I'm hoping to make the time to work on my own projects instead of commenting on other people's work but I'm not really optomistic about following through. I have a couple ideas churning around including one cheesy game that I'd like to throw together for an iPhone game, just for the experience of trying that platform out. Also, at some point I'm sure I'll get something together such that there'd be a player character walking around in the caverns I created with my Lab1 project. If I can fight off procrastinating, I'd like to have something for the iPhone game, which I guess I'll call Chicken Chase, that can at least be executed. Maybe by mentioning it here I'll feel more motivated to get something done.
In the mean time, here's some thoughts on games I played last week. One kept my interest for a bit while the other two quickly got pushed to the side.
Past reviews can be found here.
[size="5"]Into Space
By: Dmitry Kolyesnik
Played 2011-02-02 on Addictinggames.com
[size="2"][sup]K. Helfenstein - 2011-02-04[/sup]
Hedgehog Launch sort of thing but with rockets instead. The objective is to get a rocket to the moon while avoiding obsticals on the way and collecting power-ups and money bonuses. In addition to money bonuses collected, money is earned based on altitude achieved and can be spent on a variety of upgrades.
Will I play it again?
Probably not. I found it difficult to want to play past the first few launches but after awhile I started having more fun with it. Had I not played Hedgehog Launch, I 'm not sure if I would've known that progress would get better after awhile. There seemed to be a variety of things that bugged me about this game the most annoying of which was the "Oh Yeah" sound effect. I've heard it in other games and hated it in them as well. I know free sound effects can be hard to come by but please, everyone, find something else that fits better. Other than that, I had some difficulty understanding what the controls were and how much fuel I had. Nothing that several minutes of trial and error couldn't take care of but some better instructions might've been nice. Also the upgrade system didn't feel like it really flowed with the progress of each launch. Buying three or four upgrades of a specific item on a single turn seems a little unbalanced. None of these things stopped me from enjoying the game but they don't make it feel like a smooth game (for lack of a better way to describe it).
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[size="5"]Super Swingers
By: Mad Science Industries and AddictingGames
Played 2011-02-02 on Addictinggames.com
[size="2"][sup]K. Helfenstein - 2011-02-04[/sup]
A swinging game kinda like There's Two Wires only with more polish. Get your character accross the level by firing a cable into walls and celines and then swinging from the cable. Release the cable and then repeat without falling through the bottom of the screen. This game seems to have a few levels with different objectives including going for time or distance, however I didn't play it in depth to determine how extensive that was.
Will I play it again?
No. The way that ragdoll physics are used here makes this game unenjoyable for me. The character flops around on a number of axes which makes it just difficult enough to accurately fire cables. I think it should've just been applied to arm joints and maybe legs. If I'm swinging on a rope, my hand, neck, and body are going to be more rigid. The flopping around the way the character does in this game makes it look like he's already dead. Appearance aside, it made it difficult to take into account just exactly where the cabloe would end up as well as how the character was goin to be swinging.
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[size="5"]The Endless Tower
By: Nasta Basta Productions
Played 2011-02-02 on Addictinggames.com
[size="2"][sup]K. Helfenstein - 2011-02-04[/sup]
A rapid file puzzle game of sorts using the num-pad. A timed puzzle is present to the player where the solution can be entered by pressing the num-pad keys. Puzzles are things like, which doesn't belong, press keys in this pattern, and press the keys for these things in order of smallest to largest. Once a puzzle is solved, you move "up the tower" and are present with another puzzle. Incorrect entries or spending too much time costs one of three lives.
Will I play it again?
No. I admit I didn't play long but I got the idea and I think I experienced the majority of the puzzles available. I'm not sure if there's any sort of difficulty progression or if it's just an endurance sort of thing but either way, I endured the game for as long as I saw fit to and decided it was time to move on.
