Recent reviews by dmnc

"Free To Play" game with more DLC than actual free content, horrible new player experience.

You could have monetized the game through a player-based in-game marketplace, or through cosmetics and other non-gameplay related content (you already do this anyways) but you chose to monetize a majority of the playable content purely for the sake of greed.

The gameplay so far is quite dull, traveling is tedious and the enemies are repetitive. If the combat and movement was more satisfying or interesting, maybe this wouldn't be as much of an issue, but it's pretty boring overall.

The story is pretty bad, it lacks good exposition and doesn't do anything to make itself interesting. I'm almost certain that the story is blatantly missing content that was previously available which could provide context for new players to thoroughly understand what is going on in the story currently.

Not to mention this game takes more than 120GB of space to install, I would not recommend this game.

Not until the game is fixed

I really wanted to like this game, but it's not very good in it's current state. I'm sure a majority of the reviews are going to be positive because the game is being given out for free, and it's a "funny game" with general mass appeal. The trailer is an excellent showcase of what this game SHOULD be, but the gameplay does not at all function like it.

But hear me out, and think twice before you go out of your way to defend a game just because you got it for free.

The concept for this game is awesome, very much inspired by the likes of other exploration-based horror games where it's an in-and-out job. You have the basic gameplay loop, remniscent of Lethal Company, but with the camcorder elements of a game like Phasmophobia. But I wouldn't call it a ripoff of either, although I think both of those game are of much higher quality than this one currently.

I do have some positive things to say about the game. The basic way you "customize" your character is unique, using text and other ASCII characters to create a "face" for your character is a fun idea.

Also, the movement and physics were definitely designed with intent, the way you move and look around is intentionally very unstable, which can help make the recording element of the game interesting and more dynamic, it's pretty funny to watch people freak out while the camera goes ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Also, in a way, the unstable camera makes the moments where you film something stable more impactful. Maybe not everyone would enjoy it, but I think it works as a "silly" mechanic and makes the game stand out quite a lot.

But afterwards, I start to have some pretty major issues with the game.

When you actually start filming things, you will quickly realize how terrible your camera's battery life is. This is a major issue because it kills a lot of the potential for improvisation or creativity. Why waste your battery life to record something funny or memorable? Why even bother recording an intro for your video? It's just going to cause you to lose precious battery life.

Also, the enemies are completely unbalanced and poorly designed. Some enemies will come out of nowhere and instantly kill you, giving you no time to react. Other enemies will ragdoll you and pretty much stunlock you on the floor over and over again. Some enemies are just blatantly annoying and will drag you around for no reason. Some enemies are pretty much useless and didn't even pose as a threat.

We played with 2 players, one of us died early on. Suddenly, another enemy comes around the corner and instantly trapped our last remaining player in a cage with 0 counterplay. No way to get out, nothing to do except slowly wait until you die. What was the design intention here? Is there something that I am missing?

Another issue I have is the pacing. When you enter the underground, there is a good chance there will be an enemy early into your run that either kills you or disrupts with you in some way. In other similar games, this is not the case:

In Phasmophobia, the game builds a lot of tension by allowing you to explore the location until you find signs of the ghost; and generally even when you find the ghost, they take time to become more and more aggressive which allows you to prepare a bit and set up your equipment.

In Lethal Company, you have a bit of time to explore outdoors, and you can collect the items you purchased before you even enter the facility, which feels good. Once you are in, you are given plenty of time to explore and grab loot before things become incredibly difficult or intense. The game is very well-designed and well-paced while still challenging the player and making enemies actual threats without being immediately overwhelming.

In Content Warning, the pacing is incredibly bad. You go in, some enemy interrupts your party about a minutes or two in, and probably kills someone. You play for a grand total of 4 to 5 minutes then leave because you filmed 1 maybe 2 scary things and your camera is already about to die, so you just leave and it's pretty anti-climactic.

In the trailer for Content Warning, the gameplay seems to suggest a slightly slower-paced adventure. They film a short intro to get the "viewer" acquainted with the squad. They film their entry into the underground and into the old world, talking over nothing but ambient noise and each other's voices. When the enemies appear, they don't just immediately run at the player and kill them, but gives you time to film and talk if you wish.

Furthermore, the game lacks a lot of clarity when it comes to it's gameplay. There is no in-game information that helps you learn about certain enemies, meanwhile Phasmophobia and Lethal Company do exactly this, so you are never left feeling like the game did something unfair that you couldn't possibly know about. Content Warning does no such thing to prevent this feeling, and this is further exaggerated by the enemies which you cannot possibly react to before you die.

Similarly, both Lethal Company and Phasmophobia do an excellent job at making your work actively feel rewarding. When you are exploring in Lethal Company, you can tell exactly how much loot is worth before you even touch it with your own two hands, just by scanning it. Phasmophobia does a similar job, where you can easily tell when your bonus objectives are finished, and you can check the quality of your ghost photos, both available in your journal. It also helps that these games are incredibly well-paced which gives you downtime to think and rest, even if just for a moment.

Another example, if you have played Lethal Company, you may have noticed that on-screen visual effect & ringing audio effect that happens when certain scary moments happen in-game. Such as when you see the corpse of an employee, or if a monster starts to chase you, etc. THAT is clarity.

When you are playing Content Warning, you can film a moment that you would expect to be scary, but there is no indication of what might be considered a "scary" moment. If my friend walks into a laser, falls over and dies, should I be filming that? To us, it's incredibly silly, but does the game even consider that a scary moment that I should record? How do I know what I should record and what I shouldn't, because I can't record everything or my camera is just going to die before I even catch anything scary on film.

We found some bones and a rib cage, are we supposed to collect this stuff, or just film it? Am I just supposed to film any encounter that I have down there whatsoever? Or is that just a waste of my pitiful ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ battery life because god forbid I have fun and try to film something fun or interesting or create a story by getting "into character"

I cannot recommend this game currently. It seems incredibly shallow with questionable enemy balance and poor pacing. The concept is excellent, but the design philosophy for the gameplay loop doesn't seem like it's all there yet. I'm honestly just disappointed because I was hoping to have a really fun time

Edit: there are more things I have issue with this game that I did not originally mention with my review.

The lack of any emotes unlocked for free is another way that limits your creativity when it comes to creating videos. It would be nice to be able to wave at the camera or point at something in the distance while your friend films you.

Having only 3 characters for your ASCII face is not something that bothers me personally but I can see how it might bother other people. Maybe 4 to 5 characters would suffice. Something I noticed is that you cannot copy or paste characters into the text box, which is a shame.

If all players die during a run, you don't even get to watch the footage you recorded afterwards which is incredibly disappointing. It would be cool if you could at least recover the footage somehow.

I maybe will give the game another shot with a full squad. However, I doubt my opinion or review will change until a few things are improved.

I want to clog her cogs 😔

It's a hot classic 😳