Pave legutóbbi értékelései

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To put it simply:
This is not the next entry to "Enemy Territory"-series.

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Now this is not because we've moved on from the "class-based-shooter" to "Hero-shooter";
I for one like the character designs and the personalizations / voice-acting.

And yes, there are objectives to be completed, so this game is still "objective-based-team-oriented-shooter".

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Main problem here is that instead of improving upon "Brink
( It's Enemy Territory 3 But now in its own new intellectual-property-universe )"...
"Splash Damage" instead seemingly decided to throw everything into trash-can and "reinvent" the wheel.

Specifically by introducing numerous restrictions, downgrades, or otherwise very arbitrarily changes to make this game very
"bad looking mobile f(r)ee-to-play-game".

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Let's the start with the movement:
Gone is "SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain)"-system.
And instead we just have the far outdated "crouch-long-jump" and a very clunky "double-wall-jump"
(not a "wallhop" since you're actually kicked away from the wall rather "running" alongside the wall).

There is no mantling or vaulting or anything else similar, which means that you'll very easily stopped by the door-steps / frames
(exaggeration to some extend)
or your "parkour" gets knee-jerked by the second-wall-jumps kicking you away from the ledge rather than climbing-up.

There is also no sliding to slip under the obstacles or to soften the landing to avoid falling damage, which you start getting in a substantial amount already from +2-metres of height.

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Next-up is the very limited amount of customisation when it comes to loadouts.
And this is one the most important drawbacks when they switched to restrictive "mercenaries" from "classes".

All the loadouts are limited to "cards".
These "loadout-cards" define which weapons and perks / buffs your "merc" can bring to the battles / matches.

There is no individual free-customisation available.
So for example you can a card which has a shotgun as a primary-gun and a perk to reduce the gun-reload-times.
But then you have a card with a submachine-gun with some other perk rather than the aforementioned perk.

On one hand this reduces the possibilities to "min-maxing".
But this also makes some of the "mercs" extremely limited when it comes to usability.

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Speaking of limitations, and perhaps the biggest "What?" in this game is pretty much the complete removal of the dynamics "Enemy Territory"-games are known for.

Most importantly I am referencing to fact that you’re limited to three (3) “mercs” per a battle / match each with only a single loadout.

In practice this means that out of five “classes” you’re either locked to only three or even less depending on your choices.
And this is where the game completely breaks up
(“breaks up” because this game would need a complete revamp).

So the “mercs” are sorted into five “classes”:
Assault - A Big gun and / or maybe explosive(s)
Engineer - A gadget and like 5-times-faster objective-progress (“Objective Specialist”)
Fire Support - Ammunition Supplying and most of the times “Fire from above”-support
Medic - Healing and reviving
Recon - Long-range-sniping and (maybe) a spotting gadget

As of writing this “review” there are 23-mercenaries / “heroes” available.

Remember, that your “squad” can only consist of three of these characters.
And you also cannot switch any of them during the match which can last more than 30-minutes.

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Now this is where the “removal of the dynamics” come in.

Let’s say you’ll face the good’old “nest”:
A spot of a map, most likely a choke-point, which is heavily fortified with whatever you can think of:
Sentry-turrets, health plus ammo-stations, bullet-shield(s) and/or generally lots of players in a clump that won’t go down at all.

Well, naturally one would think of taking a character with some explosives to clear them out.
But, in the most likelihood one is going to encounter one of these or anything in any sort of combinations:
1. The character has a explosive that requires open-roof
2. The character with grenade-launcher can do nothing else but use the grenade-launcher itself
( I.E. no other special or otherwise team-supporting-moves ).

Of course one could also simply specialize on say different “Fire Support”-characters and thus have all characters able to keep the team resupplied with ammunitions while also having explosives for each needed (map specific) scenarios.

But this also means you have no other specializations available.


So where as previously one could switch between “classes” whenever needed, now players are practically limited to a single class during the whole match
( and by this I mean if you want to make most use of the merc(s) per map that is
I.E. the “merc-bias” on each map is simply out of whack ).

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Without even getting into the details with the confusing cash-shop and rest of the customization “options”, the bottom-line is that this is not “Enemy Territory”-game pretty much at all as already said.

I cannot even recommend this game as a “normal game” either due the amount of the general restriction this game has to begin with.

Of course there are people who enjoy “bottle-neck-meat-grinder”-simulators;
I suppose this game counts as one those...

