Onion Force Review by Boomchacle

Editor's Note: The game’s key was provided for free and this review is a mirror until the author has time to give his articles a permanent home. Republishing on any site without the author’s permission is prohibited.

Onion Force Review
by Boomchacle

In Onion force, with the guidance of the fairy “Lady D”, you fight enemies in a mix of the classical Tower defense game and the side scrolling RPG game. You may expect to see games like this on a website arcade due to its “flash game” like appearance.
This game was intended for mobile devices and it is unique in the fact that you have a character running around killing the enemies in addition to having towers that can kill them for you.This game might remind you of games like “Realm Of The Mad God” mixed with a bit of Kingdom Rush.

Catzilla 4K: Shovelware straight from the litter box.

$15 dollars for a benchmark tool?

OK. Fair enough. 3Dmark is almost the full price of a game. Considering how often it gets installed and used across several WIP PCs by build enthusiasts, overclockers and benchmark channels it seems like a fair deal. This one has the added benefit of testing conditions specific to certain games off-the-shelf medium configurations so this seems like a real value. But just to be sure let's check out the free edition from their website and not the Steam DRM version. Mild spoiler. It's not worth FREE. Much less any dollar amount.

Is this a GPU benchmark or a stress test for my sub-woofer?

So I get into the testing program. Finally. 500 megs of download and then an install wizard that seemed to be senile later and.. well I'm glad I wasn't wearing headphones. The sound track explodes at you like you owe it bitcoin and the sound effects grate harder than a liberal arts major telling you their 'lived experiences' as a daytime chef and a night time erotic dancer. While the comedy of the situation playing out during the benchmark isn't lost on me I did not find it that amusing. Not when the dubstep headache was setting in 10 seconds after starting the benchmark.

What the hell is 576p?

Catzilla's free tests a anemic at best. I know the P in 576p stands for Progressive Scan but I'm having trouble finding IEEE or ISO standards for 576p output on anything newer than a first gen iPhone. The main benchmarking profile maxes out at 720p. A standard I'm aware of and only ever use when someone is hogging the internet or my upward bandwidth cap won't let me hit 1080p for a stream. Why is a DVD standard being used for a GPU when any video adapter made after the year 2000 surpassed it? None of the games I can recall off the top of my head had a 1024x576p 60fps option. Testing for games runnable on a system at such a low resolution is a farce beyond the reward of laughter and straddles the face-palm and face-desk camps like a brokeback cowboy short on funds.

Won't you login in so we can give you the info you freely gave us?

So I sit through two tests. The 720p test and then the Fallout 4 'Can I run it?' test. I didn't expect the 720p test to go well. Between all the tabs open in my web browser and an Android VM the GPU I'm using is getting lightly slapped with 2 to 10% usage. Even at 720p I was certain there would be some stutters. There were none save for the physics test. I was hoping to see what the benchmark report made of my system's performance and see if it picked up on the fact other apps were partially utilizing the GPU. Never got a chance to find out. A Microsoft Internet Explorer window opened, un-summoned, to request that I log in. To what? This is my machine. A report screen, if served online, should have opened in my default browser and not winblows internyet exploder. The Catzilla site stared at me for refusing to sign up for all their glorious offers and promotions until I closed IE with disgust.

Why use something free that works when you can buy this dumpster fire?

Benchmark hounds know the best testing tools are the games themselves. Just search YouTube for any one who does benchmarking videos. They rarely depend on benchmark tools and they use paid (or donation based) versions of tools available for free like Unigen, 3Dmark and FurMark to help in comparisons. Why? Because not everyone likes/owns/can afford the games they use to test with. So here's common ground. A free version of X-Mark tool will give you a score you can use to see how much better your rig is or could be. System builders also buy their tools. It makes life tons easier and there's no reason to not support the developer. Avid overclockers also buy their tools as they want guarantee of accurate results and can legitimately raise concerns if they are a paying customer of said tool.

TL; DR:

Don't buy Catzilla. Not until they fix this shady "login for results" and "you can only test up to 576p" bullshit. If you did buy it then get a refund. 

A week in review: Freeman: Star Edge, SORE and Under Hero.

So this week brings with it my first overall negative preview. I try to avoid publishing a review unless I can score it at or just below average or it has some sort of hook. Something that a rating system can't cope with and even a poor rating cannot eclipse. Here goes!

Freeman: Star Edge [ALPHA]: 5/5
Full disclosure: I love this game so much I'm trying to help promote it any way I can. This article snippet is part of that but not in the pushy way. The demo is free on KickStarter. Judge for yourself.

I will be revisiting this title quite often but for now I'll give you my initial impression. Which was a good impression. Quite impressed. Very impressive. This unity based open world promises a lot of what we loved about the Mass Effect and various Bethesda games. All in a tighter package and based on unity! This means that even low spec machines should be able to enjoy this entire game with very little reduction in the visual aethetic.

The game needs more polish but before that can be done many features need to be added. You don't polish the chrome until after you've put the engine block back in, Granddad. It will be some time before the game is ready for Beta. As it is right NOW it feels fairly complete and would trounce most of what's on offer via Steam Direct or the old Greenlight system.

