Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!
After doing both a "How to make a Good Superman Game" and a "How to make a Good Green Lantern Game", I decided to tackle the final part of the DC Comics trinity, Wonder Woman. (I won't be doing a Batman version, because there are already good Batman games out there). And when I did my research, I found something horrifying; Wonder Woman does not have a stand alone game. She's part of Justice League games or games where the League is involved in, the Lego series and Injustice. Not a single solo title out there, even after her popular movie came out. This needs to be fixed pronto, and I can give several ideas on how.
First off, we need to talk about her powers. There's a reason it's been argued that Wonder Woman could beat Superman in combat, and for good reason. She's as fast and strong as any Kryptonian under a yellow sun, and she's nearly as durable. She's survived bludgeoning force from the likes of Superman, Doomsday, Shazam and Darkseid, and while edged weapons and bullets harm her, they are not fatal. Combine that with an accelerated healing factor, her ability to fly and her status as a demigod granting her biological immortality, Wonder Woman is a powerhouse, pure and simple. Combine that with the Bracelets of Submission, made of nearly indestructible 8th metal, which can survive Darkseid's Omega Beams, and her Lasso of Truth, which is an unbreakable rope from the Greek Pantheon, which allows her to force anyone bound in it to tell the truth under any circumstances, even if the subject is under mind control, along with her magical sword and shield, also made of 8th metal, its no wonder she's able to take on some of the most powerful beings in the DC landscape and won almost every time.
Now, unlike Superman and Green Lantern, Wonder Woman's game can function perfectly well as a level based game, though a functional hub world would be beneficial. She could have a base with her friends Eta Candy, Steve Trevor, one with the Justice League and one where she deals with the Olympians, since she is technically among their numbers. From there, she's sent on missions to perform in distinct levels, with boss fights happening every few stages.
The boss fights present a problem, because as Diana said herself, the reason she doesn't have a large rogue's gallery is because when she deals with them, she deals with them, making her one of few heroes who has no problem with killing. Which is why I advocate two things; 1, give her an M-rated game and have the combat system be similar to the one presented in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and 2, make her boss fights be functionally immortal. So, you'd want people like Ares, Circe, Medusa, First Born, Giganta and Cheetah. All but Giganta are immortals, and there have been multiple Cheetahs.
Now, for the tutorial, you start out on Themyscira and teach her the basics of the combat engine, as well as covering how she gained her powers in Wonder Woman Rebirth, which shows her current version of her origin story, then do a timeskip to the current storyline, and move forward her game from there.
Now, do I think you'd want cameos from the Justice League in the game? No. If the League facilities are used as a hub world, she can talk to them, but her game needs to be her own, since she's never really had one before now. Besides, she's on par with Superman in terms of capability, so she doesn't NEED the help of the League for anything outside information or the odd mission.
And before I conclude this, there are two people you want to voice Wonder Woman in this game; Gal Gadot or Susan Eisenburg. Both of these women have done iconic performances for Diana of Themyscira, and both would be perfect for the role. That said, Susan Eisenburg would be easier to get, since she's an established voice actor, while Gal Gadot is more focused on her movie career.
A Wonder Woman game could be awesome if done right, and compared to some other heroes, she's not that hard to do right. Just give her the respect she deserves, make her the warrior she was trained to be while still maintaining what makes her a good person, and you'll get a great game out of it.
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
Friday, August 16, 2019
What a Superman game needs to be good
Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!
So, after rereading my blog post about how to make a Green Lantern game good, I thought about how to make a Superman game good. And hoo boy, do we have plenty of examples of how to do it wrong. Between Superman 64, Man of Steal and Superman for the NES, there's a lot of "what not to do" stuff.
The problem with making a Superman game is that you have to both feel like Superman while still having some real stakes. So the best thing you can do is take what Superman Returns tried to do and make Superman physically invulnerable while making the city of Metropolis, as well as others that pop up in the story for certain missions, the health bar. Doing this right will make you act like Superman, and not a generic action hero; do you break off from a battle with Darkseid or Doomsday to save civilians, or continue the fight and try to limit future damage to your city? How do you protect the people of the Earth?
Now, the major downfall of the way Superman Returns was how they handled how Superman reacted to civilians and the city. And in this current landscape, with the DC movies and the Injustice series, Warner Bros is more open to a darker Superman. So they must introduce an alignment system; if you let too many civilians die, cause too much destruction or allow the villain cause too much destruction, you take an alignment hit. This still allows you to have access to all the power of Superman, but it allows you to have two different ending; a Classic Superman ending, or a Utilitarian Superman ending.
