Hotline Miami, is, under all the neon signs and addicting music, a game about killing people, a lot of people actually. While there is nothing new about a top-down shooter with tons of blood in it, Hotline Miami easily escapes the boring routines of modern games by providing us with a surrealistic experience like few other games can deliver. Trust me, this game is so good you will get withdrawal symptoms after finishing it. Story You awaken in a mysterious room with three individuals wearing animal masks and asking you questions that you can't possibly answer, you don't seem to remember much. Paranoia is an ever present feeling during the short campaign of Hotline Miami, you will frequently ask yourself if what you're seeing is even real, maybe it's all just a drug induced trip, maybe it's all just a dream. These levels of surrealism invoke memories of movies like Mulholland Drive, The Machinist, Eraserhead or The Elephant Man.
Gameplay
You move using the keyboard and shoot the enemies in the face using the mouse, it's that simple. You can also expand your field of view with the touch of a button, an important skill when you need to scout out levels, later in the game you will get a mask that lets you increase the range of this ability allowing you to actually snipe some enemies before they even react to your presence.
Yes, enemies are not exactly brainiacs, but that is the only thing that works to your advantage in Hotline Miami as all the other skills and senses of these villains are super sharp. At the beginning of each and every level you will get to choose an animal mask, these masks provide our protagonist with special abilities and also contribute to the surreal atmosphere of the game. Just imagine, some random guy going through an entire building, killing and maiming everyone in his path just because he was asked by some stranger on the phone...yup, Miami Hotline is that amazing! Graphics & Sound Don't let the simplistic 2D graphics dampen your interest in the game, you have to think of every stage as a white canvas, a white canvas that at the end of each level is beautifully painted using the blood and guts of the poor sods that dared stand in your way. All of this while listening to some of the best tracks in recent videogame history, the fast-paced electro is the perfect supplement to the frenetic and almost nonstop action that Hotline Miami delivers.
Final Thoughts One can't deny the inspiration that Hotline Miami snorted from the 80's, after all, Miami Vice and Scarface influences are very well present here. Yet, the sensation that it ultimately leaves behind, is one of something completely different from everything created within the gaming industry in the past few years, it is truly a unique and cocaine-like addicting experience. Year of Release: 2012 Platforms: PC Developer: Dennaton 10 out of 10
Thanks to GOG.com for providing a review copy of the game.
Kicking off a few months after the events of the original game, Convergence features once again Rosangela Blackwell and Joey Mallone as the main protagonists. Thankfully this third entry in the series keeps the identity of the former games intact by continuing to maintain its focus on masterfully written dialogue, great characters and an unforgettable story, full of twists and turns.
Story
The game starts with Rosangela and Joey investigating the death of a former businessman who seems to have jumped off a building. During that process, which also serves as a small tutorial for the game, you will come to the realization that Rosa has changed quite a bit from the first game, she is now more confident on her capabilities as a medium. So much that she actually ditched the boring job in the newspaper and now dedicates herself almost totally to the trade of "ghost-busting". She has also changed socially, clearly being a lot closer of becoming a "social butterfly" than she ever was in the original title, the constant coexistence with Joey might be one of the causes for such a drastic change in her behavior.
The story revolves around an investment company who seems to be surrounded by death, with tragedy quickly following each and every one of those investments it's up to Rosa and Joey to connect the dots and figure out what's going on.
Playing the first two entries in the series before delving deep into Convergence is highly recommended, the game quickly throws at you references to events and characters from the two previous titles without really explaining anything, who's Rosa? How did she meet Joey? Why are they helping those lost souls? None of this is ever explained, so be sure to play Legacy and Unbound first so you can enjoy Convergence to its maximum potential.
Gameplay
The gameplay remains pretty much the same, it's nice to see that the developers from Wadjet Eye Games decided to keep the ability to switch between Joey and Rosa at will, even better, made that mechanic more relevant in the long run, adding more puzzles and events where alternating between both characters is key.
The easy nature of the game, along with the relatively short campaign might be a buzz killer for some hardcore point and click fans, but if you're just entering the world of adventure games the Blackwell series might be one of your best choices.
Graphics and Sound
It's good to see that every technical aspect has been improved upon, character models and their animations are a lot more detailed, the scenarios while still simplistic have a lot more personality crammed into them, the sound effects are more varied and actually add something to the experience this time around. In terms of musical score it keeps the jazz influences brought on by it's predecessor, adding more tracks and quality into the mix.