The various systems will see some loving soon and we're about 2 weeks away from an update. The music and audio effects work. The lore is being worked on pro-bono by someone who really loves the direction. The art and aesthetics leave much to be desired but are functional. You can also fall through the map, get stuck on map features and end up with bandits flying across the screen as they die. Even then. In this alpha state, it is obvious the dev and community care and are working to improve everything they can bit by bit.

SORE: 3/3
Boy. This sure is a game. It's one of those Room-isodes. Try to leave the room by any means. This is gonna be short because there's not much going on here. The aesthetic is retro and minimalistic. The dialogs are translated from Russian (I believe) and it's tone is very dark.

You are a ghost and you are somehow stuck in the cell you recently committed suicide in. Your guard doesn't seem put off in the least that there's a corpse and the corpse's ghost on the other side of the door talking to him. He gives you clues and some dark humor. That's about it. You have to find the keys needed to unlock the door by interacting with your environment.

There's not much going on here but the existential and psychological ramifications seem quite clear for the protagonist. He just wants out. I could spend hours trying to MacGyver my way out and I did on a live stream. I had to quit as I was over time and no closer to the last key. An excellent time sink. It earns a score better than most mobile games and earns a bonus for not having micro-transactions.

Neorj: This is the game I can't even being to try and explain away. As of 10-8-2017 I've no opinion to express so I won't..

Under Hero [Demo]: 7/7
Another retro styled game. This one is a platformer with a very unique combat system unlike other unique combat systems but similar to a few. Keep in mind there are two modes: Exploration and Encounter. Both have different control schemes. Also, and this is VERY important, when in doubt do not use Escape use Backspace. I threw myself into a tizzy trying to exit a shop dialog because I forgot to use backspace.

So what happens when a world has gotten used to the same gimmick over and over? Bad guy kidnaps princess, hero rescues princess. New bad guy kidnaps more recent princess and a new hero shows up. So on and so forth. Gotta get tiring huh? Well sir... someone did something about it. I low order minion dropped a chandelier on Smug-face McSmartpants and his stupid scarf. Now he's inna pickle. With no Szechuan sauce in sight. It's up to the lil masked kid to do his errands, level up, and defeat his own boss before it's too late.

RIVETING amirite?? We're looking at high marks for sound, music, graphical quality, content, the whole shebang. After you acclimate to the controls and dual modes you should feel right at home along similar titles like the Mario and Luigi and Paper Mario games. Though you may relapse and sometimes forget you are in an encounter and not exploring which tosses your button timing out the window. Over all the demo shows a lot of care and polish. Once the full game is out I'm expecting it to be as widely played as Undertale. But only if the story is up to snuff and the price is right.

Get down with the CGN.US

CGN.us
Aka: An acronym I fucking forgot.

We all know and have an ambivalent love/hate relationship with Valve's Steam platform. While this miracle child of former Microsoft Drone turned Industry Maven Gabe Newell has turned piracy on its head it has also failed to allow gamers to really connect with one another. Much like XBL has failed to condition its users for boardroom decorum. For proof of this just look up "Breaded Chicken 'Jerome Meets Flocka'.". It is a masterpiece of XBL interaction. This sort of fuckery is pervasive in a climate where everyone assumes they have the protection of anonymity. But what if you want to interact with fellow gamers in a slightly less ass-pants-on-head fashion? That's where a lot of social gaming sites try to fill the breach. I've tried a load of them too. From sub-reddits to old school forum/chatroom hybrids most turn into Jupiter's big red-hole sized shit storms and get abandoned like an elevator with a particularly flatulent occupant. For much the same reason (too much wind). Then there's CGN.us.

What makes this site different? Not much yet. It's still in its infancy. It has great potential to be sure. Initially the staff seems to motivated and driven toward their goals. To this end they have gone out of their way to attract users who really want to interact and engage. Make no mistake. This is no hug box/cuddle pile of m'ladies and gentlesirs. Most of those on the site are at least attempting to be friendly, inclusive and professional. They are not above some trolling and 'social experimentation'. Most seem to have a firm grasp on when enough is enough. Not family friendly in the least but not acid spitting and toxically faux edgy for the sake of shock value. With CGN.us you not only get a hub for sharing your content as a gamer but also a place to buy or even earn games and interact with fans and creators alike on equal footing. This includes devs and publisher's agents.

The staff at the site have been working full tilt on getting a list of contacts from within the industry and have streamlined a lot of the outreach process for gamers, creators, devs and fans. They provide a forum, a chat system, a direct message inbox, alerts and notifications along with their own store front with discounts. All you have to do is put it to use. The site itself is a powerful tool and is only going to grow. The staff is ready to scale up with the demand as well. Systems for blocking, reporting and cessation of abuses are already in place. There's a second chance appeals system so you don't lose everything if you fucked up once. There's also a system to swat those who weaponize the reporting ability. Though at the moment it does rely heavily on safe-harbor via Youtube and other media sites by providing a hub for content in the near future CGN.us may be able to host its own services. Time will tell if they are able to provide protections beyond that.

Wanna join? Use this referral link: https://cgn.us/refer/12870/
Then give me a follow so I can follow back! Let's see where CGN.us takes us.