Now, villains. Unfortunately, Superman's rogues gallery isn't as well known as some other DC rogues gallery; outside Bizarro, Lobo, Cyborg Superman, Brainiac, General Zod, Lex Luthor, Doomsday and the forces of Apokolips, most aren't known to the general public. Heck, I'm looking at his Rogues Gallery, and I don't recognize half of them, and I'm a fan! So, you take those well known guys and make them boss battles, and instead make most of the game's open world missions doing other things that only Superman can do; saving people in fantastic ways. For example, say there's a burning apartment building and there are people still trapped inside. Superman would have to go inside the building, unharmed the entire time due to his own invulnerability, and he'd seek out people in danger. And, as I stated, the people's lives are his health bar; he's got to use his assortment of powers to seek out the people trapped and get them to safety. If he lets too many die, he gets an alignment hit, and is pushed ever closer to the bad ending. From there, Superman can use his powers to put out the fire once people are safe.
You can even have Superman fight other disasters, like dam breakages, tornados, hurricanes (yes, he does have the power to fight natural disasters), and do all sorts of things that protect the people of Earth. And yes, I mean the people of Earth; he may make his home in Metropolis, but his duties are to the entire planet.
In fact, since Superman protect the entire world, you can have cameos from the Justice League to ask for help. You can have Superman go to places like Gotham, Central City, Coast City, etc, and have him aid the resident heroes there in missions they can't handle on their own. And this again brings in the alignment system; do you help, or do you leave them to handle things on their own? And if you do help, how do you help?
And this gives me an easy segue to the alignment system. Basically, you start out with Superman's classic moral code; soft touch with humans, don't kill people, protect innocent civilians while trying to appeal to the better nature of those around him. However, you can lose alignment points if you cause too much destruction, through action or inaction. And if you lose too many alignment points, Superman's outlook starts to darken; a sort of "what are the lives of a few million civilians to the fate of billions?" sort of thing. And depending on how far down you go, you may lock yourself in to the bad ending.
Now, certain missions would give an alignment boost; that fire scenario I mentioned earlier, for example, or things like saving a falling construction worker, repairing a dam or stopping natural disasters. Your ending would be entirely determined by what you do in the game.
And finally, his powers. In order for Superman to feel like Superman, he needs to have access to his full array of powers from the start, and there's and there's an easy way to integrate a tutorial in a natural way; Jonathan Kent. Jonathan Kent is Superman's son with Lois Lane, and he's got access to all of Clark's powers. The tutorial mission would take place on the Kent farm in Hamilton County and would be Clark teaching Jonathan how to use the powers they share. This would be a great way to demonstrate the powers and the alignment system; Clark would teach Jonathan of his classic values, and Jonathan would ask if they took a more utilitarian mindset regarding protecting the Earth, since Jonathan's still a child, but Clark said that they could, but remind his son that they have a responsibility to the people of Earth, reminding him that people can do amazing things without having access to their powers if given a chance.
Superman is the toughest superhero to make a good game for, and for good reason. But if a developer takes my advice, and put the love and care required to make Superman who he is, I'm certain a fantastic game can be made.
So, after rereading my blog post about how to make a Green Lantern game good, I thought about how to make a Superman game good. And hoo boy, do we have plenty of examples of how to do it wrong. Between Superman 64, Man of Steal and Superman for the NES, there's a lot of "what not to do" stuff.
The problem with making a Superman game is that you have to both feel like Superman while still having some real stakes. So the best thing you can do is take what Superman Returns tried to do and make Superman physically invulnerable while making the city of Metropolis, as well as others that pop up in the story for certain missions, the health bar. Doing this right will make you act like Superman, and not a generic action hero; do you break off from a battle with Darkseid or Doomsday to save civilians, or continue the fight and try to limit future damage to your city? How do you protect the people of the Earth?
Now, the major downfall of the way Superman Returns was how they handled how Superman reacted to civilians and the city. And in this current landscape, with the DC movies and the Injustice series, Warner Bros is more open to a darker Superman. So they must introduce an alignment system; if you let too many civilians die, cause too much destruction or allow the villain cause too much destruction, you take an alignment hit. This still allows you to have access to all the power of Superman, but it allows you to have two different ending; a Classic Superman ending, or a Utilitarian Superman ending.
Now, villains. Unfortunately, Superman's rogues gallery isn't as well known as some other DC rogues gallery; outside Bizarro, Lobo, Cyborg Superman, Brainiac, General Zod, Lex Luthor, Doomsday and the forces of Apokolips, most aren't known to the general public. Heck, I'm looking at his Rogues Gallery, and I don't recognize half of them, and I'm a fan! So, you take those well known guys and make them boss battles, and instead make most of the game's open world missions doing other things that only Superman can do; saving people in fantastic ways. For example, say there's a burning apartment building and there are people still trapped inside. Superman would have to go inside the building, unharmed the entire time due to his own invulnerability, and he'd seek out people in danger. And, as I stated, the people's lives are his health bar; he's got to use his assortment of powers to seek out the people trapped and get them to safety. If he lets too many die, he gets an alignment hit, and is pushed ever closer to the bad ending. From there, Superman can use his powers to put out the fire once people are safe.