Definitely the most important enhancement though was made in the voice acting department, specially in the supporting cast. The recording quality has improved a lot, the background noises and problems with the microphones that seemed to plague Blackwell's first games almost completely vanished. The voice acting itself has also been subject to some changes and now keeps a much more steady quality, this advances the experience provided to the player into the next level.
Final Thoughts
Despite not being a perfect game, Blackwell Convergence takes this fantastic series we have come to love over the years (since the 70's remember?) and improves upon it with great success. The story is hands-on the best of the series, with more characters, more puzzles and a better ending. The technical aspects of the game also have been improved upon and provide us with an even better experience.
Blackwell's third entry is without any doubt the best game of the series so far, period.
Year of Release: 2009
Platforms: PC
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
It seems the sequel to Blackwell Legacy is actually a prequel, who would have guessed!
If after finishing the first game you were still curious to know more about the Blackwell family this is your chance. Blackwell Unbound lets you meet aunt Laurie and Joey Mallone in more detail, this combination of protagonists is actually stronger than the one from Legacy, their love-hate relationship built through years of "ghostbusting" adds a lot to this prequel.
While Joey's personality remains pretty much the same as he still uses those funny expressions from the 30's like doll or mac, Laurie is very different from her niece, she is a lot more though and reckless, it's very interesting to see a more experienced medium, even if that experience means that she does not care as much in doing everything by the book.
Story
This time it all takes place in the 70's, Laurie and Joey work as partners, kinda like detectives of the paranormal, every day reading the tabloids and trying to figure out which news are deemed worthy to be investigated. You can see that the hardships of the job are starting to take a toll, specially on Laurie as she is feeling tired and midway through the game actually starts to doubt what sort of long term damage the constant stress might cause to her mind.
Unbound starts off with two of those newspaper stories still left to be checked, it all seems to be going well as the other news they decided to investigate that night turned out to be nothing. When the team arrives to the locations of those last two cases they quickly realize there are ghosts to be saved, more than that there seems to exist a murderous connection between both cases.
As the story develops and you progress through the game, some very interesting and sometimes quirky characters will appear. For the most part this new supporting cast feels weaker and less inspired when compared to the first game, but don't get me wrong, the first game had a very strong cast and living up to it would be very hard.
Gameplay
The biggest change in the gameplay department is without a doubt the "new" switching between characters mechanic. Yes, Legacy had something like this but it was very limited in its use, Unbound on the other hand lets you alternate between Joey and Laurie at your own will, making some puzzles more interesting as now you have to work with both characters as a team to achieve your goals.
Aside from that the changes are very few, most puzzles are still very notebook and conversation based, even if this time around the conversations feel less fluid as you sometimes have to keep clicking the same option over and over until you get all the information, most of those times one click should have been enough, it just seems pointless and sometimes annoying as it leads to a lot of repetition.
More interactivity with the scenarios would also have been great to see, but at least this way the pace of the story does not get disturbed with pointless clicking and pixel hunting.
Graphics and Sound
The trip to the past that this prequel allows us to experience is accompanied by a completely different soundtrack, some very smooth jazz is now the main focus of the musical score, this was actually a good decision on the developers part as it fits the era much better than any electronic music ever could. A shame that the improvements in the music were not felt in the voices department as well, this time around the general quality of the supporting cast fluctuates a hell of a lot more, with some really bad ones like the old lady (Harriet Sherman). At least the two main characters still maintain top notch quality, Joey like in the original game still remains the strongest and most talented of the two.
Visually Blackwell Unbound remains simple but charming like its predecessor, with only a few changes being made to reflect the different decade. The only big no-no is the disappearance of the portraits during the conversations, why did the developers decide to remove them is beyond me and just feels like a very poor decision all around.
Final Thoughts
There are no doubts that Blackwell Unbound is weaker than the original game, that does not make it a bad sequel as it actually shows improvement over its predecessor in some areas. It's just a shame that those changes don't feel as important or decisive as they could have been simply because the rest of the game undermines those positive changes. A story that is far from being as interesting as the original, a nonsensical ending and a weaker supporting cast means that the player experience is a lot less fulfilling.
For the people out there who don't know who Patricia Arquette is, she played Allison Dubois in the TV series Medium. Well, it just so happens that Blackwell Legacy kinda reminds me of that television show, it certainly seems to have absorbed some inspiration from it at least.
I was never a fan of Medium but I certainly enjoyed the story, the ghost helping concept and most of the characters in Blackwell Legacy, so through my irrefutable logic, Blackwell Legacy "pwnz" Medium!
