Broken Age Review (PC)

A Tale Of Two

WARNING: Mild Story Spoilers May Follow.

Broken Age is in a tricky situation. On the one hand, coming directly from one of the visionary marvels of the Point-and-Click genre, Tim Schafer and his equally talented team at Double Fine ensures this game has the merit alone. But has the Point-and-Click genre become over-saturated with so many choices of story, to a point that Broken Age seems like yet another in a large heap of many?
Of Course Not. At-least, not yet.
For the purpose of this review, and for reasons I will explain in detail later, I will be splitting the review into two, quasi-reviews before rating the whole package.

ACT ONE:
Act One begins the ‘intertwined’ adventures of Shay and Vella, two mismatched individuals with seemingly no link to one-another whatsoever. Initially, the story feels fresh, unique and brought back some fond memories of games like Grim Fandango and Monkey Island (whether that be because of Tim Schafer or not, who knows.). The story of a ‘lone’ space-farer, bored of the same dull-routine is rather amiable yet rather confined and initially limited. Likewise, the story of Vella, a young woman with ideas of large-scale revolution against the monstrous beast Mog Chothra, is also very engaging, yet I felt that it was much larger in scale than Shay’s story. When combined with the hand drawn art-style, the environments on display are truly marvellous to look at. Whether it be the decks of the Bossa Nostra, or the lush cloud kingdom of Meriloft, Broken Age’s ‘world’ sure is a sight to behold. In this regard, it’s relatively safe to compare Broken Age to the likes of the Deponia series, certainly with their art style and narrative.  However, after traipsing around the same locations for a good few hours, especially in Shay’s story, the environment begins to feel very stale. You often feel like you aren’t seeing all that much, which definitely comes back to haunt the game later on. As is tradition with many old-school Point-and-Click adventure games, there are plenty of puzzles in Broken Age. With the ability to swap between characters you would think puzzles would start to utilise this feature, however this is not the case in Act One for reasons I really shouldn’t divulge without spoiling the story. Other than this factor, Act One’s puzzles felt very easy and simplistic. Often I would find myself unintentionally completing a puzzle without even acknowledging there was even a puzzle to begin with. Later on throughout the act however, this does pick up, as the reliance on items and speaking to characters becomes more prevalent and key to solving puzzles.
Although starting off rather slow and steady, Act One perfectly encapsulates the overall feeling of Broken Age. The humour and clever writing is certainly on point on both sides of the coin for the first 2-3 hours of the game, with excellent voice-acting to boot. Act One is a perfect example of how to do a Point-and-Click game right. With not too difficult puzzles, hilarious writing, unique environments and fun gameplay, it would be hard not to recommend Broken Age for this act alone (which would have been the case a year ago).
But then comes Act Two…

ACT TWO:
This is when things started to go significantly downhill with Broken Age for me. Maybe my gripes with Act Two aren’t a reason to put people off, but it most certainly is something to consider.
From a story perspective, Act Two certainly broadens the scope and links the two tales together. However, I felt that it was performed in such a confusing and sudden way, that any impact that Double Fine may have anticipated seems overridden. Act Two consistently tries to throw curve-balls at you, which isn’t strongly advised for a narrative heavy game, unless you can back it up. But that’s the problem… Broken Age makes no attempt to back up many of its ‘inconsistencies’, and in the process divides the game’s story into one stellar act and another confusing and utterly repetitive second act. Instead of providing the player with entirely new locales and environments, Broken Age seems to believe that re-treading the same locations and same characters again is a good idea. I have to argue with this (of course), because the last thing someone wants to do after 2-3 hours of back-tracking through the same environments, is back-track for another 3-4 hours in the same environments. I can’t help but feel that Broken Age had the potential to explore and do much more with its universe, which really disappoints me.
Where the humour and gameplay of Broken Age do still shine through with Act Two, my pet peeves with the second act just put me off entirely for the offset of the game, which truly is a disappointment. The now seemingly inter-connected stories do play well into each other, and the difficulty of puzzles does begin to spike up (sometimes to downright baffling solutions).

