"The Case of the Golden Idol" takes the template established by Lucas Pope in his fantastic "Return of the Obra Dinn" and simplifies it mechanically to support a much more complex storyline. It's a puzzle game which has the player fill in incomplete sentences to put together the plot of the game, scene by scene. Player has to deduce what happened from the available information, being subtly guided by language itself: both the available words and the structure of the sentence. The resulting game is a fantastic gameplay experience with an intriguing storyline. I enjoyed it from start to finish!
Conarium is a decent attempt at emulating Lovecraft's writing in video game form. It could have been more imaginative, but at least it doesn't fail as an adaptation; it plays to the source material's strengths and weaknesses alike. You will encounter hints of worlds beyond our own: some subtle and spooky, and some taking shape of goofy lizard creatures or reanimated mummies. That's all very much in Lovecraft spirit. Devs show some restraint in regards to tentacles and direct references to Cthulhu mythos. Both are present, but tastefully spaced out. There's also a lot of overwritten prose scattered around which can be read at your leisure; I found it mostly compelling even if predictable. Now, here's where Conarium really succeeds - it looks just GREAT. I mean it, the environments are crafted with incredible flair, the atmosphere is top notch, and the lighting is pretty awesome. It's a good thing, cause in terms of gameplay Conarium is a rather basic first person puzzle game. All except for maybe two puzzles are so simple that you'll see people calling this game a 'walking sim' a lot; but those two harder puzzles can catch you off guard if you get too comfortable and stop paying attention. All in all, while it's not a masterpiece by any stretch, Conarium is a tight and concise Lovecraft-inspired game that delivers the goods.
I was quite frustrated with Hollowbody, but I did enjoy the visual style and atmosphere. And let's be clear: in a game like this, vibe is king, and Hollowbody gets the vibe right. It's a bit rough around the edges though. I'm talking just a few days past release, mind you; so your experience will be smoother after a patch or two, I bet. But it's also rough around the edges in ways that can't be patched out: the puzzles are - with a few exceptions - weak, and the map design is inferior to the genre's greats. I think the game wants to feel like a journey, but for that to work the story would need more meat on its bones. It has a start and an end, but between them there are more lore documents than characters or events. I... I actually liked this developer's first game more, though I'm sure not many players would agree with me. Chasing Static was a simpler and shorter title, but it felt like a perfectly paced small adventure. Hollowbody is in many ways better, but I can't help but feel that it punches above its weight. Both are worth playing though. (Actually, it would be nice to have Chasing Static on GoG, while we're at it!) Now, would I recommend this game? Yeah, I would, to the right player with the right expectations. Would I want to see this dev make another game? Oh absolutely, whatever Nathan Hamley does next, I will play it. Can't wait, actually!
It's a nice gateway to survival horror for younger audiences and for people who can't deal with the stress inherent to the genre. And for me, since I like horror quite a bit, it's just a nice and simple experience with a pretty art style and some engaging exploration. Most of the things this game does, it does just well enough. There's the sense of discovery you'd want from a game like this, and the scares are competent; they can still give you the chills without overwhelming anyone. I have just two complaints. One, combat is meh. It's so simple that it's over quick, but I think I'd actually prefer it to be discouraged more, because stealth is more tense. I suspect (but as of writing this have not yet confirmed myself) that there's some sort of hidden ending hidden behind collectibles and, possibly, if you don't kill any monsters. So maybe it makes more sense than I think. And then my issue number two, I think the story handles the theme of bullying in an uninspired way. I think neither kid nor adult will take anything compelling out of it. The mechanisms are not highlighted too well, the metaphors don't say anything other than "bullying bad", and both non-secret endings don't complement the message quite well enough.
"Stay Out of the House" is a mix of survival horror and immersive sim genres. You will clench your fists in suspense as you crouch walk around the eponymous house, and scrounge for resources to live another day. But also, you will discover alternate routes, alternate solutions, and alternate strategies to deal with the ever-present threat. While giving you SOME freedom, the game never lets the stranglehold it has you in. It can be atmospheric, scary, dumb, goofy and frustrating all at the same time, but one thing it never is is boring. Puppet Combo has made a great, messy, mean masterpiece, one that will surely be quite tough to follow up. Before you jump into this experience, however, three words of warning. One, this game is out to kill you and it won't stop at nothing, so choose the difficulty level wisely. Two, expect some jank - this is low budget horror and all sorts of weird bugs can happen, including the enemy AI just going haywire at times. Three, get ready for those puzzles, cause they are downright mean. For the amount of space you have to cover, the number of times the puzzle design relies on tedious pixel hunts is concerning. In abscence of proper sign-posting on the part of designer, I'd advise to check a walkthrough rather than allow the frustration to cloud your enjoyment of this wonderful gem.
"Forgive Me Father" has got 12 levels and 2 bosses so far, and even though the game is - as of this moment - still incomplete, what's there is already quite good. The Lovecraftian aesthetic is pretty tired at this point, but the comic book style graphics sell it anyway. The shootouts are fun, though the game could do with less cramped in-doors combat arenas. The soundtrack is fine, the weapons are okay, there's not really anything to complain. If I were you, I'd give it a try.
"Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi" is a jankfest, no doubt about it. It forces the player into about 10-15 escort quests, and the AI is, well, what you would expect from a low-budget game from 2003. The character and enemy models are far from pretty, and their animations barely work. But "Nosferatu" remains engaging, because it greatly rewards exploration: every NPC you save provides you with a neat weapon or an item, or some kind off temporary buff. It has a smartly designed arsenal, with different weapons working better against certain enemy types. It gets everything right, except for all the stuff that it gets terribly wrong. You should catch my meaning by now - if you are willing to give it a try, despite all of its flaws, you may end up thoroughly enjoying "Nosferatu". I did.
The "Call of Juarez" series has always occupied that unfortunate 'almost good' space in the FPS genre, never really reaching the AAA polish, and nevery really compensating for it with very good gameplay. That was until "Gunslinger", which is an incredibly fun mid-budget affair with some decent humor, quick-paced shooting and cool cell-shaded graphics. It was released to little fanfare, but I think it's easily one of the best shooters of the 2010s, and perhaps the most fun shooter of 2013 alongside Far Cry: Blood Dragon. Seeing as you can now buy it dirt cheap, I'd say give it a try even if western is not really your genre.
"Blood" is not only easily my favorite Build Engine shooter, it's actually my favorite shooter of all time. It's a great feeling FPS experience with a fun setting, nice midi soundtrack, great psychotic protagonist and - last but not least - THE most satisfying double barrel shotgun I have ever seen in a video game. The Fresh Supply port is very decent, and is actually my favorite way to play the game these days. However, this edition on GoG also includes downloads for the older version, the One Unit Whole Blood edition, which is compatible with several source ports. So you're basically free to pick your favorite way to play "Blood". A note to new fans: do yourself a favor, and once you complete the game, try the famous "Deathwish" mod (can be easily downloaded from ModDb). It's so great it could be an official sequel.
In recent years the retro FPS genre has really started rolling, which means two things: a) fortunately, there's a lot more games to choose from, b) unfortunately, there's a lot more games to choose from, as in: we are slowly getting flooded. "Amid Evil" came with the first wave of the revival, but it stands tall even today, amongst much greater competition. It has all that you need in a retro FPS: great art design, great music, finely crafted levels and perfectly tuned gameplay. It's also punishingly hard and maybe a few levels too long for my taste, but I still love it.
