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 Octodad: Dadliest Catch / World’s Best Cephalo.Pa

Well here it goes… the first review of 2014. It has been exactly 2 months since my last post right here on the Steam of Consciousness blog. Between school, work, and being lazy, I haven’t taken the time to review Steam games… and I really missed it. So, with that being said, let’s start fresh and let the reviews begin! I thought the best way to kick off my game reviews for 2014 is with a game so wild, weird, and conceptually fresh that it’s hard to recall any game quite like it. Its name is Octodad: Dadliest Catch and it’s currently offered up on Steam for $14.99 USD. This game reminds me of other wildly hilarious games like Katamari Damacy, Sumotori Dreams, and QWOP and, like QWOP or Sumotori, features a protagonist whose main challenge is trying to mimick human movement despite a lack of bone structure.

Octodad’s plot is simply this: you are an octopus who dresses, acts, and has a family like a normal human father and must convince everyone else that you are, in fact, a regular human dad. Despite your wife and kids who are hilariously blind to you being an Octopus, there is an angry Sushi Chef who is out to turn the beloved Octodad into “moderately priced sushi” as he follows you through the different areas in the game.  In order to perpetuate the idea that he is a human father, Octodad must attend his own wedding, attend to his domestic affairs, go grocery shopping, and visit the dreaded aquarium before the story reaches its conclusion. The scenarios are hilarious and the difficulty Octodad finds getting by in day-to-day situations makes for an interesting tale worthy of a primetime sitcom. The voice acting is a nice touch to the story and really keeps with the pacing as people react to the different things you do in the game.

But Octodad’s story isn’t the selling point of this game- everything about the game centers around its movement mechanic. Without the hilariously difficult controls that move Octodad’s hands and feet (er, tentacles), this game would not exist. Octodad can only control one limb at any time and alternating between both of his legs and his hands is a joy to watch- he practically destroys everything in his path when trying to walk! The game becomes challenging with the addition of a ‘suspicion meter’ at the bottom of the screen- suspicion is triggered when human beings see you knocking everything down in your path or when you accidentally smack them with one of your tentacles. The suspicion element progresses and becomes somewhat difficult toward the end when you run into marine biologists at the aquarium who know an octopus when they see one. Although the controls make it somewhat difficult to maneuver around the different stages, the controls are well thought out and, when mastered, can be a breeze to handle when doing simple tasks.

The first Octodad was a freeware game that featured similar gameplay elements, but only allowed one player to use a keyboard and mouse to control the octopus. Fortunately, this time around, players have the option to use keyboard and mouse or a gamepad and both work great. Along with this, two to four players can be invited along to play the local co-op mode where one player takes the keyboard and mouse and controls either the arms or legs, and the other players take a gamepad and choose to control the other arms or the legs. Another option is available that allows the cooperative teammates to play roulette with the tentacles: after a task is completed, random tentacles are assigned to the player – so I could be controlling the right hand and right leg while the second player could only be controlling the left leg… once a task is done, I could end up controlling the left hand while the second player takes control of the left and right legs. Co-op adds a lot of replay value to this game- after beating story mode, I was able to go back with my friend and share some new laughs as we tried to get Octodad to move in the same direction. There is a lot of value in playing with friends- it’s great to show to a buddy who has never seen or heard of Octodad and say “hey, want to play a really strange video game?” and see the pleasantly surprised look on their face when they see that we’re an Octopus trying to moonlight as a human dad.

The only big thing I have found disappointing about Octodad: Dadliest Catch is its length. I was able to complete the story in somewhere around 3 hours for my first playthrough- this includes me messing around, trying to get a handle on the game mechanics, and exploring some of the levels for secrets or pop culture references. And while it did end in around 3 hours, every minute of the game was totally worth it- I had a great time as it never got old. There is incentive to replay the story after beating it, too, there are 3 ties hidden in every stage (and are a bitch to get a hold of) and there are several fun achievements that make it worth going back and experiencing again. The games developer, Young Horses, have also added a level editor and Steam Workshop support. I was able to download some neat user-created maps for Octodad and it has really contributed to the game’s replayability. The camera that follows you in the game would be my only other complaint- for the most part, it behaves itself and follows you around well, but there are times when it becomes inconvenient and only gives you one perspective in a stage where it would be useful to get another angle and see your character hiding behind in-game elements. While $14.99 may be a bit high for the game’s length alone, the asking price can be justified in that Octodad is a hilairous romp, oozing with charm and personality and offers more than just a story mode… PLUS the game has an awesome theme song, and who can put a price on having a great theme? But seriously, let’s face it- at the end of the day, what gamer wouldn’t like to be under the sea in an Octodad’s garden, in the shade?