A week in review: Raiders of the Broken Planet, MEG 9 and This Strange Realm of Mine.

This week we have three titles. But one unifies them all. I played 'em AND enjoyed them. All titles listed were provided to me free for review with no other consideration.

Raiders of the Broken Planet: UNRATED
It's not a complete game. This is an ambitious episodic title from a publisher and developer that have yet to prove their mettle. If season one's episodes are complete and on time without being shitty or rushed then I'd have no problems investing in a season pass for season 2. Mercury Steam has written a big check here but they signed it with a kiss. There's every reason to believe they'll deliver. I am cautiously optimistic but I can't recommend pre-purchasing the episodes before release.

The first missions are free. You get an adequate introduction to the Raiders, their boss, and their motives. We also see the introduction of no less than two rival factions. While the writing is a bit hit or miss (son of a thousand dingos??) the voice acting carries it. There's a lot of story yet to be seen and I sincerely hope they get to conclude this season in a way that's satisfying to their audience. Although I remain skeptical of Mercury Steam they've proven so far they can combine a unique graphical aesthetic and writing with humor and a driving sound track.

Buying a season of unreleased episodes feels like too much of a gamble. Already there seems to be a framework in place for paid DLC and micro-transactions. As it is the whole setup feels like Loot Crate the Game. When episode 2 hows up will it be any good? No one knows. Even the episodes director doesn't have a clear few as they are too close to the project to see it as a paying customer would. Raiders of the Broken Planet is a lot like the hot hook up at the bar. You have no idea what it's going to be like when you get them home and no clue if you'll regret it when you see them the next morning.

MEG 9: Lost Echoes: 10/10
The game is nearly flawless. The list of issues I have is so short I can list them here:
1) Too short for the cost
2) Some higher graphical setting seem to crash
3) The initial load time was very long for me and asset pop-in was common during play

The voice acting and writing seem to match up. The voice acting itself was beyond the wooden tone I was expecting since a lot of scifi games try to imitate B scifi movies. An effect Elias Toufexis pulls of flawlessly in the recent Deus Ex games while I know for a fact he has amazing range (just listen to any work hes done in commercials). There's a crisp military tone that softens considerably once your operator, his RIG and AI MEG are in the field. Communications with your coordinator become more casual and even conversational at times.

Playability wise the games does a lot for you. Not in a hand-holdy way either. In the three missions available in Lost Echoes they show off a lot of what they plan for future installments. It plays like a triple A title and at first feels like an absolute bargain. Right up until it's over. You're left wanting more so you give the Flashpoint mode a try. For some that might be enough. For me it felt like a MetalGear Ground Zeroes flashback. A full price game with only one map repeated tirelessly. Don't get me wrong. The game is as near perfect as I can conceive. The music pumps, the graphics entice and the story is evocative. But at the asking price I can't recommend this game. If it included the full game's sound track as a teaser bonus it'd be worth it. Though if you can snag it cheaper at or less than 6.99 then GET IT. It is absolutely worth that.

This Strange Realm of Mine: 7/7
A perfect score for a retro indie title. Much like Captain Kaon this game reminds me a lot of the late era of DOS and console gaming. In this case it's a throw back to the '3D' FPSes. The game's style closely follows the Wolfenstines and DOOMs of yore. There's even a bit of Elder Scrolls Arena in this title as there is a 'hub world' that's just a bar really. A place of clam in the eye of the storm. There's no open world. You can just pick a direction and keep walking. But the missions are concise and are tied together by the storyline.

This is a graphically retro game. It attempts (and succeeds) in emulating the 2.75 D look we came to expect in Apogee and ID software titles. It even does a good job of recreating some of the external area levels common tot he DOOM and Quake series. The graphical achievements top out around the same level as Build engine games like Duke Nukem and Shadow Warrior of the late 90s. The music is actually much better. Opting for a modern aesthetic rather than trying to recreate the MIDI music of the era. It does, however, reproduce selections of music popular at the time.

At its core TSRoM is a dream wrapped in the last few moments of the protagonists death. The End is where all starts. The worlds you visit eventually force you to face the same blighted creatures you ran from on the opening level. Many tropes are subverted as well. Reloading a gun means you lose those bullets. Your vision dims as you take damage. The protagonist is aware of their recent mortality and their current situation. The story unfold itself gradually in an attempt to not 'overwhelm' the protagonist. Its introspective and challenging while adding on a layer of nostalgia for an era you may not even been a part of. Worth every cent of the 9 dollar asking price and a bigger bargain when on sale.

Filling it in with Niche.

Niche recipes with no eggs required:
The game could not have a better title. It’s not often you see a puzzle game where the main objective is to survive. There’s crafting even. Making nests. Making babies (eyebrow wiggle). Making friends of the opposite gender through foodie bribes to make said babies. I mean, it works. It gets deep too.

Let's get LOADED. ShellShock LIVE!