Overall, Broken Age is quite ‘messy’. Its stellar first act does consistently hit the right notes of a Point-and-Click adventure game, however it’s painfully let down by it’s repetitive and shallow second act. Yet I can’t seem to get Broken Age out of my head. The characters, the worlds and feel of the game are all to be merited, alongside the voice acting and overall charm of the game. Broken Age isn’t a bad game, by no stretch of the imagination is it so. It’s clear that Double Fine cared about this game, which make the final act all the more painful for me. But the merits of the first act, do hold true throughout the game. In the limited environments, they are all carefully thought out just as much as the others. There’s so much about Broken Age’s second act that irritated me… but so much to like about the game itself.

7/10

Disclaimer: A copy of this game was provided to me for review purposes by Double Fine.

Roundabout Review – PC

Like A Record Baby.

Prepare to take one of the wildest rides of your life… Roundabout is one crazy freakin’ experience, but is that a good thing? I can sum it up in one word… actually, no I can’t.

If you go into Roundabout expecting a complex story, or any story at all for that matter, then you’ll be sorely disappointed. But, if you watch any of the games trailers, you’d be foolish to expect anything more than an honest-to-god good time from Roundabout. Instead, you get a; 70’s inspired, insanity driven, driving experience from the team at No Goblin, and that is not a bad thing at all.

Set in the ‘open-world’ playground of Roundabout City, you take the role of Georgio Manos, the worlds first (perhaps last), revolving limousine driver. The premise of Roundabout is extremely simple. You drive around, doing transport jobs for people, and buying hats for your one-of-a-kind limo (yep, seriously), whilst also destroying half the town and (accidentally) mowing down most of it’s inhabitants.

From a gameplay perspective, Roundabout is rather simplistic… if a tad infuriating at times. The main aspect of the game would be the ever-present fact that your wonderful limo is constantly spinning. This, is the game’s ‘gimmick’, it’s Unique Selling Point, it’s jena-se-quois… so to speak. It honestly makes the game, absolutely insane. As you can tell, it makes movement… rather difficult. Trying to time your movements perfectly is a refined ‘art’, and the overwhelming sense of pride when you successfully pull it off is something quite remarkable. However, understandably, it can get rather ‘tedious’, and from time-to-time, I experienced a bug locking me in a constant death cycle.

“But aren’t all the deaths and often ‘agitating’ nature of the game the real reason we chose to play it?”, why yes… yes they are. I can see how some people will find the game pointless, and I can see how some people will find it charming and quirky. But from a perspective of a cynical git like me, I seriously don’t know what to say about this game. At times, I was playing for a good few hours, and at other times, I was only playing for a few minutes. Roundabout is a mixed experience, and it often seems designed to appease people in certain moods. The competitive challenges and leaderboards also help make it quite addictive to play, and they definitely give the game replay-value once you’ve completed the ‘story’. But the question is, how long will it last? To which I respond, it depends what kind of games you enjoy.

I cannot deny the charm of the 70’s inspired cutscenes and design. I cannot deny the ludicrosity of the game’s mechanics. Yet I also can’t help myself see how Roundabout is a one-trick pony. After the novelty has worn off, how often are you going to play this game? That really depends on what you think of it. If you’re on the one side of the spectrum which adores the look of the game and thinks it would be a BLAST to play, then you’re going to enjoy it. But if you’re on the other side, which isn’t impressed and thinks it looks ‘irritating’ and ‘repetitive’, you’re going to hate it.

Roundabout is definitely a matter of perspective. If you like a, simple, fast-paced experience which doesn’t take itself all too seriously, I think you’ll love Roundabout… for a while. But if you’re more into a complex, deep game, with a lengthy progression system… I can’t see you enjoying it.
Roundabout is the definition of casual game. It’s a game you can play for a few minutes, or a few hours, depending on your state of mind. I enjoyed the time I spent with Roundabout. Yes, it has it’s flaws… sometimes it’s too simplistic, and sometimes it’s just too repetitive. But it also has it’s charm, quirkiness and fun gameplay. Roundabout may be absolutely ridiculous, but I bloody loved it.

7.5/10

Disclaimer: A copy of this game was provided to me for review by the publisher.

You can purchase Roundabout on Steam: HERE
You can also follow the dev’s on Twitter: HERE

Jagged Alliance Flashback – PC Preview

A ‘Jagged’ Flashback

DISCLAIMER:
As this title is currently in Early Access, Not all of it’s planned features have been added yet. This preview is of the game in it’s CURRENT state. A more in-depth perspective will be posted upon the games full release.