Steam Recommendation:

Definitely buy it, but you can wait for a Steam sale

+Great sense of humor

+Hard, but rewarding controls

+Steam workshop and Local Co-Op

-Short Story Mode

-Camera can be iffy at times

+You play as an Octopus Dad… ’nuff said

Review of Risk of Rain / Let’s get risky

2013 has been a good year for Rogue-Likes on Steam, and what better way to finish the year than with an awesome Rogue-Like like Risk of Rain. Risk of Rain is 9.99 USD and is currently available on the PC platform.

Risk of Rain is just like Spelunky and Rogue Legacy, the other Rogue-Like titles that made a splash on the market this year,  it has a one-death game-over policy and the stakes run high for anyone playing. What makes risk of rain unique from the other two are its art style, it’s combat system that reminds me of Diablo with its special attacks, and its awesome soundtrack. The game stars a stranded astronaut that must fight his way through each stage to survive- however, survival isn’t easy. Personally, I have only been able to get through the first couple of stages and then proceeded to die afterward. You have a space-gun at your disposal and you have some cool and helpful super-moves that can help you maneuver through waves and waves of ruthless enemies. The enemies are hard, the bosses are hulking monolithic beings that give you little chance of survival, and the environments are large and take some time to explore.

There are a couple factors that you can make work for you on this perilous journey, however, and these would be the factors of time and money. Time plays a huge part in Risk of Rain- the longer you play through the game, the harder it gets. If you can manage to get all the items and power-ups you need to take on each level’s final boss within a reasonable time, then you will find it much easier to progress. However, time only makes the game harder and really gets you moving so you aren’t in the same level for thirty minutes. You’d think that this game mechanic would be frustrating, but it really helps move the action along- plus, I found it to be an adequate amount of time to explore the stage and escape before it gets any harder. Another factor is grabbing up loot- if you get enough money, you can afford to purchase items that you find lying around throughout each stage. These items can be very unique and quite necessary when traversing through alien terrain. In one play-through you can pick up a sentry gunning pet that helps you attack enemies, or you could pick up an item like a heart that will heal you if you idle out for a few seconds. The items really keep the game interesting and give you a fighting chance. The more you play, the more items you find and the better you get at surviving.

Although the game’s death system is frustrating, the game keeps things fresh by promising unlockable characters and items if you manage to progress further or play more. While I haven’t unlocked any other classes than the basic engineer you start out with, I have googled these classes and each one is unique from the other- every unlocked character has unique abilities, immunities, and vulnerabilities that change the way the game is played. Along with that, the items I have unlocked so far are really interesting and help each playthrough feel unique. Along with procedurally generated worlds, this game has a certain freshness about it even though you  will die and have to replay it again and again.

Steam Reccomendation: Worth it for the price

+Fun Gameplay

+Tight controls

+Intense combat/boss battles

– Constant death can make the game feel like a waste of time

– Unlockable characters can be too difficult to get

 

REVIEW of PacMan Championship Edition DX+ / Pac on crack

Many retro arcade games have been ushered into the 21st century as remakes with updated graphics and new gameplay elements . Unfortunately, many of these remakes with their all of their bells and whistles fail to bring anything new to the table and end up sucking. But every now and then you get a retro arcade update that makes changes in all the right places and keeps things fresh- in other words, the David Bowie of video games- and Pac-Man Championship Edition DX+ IS that sort of game. Pac Man Championship Edition DX+ released on September 24 for Steam (available for PC only) and costs 9.99 USD.

In this iteration of Pac-Man, you get chased by a conga-line of ghosts

The formula for Pac-Man C.E. DX’s success is that it focuses on puritanical fun- it takes the pac-man base game that gamers are all too familiar with and then poses the question ‘how can we make pac man exciting again?’ The question is answered when game developers Mine Loader Software create new maps for pac-man to traverse and, instead of having just 4 ghosts chase pac-man, throw hundreds of ghosts in the maze for some madcap hi-jinks. While ghosts in classic pac-man roamed the board in pursuit of our big-mouthed protagonist, most ghosts in this game are asleep until you pass them and wake them up from their supernatural slumber. When Pac-Man wakes up ghosts, they form a spectral single-file line behind him until he can salvage a ‘power-pellet’ that allows him to eat the ghosts behind him. This aspect of the game is what makes it shine- it feels very satisfying to grab a power pellet and eat a line of 30 ghosts behind me thus ending a long and stressful pursuit (until the next round of ghosts ships in).