You can even have Superman fight other disasters, like dam breakages, tornados, hurricanes (yes, he does have the power to fight natural disasters), and do all sorts of things that protect the people of Earth. And yes, I mean the people of Earth; he may make his home in Metropolis, but his duties are to the entire planet.
In fact, since Superman protect the entire world, you can have cameos from the Justice League to ask for help. You can have Superman go to places like Gotham, Central City, Coast City, etc, and have him aid the resident heroes there in missions they can't handle on their own. And this again brings in the alignment system; do you help, or do you leave them to handle things on their own? And if you do help, how do you help?
And this gives me an easy segue to the alignment system. Basically, you start out with Superman's classic moral code; soft touch with humans, don't kill people, protect innocent civilians while trying to appeal to the better nature of those around him. However, you can lose alignment points if you cause too much destruction, through action or inaction. And if you lose too many alignment points, Superman's outlook starts to darken; a sort of "what are the lives of a few million civilians to the fate of billions?" sort of thing. And depending on how far down you go, you may lock yourself in to the bad ending.
Now, certain missions would give an alignment boost; that fire scenario I mentioned earlier, for example, or things like saving a falling construction worker, repairing a dam or stopping natural disasters. Your ending would be entirely determined by what you do in the game.
And finally, his powers. In order for Superman to feel like Superman, he needs to have access to his full array of powers from the start, and there's and there's an easy way to integrate a tutorial in a natural way; Jonathan Kent. Jonathan Kent is Superman's son with Lois Lane, and he's got access to all of Clark's powers. The tutorial mission would take place on the Kent farm in Hamilton County and would be Clark teaching Jonathan how to use the powers they share. This would be a great way to demonstrate the powers and the alignment system; Clark would teach Jonathan of his classic values, and Jonathan would ask if they took a more utilitarian mindset regarding protecting the Earth, since Jonathan's still a child, but Clark said that they could, but remind his son that they have a responsibility to the people of Earth, reminding him that people can do amazing things without having access to their powers if given a chance.
Superman is the toughest superhero to make a good game for, and for good reason. But if a developer takes my advice, and put the love and care required to make Superman who he is, I'm certain a fantastic game can be made.
Thursday, August 8, 2019
Mobile Game Reviews: Vampire's Fall:Origins
In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost
definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile
games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a
mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the
biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is something I found via an ad; Vampire's Fall:Origins. Published by Early Morning Studio, Vampire's Fall: Origins is a sequel to their previous game, Vampire's Fall. It's a full fledged turn based RPG with a full compliment of weapons, armors and abilities, as well as a full dark fantasy story.
Control: Vampire's Fall: Origins is pretty basic in its control needs; you tap the menus, tap the dialogue windows, and you use a virtual control stick to move around the map. For the most part, the tap focused aspects of the game work properly, big thumbs/fingers issues not withstanding, but it's the virtual control stick that requires a little bit to getting used to. At first, I wasn't sure what I was doing, since it doesn't stay in one spot if you're not careful, but once I was used to the idea of pressing and holding in a direction, it became second nature. And honestly, it's this game that makes me think that virtual d-pads can be a good, accurate control method.
Graphical Fidelity: Vampire's Fall: Origins looks great. All the sprites are modern, all the actions are fluid, all the combat is graceful looking, and the overworld and all the things in it look like what they're supposed to. And since they're different, all the combat sprites look great too. All the weapons and armor make your character look different while wearing, something not illustrated by the overworld sprites.
Sound:Vampire's Fall: Origins takes full advantage of what a mobile device is capable of. The music is a epic as it can be for such a small speaker, enemies and your player character all have cries of pain when they're damaged, and they're all distinct for the type of character that's getting hit; a distinct male grunt, a distinct female grunt, distinct sounds from spirits, wolves, boars, and all the other types of enemies are all distinct and memorable.
Story: Since Vampire's Fall: Origins is an RPG, I'd not be doing my duty if I didn't mention the story. Without spoiling the story, you start out as a human defending a town, learning the ropes of combat and interacting with NPCs and doing quests, only for the big bad of the story to defeat you and curse you to be a vampire. From there, your quest is to track him down across the world in your quest to destroy him. Once you find him, you have access to two possible endings, and from there, a full expansion full of quests with map as large as the main game. There is a lot going on here, and lot of twists and turns to get through.
Ads: Vampire's Fall: Origins is very good about its ad policy. Not a single mandatory ad in sight. You can get bonuses at the end of some battles for xp gain, gold or on rare occasions, loot boxes of gear, and like the better free mobile games, you can buy an upgrade that lets you get rid of ads, and also grants permanent upgrades to your account, including a special badge in the game's chat and a vampire's lair which grants extra storage slots. You can also buy shards for cosmetic upgrades, helmets that ad to your stats and wings that add special abilities. All of these purchases are optional and none of those items are required to beat the game.
