... nor bullet hell games. But this one has everything right and tight. Input is precise (use a game pad for best results!), waste no time on boring stretches, fast, high-adrenaline, one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard in a game, great visual style, gameplay is varied, learn new strategies for each enemy, get in the rhythm, be punished, punish back, easy to learn, hard to master, always fair, it's your fault if you fail. Now, get a breather. Seriously, you will need a breather after this game. Sadly, I purchased this on some other platform. Will purchase DRM-free if the price is right. Would love to see Linux support.
This game is short. It is a lot of fun, it is disturbing and satirical (did I just write satanical?). It features a blend of different mechanics: action, puzzle, weird. It does not outstay its welcome. The soundtrack (included for download) is stellar, catching and disturbing. There could be a bit more metaphysics and/or fridge horror involved, to my taste. I am missing the PonyCraft gameplay. I am very satisfied with my impulse purchase. If you look for anomalous gaming experiences, this is for you!
Funny and original. Controls are mostly fine, though I kept missing doors and it's not always evident where exactly the roach can go. Puzzles can usually be guessed with a little trying. The story is told through iconography and universal utterings. No language depency, whatsoever. Some cartoon-sequences introduce new settings and events. I finished the game in 2h. My low rating comes from the game being not so engaging to me, just okay.
I played this way back when it came out. I recently played it again and finished the main campaigns in about 10 hours of playing. This game has a lot of problems: * bad UI (unresponsive mouse actions, no queueing, no adding units to groups, no way points for factories) * bad opponent AI (uses always same attack path, runs into concaves, does not defend strategically) * bad unit AI (picking off units is easy, units will not move to protect anything that is being attacked in their vicinity, units get stuck on pathfinding) * units inside a faction are imbalanced (some are crap, others are Giant Beetles) * campaign missions are a bit varied but resort to "kill all humans" very quickly Yet, somehow this game manages to capture me for the duration of its campaign for its fast-paced gameplay, fancy units, aggressive mayhem. While being a clone of Command & Conquer, I like this one a lot more. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a neat, fast RTS who can overlook the UI issues.
I bought this during a sale because Assassin's Creed was said to be a milestone in action game design. I guess this is a console port. Every bit of it feels like a console game. * you are constantly told what to do, what button to press (serious games should teach you techniques and let you apply them yourself) * context sensitive movement looks great but it makes the controls feel squishy and the character looks clunky when he does not do what you expected * the menu speed is awfully slow; it takes like 5 minutes until you are actually in game * forces walking and unskippable dialogue in cutscenes * achievements and collectible-everything Do not get me wrong: Climbing towers, surveying the land and jumping down again is awesome. I just wished the game would empower me more and not hold or restrain my hand all the time.