As a fan of the original Jagged Alliance title from the early 90’s, playing Jagged Alliance: Flashback most certainly felt like a ‘flashback’. However, it is not fair to entirely compare Flashback to it’s predecessors, as it makes it seems to make its own attempts to remain slightly original, despite having some small issues in it’s current state.

If you’re someone who has never played a previous Jagged Alliance game before, let me give you a quick ‘briefing’, of sorts, and explain the main principles as best I can. The Jagged Alliance series are a large selection of tactical, turn-based, RPG games, in a similar vein to XCOM and Fallout 1 & 2. On one aspect, Jagged Alliance features a high emphasis on squad management, and on the other… it’s a hardcore tactical shooter.
These are the aspects the current build of JA:Flashback get right. The combat encounters are slow-paced and engaging, with a real feeling of threat (despite some minor issues with enemy AI), and the squad management aspect is definitely one for the books. HOWEVER, I must point out that JA:Flashback does not currently feel like a ‘full-package’, despite it’s ambitions and potential.

If you were to purchase JA:Flashback in it’s current state, you would be in-turn purchasing a very barebones ‘concept’ of the game Full Control hope to release in the future.
Firstly, the tutorial… or lack thereof. Now, don’t get me wrong, JA:Flashback actually does attempt to teach you it’s BASIC gameplay mechanics in it’s ‘tutorial’, however it doesn’t cover everything in as much detail as you would like. Often leading to some slight confusion when you attempt to play the game on your own. I am hoping that the developers go back to the tutorial and beef it up a little for many of the new players out there.

Another feature that really doesn’t translate with me is the User Interface. In all honesty, it’s the most clear aspect of the game that isn’t completed as of yet. It can often seem slightly daunting, with almost no tooltips to explain many of the key elements. The overall feeling and design of the Ui just seems clunky too, considering the amount of time the game has been in Early Access and the amount of updates it has received, you would expect the Ui to be a little more refined, unfortunately that isn’t the case… and it even goes as far as to include many basic Unity (game engine) menus.

 

The main issue I have with the current state of JA:Flashback would be it’s general lack of depth. However, this could be expected from an Early Access title. The game just doesn’t have the depth or content at the moment to warrant a long playtime, which is rather disappointing considering the amount of time I have spent in previous iterations of the series.At the moment, the story is not complete, and there simply isn’t enough missions if anyone hopes to sink long periods of time into this game.

However, there are many good aspects of JA:Flashback that make me feel optimistic about the games future. All the core elements are here, they are present in the game… and to some extent they are great, it’s just the fact that they aren’t completed and will need a big makeover. Combat is tense, as it should be. The story is campy, but interesting, along with some interesting characters (although they aren’t going to win any awards for dialogue anytime soon). And in general, the game has a significant vibe of… ‘Good, but could be better’. Almost every aspect will warrant the same reply, ‘Good, but could be better’… and if you’re willing to risk $39.99 (£29.99) on it, then please don’t expect a finalized masterpiece. But it does feel like it’s one step closer, with each big update.

You Can Purchase The Game HERE

Action Henk – Steam Early Access Preview

Toy Story

DISCLAIMER:
As this title is currently in Early Access, Not all of it’s planned features have been added yet. This preview is of the game in it’s CURRENT state.

Action Henk is a racing platformer game currently available on the PC. It features a large variety of maps and racing challenges, sure to challenge even the most avid of platformer or racing gamer.
However, the one question I thought whilst playing this title was… Is it really worth the admission price of £6.99 ($9.99/ or your country’s equivalent). In it’s current state (as an early access title), I would say that it just may fit that bill.

At times, playing Action Henk feels extremely reminiscent of games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Joe Danger, and possibly even Excitebike. The design of the games racing tracks is rather open, leading to multiple paths and options of which route to take, in order to beat yours, your friends or the game’s pre-set in-game ghosts. The gameplay itself is very simplistic, which makes the game very accessible to people of all ages. As you complete tracks and advance through the stages, new obstacles and even enemies appear in an attempt to thwart you. In this respect, the game keeps itself very fresh, and with it’s addictive nature, I can see myself putting many more hours into the title as new tracks and challenges appear in the future.