Artillery games have been around a while. Many were distributed as demos with PC related magazines or even as full source code within the magazine itself. Later when the dial up Bulletin Board Services and Internet came along we had the luxury of downloading a copy to disk and sharing it with friends. Friends we'd often lose (at least until lunch) when ever we splattered them accross a colorful pixelated landscape. These games made it to the computer labs and offices of many a school and were among the most successful time wasters for students and faculty. Flash games made a splash to such a degree many sites still host these games and use various HTML5 tricks to make them run. WebGL does a great job too in most respects. Before these standards existed the only way to get into one of these games in the lab was to have a really cool teacher and the right access. You can forget all that now though. Just jump on your laptop or Windows tablet and bring up Steam. WHAMMO. Shell Shock LIVE!

I adore this game. Being good at Scorched Earth won me a lot of bets and earned me a lot of free sodas and candy. Other folks played similar games though. Cannon Fodder for Macintosh comes to mind as does the QBASIC classic 'Gorillas'. Shell Shock live borrows a lot from these oldies and does it with a gorgeous presentation in both visuals and audio. The game supports a very legacy-minded 'hotseat mode' which you may have seen in some Android and iOS games. They're the ones that tell you to pass the device to the next player. It supports controllers. It supports online multiplayer. It can also be purchased on
steam in a convenient 4 pack.

For me the game has only one major issue. It suffers from what I like to call FFF or Freemium False Fanfare. It's that naughty mobile app habit of making a lot of noise and splashing around a lot of color and special effects to celebrate minutia. If I could turn that off in favor of a simple feed of what XP I earned and what weapons I unlocked I'd be that much happier with the game. Some might complain that the game never tells you what exactly weapons do but I prefer it that way. Sometimes it leads to some accidental awesome or some hilarious fail.

Score: 98/100
Just give us a way to turn off those annoying 'winning game', 'unlock' and 'level up' screen fulls of particle effects and the epilepsy inducing celebration screens..
You'll get a perfect 100 from me then :3

A Quick Journey in to Disputed Space.

This is a title in a beta state. At least to me it feels like there are a lot of features missing. This footage was pulled out of an hour long play session that concluded with one of the worst eye strain headaches I’ve ever had. I would not do it differently though. So here we have a game with a lot going for it. The lone caveat to enjoyability being the intense lighting effects. It could use some more features. The ability to enable or disable an auto aim would be nice. Turn it on and let the electric death stream forth. Turn it off and the HUD give you an ITT* reticle to fire at. Accomplishes roughly the same thing. Let’s go over a break down of the current build:

Cons (Always lead with the bad news folks):
1. Dem lights doh. Dimming projectiles based on how close they are would be great.
2. Nearly empty HUD. No idea what you are targeting, what’s targeting you and checking your current status is almost a guessing game.
2. Nearly empty Menus. It feels like there’s something waiting to go here but it’s just not implemented yet.
4. No comms. There’s no way to co-ordinate with your NPC wingmates or capships.
5. No Radar. In space combat sims radar gets tricky but Elite Dangerous has a system that deserves emulation.

Pros (There’s a lot to list but I’ll stick to the top five):
1. The graphical fidelity. From the models to the texture the ships’ appeal is right on spec.
2. Satisfying booms. From the pew-pew of the lasers to the roar of other weapons the sound leaves an appropriately lethal impression.
3. Musical accompaniment. Amazing music by Micheal La Manna. Most tracks seem to be from “From Robots To Dragons Vol 2”.
4. MASSIVE battles. Watch the video! That’s just one of the smaller fights.
5. Diversity in hostile units. They also behave consistently. Once you’ve tangled with one of that type you know how they work.

As it is now the game scores a solid 4 out of 5**. It’s in development still and I expect the score to go up. Pick it up now while it’s cheap because even in this state it makes a great ‘instant action’ space combat sim that would do games like Freespace 2 and Wing Commander Prophecy proud on technical accomplishment alone.

*ITT = Inertial Targeting and Tracking. A system that calculates where you should fire based on your trajectory, the target’s trajectory and the projectile’s velocity.
** That’s 8/10, guys.

The Golden Child of Indie platforming. FUMIKO!

Dropped in the deep end.
At least it feels like that time your mom got tired of your s**t and hammer tossed your butt into the pool sans floaties. Or did that only happen me? Traumatic childhood aside Fumiko! does drop you right into the world with NO prelude. None of that pretentious "menu" or any of that. NOPE. *BAM* GAME. Now go play and don't mess with the power main.. I'm making margaritas.

Deeper, longer and a bit more satisfying.
When I put in the title 'Golden Child' it's not click bait. This is what I've wanted from a 3D platformer for a while now. The game plays a lot like Dawn. If you've not played Dawn go give it a try now. It's a freebie title on Steam. The game starts you in a 3D environment you can explore that HAPPENS to have some portals you can use to resume a previous game. You can also access a pause menu. The menu is intentionally jarring and out of place. As if you're not supposed to be able to do that. This makes exploring it that much more tantalizing. Not only does the menu let you get into the options but also provides you with a log and a list of objectives. Save for escaping the sandbox and leaving Kronos server the world is open and the verticality is mind blowing.

