optimization has greatly improved with the most recent update allowing graphical changes, such as customizing Anti-Aliasing, Bloom, Shadows and other effects. There is customizable resolution for both screen size and textures, making the game run a lot better. I recommend playing with these settings and see what you are most comfortable with after playing for a bit. With that being said, those looking to run on maximized graphics may have issues, dependent on their hardware.

The UI is basic, but the most recent update made some changes and I expect to see more in the future. Another nice addition is the inclusion of an announcer for races, adding more auditory depth to the sonics of the game. The music is nice, albeit a bit repetitive, and you may opt for an external soundtrack over time.

The biggest issues with polish come from collisions and AI intelligence. The recently added difficulty modes allow for flexibility in challenge, but AI will get stuck on you or obstacles in the environment. The Respawn button allows you to get back into the action with minimal hiccups, but the issue is still worth noting. Collisions are finicky throughout, such as certain parts of the track, weapons and the vehicle hitboxes, but this issue is more distracting than game-breaking. Many issues detailed in other reviews have also since been fixed and I urge you to check announcements on the game for change logs and bug fixes. I have hopes that this will continue to be rectified by the developer.

I have been unable to experience multiplayer so far because the player base is varied and too small at the moment, which is a shame. The Catch 22 with multiplayer in a title like this is establishing the initial community to get more players involved. A player doesn’t want to buy a multiplayer oriented title with dead servers, but the lack of players buying the game is why the servers are dead! I would recommend to the developer some sort of community involvement to organize games in its budding stages, and I hope this review encourages the reader to give the game a try! Unlike other games with a lack of a player-base, this title offers plenty of content as a single-player experience, where the multiplayer is a bonus that can be fleshed out further as time progresses.

CHARGED: RC Racing has fantastic potential, but also has a lot to offer as it is presented now. Supporting this title is recommended, as I have had fun with the game and the solo developer is attentive to what CHARGED lacks. With tons of content, good controls and fun gameplay, this budget title is well worth it’s value and I hope to see it pick up in popularity.


https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43500478/

When I first booted the game up, I was disappointed. I thought that it was going to be a mess with no depth, progression or anything of value. Boy was I wrong. The game shines through in a variety of ways that overshadows its flaws, surprising me in how much I kept wanting to play "just one more". This game will find its core audience with fans of combat racing who've already played more popular titles like Carmageddon, Gas Guzzlers and Full Auto.

The game has a fun progression system and that was my immediate hook. Every campaign challenge nets you a new car, a good chunk of cash and XP. Upon leveling up, you unlock a new weapon. The cash is used to upgrade a variety of stats such as speed, armor, handling and ammunition reserves. Your first car comes kitted out with weaponry, but each subsequent vehicle is allocated weapons by purchasing them. You can remove weapons at any point and put them back in your inventory to install on another car you've unlocked.

The weapon system has a surprising amount of depth. Each vehicle has three weapon slots, Primary, Secondary and Special. The primary is generally machine guns, rail guns and lasers. The secondary is generally explosives such as grenade and rocket launchers, while the special ranges from automated mini turrets to reverse sticky dart attachments. The neat thing with the special, is that the "boss" characters in the game come with a unique and exclusive special weapon. It adds excitement to unlocking each one. The depth comes from the amount of slots available on a car. For example, you can equip multiple primary weapons in addition to your special and secondary. The higher quantity of a weapon you have installed, the more damage you can deal per second, but you'll eat through ammo faster. The only way to refill ammo in a race is to run over a ammunition pickup.

A negative of the game is the handling, which is kind of a big deal in a combat racer. The cars understeer. Bad. You'll quickly need to get accustomed to using the handbrake to make the cars turn anything sharper than a curve. The handbrake itself is weird too, where if you hold it and the accelerator you don't really slow down. This allows you to adjust your entry into corners, so you get used to it, but it doesn't feel right. Its not like other arcade racers where you don't need to use the brakes. The combination of regular braking and handbraking with acceleration can get you through most of these situations, but the handling model makes the cars feel overly weighted as well.

Another neat thing that surprised me is the amount of content in the game. There are 50 cars, and about 10 weapons of each class. Each car (excluding boss cars) have 4 skins that you can choose between. There are three game modes, being a traditional combat race, a team versus race and a boss race. Each has the same core gameplay, where you try to destroy your enemy vehicles while staying alive yourself. The team race is interesting though. You select four of your vehicles that you have tuned, customized and weaponized to race against a team of 4 opposing vehicles. Its essentially a circuit based team deathmatch. WHY is this cool? Because with 50 cars and progression, if the game didn't have a mode like this, you would always only be using one car at a time. This allows you to see and race alongside all your vehicles that you have spent money upgrading, creating a fleet to go into battle. During the race, you can press 1-4 on the number pad to switch between them. Neat! There are also daily challenges that are still being updated. Some cars in the game can only be unlocked by beating a daily challenge on a certain date (e.g., 1st, 5th, 29th of every month, etc.)

For a game that used to be a web browser game, it kicks a lot of ass. I think most players would only play through the game once. There is no multiplayer, so it really is a sit back and relax kind of title. The cars are generally creative and have a TON of variety. The handling is a bit janky but you get used to it. If you like progression, want something laid back, and like collecting a bunch of unlockables then you'll get enjoyment out of this game. I have 1 hr in the game at time of review and I'm about 1/4th through the main campaign. I think to 100% the title would take most players 6-8 hours. The game does have trading cards and achievements, so its worth doing! I would certainly compare to it other combat racers, as most have an odd handling model themselves, and a lot less to unlock.

The game is average but not mediocre. I would give it a...

Absolutely love Assetto. Base game is kind of mid, DLC packs add some fun but the mod support is absolutely out of this world and makes it the only racing sim you need to have downloaded.

I was really excited for this game. I had it wish-listed for about a year and a half. I haven't kept up with the developer aside from a video update a few months ago, talking about his struggles with development and how he recently decided to scrap the story he had created and start from scratch. That made me feel for him as a solo developer, and I was ready to buy the game at full price, for whatever price, and was looking forward to the experience.

With that being said, I asked for a refund within an hour. The game is likely to build atmosphere better over time, but the story is extremely corny and the missions are mindless. The amount of scrap you get throughout the game makes it trivial, and within 20 minutes my train was leveled up on all fronts significantly. Charles is scary, but at the same time, not more than the trailers showcased. The developer got the perfect visual shots for those.

The train you ride in is cool and the concept of leaving it is intimidating, but I don't care at all to see what any of the NPCs have to say. I don't care why I'm on this island, or what anyone else is doing here, and because of that I don't care why Charles is here either. For such a nonsensical monster, the story becomes almost comedic, and it loses all horror value. And the unanimated characters fell are really cheap.

I'm not saying steer clear. I'm saying, think carefully about the value of a spider-train mixed with shoehorned missions and an extremely simple progression system. What you see in the Steam videos and screenshots will be EXACTLY what you get, and if you decide to buy it, review them and see what I mean. The game is completed in less than 2 hours based on YouTube playthroughs, and I wasn't impressed with my almost full first hour.