As it stands, Action Henk is currently a very competent, fun and addictive game. I feel that, with time, as more tracks and features are implemented, Action Henk could become a new staple in arcade platforming goodness.

Action Henk can be purchased from Steam HERE

The Last Tinker Review (PC)

Magically Simplistic

It must have been about 15 years since a game has made me feel like this. The Last Tinker: City Of Colours somehow manages to create a fascinating world with delightful (and not so delightful characters), with so much heart and colour it’s extremely reminiscent of old Rareware titles over a decade ago.

Behold The Last Tinker’s Majesty

The Last Tinker is a beautiful game, definitely due to it’s vibrant colour scheme and unique environments. Its clear that a whole lot of effort went into making The Last Tinker look and sound amazing. Often times, the game feels a tad like a Pixar movie… and that is definitely a good feature. The Last Tinker’s musical score is also something of pure majesty. Very fitting with the game’s environments, most of the accompanying musical tunes and character sounds feel like they’ve been taken from a high-budget childrens movie. The audio-visual design of the game is superb and really hits home the further through the game you get.

The Last Tinker was clearly designed with children in mind, that is pretty obvious from many key aspects in the game’s design. The colourful nature, characters and story all lend into this very child-friendly tale of separation and differences. However, one could easily dissect the game’s story (for whatever reason) and see some deep undertones tackling racism and discrimination.
Set in a world where the major colours have separated from each other to create districts of their own, it sounds blaringly obvious from the subtext and even some character conversations that the game is trying to educate a younger audience about these issues with it’s story. For mature gamers, the story really isn’t anything too complex, but it should keep even the oldest of gamers interested.

 

Now let’s get to the meat of the game… it’s gameplay. At this point the game really starts to seem like it was designed for children, and to this degree, it may put a few older gamers off. The game features a combat system, and it really isn’t anything too special. The combat mainly consists of hitting the left mouse button to defeat groups of enemies, think of it as a very simplified version of the Batman: Arkham games. There is very little depth to the combat, which for children – really wouldn’t be too much of a problem, however if you are an older gamer (like yours truly), the simple combat system is very likely to put you off. However, the combat system isn’t centre-piece in this game, so it isn’t really the biggest problem.

Other stages of the game require a variety of different gameplay styles. With platforming and simple puzzle solving coming into play, the game certainly has some variety in it’s length of about 8 hours. The platforming is very simplistic and never really requires the use of many keys on the keyboard, another key sign of the games target demographic. And the puzzles are a very simplistic affair as well with some very easy to achieve goals.

Overall, The Last Tinker is a pretty good time. As an adult, it’s very hard to see major appeal to others above the age of about 18. The very simplistic systems of gameplay never really make the game feel deep, and at often times you may feel like the game wasn’t aimed at you, because clearly… it wasn’t. However, you may find something to enjoy with the game’s cutesy nature and rather interesting story. It’s clear that the game was designed for children, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. The Last Tinker: City Of Colours achieves its goal of feeling like some of the Rareware titles of the day, and in that respect, maybe it’s best that it’s aimed for children. Maybe they will be able to feel the kind of experience we had around 15 years ago, and I can imagine The Last Tinker standing the test of time in some childrens minds.

7/10

You Can Buy The Game On Steam HERE

Site Announcement – The Hiatus Has Ended!

I’m going to keep this short, because I know all of you have better things to do than hear my excuses…

Over the past month I have been spending a large amount of time attempting to manage the site on top of my regular tasks and responsibilities. It became horribly clear the first week in that I had no time to sit back and review any video game, it just was not possible… UNTIL NOW!

All of my prior engagements have been accomplished and I finally have my time back (not all of it, but definitely enough to keep the site  occupied with reviews).
I apologize profusely for not informing you all of this at a sooner date. However, The small hiatus has given me some time to reflect on the site as a whole and has helped me see where I want the site to go next. In layman’s terms… I’m actively working on a  SITE OVERHAUL! (That’s In bold so that you know it’s important).