Fun Factor: I've enjoyed every minute of Vampire's Fall: Origins, even the mandatory grinding. Battles are fun, the story is serious when it has to be and silly when it can be, and the opportunity to pit your character against other players is not to be missed out on.
Final Analysis: Vampire's Fall: Origins is a fun ride if you're into RPGs. The grinding can get annoying, but not insurmountable. It's a wonderful experience from character creation to the final boss of the expansion. If you're an RPG fan who likes dark fantasy, you don't want to miss out on Vampire's Fall: Origins.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is something I found via an ad; Vampire's Fall:Origins. Published by Early Morning Studio, Vampire's Fall: Origins is a sequel to their previous game, Vampire's Fall. It's a full fledged turn based RPG with a full compliment of weapons, armors and abilities, as well as a full dark fantasy story.
Control: Vampire's Fall: Origins is pretty basic in its control needs; you tap the menus, tap the dialogue windows, and you use a virtual control stick to move around the map. For the most part, the tap focused aspects of the game work properly, big thumbs/fingers issues not withstanding, but it's the virtual control stick that requires a little bit to getting used to. At first, I wasn't sure what I was doing, since it doesn't stay in one spot if you're not careful, but once I was used to the idea of pressing and holding in a direction, it became second nature. And honestly, it's this game that makes me think that virtual d-pads can be a good, accurate control method.
Graphical Fidelity: Vampire's Fall: Origins looks great. All the sprites are modern, all the actions are fluid, all the combat is graceful looking, and the overworld and all the things in it look like what they're supposed to. And since they're different, all the combat sprites look great too. All the weapons and armor make your character look different while wearing, something not illustrated by the overworld sprites.
Sound:Vampire's Fall: Origins takes full advantage of what a mobile device is capable of. The music is a epic as it can be for such a small speaker, enemies and your player character all have cries of pain when they're damaged, and they're all distinct for the type of character that's getting hit; a distinct male grunt, a distinct female grunt, distinct sounds from spirits, wolves, boars, and all the other types of enemies are all distinct and memorable.
Story: Since Vampire's Fall: Origins is an RPG, I'd not be doing my duty if I didn't mention the story. Without spoiling the story, you start out as a human defending a town, learning the ropes of combat and interacting with NPCs and doing quests, only for the big bad of the story to defeat you and curse you to be a vampire. From there, your quest is to track him down across the world in your quest to destroy him. Once you find him, you have access to two possible endings, and from there, a full expansion full of quests with map as large as the main game. There is a lot going on here, and lot of twists and turns to get through.
Ads: Vampire's Fall: Origins is very good about its ad policy. Not a single mandatory ad in sight. You can get bonuses at the end of some battles for xp gain, gold or on rare occasions, loot boxes of gear, and like the better free mobile games, you can buy an upgrade that lets you get rid of ads, and also grants permanent upgrades to your account, including a special badge in the game's chat and a vampire's lair which grants extra storage slots. You can also buy shards for cosmetic upgrades, helmets that ad to your stats and wings that add special abilities. All of these purchases are optional and none of those items are required to beat the game.
Fun Factor: I've enjoyed every minute of Vampire's Fall: Origins, even the mandatory grinding. Battles are fun, the story is serious when it has to be and silly when it can be, and the opportunity to pit your character against other players is not to be missed out on.
Final Analysis: Vampire's Fall: Origins is a fun ride if you're into RPGs. The grinding can get annoying, but not insurmountable. It's a wonderful experience from character creation to the final boss of the expansion. If you're an RPG fan who likes dark fantasy, you don't want to miss out on Vampire's Fall: Origins.
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
Mobile Game Reviews: Super Spider Hero City Adventure
In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost
definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile
games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a
mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the
biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is something I found via an ad; Super Spider Hero City Adventure. Published by Onesoft Global PTE, Super Spider Hero had you play as Not-Spider-Man as you use a web to swing across Not-New York, dodging light posts and robots as you try to stop Not-Mysterio. And I say things the way I did because, even though the assets fall under Fair Use, the names of the characters do not.
Control: Super Spider Hero's controls are simple and tight. You tap to leap off the starting stage, hold to shoot and swing on the web, and let go to release the web. And the controls are so tight that you can actually build some pretty good momentum in your swings; any mistake is your fault.
Graphical Fidelity: Super Spider Hero is a modern game with chibi, or character's who are small bodied but with big heads, design. Everything is crisp and clear, and all the text is large and easy to read. All the colors are bright, but not so much to hurt the eyes. And as you go on, you can unlock different skins, including Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider, as she's called now. I'm trying my best to get the Ghost Spider skin, but I've got a long way to go.
Sound:Super Spider Hero is simple in terms of sound design. A sound for the web shot, a sound for impacts, a small explosion sound if you're hit by an exploding enemy, and a little jingle at the end when you win.