Joined at the hip.
The game's mechanics and art style are so intertwined that to critique one is to critique both. Compared to other avatars present Fumiko's character model is more advanced but also markedly more petite. The impression I got was an innocent and almost childish creature in a mature body. As if all that she learns is really just her consciousness tapping into her body's version of muscle memory. Like an amnesiac. They know how to do things but sometimes don't know how they learned it. Since she's so small she's faster and lighter. However her figure is what I refer to as 'The Professor' cuz dat booty SCHOOLED somebody. The environments have a resource light design which makes traversing these zones seemingly difficult for most but for Fumiko its just a stroll through a theme park. As you read dialogs you'll find yourself moving the camera to get a better view. This is something the game encourages in actual dialog. While someone would pick at this as an issue (and claim the dialog is just a cheeky excuse to be lazy) it's well interrogated as an intentional game design mechanic. Fumiko needs to be aware of her surroundings at all times.

Vertical Musicality.
There's a lot of ambiance here. I hate to say any of it mismatches but when a track starts playing for the first time it might take a bit to associate your situation to it. This only happens in certain situations and feels intentional. Just like the pause menu. It seems wrong for a reason. Sometimes the musical cue is too late to really warn you of what is going on. But that's part of the process of learning to be Fumiko. As much as you are learning about her, her environment and the events that brought you together she is learning too. The music encouraged me to be patient but also instigated me to act depending on context. One of the early levels has a graphically doretstid feel but the music is deceptively calm. Read it again. It's distorted. It's a trap. Someone is waiting for you to take the bait and has gone so far as to manipulate how Fumiko perceived that area. Since it would be too resource intensive to manipulate the appearance they changed the music on you instead. Walking too far in one direction will even glitch your screen for a second.

A story you have to earn.This is a game that reward you for being skilled. That's not to say someone can't casually pick it up and eventually git good. That's actually a rather reasonable prospect. Literally anyone can run this game and improve quickly with mere trial and error. Hardcore players have the added challenge of finding hidden memories that may or may not be Fumiko's own. Up until the first major hub world you interact with ethereal dialogs that guide you. How many other voices can intrude into Fumiko's consciousness? Rather than who; What is Fumiko? Where have all the memories gone and why were they missing? Were they misplaced or taken? When will her world make sense again? In the end this game is either brilliant or accidentally awesome. I'm willing to bet 7 bucks on the answer. That's the price on Steam btw. Considering how layered it feels the price feels just right.

When measured against main stream titles she still holds a very honorable 3 out of 5 stars.
If you're looking for another silly romp in a punny/cartoony universe you're better trying elsewhere. There are funny moments so I'd give that aspect 2 out of 5.
This is no Rare platformer. Fumiko really expects you to make those shenanigans for yourself.

As an indie title, when gathering up all aggregates and delivering a score.. I feel compelled to give FUMIKO! a 98 out of 100 as an experience I enjoyed.

Cooking Witch Rage-view: Maybe I can have a salad instead?

Here there be Taboos:
The premise is off-putting. It just is. The concept of cannibalism for any reason gives all of us a visceral reaction. Let's go over the scene: You are playing a video game as an evil witch who eats children. Still sounds bad huh? Let's keep going! The children are left out in the open around fireworks. The amazing parents only show up when they can get their fat butts out of the tent. They only bother when the kids ring a bell. The kids don't even look like people. More like pumpkin headed, free range (and color coded) semi ambulatory pinatas. They don't even look like the adults. Even if the concept still seems like a terrible idea for a game I will ask you to watch a mere 5 minutes of gameplay. Because as a game it holds itself quite well.

With that out of the way:Graphically the game makes use of a healthy amount of effects coupled with very convincing pixel sprites. The lay of the level and the placement of your targets seems right on. The background deep woods aesthetic, tents and tall grass all lend to the idea these morons shouldn't even be out here. The game zooms out when you move quickly and give you a good feel for the over all lay of the land. Graphically a wolf or bear jumping out and snatching your targets away before you can wouldn't feel out of place. The particle effects do a good job of adding polish to the pixelated landscape. The moon also changes color which you might miss if you don't look for it. Another nice visual touch.

Is that the Moonlight Sonata??The title theme song is the classical music piece known as "The Moonlight Sonata" by Ludwig van Beethoven. The stage itself is backed by "Star and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa. This matches up well enough with the fireworks and other pieces in the stage. The use of public domain music is an inspired choice I've not seen since "Little King's Story". If I ever manage to see another stage I hope it has "Entrance of the Gladiators" and coupled with more of a circus theme.

So is it any good?:
The short answer is YES. The game is fun and addictive. The unlocks are paced just right in my opinion. You can figure out a lot of the game by trial and error. I have suggested this game and will continue to in the future. Yes. Child eating witches are gross. If you are going to judge based solely on that then I don't wanna see your name on the score board. Meanwhile Imma go deep fry some hicks who decided to camp in my dang forest, wee hee hee!

A mixed score:
As an indie title it scores a well deserved 7 out of 10. The game accomplishes all it sets out to do and manages to be fun regardless of one's opinions on boiling pixelized kiddos.
As a game you can play in mixed company it scores a passable 3 out of 5. Considering how loud sensitive people have become in recent years you play this game openly at your own risk. It's still kinda gross tho :3

Captain Kaon review. A low price retro style GEM.