Guess I better prepare for all the hate mail from Medium fans...what is that?! There are none?
Story
It all starts with our main character, Rosangela Blackwell scattering her aunt's ashes from the Brooklyn Bridge, we quickly come to the realization that Rosa and her aunt were never really that close, still and since she was the only family Rosa had left, she felt like it was her obligation to perform that last ritual of release, never suspecting that this particular moment would change her life forever.
It does not take long until the player also realizes that Rosa is not exactly a "social butterfly" as she brilliantly puts it, seems like living alone and not knowing anyone from her building is what she prefers, it's actually quite funny to see how Rosa struggles when she needs to leave her comfort zone and deal with other people.
One of the most interesting aspects of the story is how well Rosangela evolves during the 2 to 3 hours that the game lasts. Forced to interact with people thanks to her boss laying on her the responsibility of investigating a human interest story, she starts to adapt. By the end of the game that extra social confidence is noticeable in a particular scene where two solutions for the same problem exist, Rosa's social skills can come into play there.
It's good to see developers adding more than one solution to certain puzzles, as well as more than one ending, it certainly enriches and improves their games.
As a final note for the story, there is another main character, but I don't want to write about it so I don't spoil the first minutes of the game for anyone.
Gameplay
Like I said, The Blackwell Legacy gives us two main characters, so it's interesting to sometimes be in Rosa's "partner" shoes. While the game doesn't let you alter between them at your own will, it's still a nice addition, even if it's restricted to a few scenes. It certainly introduces a little more variety to a game that otherwise is pretty much the point and click standard.
The puzzles for the most part are not exactly puzzles, they feel much more like investigations, it gives the game a slight touch of realism since you solve most problems by asking the right questions, you know, like a real journalist. You also have a notebook where you can combine names and specific terms given to you, this way adding new options to conversations. Except for one combination of names that didn't make much sense the difficulty is pretty low, all the puzzles are logical and obvious, never spoiling the pace of the story by getting you stuck.
Graphics & Sound
The pixel art that this game presents us, while primitive compared to some other games, is clear and never gets in the way of the gameplay. The characters have some stiff animations while moving around, but during the conversations - arguably the most important parts of the game - the game comes to life with expressive portraits and very decent voice acting for a low budget game like this. The actor that plays Rosa's partner is actually pretty impressive, displaying some genuine talent.
In terms of musical score, the developers opted for a selection of electronic tracks, they all sounded very good even if in some scenes they were clearly out of place.
Final Thoughts
The Blackwell Legacy is one of those short but sweet experiences, while it's still far from a flawless game - there are some bugs like Rosangela failing to pick up items and subtitles not matching what's being said - it still provides the player with a great experience through its interesting and well told story.
Under the Ocean is still a work very much in progress on Near Enough Games part and because of that I don't think it would be fair to review it just now, the game current version is alpha 5. After playing it for a bit, I decided that a quick look would be the best option, this way I will contribute to the game development and growth.
If you're interested in Under the Ocean you can get it through Steam, it will cost you something around 5€, this way you will help the developers, also by playing the game and giving them your feedback in the forums you will improve the quality of the final game as well.
Near Enough Games seems to have a real gem on their hands here, Under the Ocean is in its purest form a survival and construction experience, depending on the mode you choose in the beginning of the game you will either have a game focused on the survival aspect, or in the building aspect.
It all happens in an island, the survivor mode aka base mode reminded me a lot of the movie Castaway with Tom Hanks, you will have to adapt to survive, build a shelter to protect yourself and in the long run try to escape the island. The free build mode is where you can really set your imagination free and try to build something of epic proportions without worrying to much about the survival aspect, here is where the Minecraft and Terraria fans will feel most at home. There is also a random mode which is...well random.
The game feels very peaceful, it has simple but smooth graphics, even if they are a bit too bright, it also has some very relaxing music. It is actually kinda strange to see and hear something so peaceful just to get killed five minutes later either by an open wound or simply the cold or maybe the heat... I think you get my idea. Yes, the game can be pretty brutal sometimes, specially if you don't know what you're doing. As a side note, the game does not have a tutorial by the time I'm writing this.
In terms of gameplay it's all pretty simple, you drag the items you want to use or carry around into your inventory, it actually took me a few minutes to figure out where the inventory was (top of the screen). You can combine items to create weapons and tools that will allow you to survive, axes and spears are simple things to create and very useful, but there are some more complex constructions, put a few materials together and you will build a windmill that can generate electricity, that way you can power your shelter. Feels almost like home, Tom Hanks would be proud!