Ads: As Bricks Breaker Quest, ads are unavoidable, and are of the "pop ad" type after a few failures. However, I noticed something new recently; if you fail pretty close to the end, you're given ten seconds to tap for a viewable ad to continue on your mission.
Fun Factor: Super Spider Hero is an easy to play, difficult to master game. The web swinging has significant momentum, and you can actually skip some of the dots you can shoot your web at if you're going fast and high enough. The only frustrating thing is that enemy placement is random; they're always in the same place horizontally on the map, but sometimes, they can be placed in unfair places vertically, making dodging them difficult. However, it's random every time, so it's not that frustrating.
Final Analysis: Super Spider Hero City Adventure is a great game to play when you've got a few minutes to kill. Stages are quick, respawns are quicker, and the only thing that slows down the action are semi-frequent ads. Download it and you won't regret it.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is something I found via an ad; Super Spider Hero City Adventure. Published by Onesoft Global PTE, Super Spider Hero had you play as Not-Spider-Man as you use a web to swing across Not-New York, dodging light posts and robots as you try to stop Not-Mysterio. And I say things the way I did because, even though the assets fall under Fair Use, the names of the characters do not.
Control: Super Spider Hero's controls are simple and tight. You tap to leap off the starting stage, hold to shoot and swing on the web, and let go to release the web. And the controls are so tight that you can actually build some pretty good momentum in your swings; any mistake is your fault.
Graphical Fidelity: Super Spider Hero is a modern game with chibi, or character's who are small bodied but with big heads, design. Everything is crisp and clear, and all the text is large and easy to read. All the colors are bright, but not so much to hurt the eyes. And as you go on, you can unlock different skins, including Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen/Ghost Spider, as she's called now. I'm trying my best to get the Ghost Spider skin, but I've got a long way to go.
Sound:Super Spider Hero is simple in terms of sound design. A sound for the web shot, a sound for impacts, a small explosion sound if you're hit by an exploding enemy, and a little jingle at the end when you win.
Ads: As Bricks Breaker Quest, ads are unavoidable, and are of the "pop ad" type after a few failures. However, I noticed something new recently; if you fail pretty close to the end, you're given ten seconds to tap for a viewable ad to continue on your mission.
Fun Factor: Super Spider Hero is an easy to play, difficult to master game. The web swinging has significant momentum, and you can actually skip some of the dots you can shoot your web at if you're going fast and high enough. The only frustrating thing is that enemy placement is random; they're always in the same place horizontally on the map, but sometimes, they can be placed in unfair places vertically, making dodging them difficult. However, it's random every time, so it's not that frustrating.
Final Analysis: Super Spider Hero City Adventure is a great game to play when you've got a few minutes to kill. Stages are quick, respawns are quicker, and the only thing that slows down the action are semi-frequent ads. Download it and you won't regret it.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Mobile Game Reviews: Bricks Breaker Quest
In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost
definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile
games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a
mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the
biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is something I actively looked for, Bricks Breaker Quest. Bricks Breaker Quest is one of many Brick Breaker games on the Google Play and iphone app stores, and its premise is simple; maneuver a ball from the bottom of the screen and use it to break the bricks above it. It requires a minimum knowledge of angles in order to get the highest possible scores, and if you manage to reach the thresh hold, you get the coveted three stars at the end of the game.
Control: Bricks Breaker Quest thrives on a mobile device; the angles are both strict and generous, creating a challenging, yet very playable, experience. All you need to to is move you thumb around the screen, watching the white line that determines where your ball will go, and hope it does what you want it. And when it doesn't, it's no one's fault but your own.
Graphical Fidelity: Bricks Breaker Quest is a very simplistic game. While modern looking, the graphics are simple, and that's exactly what's needed for this type of game. All you have is a ball, a line to determine the angle you're going to send your ball, and all the bricks to break.
Sound: Like the graphics, Bricks Breaker Quest is simple in its sound design. You hear an audible pop when the bricks break, and audible tone when you win or lose. There's no music, but it doesn't need it.
Ads: Ads are unavoidable, but unlike a lot of mobile games, Bricks Breaker Quest only displays them at the top and bottom of the screen; in my experience, there are NO pop up video ads. You CAN buy different shapes of balls to play with, but since you earn diamonds by winning, it's not necessary.
Fun Factor: Bricks Breaker Quest is a game that's fun if you're willing to put in the work for it. Seeing that perfect combo getting you to a three star victory, or getting the highest possible score in the 100 ball and classic mode is so satisfying, and defeat in the regular mode is as devastating as it needs to be.
Final Analysis: Bricks Breaker Quest by Mobirix is a modern take on a classic Blackberry app, and I love it. There are hundreds of puzzles to go through, and all are appropriately challenging. Definitely a must play.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is something I actively looked for, Bricks Breaker Quest. Bricks Breaker Quest is one of many Brick Breaker games on the Google Play and iphone app stores, and its premise is simple; maneuver a ball from the bottom of the screen and use it to break the bricks above it. It requires a minimum knowledge of angles in order to get the highest possible scores, and if you manage to reach the thresh hold, you get the coveted three stars at the end of the game.