As I browsed the art assets the publisher placed on the Steam page for this game I had a sinking feeling someone had taken a 90s era PC game and uploaded it to Valve's storefront. Boy was I ever wrong. Not only was my fear unfounded I was also delighted when I got the chance to play it for myself. In Captain Kaon you play as the titular heroine. Or should I say Anti-heroine? As an ex-con with a checkered past and a commuted sentence Kaon comes fully equipped with an attitude, a lot to prove and an itchy trigger finger. As one of the few remaining gunship pilots she's been given command over the Argus. The flagship of the defense fleet. A fleet left to guard the homeworlds while the more up-to-date cruisers of the INS armada hunt down the perpetrators of the attack shown in a cutscene before starting the game proper. Like many games of the 90s the controls feel like they straddle the space between intuitive and experimental. With what looks like 1950s scifi and anime fusion inspired character design and convincingly dated looking pixel art assets throughout... the game feels like a genuine retro experience. A remnant of a time when BBS distributed Apogee shareware and the 3.5 inch diskettes were kings. For an alternative perspective: the game plays like a cross between the NES games Balloon Fight and Metroid.

Imagine the gravity of your situation:
As you maneuver your gunship through the tightly designed and hotly contested levels you are always aware of the gentle drift your ship has towards the ground. Combine this with a well buffered inertia and the vectored thrusting characteristics of the gunships you'll find yourself keeping hostiles at bay, staying airborne and trying to look good at it. The crew of the Argus stay in contact and inform you of changes to your situation. This is often more distracting than useful but that lends to the retro aesthetic. The interface and control layouts for menus and HUD lend to this as well. When you grapple on to an object a trigger like mechanism slides down into view in the upper left hand corner and looks like it was a borrowed asset from a 1950s scifi thriller. Objects you can lift include Armored Personnel Carriers, power packs and cargo containers. The APCs have to be dropped in specific areas to help capture objectives. Power packs are used to power on systems like doors to aid your progress. Cargo containers are vulnerable to damage so you have to be careful they don't get hit by stray fire or whacked on the walls or structures. They game is also rather forgiving on normal mode. Simply centering the gunship onto a landing pad with the grappler retracted will allow the armor to be repaired and heavy munitions to be replenished.

Egads, man, those EYES:
I'm a big fan of the antiquated 256 color VGA graphics that were ubiquitous with games in the mid to late 90s. It was a leap away from the 8bit consoles and on par if not superior to 16bit systems. The PC's VESA standards even made early 32bit consoles graphics look like bad rain soaked origami assembled by someone who would have been easily distracted by Teletubbies. The graphics in Captain Kaon bring back that feel. When games were trying to decide if on screen objects were merely pixels or full polygons. I can look back now at what we called "CD" graphics and recognized how cheeky we were for associating graphical fidelity with storage media. It was a marketing ploy and most PC users knew it. That said the fidelity of the assets in this game are excellent for their retro style. For those who played Retro-City Rampage or Mercenary Kings and enjoyed those game's artistic quirks have a lot to look forward to in Captain Kaon. My only gripe was the HUGE eyes on the characters. Although I find the mismatch between the 'Boxart' and in game version of Kaon herself charming. As an example: (there's even some duplicity in attendance) you'll notice in game we see Kaon with a pony tail while her boxart has none. In game if you look at the handle above the mission select map screen you'll notice a lock of hair tied to the bar. It's touches like this that give a game polish. The game also has some unexpected mechanics. A twinstick style for aiming and flight isn't that new but in most games of similar genre I expect my shots to go where ever the nose is pointing. But AHA! gunships use TURRETS! Everyone knows turrets can shoot in all directions... sometimes. The one that got me was the persistence of dead pods. A defeated pod slowly falls and can, not only, impede your flight but also block your shots. I really tried to feed one into a piston to see if it'd crush it but alas it was not to be.

Repetition is the sincerest form of flattery:
The game's music is a throw back to Yamaha OPL styled midi BGM mixed with a bit of the Amiga demo scene's use of modtracks. The music does get repetitious but it's only in those lulls when you have to backtrack, deliver some cargo or participate in some other mundane task when you notice it. Most of the time you are too busy adjusting your thrust and trying to get some good shots at a hardened target while you wait for a missile to load. The explosions and gunfire sound effects are well tuned to the genre and atmosphere. When you hear a pod spinning up a buzz saw it's hard not to panic. The same is true if the gunship comes in contact with anything exposed and electrified. You can hear the crack and hissed promise of electric death. There's also the ker-whoosh *WHOMP* you get from the hydraulic pistons. Hearing the Argus' main laser battery open up and roast a column of pods is very satisfying. Some hostiles have sensors and alert others to your position. Those moments require a calm hand and resolve as the warning tones go off telling you to take out that pod before more of them show up. As a tip you can take advantage of their consternation when they lose sight of you. Many pods stay still for a moment in confusion. This leaves them open to a sneak attack and (if successful) no way to warn others you are there.

Drum roll, please:

4/5 - Because I reduce my fractions dammit.

