REVIEW of JazzPunk / A Sleuth Aloof

From the moment that you press ‘start game’ on Necrophone Games’ Jazzpunk, you will know that you’re in for a totally unique experience. Jazzpunk, like the title suggests, is a clashing of styles and ideas that mesh into one wild story of espionage in the virtual world. Jazzpunk is two parts Saul Bass, mixed with some Ren and Stimpy, thrown in with Naked Gun,  and garnished with some Cowboy Bebop- the game is whatever it wants to be whenever it want to. This first person game operates like “Gone Home” or “Dear Esther” in that you play a singular character walking through the narrative and experiencing the story as it is thrown at you. Personally, I have found these types of games to be effective for a singular narrative to champion the gamer’s narrative, but I have also found it to be limiting when considering the relationship of the gamer to the video game. This is not to say that Jazzpunk sucks, it’s very good at what it does and it’s very funny at that- it’s chock full of sly references and gut busting jokes. Jazzpunk sells on steam for 14.99 USD and is available for Mac, Pc, and Linux.

The most commendable element of Jazzpunk are the ideas it throws onscreen: many design elements suggest a spy-espionage game set in a retrofuturistic 1950’s, but the game is constantly taking you to different places. I opened up a pizza box and ended up being sucked into a computer game where I fought zombies made of pizza and found a pizza-cabin in the woods that had references to The Shining and The Evil Dead, I helped a geisha swat flies but ended up smashing more pots in her shop than flies (Zelda reference), and I fought a car just like in Street Fighter 2. Everything about the game is absolutely absurd. The sidequests have no purpose other than to deliver a punchline, but the punchlines are worth your trouble. The whole of Jazzpunk is made around jokes and it delivers them to you if you take the time to seek them out. I think it’s cool to see such an eclectic mix of elements onscreen- you never know what to expect when the game does whatever the hell it wants to.

The game is a short experience- I beat it in around two hours. Granted, I didn’t experience everything that Jazzpunk has to offer, but I did a lot given that I took my time and explored what I wanted to. This has been happening a lot with indie games I have played recently- most of these narratively rich stories can’t last forever, but it would be nice to see them drawn out a little more- especially given that Jazzpunk has a 14.99 pricetag on it (I consider it to be high-priced given the length). But, despite my game-length woes, it is a well rounded and unique experience. The most fun parts of the game for me were some of the mini-games offered in sidequests like the streetfighter 2 parody or the Quake Arena parody- they made me want something more from the game. I wish the game had played out more like its mini-games, I think it would benefit from having more involved action with jokes strung-along in between. Narratively, all of the spy genre elements are present: there’s the double cross, the other spies that shadow you, the mysterious woman, the dubious villain who takes all you love- but when it comes to player action, I felt that it could have been more involved. When I see a spy in a video game I want to BE the spy and I want to be heavily involved in the actions that take place- when the narrative experience makes it more of a walk-through cinema in the same vein as Gone Home, I feel like there’s a lost potential given what the video-games can do for narrative. What’s lost in being subject to a pre-determined narrative and side-quest gags are that they limit the replayability of the game and offer very little in the way of player choice or player constructed narratives. To me, games like Jazzpunk that follow this design can be wonderful for first time experiences and can really offer some genuinely wonderful moments, but the problem with these games is that I don’t see myself going back to replay them anytime soon- the jokes are already told, the twists won’t be surprising, there is nothing I can do in the game that hasn’t been done before. This was my only frustration with Jazzpunk given that other games that riff on the spy genre well like the conspiracy theory level in Psychonauts, offered up a lot of laughs with jokes about spies and espionage, but also had a lot of player-centric action that kept me involved. It’s really a matter of personal opinion and preference for Jazzpunk to be a more involved experience, but I still enjoyed my time with it and laughed pretty hard at some of the jokes in the game.

Jazzpunk is a great meshing of pop culture and comedy and it certainly offers a well written narrative that will most certainly be enjoyed the first time around. The controls for both keyboard + mouse and gamepad work smoothly, the game runs well, and the games visual style is unparalleled- so there is little to complain about with the game’s functionality and design. The one consideration for the gamer to take in before purchasing is this- are you looking for a good one-time experience? If so, then this game is a fantastically well-crafted experience. But, if replayability is of concern, then I would recommend waiting for a Steam sale or playing this at a friend’s house to experience all the laughs and surprises that the game has to offer in the first playthrough. I have no doubt in my mind that this game will inspire a lot of game designers to make something unique in the future based on how Jazzpunk blended styles and genres so well, and the game will be remembered as one of the funnier games in existence- so I’m not knocking this well made experience, but I do think that it’s very much a one playthrough experience for most gamers.

Steam Recommendation:

Experience it at least once,

but you can wait to buy it at a cheaper price 

+Blends Styles and Genres Well

+Unparalleled Visual Style

+Big Laughs

+Absurdity at its Best

-Pretty Short

-A One-Time Playthrough Kind Of Game

REVIEW of Gunpoint / When Private Eyes Fly

The world of spies and detectives has always been a favorite of mine- whether it is the ridiculous nature and high Ocatane thrills brought on by James Bond or the chilling mysteries found in the shadow covered worlds of Noire, there’s always something exciting to be found. As for the steam game Gunpoint, a 2D game about a super-sleuth involved in corporate espionage, the excitement of the spy genre is kept alive through a series of levels where you break into buildings and steal precious data. While the game isn’t what I’d consider to be revolutionary, it is still tons of fun to play and I was drawn in enough to finish the campaign in one sitting (about 3 hours) give or take a couple of bathroom breaks. Gunpoint is available for PC, with Mac and Linux ports waiting to be announced, and is developed by Tom Francis of ‘Suspicious Developments’.