“You’re locked in here with me!”

The main goal behind the game is very well grounded in retro objectives: you are eating as many onscreen dots and ghosts to get the highest score. The game is designed to take your score and stack it against your old best-scores, your friend’s best-scores, and the world’s best scores on an online leaderboard. While playing the game is a satisfying experience in itself, it really drives home that retro-feel when you see how well you did score-wise compared to everyone else who played the game. I often care less about online leaderboards because most of them feel like an afterthought and are there because it’s a popular thing to have in video games, but pacman championship edition DX makes the player want a better score- it’s something to strive for and makes the game that much more exciting.

In the Dig-Dug DLC, Dig-Dug tries to emulate Pac-Man.

Another aspect of the game that I liked was the inclusion of bombs and game-speed. Bombs allow for players who are about to be murdered by a slew of ghosts to escape death by sending them back to the middle of the board- after getting a small breather, the ghosts regroup and chase you once again. You are allotted less and less bombs with higher difficulty levels to keep the game’s challenge alive and well. I liked the bomb feature because it allows some forgiveness in otherwise impossible-to-escape situations and makes it more fair for a player who is helplessly being chased around a pac-maze. The speed-up mechanic keeps the game lively, too. as you get better at the game and rack up a higher score, everything on the board (yourself and the ghosts) speed up and give the player less time to react to situations. Speeding up causes a lot of audible screams and cheers as the player escapes the clutches of the ghostly gang that pursues them. Once the repetition of bombs, ghosts, and game-speed leave you unsatisfied, there is DLC that tries to freshen up aspects of the game. While there is some ‘eh’ DLC like new music tracks for the game and the less-than-cool ‘pac-is-back’ skin, there is some really worthwhile DLC maps like ‘Big Eater’ and ‘Mountain Course’ and cool reskins of the game like ‘Dig-Dug’ and ‘Rally X’. My favorite DLC has to be the ‘Dig-Dug’ reskin- while the base game is still present, the map and character reskin make it feel different from the original maps and its use of sounds from the dig-dug arcade game brought back some great nostalgia.

wokka wokka wokka

Pac-Man championship edition is simply good fun- the game knows how to have a good time and doesn’t let a convoluted plot or pointless objectives get in the way of delivering pure excitement to gamers. This game is great for gamers who don’t like investing a lot of time into games and just want to sit down and feel that rush of high energy that retro arcade games offer. For those that can play games for hours on end, Pac-Man Championship Edition DX will work, too- given that you can sit down and play an arcade style game non-stop. For me, I like to fire this game up when I get home from work and need to go to bed in around an hour- it’s a game where I can quickly play a couple of rounds and be satisfied with the experience. It’s a game that I will keep launching every once and awhile when I’m looking for some great arcade fun- and the leaderboards definitely give me a reason to keep coming back and improving my skills. Pac-Man championship edition DX comes highly recommended – and if you’re unsure about it: be sure to download the demo and see what all the fun is about for yourself.

MY STEAM RECOMMENDATION: USE MONEY AND BUY THIS
+The best modern interpretation of a retro arcade game
+Crazy arcade action keeps the game fresh and exciting
+Leaderboards are well done in this game
– some lackluster DLC like the ‘pac is back’ skin

REVIEW of “Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs” -despite the amnesia, I didn’t forget to scream.