Now this drastic improvement isn’t going to happen immediately, In fact it could end up taking a few more months. But I just want you all to know that it’s in the pipeline, along with a whole host of new features! I hope you all understand that this isn’t set in stone yet, but it shall happen… one day, and this time, i’ll announce it.

Thank you all for sticking with me through the past month! I’ll get straight back to writing reviews and rants POST-HASTE!

The Sordid State Of Steam – And The Constant Re-Release of Old Shovelware

Driving Me Bonkers.

The consistent sales, easy to use nature and downright usefulness of the Steam platform astounds me. But it’s extremely easy to see that Steam’s reputation has somewhat faded over recent debacles. Case in point, the re-release of a publishers old-tat (or shovelware, as the industry folks prefer to call it).
Now, this isn’t a new situation at all. In fact, Valve’s mega-storefront has been doing this for quite some time now, but usually under a certain radar. Most of these re-releases would never see the light of day on Steam’s storefront, and instead would be thrown to the bowels of the store. However, this appears to have changed rather recently, and to be fair… Valve aren’t really dealing with it in any way.

Usually, whilst browsing through the ‘New Releases’ category, you’re likely to find some absolute dribble being re-plastered and released with a more ‘recent’ release date. Of course, these release dates are a complete fabrication of the truth, and actually just say when the game released on Steam.
This never used to be the case however. As recent as a few weeks back, newly released shovelware would be added to the New Releases tab with the date of Steam release titled, whereas the store page for the title itself would actually detail the game’s original release date. This information used to take some looking for (usually far down the store page), but it most certainly used to be there.
However, as of recent, Steam have been entirely hiding a games original release date, most probably due to the outlash from various gaming personalities and critics.

All These Came Out On The Same Day According To Steam.

This is the point where it becomes ever clearer that this issue isn’t getting resolved any time soon. So long as these games attract an ‘audience’ they’ll still bring in a small amount of revenue.
Now this issue wouldn’t bother to such a degree, if it didn’t harm the other, GOOD new releases to the platform. For example, Ether One. A great little indie game that was pushed down an entire page on the new releases tab, just days after it’s release. If you don’t think this is getting ridiculous, then go ahead and buy all these ‘NEW’ releases and tell me that you aren’t pissed off.

I do so hope that Valve can clear up this issue, if not for our sake, then for that of good honest developers releasing new content on Steam. It’s clear now that Greenlight has become irrelevant to Steam, so long as a publisher backs you up. But even if your game releases… it’ll be only days before the publishers shovelware pushes you down to the bottom too.

RANT OVER.
Thanks For Reading

The Walking Dead: Season Two Episode Two Review

A House Divided

Does Season Two’s second episode fare somewhat better than it’s somewhat stunted first episode? Yes… Yes It Does.

Episode Two of Telltale’s The Walking Dead series definitely ramps up the emotional stakes. The threat of not only zombies is looming over Clementine and her new group of allies, as the stakes get much higher after a visit from an unwanted guest. I don’t want to spoil anything AT ALL, so as per usual, I will discuss how the story works and whether the gameplay has changed at all.

First things first, from what I noticed, this episode actually had a lot less exploration compared to the previous entry. Most of this episode relies heavily on cutscenes and QTE’s, which all work well to advance the story at a great pace. This means, prepare to sit back and relax and let the story carry you along to the next episode.

All these features are great for this episode, as the story is much more intense and puzzling, so sacrificing some exploration elements definitely helps the story progress by putting more emotions and story behind each of the new characters.
From what i’ve noticed, choices from Episode One, and even Season One have really come into play in this episode, which is a great way of keeping people invested in the story. Much unlike the first episode which didn’t appear to really utilise any choices from Season One.

I really want to keep this review as short as possible as to prevent spoiling any of the Episodes’ best parts, so I’ll sum it up like this…
This episode is definitely the better of the two in Season Two. It’s progression of the story is much better paced, and characters are so much more fleshed out and are able to express themselves more clearly. Choices Do Matter from previous episodes, and that is most certainly evident. The music, sound and art direction are still amazing and lend fact to the foreboding atmosphere of this world.

If you thoroughly enjoyed the first series, and didn’t want to rush into Season Two without a clear reason, this episode could be the turning point. ‘Elements’ from Season One rear their head throughout, so Season One fans will definitely find a reason to pick Season Two up now.
As for those people who haven’t played either Season… I’m just going to ask you to stop reading this, and go pick up both Seasons, Immediately!