At the end of the day I would still recommend to Near Enough Games the inclusion of a tutorial as soon as possible, just so that people who bought the game don't have such a hard time starting to build and imagine great adventures. Aside from that, Under the Ocean seems to have the potential to be a success.
I want to thank Near Enough Games for the access to this alpha build, hopefully in the future I can review the full version of this very interesting game. http://www.underthegarden.com/
"Please, let everything in this game feel as magical and charming as it's visuals", these were some of my first thoughts when I began my fabulous journey into the world of The Night of the Rabbit.
I can say that while playing the beautifully crafted intro sequence I felt pure joy and hoped it would last through the entire game. Now that I have finished experiencing this visual masterpiece I can safely say that while not everything felt as magical as it's visuals, nothing really disappointed, and while the sense of pure magic disappeared, the idea that something really special was created by Daedalic Entertainment remained.
Story
You are Jeremiah Hazelnut, a young boy who has the dream of becoming a magician someday. In the last two days of his summer vacation he receives a strange and mysterious letter containing a very special recipe, after some light exploration through the woods near his house and finally with all the ingredients at hand he "conjures" his first spell which allows him to know Marquis de Hoto, the most elegantly dressed rabbit you will ever lay your eyes upon. He offers the young Hazelnut the opportunity of a lifetime, to train and become one of the best magicians in history (and still arrive in time for lunch).
Being an offer that he cannot refuse, Jeremiah quickly accepts and soon after that they find themselves travelling to all sorts of enchanted realms, getting to know talking animals and all sorts of mystical creatures along the way.
Through the whole game you will spend a lot of time knowing each and every character in the game, you will really start to like and enjoy their company, so when the story takes a turn for the worse you really feel bad for everyone, you will want to help them as much as you can and as fast as possible, including the young Jeremiah. This is a feat that few games have accomplished, making you really care for their characters.
There is even time for some obscure references (my interpretation) during these darker times, alcohol, drugs, greed, gambling and people trading some of their most prized possessions to fulfill their addictions are all present here.
Gameplay
Nothing really special here, have of course to point out the one click system, "everything is one click" like the announcer on the radio says in the beginning. This means that the game will choose the correct option for you. Look, pick-up and talk are some of the interactions possible within the world of The Night of the Rabbit, everything pretty standard in the point and click universe.
A magical coin is also introduced that reduces considerably the pixel hunting aspect of the game, this coin will highlight every object that is possible to interact with, exception made for the many collectibles spread throughout Mousewood.
Daedalic even included a somewhat simple, but interesting card game. Of course this mini-game is mostly optional for those of you who are not interested in that sort of thing, which makes it even better.
Unfortunately The Night of the Rabbit gameplay also has a few flaws, specially in the puzzles department. Most of them are fine and while challenging they also feel rewarding, you feel amazing when you can solve a few puzzles in a row without really getting "stuck"! It's such a shame too see some of them not really working as they should though, sometimes being very picky when it comes to the timing of solving them, other times having some frustrating mechanics and the worst of them being the ones that the solutions just don't make that much sense. Trying out every object in your bag until you find the right one for the "game logic" to work it's not very fun.
Graphics & Sound
Easily a contender for best looking game of the year, The Night of the Rabbit hypnotizes the player with stunning 2D hand drawn graphics, very fluid animations and an interface that it's simple, intuitive and does not clutter the screen.
The music and voice acting are also very fitting to the magical feel of the game, you have to congratulate Daedalic for such a good job in the voices department, with such an enormous cast of character it would be easy to oversee a few of them, but they seem to have nailed it just right.
A very weird pirate would describe Night of the Rabbit like this: "an interface of magic, stunning, high resolution, 2D landscapes, sophisticated score and musical effects. Not to mention the detailed animation and special effects".
If you get that reference you will probably enjoy the visuals and sound a lot, if you don't get it... well you should, but you will probably still enjoy them anyway.
Final Thoughts
Just like the main character Jeremiah Hazelnut, The Night of the Rabbit has more spirit and passion imbued in it than most, it presents you with interesting characters, full of life, hopes and dreams. Jeremiah specially is as believable as a character can get, innocent and naive as only children can be and always optimistic about everything. Even though he is only a fictional character, his spirit and passion for life is something we all can appreciate ,enjoy, and maybe, just maybe try to replicate the best we can!