Control: Bricks Breaker Quest thrives on a mobile device; the angles are both strict and generous, creating a challenging, yet very playable, experience. All you need to to is move you thumb around the screen, watching the white line that determines where your ball will go, and hope it does what you want it. And when it doesn't, it's no one's fault but your own.
Graphical Fidelity: Bricks Breaker Quest is a very simplistic game. While modern looking, the graphics are simple, and that's exactly what's needed for this type of game. All you have is a ball, a line to determine the angle you're going to send your ball, and all the bricks to break.
Sound: Like the graphics, Bricks Breaker Quest is simple in its sound design. You hear an audible pop when the bricks break, and audible tone when you win or lose. There's no music, but it doesn't need it.
Ads: Ads are unavoidable, but unlike a lot of mobile games, Bricks Breaker Quest only displays them at the top and bottom of the screen; in my experience, there are NO pop up video ads. You CAN buy different shapes of balls to play with, but since you earn diamonds by winning, it's not necessary.
Fun Factor: Bricks Breaker Quest is a game that's fun if you're willing to put in the work for it. Seeing that perfect combo getting you to a three star victory, or getting the highest possible score in the 100 ball and classic mode is so satisfying, and defeat in the regular mode is as devastating as it needs to be.
Final Analysis: Bricks Breaker Quest by Mobirix is a modern take on a classic Blackberry app, and I love it. There are hundreds of puzzles to go through, and all are appropriately challenging. Definitely a must play.
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Star Wars the Old Republic: Gaming on the low end
Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den!
So I've been thinking about some of the technical problems I have with Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I've come to the conclusion that almost all caused by the age of my computer, a few bugs in the game notwithstanding. This computer that I'm typing this article out on was bought in 2007, and it's still really good at everything but SWTOR and a few other games made after 2015, and I thought it's time to talk about some of the issues I have, and some workarounds.
1. Performance- If I try to run this game on any real graphical settings, the game chugs. Pop in, being frozen in place, frame drops, all that. And that's why I'm forced to play on the lowest settings, in windowed mode. At least, that's what Customer Support has told me. And for the most part, playing on lowest functions properly, but I still get the frame drops, pop in and being frozen in place sometimes.
2. Audio Glitches- During cutscenes with explosions, the voice and music slow down and distort. This is most glaring during KOTFE Chapter 16, when Senya goes to save Arcann and talks to Vaylin from across the room. This happens no matter what device I've got it coming from, so I think it's a conflict between the game and my aging sound card.
3. Issues with cutscenes- This game is cutscene heavy, and under certain circumstances, they seize up entirely. Some of them get pushed along if you wait; the portion where Valkorian knocks you down the stairs during his final set of cutscenes does push forward if you wait. But there are quite a few cutscenes that refuse to do so. The most glaring are as follows;
4. Get used to how to do tickets- The only way to get past those frozen cutscenes is to contact CS. And here are all the mandatory stuff you need to tell CS before you can actually tell them your problem.
At this point, you stress you don't care about what storyline bits you miss by them pushing the cutscene forward, more than once at this point, and then tell them what's happening. And then, you hope that you get someone useful who actually does as you ask, and doesn't close the ticket unresolved.
And I want to take a moment to rant here about that; closing tickets unresolved. You see, when I worked CS while on Active Duty, I was told you NEVER close the tickets until the customer is satisfied with the solution. But apparently, SWTOR tickets are set so CS HAS to close tickets in order to talk to you in said ticket, resolved or not. And I'd say 70% of the time, CS Reps will just tell you to do what you already listed that you've done and do nothing to solve the problem. You have to open a second ticket, referencing the first one, to get them to resolve the cutscene issue. I once had to open 3 tickets on the same issue before that CS rep FINALLY did as I asked and pushed that forward. I complained on twitter about that, and it took EA saying "Yeah, this is unacceptable" before anything got resolved. EA. One of the worst companies to work for was the one who agreed that SWTOR CS wasn't doing their job. Think about that for a moment.
Now, do I believe SWTOR is not worth playing with all these things I've just said? Absolutely not. I'm still a subscriber, and I still love the stories. But if you don't have the money for a more up to date machine, you're going to be dealing with a lot of the same issues. And there are some easy workarounds; Don't Kill Koth (though you can still go Dark Side in KOTFE Chapter 10), don't romance Theron if you intend to side with the Empire on Iokath. But sad to say, the Agent story is unplayable for me, since Shara Jen calls the ship after every mission for most of the game. I'm honestly willing to fight through the Warrior one, though, since I actually like the Warrior story too much to not do, but the Agent, which has been getting on my nerves ever since I started experiencing symptoms of my now diagnosed, and treated, mental illness, I can't even force my way through it anymore thanks to these issues.