9.5/10
(Editor’s Choice)

JazzPunk Review

Less Jazz, More Pizazz!

Jazzpunk relies heavily on it’s humorous aspect to carry it’s entertainment value along. Luckily enough, it succeeds in providing an entertaining, if short, experience that all could enjoy. It’s use of slapstick comedy, and pop-culture references are a nice distraction from very minimalistic gameplay and some questionable design choices, and the story… don’t get me started on the story.

Jazzpunk is a stylish, comedic, spy-adventure game developed by Necrophone Games and published by Adult Swim Games, the latter of which is sufficiently evident in the games comedic style. Jazzpunk’s story is a rather simple shenanigan. Almost too simple in some cases, however, this does not mean Jazzpunk’s story is not enjoyable, no… in fact it’s perfect at it job, as it’s just supposed to entertain you… not bore you, or throw twists and turns your way. The story does a great job at progressing the game along at a fine pace, and doesn’t try to interrupt your progress… however it does seem to slow down drastically after the half-way point, as I noticed that the story and humour begins to die down.

Jazzpunk’s gameplay is rather simple. It never throws anything particularly new your way, and usually just involves very simplistic puzzles and ‘mini-games’. Although these mini-games and puzzles are simple, they most certainly are ‘different’ and in some cases surprisingly funny. On your adventure, you’ll come across a Quake parody, Street Fighter parody and variety of other hilarious takes on existing games. In this essence, Jazzpunk is absolutely hilarious. It’s decision to mock other games is rather refreshing and I’ve got to say, I loved whenever it did it.

In short, Jazzpunk is an absolutely delightful experience. Although it may be short, and rather simplistic, that doesn’t prevent it from being a truly enjoyable game to play. It has just enough replay value to play it once more to see what you’ve missed, and to finish any ‘side-quests’ you may have ignored on your first playthrough.
Jazzpunk just a pure good time, no restrictions, no holds-barred entertainment that I highly suggest you play if you’re looking for a short game to pass the time, and if you are a fan of great humour and spy stories.

8/10

You Can Purchase Jazzpunk On STEAM or GOG
Or Direct From The Developers: HERE

Octodad: Dadliest Catch Review

OctoPus Endeavours

I have to say, before I started playing Octodad, I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. After trying the first installment for free, I’d originally assumed that Octodad: Dadliest Catch would be rather similar…
I couldn’t have been further from the truth.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch puts you in the shoes of a ‘dad’… an Octopus, disguised as a man. You may be thinking, ‘how strange’, what kind of people could imagine such a daft concept. Well, you can thank the awesome brains at Young Horses for that. The main consistency of the gameplay revolves around you attempting to control this octopus’ many limbs, through a variety of ‘everyday’ situations. Wake Up, Get Coffee, Cook Burgers, Mow The Lawn… All menial tasks that in everyday lives seem boring and dull. However, when one brings an ‘intriguing’ control scheme into the mix, these tasks get a whole lot more satisfying to acomplish.

Octodad: Dadliest Catch is a phenomenally charming game. Almost every aspect of it’s design has been expertly crafted to be cute and colourful. This proves as a nice distraction from various games boasting high graphical fidelity, where Octodad is by no means a ‘next-gen’ looking title, it’s aesthetic design sure stands out amongst the rest. Octodad is also fully voiced, every character has something witty or obscene to say usually revolving around fish. All the main voice talent is superb and definitely helps to lend more character than would seem necessary, to the family.

Octodad is a tremendously short-lived experience, to the extent that I just didn’t want to stop playing. The story takes you to a variety of different locations, which all seem to imprint into your memory with their designs. Although one mission will have you visiting the same location as you did earlier, the path you take is entirely different.
I don’t wish to spoil the excellent story, so I shall not go into any further detail.

‘That Milk Company’

Octodad: Dadliest Catch is most assuredly an odd concept, but it’s; gameplay, story, design and characters, all lend into a tremendous experience which you have to experience to believe. This is a guaranteed purchase if you’re looking for a relaxing, short and thoroughly enjoyable title.

9.5/10
(Editors Choice)