Year of release: 2013
Platforms: PC
Developer: Daedalic Entertainment
I found about this game almost by accident, while browsing randomly through some titles on steam I saw Element4l's trailer that promised a no guns and no enemies experience, it immediately caught my eye!
I knew then and there that I was looking at something different, more games like this need to exist, this is why the indie market has been growing, the lack of innovation in the mainstream titles is being compensated by the bravery of the indie developers.
Calling Element4l just a platformer does not do it justice, you don't have a jump button per se, you don't even have a "real" physical body, to truly understand the nature of this gem of a game you have to play it.
Trust me when I say that a lot more than simple jumping skills are needed to succeed in this journey. Story
In Element4l you take control of four elements (I see what you did there!) in their epic quest to achieve the creation of life itself! It doesn't get any more epic than this, so I-Illusion said, screw it, that's it for the story!
But in all seriousness, the minimalist story fits Element4l like a glove, it's more about what's left unsaid and what is implied rather than what is actually showed to the player. C'mon boys and girls, use your imagination for once!
Gameplay
Probably the strongest point of Element4l is the gameplay, you control the four elements using only the arrow keys, press the left key and you become a block of ice, probably the element in which you will be most of the time since it's energy free (energy is what allows you to change elements), the up key turns you into the element of air, which allows you to kind of float for a bit, press the down key and you get to be the thing from fantastic four (or you can call it a stone), allowing you to fall faster and break obstacles, finally the right key turns you into the human torch also from fantastic four, well, it's actually just a normal flame but it propels you forward which is still pretty good.
The objective of each level is to collect a soul part at the end, sometimes there is more than one way to reach that goal, which is interesting if you want to replay some of the levels. They also added collectibles and achievements for all of you completionists out there, trust me when I say these collectibles separate the boys from the men!
There is also a Race Mode where you can improve your times and compare them with other players in the game leaderboards, making it a great addition for the speed running community.
All of this sounds simple enough, right? Well, it is, but believe me, it's super challenging! I-Illusion actually added an option to turn down the difficulty of the game by adding more checkpoints and increasing the speed that energy refills. (I'm guessing they added this so that everyone could finish the game)
While the high level of difficulty might be sometimes frustrating and infuriating, you never feel like it's unfair simply because the controls are spot on and the level design is simply top notch, combining sections where precise "jumping" is required and others where you simply have too keep the momentum going and gravity will do the rest.
Of course there are no perfect games (except Superman 64) and so Element4l has a few flaws that should have been addressed, one of the main problems I had with it was the intro sequence, kind of a tutorial, while it teaches you how to work the elements just fine, I felt that the flame should have been introduced earlier, without it the first three levels feel a lot less exciting. They are really short if compared to the rest of the campaign, but still I think this could have been improved.
The "mine cart" sections in some of the later levels also seemed a bit random, I understand the need to introduce some variety but those sections just didn't feel quite right, they are a lot of fun when they work right though so maybe it was just my lack of gaming skills.
Graphics
While the 2D graphics are pretty simplistic, the art style is simply amazing, the combination of colors from the background and the darker tones from the foreground means that while functional and beautiful they are also crystal clear, that means they never get in the way of the gameplay, you can always clearly see the layout of the level, never confusing what is background and foreground.
The animation of the various elements is pretty smooth as well, making those sections where lightning reflexes are needed to alternate between them look pretty cool, they also make you look like a pro when performed correctly.
Sound
This is what keeps the nerd rage at bay after you die for the 100th time. Every beat of the music seems to calm you down, the tracks have a very smooth and minimalist feel to it, once again fitting perfectly with the style of the game.
The folks from Mind Tree really outdid themselves here (it's actually just one person, thanks to coolernow123 for the correction), almost every track feels magical, some more upbeat, others more relaxed, most of them amazing!
The few sound effects that the game has fit perfectly with the musical score.
Conclusion
Element4l was a really nice surprise to me, sometimes a game appears out of nowhere that blows you out of the water, presenting you with something completely different and original. Element4l is one of those game.
Of course it also backs up those original concepts with some responsive gameplay, smooth soundtrack and good looking graphics.
Yes, the game is very challenging, even the developers point that out, but this challenge also means that when you beat a level you feel a sense of accomplishment that only these hard as nails type of games can give you.
The developers probably felt that sometimes the game might create some kind of frustration on the player, so they have added a nice layer of comedy to each level with references and jokes from a text narrator, probably hoping that by keeping the game lighthearted it would not stress players out so quickly, it worked for me.