In short, these are the important things to know if you're playing with a computer as old as mine. Be prepared for them, know the workarounds, and stay beatiful freaks!
So I've been thinking about some of the technical problems I have with Star Wars: The Old Republic, and I've come to the conclusion that almost all caused by the age of my computer, a few bugs in the game notwithstanding. This computer that I'm typing this article out on was bought in 2007, and it's still really good at everything but SWTOR and a few other games made after 2015, and I thought it's time to talk about some of the issues I have, and some workarounds.
1. Performance- If I try to run this game on any real graphical settings, the game chugs. Pop in, being frozen in place, frame drops, all that. And that's why I'm forced to play on the lowest settings, in windowed mode. At least, that's what Customer Support has told me. And for the most part, playing on lowest functions properly, but I still get the frame drops, pop in and being frozen in place sometimes.
2. Audio Glitches- During cutscenes with explosions, the voice and music slow down and distort. This is most glaring during KOTFE Chapter 16, when Senya goes to save Arcann and talks to Vaylin from across the room. This happens no matter what device I've got it coming from, so I think it's a conflict between the game and my aging sound card.
3. Issues with cutscenes- This game is cutscene heavy, and under certain circumstances, they seize up entirely. Some of them get pushed along if you wait; the portion where Valkorian knocks you down the stairs during his final set of cutscenes does push forward if you wait. But there are quite a few cutscenes that refuse to do so. The most glaring are as follows;
- Shara Jen. Just her. All of the cutscenes that happen when she call the Agent ship freeze up entirely for me, and refuse to advance.
- Warrior opening of Chapter 3 of their class story. The first time the Emperor's Hand calls the ship, the cutscene freezes and refuses to advance.
- If Koth is dead in KOTET Chapter 4. The scene where you're supposed to talk to Vette to advance the story after a large battle with Iokath droids siezes up and refuses to advance.
- Theron Shan Romance while siding with the Empire on Iokath. The scene where Jace Malcom dies and Theron cradles his father siezes up and refuses to advance.
4. Get used to how to do tickets- The only way to get past those frozen cutscenes is to contact CS. And here are all the mandatory stuff you need to tell CS before you can actually tell them your problem.
- Your current server
- Your current character
- The location it's happening
- The player affected (you in this case)
- Make sure you don't have any crew skill missions going on at that moment, since some CS reps will refuse to accept them on your behalf.
- Ensure you are playing on lowest settings and in windowed mode
- Reset the mission
- Relog into the character
- Relog into your account
- Ensure your video card is up to date (this is where the conflict lies, and if your machine is as old as mine, your most recent update is 4 years old)
- Flush your game's cache (you can find guides online for that)
- Completely reinstall the game(Or just say you did, since that's supposed to remove any previous conflicts)
At this point, you stress you don't care about what storyline bits you miss by them pushing the cutscene forward, more than once at this point, and then tell them what's happening. And then, you hope that you get someone useful who actually does as you ask, and doesn't close the ticket unresolved.
And I want to take a moment to rant here about that; closing tickets unresolved. You see, when I worked CS while on Active Duty, I was told you NEVER close the tickets until the customer is satisfied with the solution. But apparently, SWTOR tickets are set so CS HAS to close tickets in order to talk to you in said ticket, resolved or not. And I'd say 70% of the time, CS Reps will just tell you to do what you already listed that you've done and do nothing to solve the problem. You have to open a second ticket, referencing the first one, to get them to resolve the cutscene issue. I once had to open 3 tickets on the same issue before that CS rep FINALLY did as I asked and pushed that forward. I complained on twitter about that, and it took EA saying "Yeah, this is unacceptable" before anything got resolved. EA. One of the worst companies to work for was the one who agreed that SWTOR CS wasn't doing their job. Think about that for a moment.
Now, do I believe SWTOR is not worth playing with all these things I've just said? Absolutely not. I'm still a subscriber, and I still love the stories. But if you don't have the money for a more up to date machine, you're going to be dealing with a lot of the same issues. And there are some easy workarounds; Don't Kill Koth (though you can still go Dark Side in KOTFE Chapter 10), don't romance Theron if you intend to side with the Empire on Iokath. But sad to say, the Agent story is unplayable for me, since Shara Jen calls the ship after every mission for most of the game. I'm honestly willing to fight through the Warrior one, though, since I actually like the Warrior story too much to not do, but the Agent, which has been getting on my nerves ever since I started experiencing symptoms of my now diagnosed, and treated, mental illness, I can't even force my way through it anymore thanks to these issues.
In short, these are the important things to know if you're playing with a computer as old as mine. Be prepared for them, know the workarounds, and stay beatiful freaks!