Since the release of the indie-horror smash, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, it has been hard for me to forget the lasting impression that this survival-horror game has had on me- and any time that I try to go back to steam and play as the Amnesia riddled protagonist, Daniel, I’m struck with anxiety and dark forebodings because it is such a well-polished horror experience. With the level of trauma the game brought me, you’d think anything like it would turn me away for good, but something about being scared witless in the first game intrigued me to the point that I was drawn in to playing the new Amnesia game that released last Tuesday, September 10^th titled A Machine For Pigs on PC, Mac, and Linux. Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a wholly fresh experience from new developers The Chinese Room, whose previous work includes an indie game titled Dear Esther, a well-received game that puts all of its emphasis on narrative as you walk around a mysterious island and are read letters by the narrator who wrote them. The development torch has been passed from original Amensia developers, Frictional Games, to The Chinese Room because the previous team is now working on an entirely new project. Passing this game on to The Chinese Room has resulted in an entirely new horror experience that acknowledges the overall feeling of helplessness found in the first game, but decides to take a completely different approach to this horror series by way of a dominantly horrific story. While hardcore fans of the first game will be less than ecstatic to find that some of the more in-game horror has taken back seat to a more unsettling narrative, other players will be completely swept away by the fantastic ambiance and haunting tale that this installment of the series has to offer.

spooky AND good looking

The story follows Oswald Mandus, a wealthy industrialist who wakes up in his own kingdom, an over-sized meat processing factory in London, on the final night of 1899- just before the turn of the century.  At the beginning of the game, found journal entries suggest that pigs are killed and processed into food for the common people here, but a little exploring and the pulling of a few levers reveal hidden passageways that suggest other goings-on in the factory that are not generally viewed as good business practice. Aside from discovering the horrid truth behind this factory, your character’s true driving factor in the game comes from a voice on the phone that suggests you do what he tells you, otherwise your children will die. In order to continue on through the game, you hold a lamp to light the dark corridors of the factory much like in the first game. While both games don’t allow you weapons and give you only a lamp to work with- this game makes the lamp more of a navigation tool than a necessary item. In the first Amnesia, players were forced to scrounge for lamp oil and constantly use their lamp or else be subject to insanity (via insanity meter) which would result in hallucinations and other un-fun events; In this installment of the series, The Chinese Room has purposed the lamp, which now requires no fuel, to illuminate a path through the ambient and dark environments and to flicker when you’re about to be hunted down by evil pig-men.  OH! DID I MENTION THAT THERE ARE EVIL PIG-CREATURES IN THIS GAME?! Yeah, like the first game, there are creatures on patrol in parts of the game that are pretty unhappy with you and are more than willing to chase you around to make you scream bloody murder. These segments are the most horrific parts of the game, but they unfortunately become less scary toward the end of the story.

You’d think evil pigs would behave in pig-church, but that’s not the case.

Perhaps my biggest complaint about Machine for Pigs is the wasted potential for being consistently horrific like its predecessor. Act one of the game was perfectly terrifying: some of the most haunting and well made environments like the mansion and church exist within the first act and some of the biggest scares are here, too. The second act starts out promising: but once you reach the floodgates, the game shifts focus from having terrifying gameplay and story, to just being a scary story. The second act promises the player great things when it shows infested waters with an invisible water monster sloshing around and narrow corridors that are PERFECT for being chased by pig monsters- but my anticipation of the scare was worse than the level itself: I never had to encounter the invisible monster and I was never chased down the winding corridors. WASTED POTENTIAL. While the final act of the story is very cool and the excitement levels run high, there is little that the game does to scare me and the pig creatures fail to make me scream because the story has unveiled the truth about them- yes they’re still scary-looking, but now I understand what they are and not being able to understand them was part of what made them scary in the first place.

How’s it hanging, pigs?

If you’re still unsure about picking up this title on Steam because of what I just said- it’s still worth playing. The game is still a wonderful piece of horror storytelling and the video-game medium allows the player to BE the character which is much more heart-pounding than watching a film where you’re constantly yelling “Look behind you!” to the protagonist in hopes that they will actually see the monster- if you don’t look behind you for a monster, it’s your own damn fault. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of controller-support- I played the game with the controller and it was very intuitive (it’s also nice because you can sit away from your monitor instead of getting face to face with pig monsters like you would with a keyboard and mouse). At the end of the game, I was satisfied with being able to experience the ambient environments, hear the great sound design and soundtrack (If you didn’t think opera was creepy, you will now), and step into the shoes of a troubled character and discover his story of desperation and madness. Players looking to scream and cry through a horror game will likely be disappointed with this game, but anyone up to hear a good tale of greed and evil will want to sit down and step into the twisted world of Oswald Mandus.

Full moon? Thank goodness it’s just pigs and not werewolves!

MY STEAM RECOMMENDATION: BUY IT

• Great atmosphere
• Nice story
• Some genuinely frightening parts…
• … But it could have been scarier