Like many have complained about, the controls are not great but it's not for the reasons you might think. the developers, much like in Bloodrayne 2, thought to themselves "more complex mechanics = more good". Something as trivial as jumping on enemies heads to gain access to another part of the level is knotted up into pressing jump exactly as you are above their head and pressing down and attack, all three simultaneously with pinpoint accuracy and you have to do it a lot in one level (which makes it impossible, I may add). Also, there is no double jumping... in a platformer where double jumping would make all the difference in enjoyment. Listen, I understand needing to spice up the gameplay so that it doesn't feel overly derivitive from every other hack and slash platformer but, as I said in my Bloodrayne 2 review, don't fix what isn't broken. This was just the developers changing the formula purely for the sake of changing the formula without thoroughly testing the controls. Forget playing this with a keyboard, it makes it next to impossible. Now for a few pros: the art style is really nice, control over Rayne is nice and tight putting aside the asinine decisions in certain platforming mechanics and the music is overall very fitting, nothing particularily pops out but it's definitely serviceable. Once again referencing my Bloodrayne 2 review, this game is only for fans of Bloodrayne, masochist gamers and people who hate themselves but at least want a bad@$$ vampire girl to gawk at for some odd hours.
Honestly, the gameplay is almost awful and don't let others tell you otherwise; they probably have their nostalgia glasses on. Rayne i overall slower moving, has unresponsive feeding grapple if you're too close to an enemy, the target lock is basically a deathtrap as enemies will frequently attack you from every angle ruthlessly (it doesn't help that the target lock will sometimes not lock onto whatever you need it to) and even common enemies will take chunks out of you in seconds if you're not too careful. The game also removed the difficulty option for some nonsensical reason and implemented needlessly complex combos which I never bothered to learn (like hold ctrl, space and mouse 1). Everything feels very floaty and clunky in all of the most unusual of places and it's left me wondering why they tried fixing what wasn't broken in the first game (which in a funny twist of things actually broke a lot of aspects of the gameplay). Now with all of that said, the game isn't necessarily unplayable, most of the time anyways. Bloodrayne 2 is hard as nails but it is almost purely because of the half-broken controls. Trust me when I say there is no shame in falling back on cheat codes for some of the more difficult segments (they put cheats in the game for a reason, I suspect) and you may need to look up a hint or two for a couple of the end bosses. Because of all of these reasons, I only recommend this game for masochist gamers and fans of Bloodrayne, the latter camp I fall under.
Like many are saying, this game is great, is absolutely brimming with potential and you can't help but feel they could've done more. Like my Mulaka review, it's a fantastic game celebrating Native American culture only this one goes more out there with the fantasy (sci fi) elements. It's a fun beat 'em up platformer though the combos are a bit weird and difficult to get the timing right per strike. Only experienced a single bug so overall, a solidly coded game. I definitely hope to see more from the developer as they seem to get better with each release!
The game is short but sweet. Just when it starts to feel repetitive it introduces a new mechanic or ability and every level has a different theme so as to keep things interesting. The developers definitely knew their limitations and maximized the games potential despite it. They wanted breath taking vistas and an immersive atmosphere and so opted for a cartoonish, low-poly aesthetic to fit it all. They focused on having strong, hooking gameplay but didn't want to reinvent the wheel, deciding instead to use gameplay elements they knew people enjoyed and ran with it (pun intended), making the controls feel familiar and intuitive. At the end of it all, the game doesn't overstay its welcome but does sprinkle secrets throughout the levels so as to incentivize exploration and backtracking. On a cultural level, this game is something that strikes a chord with me and is something I will forever hold dear to my heart. Finally, a game that celebrates my tribe as well as our neighboring tribes of the region. I am Yoeme, descendant of the Hiaki tribe. Having a game that showcases the beauty of our brothers and sisters cultures is so significant for us that it may have a real world impact for us on the world stage, at least a little. There is even a Deer Dancer in the village center of Paquime. From that moment, I knew I would love this game. To the developers, and knowing many of whom were Natives as well, thank you.
I had a pretty great time playing overall; it has an utterly massive, diverse city-scape trailing off into a New Vegas-like badlands, satisfying weapons with a plethora of melee, explosives and firearms and various cars and motorcycles for which to explore every alleyway, street or desert hilltop all laced wonderfully in gorgeous ray-traced lighting (if your card can handle it). As you might seam from this review, the strength of this game definitely stems from the exploration, scenery, art direction and action packed RPG elements; you can level up and upgrade your character based on your playing preference, be it stealthy or tanked out. Character customization is pretty decent with the exception of your name (you're stuck with the name "V") and the main plot, while intricate, isn't as deep as it could have been. But now with what I feel are some of the weakest elements of the game and that is the dialogue and linear personality-building of your character. For the most part you're stuck with a very sarcastic, one-liner-slinging, not realistically speaking punk (surprsing, I know). I often felt like I was in a tug of war of how I wanted to portray my character and how the game intended them to be like as the majority of dialogue options were either passive-aggressive/sarcastic or try-hard one liners befitting of a generic hard boiled detective straight out of a noir comic. Most of your reactions, either to other characters or to story events, feel like how any human being would actually behave in that particular situation. There are exceptions here and there throughout the story but I found it difficult to react to situations as I wanted to or at least like a decent person. Same for the rest of the characters, some have very two dimensional personalities while others have actual depth to their characters such as inner conflicts and motives. As others have complained about, it really feels like a non RPG story adapted into an RPG formula. Still worth checking out.
While I admit it's still a bit buggy even as of now, this can be mitigated in the launcher settings by turning off Physx which seems to have worked for me though I could be wrong; I haven't finished the game like this yet. So besides it's mild bugginess, which I hope will be patched again in the future, It's EXACTLY how Wolf The New Order should've been: a fast paced, adrenaline pumping, run-and-gun shooter filled with explosions and gore galore. Levels are kept almost exactly as they were in the original albeit with enhanced graphics, added secrets/easter eggs and interactable objects. This was obviously a product of love and you can tell the creators really cared about this game, not to mention the killer rock music blaring in the background, just to remind you you're in a do-or-die action game!
This collection of 3 flash games, now upscaled, is the most fun I've ever had in the shortest amount of time! You play for roughly 30 minutes to an hour then get done with it for a while only for you to come back for more again and again. The zombies are relentless and will tear through your barricade in seconds if you give 'em so much as an inch, you need to button mash like crazy and hope you get lucky if you hope to make it through the night alive. You need to ration out what little time you are given to repairing your barricade, searching for survivors to recruit and scavenging for weapons and supplies. It's fast paced, a little unforgiving at times with the later stages and fresh every single time you decide to replay it. Good luck! Trust me... you'll need it.