I forgot I was playing an indie game.
This game would have gotten a very solid 6 on a 10 scale. But it earned the higher mark by bucking a few tropes AND being a great game even if you are not some nostalgia addict like some of us are. First and foremost Kaon actually has dialog. She's not a silent protagonist. In similar games the lead character often only has an inner monologue if anything at all. While our anti-hero like protag has the final say in most subjects within the game she is aware she is a part of a larger crew. She might be alone in that gunship but there's a fleet depending on her efforts. She's also on the other side of a revolution against Earth government rule. In the Ceres scenario you are quelling a rebellion. Not because it's right or honorable but because at her core Kaon is a soldier. Something she seems to be adamant to prove after her conviction and imprisonment. At the end of the day the freedom she's fighting for is her own. To that end I'd have enjoyed the idea of letting Kaon leave her gunship to hijack another or to do some marine work inside a building. But no one is getting points deducted for not having something like that. Maybe next time Engage Pixel? ;3

Dystoria. A love letter to 80s and 90s kids.

Visual:
A fine example of how the Unity engine was meant to be used and a loving mix of 80s era goodies. The game reminds me most of an inverted Tempest. It does draw deeply from the Decent well too. A recent game that’s much like this is Vektor War. That game lacked the need for a sixth axis and played more like an FPS. The art styles and mechanics are similar. The ships you can unlock have a lot in common with vessels you’d see in popular movies and other games. Someone look at the one being serviced on the mothership and tell me that’s not an X-Wing. Ofc it isn’t but the look vaguely related. The levels look like either a Decent level turned inside out or maybe an intentionally  failed Tetris puzzle. They can get very complex early on.

Audio:
Dystoria uses a heavy synth-wave sound track. I'd expect something like this being unearthed in the backyard of Uncle Rico. It's practically "Savlonic the Game". Or at least very close to what I'd want one to look like if one were ever made. The game pumps nicely and matches the game's tone. The sounds have a satisfying crunch to them as well. When you get better at blow up baddies from a distance you start to miss the big BOOM and I caught myself intentionally getting closer in combat to get my ‘splosion fix.

Gameplay:
Oh boy. This game has a challenge curve to it. It’s not apparent right away either. Luckily it has full gamepad support and fluid controls. It feels like a casual mobile game the way the levels are broken up and tallies at the end of each level really remind you of a FB game or something from Google Play or App Store. Not in a bad way either. You collect salvage and nucleons in order to purchase upgrades. Even early on it is wise to go back to the mothership and see if you can afford an upgrade around the 4th level. Grind previous levels a few times for more salvage if needed. It’s easy to miss salvage that ends up floating too high and it’s too risky to attempt to detach and fetch it. People who look for the retro games in the arcade for a good challenge won't be disappointed. This game is tough enough that you'll be thankful for the ability to upgrade your ships.

TL: DR; This game is a bundle of Neon tropes wrapped up and delivered. Those who love this sort of 'future retro' aesthetic and challenging game play are sure to enjoy. The graphics are clean. The UI uncluttered. The music matches the game's style. Sadly the game's purchase price doesn't include a copy of the OST. There's no multi-player. Though you can easily compete for high score which means your buddies can competitively help you progress in the game. A nice bonus.

Osiris: New Dawn A final verdict of an Alpha game.

Visuals:

Even with the low res textures and low poly terrain the game looks damn good. You'll find gaps in the map further away from the typical spawn points. This is forgivable since you really have to travel pretty far afield and a long while before those cracks show up. The alien creatures are well detailed. The structures are also given the right amount of attention. This includes the textures which many similar games tend to skimp on. Your little droid companion is also lovingly assembled with the same care put into the player model which is spectacular. Even third person view doesn't do the player model justice. While playing with friends you might catch yourself admiring the graphical fidelity and fluidity of their characters. This comes at a cost. There is very little customization you can make to your avatar beyond recoloring components of the pressure suit. At the time I played the game there was no way to recolor other assets in the game. Being able to produce a custom skin for your assault rifle and handgun would have been a real hook for some. The weapons and tools also enjoy rich modeling with emission effects, particles and mapping that lets you visually differentiate between metals and polymers. I also recently noticed you character leaves tracks in the terrain. Sadly they do not persist for long.

Sounds:

The sound track is gentle. Almost cautiously so. Though it added to the aire of survival it also made tasks feel slow. The satisfying if repetitive slam of the mining tool fits in just as well as the whir of the multi-tool. The handgun shares the zap of the gun on the droid companion and both make satisfyingly crunchy sound when they score a hit on a hostile. When you character tires from running there is an aggressive but not intrusive panting sound that intensifies with more stress. The Head Up Display inside your character's helmet also give off several distinct warning tones. The music is also contextual. When mining or exploring the audio track sticks to softer pieces of the background music selection. It ramps up nicely and delivers a musical queue when hostiles are close. When your suit takes damage the puncturing sound is rightfully jarring and jolts the player into evasive action. When healing yourself or patching your suit there's a calming tone as your HUD acknowledges the change in state and reflects the repairs. Resource gathering and item construction also have their own set of satisfying tones. They do an adequate job of letting you know that you've made progress on your current task.