I really like the level layouts- it’s like peering into a dollhouse… FOR SPIES.

First thing’s first, let’s address the elephant in the room- the three hour campaign. A lot of gamers are turned off by shorter games, but at $9.99 USD- the quality and execution of the levels in the game make it worth your while. As much as I would love a longer game because of the amount of fun I was having, I felt like the game effectively told a story and had a natural progression of difficulty in 3 hours and didn’t have to drag on forever. This is sort of a relief because there are some games that have excellent gameplay mechanics, but drag on forever until you step away from the screen and say “You know what? This is getting old.” For Gunpoint, it just doesn’t ‘get old’: the levels are well made and the constant introduction of new and exciting gameplay elements kept me drawn in. Gunpoint also boasts a beautiful, yet simplistic, art-style. 16-bit graphics keep all of the character’s faces a mystery in the game, but the art-style also brings out beautiful, dark, and rainy cityscapes, giving the player that feeling of being in a world made for two-timing crooks. The dominant element of each level, though, is the large building or buildings that our protagonist, super-spy Richard Conway, must traverse through without getting picked off by the guards in order to retrieve valuable information or hack a computer. It’s a simple concept, but it’s expertly done.

I wish I could control circuits wirelessly- that way I wouldn’t have to get up from bed to turn the light switch off.

Aside from the aesthetics of the game, we have what makes this game pure joy to pick up- the awesome gameplay. Our hero, Richard Conway, controls smoothly and he has a lot of nifty game-changing gadgets at his disposal. Right off the bat, we get to play with one of the coolest things in the game: Richard’s bullfrog-brand pants that give him the ability to jump at great distances- these pants let Richard jump onto buildings and use his magnetic gloves to scale the walls with ease. The jumping mechanic allows the player to break and enter from rooftops or crash through glass windows and make one hell of an entrance for the guards seconds before they shoot you. This mechanic also allows you to pin a guard down and punch him out- this element of sleuthing was pretty fun and made the game that much more exciting. The second major gadget at the player’s disposal is the crosslink tool. The crosslink tool is the biggest puzzle element in the game and its use of the entire game environment justifies why the game is designed in a two-dimensional perspective. This tool allows the player to switch into a shadowy cross-link vision that reveals the bare bones of the electric wiring in any given building and allows that player to then rewire same-colored elements to eachother. To illustrate- let’s say the building has a blue light switch connected to a blue light- in the crosslink mode, I could take the light-switch connection and wire it to a blue colored door- then, when I go to flip the switch, the door opens. This puzzle element gives the player total freedom to play with wiring and it’s a ton of fun to see all of the possibilities of ‘crosslinking’. Later down the road, you are given the option to be not-so-sneaky when you are offered a gun and the ability to kick down doors- while these abilities are worth playing with, it can give you a lower rating when you complete a level as it can alert guards easier (especially the gun: when there’s a gunshot, you have 30ish seconds to clear out of the building or a sniper will appear).

Spies tend to be grammatically correct when they text- I wish my friends texted more eloquently…

While the game boasts no spoken dialogue or cinematic elements, the text messages that open up each mission display some great writing that sets up a nice story given that this game focuses its energies on good level design. The writing is hilarious and I like the option to choose what dialogue you will respond with- you can be a straight businessman or a snarky pain in the ass at any given time. And while story helps bring us to an ending all-too-soon, it does help create a sense of being in this world of danger and espionage and, honestly, without it- the game wouldn’t be as good. The game also has this nice sort of ‘choose your own profile story’ at the end of the game, too, which is a nice touch that I think most players will appreciate in terms of story. But, as the story does come to an end, there is hope for those who wish to stay in the world of Gunpoint for a little while longer because of the game’s specialized level editor that lets players create and play their own levels. While level creation tools aren’t my favorite thing in the world, this creation tool was a nice addition and, after playing with it for a few minutes, I found that it functions well for those who want to use it. My only issue with this offering is that it currently has no way of sharing created content with online friends. Steam Workshop has been integrated into many games and allows for players to share their created content- I think Gunpoint would benefit from having steam workshop integration in the future (maybe when that mac/linux update rolls around?) because, while I’m not fond of level creation, I love playing other people’s levels as it allows for a game to take on an extended life after the main campaign is completed.

DEFENESTRATION!

By now- I’m sure you get the impression that I really enjoy this game- and I do. Fans of indie games and puzzle games will more likely than not warm up to this title. Is it worth $9.99 USD? My answer to you is YES if you really want to experience this title right now- my other answer would be WAIT if you want to get a good deal on it in the summer or winter sale. Personally, I picked up the game for $4.99 USD when it went on sale last week and it was totally worth it. The game is wholly impressive for having been developed by one guy and the soundtrack (done by three different gentlemen) is nice and jazzy throughout. I’m all for you buying this game full price in order to support the developer- but if the opportunity does present it self, make sure to pick it up when it goes on sale.

MY STEAM RECOMMENDATION: BUY, BUY, BUY!

• expert level design
• freedom to tackle a stage however you want to
• Great experience for a good price
• Features a level editor…
• …but is lacking a way to share these levels
• Falls on the short side of things