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Mobile Game Review: Galaxy Sky Shooting
In an age where smart phones are in nearly everyone's hands (and almost
definitely in the hands of people under a certain age range), mobile
games are big business; Konami, Capcom, Sega and Nintendo all have a
mobile game division in their companies, and they were some of the
biggest game developers in the 80s and 90s.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is once again something I saw advertised in another game I play, Galaxy Sky Shooting. This game is a top down space shooter, pure and simple with very generous hit detection and multiple modes of play, including an endless mode, a boss fight mode, and a campaign with 210 (as of writing this) levels.
Control: Galaxy Sky Shooting is in a genre that requires precision to dodge fire and hit enemies, but thankfully, it is very generous with hit boxes. No matter how wide the ship is, only the middle section where the cockpit would be is the hitbox for you. So, as long as you keep that section out of fire, you're good. And since the weapons autofire, all you need to do is concentrate on dodging and lining up your shots.
Graphical Fidelity: Galaxy Sky Shooting is a modern game. All the sprites are modern looking and the background is what looks like a modern picture of satellite view of the universe. All the sprites look good, and the text is large and easy to read.
Sound: Galaxy Sky Shooting has modern sound. The music is modern, the sounds are modern, and the voice that you get when a boss battle is about to start sounds clear and crisp.
Ads: Unfortunately, the ad policy is extremely obtrusive; you get static ads at results screens, and the occasional ad after a win or loss that get more frequent the longer you play. They also give you the opportunity to use ads to double your coins, which are used for upgrades and new ships from the market, and viewable ads for other things. Thankfully, if you play enough rounds, they ask "do you like the ads?" and when you say no, they offer one more viewable ad, or a microtransaction, to remove the ads for the rest of the day. They also offer a transaction to remove ads personally.
Fun Factor: Galaxy Sky Shooting is in a genre that is mindless fun, and when you combine good control and reasonable hit boxes, a game like Galaxy Sky Shooting can be a blast. It's great for a short round or two while on the bus or train, and it's also good for "Oh, one more round" gameplay when you're on your own.
Final Analysis: This game would be perfect if it wasn't for the ad policy. Space shooters are a perfect fit for mobile devices because they make full use of what mobile devices have to offer. If you want to toss a couple bucks their way to remove ads permanently, that's up to you, but otherwise, it's a great free mobile experience that you don't want to miss out on.
However, if you've been playing video games as long as I have (since 1989), mobile games have a bad reputation, and for good reason. You see, mobile games have one major obstacle to sucking in people like myself; control. Touch screens lack the precision control that a keyboard, mouse or controller have, so certain types of games are difficult on mobile devices unless they offer Bluetooth controller support.
And that's where this new series comes in; I download a game, play it for at least a week, and let you know if they're worth your time. I'll be judging on a few criteria; control, graphical fidelity, sound, and frequency of ads, if any, and fun factor. And then, I'll round it up to whether it's worth your time and money. And with that, welcome to Mobile Game Reviews.
Today's game is once again something I saw advertised in another game I play, Galaxy Sky Shooting. This game is a top down space shooter, pure and simple with very generous hit detection and multiple modes of play, including an endless mode, a boss fight mode, and a campaign with 210 (as of writing this) levels.
Control: Galaxy Sky Shooting is in a genre that requires precision to dodge fire and hit enemies, but thankfully, it is very generous with hit boxes. No matter how wide the ship is, only the middle section where the cockpit would be is the hitbox for you. So, as long as you keep that section out of fire, you're good. And since the weapons autofire, all you need to do is concentrate on dodging and lining up your shots.
Graphical Fidelity: Galaxy Sky Shooting is a modern game. All the sprites are modern looking and the background is what looks like a modern picture of satellite view of the universe. All the sprites look good, and the text is large and easy to read.
Sound: Galaxy Sky Shooting has modern sound. The music is modern, the sounds are modern, and the voice that you get when a boss battle is about to start sounds clear and crisp.
Ads: Unfortunately, the ad policy is extremely obtrusive; you get static ads at results screens, and the occasional ad after a win or loss that get more frequent the longer you play. They also give you the opportunity to use ads to double your coins, which are used for upgrades and new ships from the market, and viewable ads for other things. Thankfully, if you play enough rounds, they ask "do you like the ads?" and when you say no, they offer one more viewable ad, or a microtransaction, to remove the ads for the rest of the day. They also offer a transaction to remove ads personally.
Fun Factor: Galaxy Sky Shooting is in a genre that is mindless fun, and when you combine good control and reasonable hit boxes, a game like Galaxy Sky Shooting can be a blast. It's great for a short round or two while on the bus or train, and it's also good for "Oh, one more round" gameplay when you're on your own.
Final Analysis: This game would be perfect if it wasn't for the ad policy. Space shooters are a perfect fit for mobile devices because they make full use of what mobile devices have to offer. If you want to toss a couple bucks their way to remove ads permanently, that's up to you, but otherwise, it's a great free mobile experience that you don't want to miss out on.
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