Game play:

I've stated this in so many place: I wanted to love this game. It's just not there yet. It was a love at first sight situation. The relationship started well but dysfunctions began to show up right away. As fixes have been made the severity of these issues has gone down. But there's still much ground to cover. The list of issues would resemble a diss-track by a popular rap artist. I'll ballpark as much as I can. Because outside of these problems in mechanics I see a lot of potential. First issue would be difficulty. Even at low spawn rates and lowered hostility the alien creatures are a tough bunch. You need items from them to craft weapons suitable to dispatch them without wasting ammo or risking losing a valuable gun. Even a salvaged knife would be a welcome addition if it could 1-hit immature mobs. A sharpened bit of wreckage with a salvaged rubber handle would do. As a child I made shurikens from laminated steel with tin snips. I'll take a few of those. When it comes to resources there's no guide telling you how to gather gases or liquids. Some basic materials become very hard to come by such as carbon. Being able to consume tree bark in a furnace to produce char and refine that into carbon would be a life saver. Getting raw lead from veins of radioactive material would also be beneficial. If I must travel to find these resources how about early in the game we have a craft-able hover pack upgrade for distance travel or some sort of rover? The map tool is useful but it doesn't really seem to scan for minerals. Even a hint in a direction to go to find carbon and lead would be nice. Having to rely on a Wiki page to find resources kills any immersion. In my last play of the game there were still different types of alien meat that do not provide benefits beyond reducing hunger. Why do we need over half a dozen meats that produce an equal amount of individual cooked meats? You could get back a lot of valuable UI space just condensing those into 'alien meat' and 'grilled alien meat'. This simple change would not disrupt immersion unless meat for specific mobs had special benefits associated with them.

This game has sadly turned into another Grav for me. An empty sandbox with no one else willing to play in it. You might get lucky and find a shard of glass or a cat turd in it. But if you sift through it hoping for a real gem your going to be disappointed until the dev takes on player feedback and makes changes needed to make the game worth 25 dollars on Steam. Quite honestly I would have asked for a refund. Unfortunately the game was donated. Apologies to the donor.

TL: DR; At the 25 dollar price point don't bother. It's not complete. Not even close. Improvements have been made. But the devs have yet to validate the price of admission.

Give it another year of core mechanic updates.

Nostalgia HO! Review of Spirit Sphere by Eendhoorn.

Ok, here’s the deal. Spirit Sphere is FUN. Even by yourself. But it makes a great party game. Let's dive in!

Starting out:
With a new file there's three basic characters. Lin, who moves pretty quick and has a good reach with her sword. Buster, who is fast on his paws and can return a shot quickly. Then there's Ozo, a wizard, who moves slower than most but has really good reach and powerful returns. You can unlock more but I’ve not gotten that far. Not yet. You also start with three arenas and two spirit spheres. Each arena is dynamic and plays differently. While the forest arena allows for a lot of item drops with forgiving goals by contrast the dungeon arena forces you to open your defenses to lower your enemy’s while balancing helpful NPCs with item drop opportunities. Killing a hostile NPC might give your opponent a power item. Killing a friendly NPC might get you nothing and you lose their help stunning foes. There’s also the spring arena which resembles a faerie fountain park without the fountain. It challenges you to use the angled walls to your advantage. The starting spheres come in two flavors. Normal and SLOW. The normal sphere is quick and responsive but the slow sphere moves slower. You can use the slow sphere to help train with as it is slightly more forgiving. Unlocks are chance driven. If you want to get new spheres, new arenas, and new characters you’ll need to play a lot in single player or invite friends over for tournaments, much like unlocking in arcade fighters.

Multi-player:
Spirit Sphere allows for 4 player local multiplayer. Plug in 4 Xbox controllers and play. It really is that simple. Using the Unity engine the retro aesthetic is joined by very pretty effects that the developer has gone to the effort of matching to the graphical style. The soundtrack is jumpy and energetic. It really adds to the ‘party game’ feel. Each character has various color swaps you can use in these situations. Everyone can play as Lin if they choose to. As your team winds down you may lose a couple of players. If you want to change it up for 2 player competition there is a Squash play mode. In this mode one player is always on the offense while the other defends. This role alternates. The attacking player bounces a sphere off the south wall and the defender has to return it. If you touch a sphere at the wrong time you’ll give a point to your opponent. If you're defending and the sphere hits the north wall then your opponent scores. More over the low required  specs mean even Windows 10 tablets can run this title. Couch multi-player in that situation would require at most a BlueTooth enabled tablet and Xbox One controller or a Wireless Receiver for Xbox360 controllers and an OTG cable. Sync up the controllers then start the game... ENJOY!

Feature Breakdown:Visually the game is a real treat to fans of mid 80s consoles and 90s handhelds. While it keeps the retro look there’s more to the visuals than you might notice at first. Sneakily tucked into the retro goodness are graphical effects that wouldn't see the light of day until after the millennium. Audio quality is top notch. Eendhoorn utilizes Gas1312's soundtrack really well as it drives the action and keeps the party jumping. The high energy of the music does an amazing job of keeping you engaged in single player modes too. Gameplay wise there’s not much to say. It’s just good fun. The features are complete. The game mechanics feel polished. Besides... watching two defenders try to return a sphere only to trip over one another and score a goal for you is pure bliss. The ease of getting into the game makes even young and newbie gamers viable competition.

TL/DR: As unity games go Spirit Sphere is a real killer. It gives you an energetic musical score, solid single player, amazing multi-player and (best of all) the unlock progress doesn't drag out endlessly.