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My dis-recommendation of this game boils down to these bullet-points:

- Shallow and broken "BattleScape" / "tactical-strategy-gameplay"
- Numerous audio and other gameplay-running-performance-glitches
- The "Weapon Fragment"-bottle-necking
( because for whatever reason "greatest minds on Earth" cannot dismantle weapons in their laboratories plus workshops, even though they know and do reverse-engineer these things... )

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This game is a just Firaxis / 2K / Take 2 / *whatever is involved* Chryssalid wearing the skin of Xcom-franchise
( and we are talking of these 2012-edition of "loud-stock-audio-gulping-sound-making"-Chryssalids, not the classic-ones from (Open)Xcom / UFO-game(s) ).

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This was a difficult game to write about and in the end I just had to suffice with this "few-liner".
If one would like to ask for additional comments, feel free to ask here
(in the comments-section).


If you would like to read some drafts
(which also were too-long to fit here),
here are couple of links:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xIvcSkGZymhLExtEjLRnIoHUgblNy6dem2mvAZGLIzI/edit?usp=sharing

(The link below is pretty much the same, but bottom has a scrapped-section: )
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pxHfsjMRgLR1V1Ijb-roH4kGr3EiNeFQBPXom-zjkXI/edit?usp=sharing

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Forewords:
When I was given the choice between either this game plus the soundtrack for six (~6)-euros or spending or 20€ for a ("re-uploaded") "Commission Pack" that contained four (4) already paid, well, commissioned images, I decided to as objective as possible with my choice and I went with "quantity over quality".

Obviously I got far more than I bargained for.

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" Review "

"Changed" is "Survival Horror"-game in sense that for the most part the only option player has is to run away from the danger.
Unlike in "(Forbidden) Siren"-series in which (most of) the characters are completely helpless, here "one-touch-death" is justified
( even if this isn't necessarily 100% clear to all players since sometimes the lore and other flavour-text can be a little nasty to access).

But then again why would you ever want to touch a ooze / slime-creature with your bare-hands to begin with?..Hey "Gelatinous Cube" exists in roleplaying-games; research is important!
(( Okay okay, basically the "joke" refers more to "look-don't- touch-before-knowing"-things our parents keep saying and yadayada-you-know. ))

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So the gameplay is nothing revolutionary, yes.
Neither necessarily isn't the story either.

But at least in my case, no matter how subjective this is, it's the right combination of "correct button pressing" that makes me to give a recommendation to this game.
Obviously no secret I do have a very soft-spot for cute-critters to start with.
But to even my bigger surprise the dialogue and rest of the content is really solid.

Yes, I had to use guides (both written and video-formats) to help with the much more "pixel-accuracy"-requiring spots.
But even then this game not once had me make "throw my arms into air" unlike many, many other games have had me
( possibly the save / check-point-location frequency also helped; rarely I did not need to make too many steps away to get back into action ).


Another majour plus-thing beingthat this is still a lot cheaper than most of the "Art CDs" around
( is anyone even selling those nowadays?..
( to be fair though, physical-CDs alongside the postage do take the majority chunk of the payment.
So perhaps a better comparison would have been those "Digital Art Packs" like the one example "sub-category" I mentioned at the start of this "review" )).

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So if you like cure-critters with some little bit of added "Parasite Eve"-like "body-horror" alongside good music and story, I'd say this game really is worth of "three-cups-of-coffee" even if you won't end up playing this game at all but you'd buy this just for the art or otherwise support the folks making this game.

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If you haven't purchased this thing via in-game-shop yet, it is highly recommended to bundle-up with the rest of AirMech DLC to save further in cash saving.

The diamonds alone are a good saving.

There are also some less obvious perks included with this pack
(E.G. able to publish your maps to public map-pool)
and there are various other tweaks done for the owners of this pack.

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When considering that this "Player versus Environment / Enemy".exe-client shares the same account with the Player-versus-Player.exe-client ("Strike"), it's a lot more easier to consider as more of a a "companion-client".

And this a very important thing to remember:
If one considers "Wastelands" as a stand-alone or otherwise "an individual"-game, they're missing over half if not more of the game.

Think AirMech "Wastelands" and "Strike" in a similar way of "Pokemon Blue & Red".
Or actually more fitting would be "The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages":

Without the other, you (certainly) won't have the complete experience.


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Is "Wastelands" worth getting though?
I'd say yes, especially if you're able to get it during sales; the cash-equivalent benefits alone are worth it:
Just purchasing this game itself gives you some perks
( E.G. Silver VIP, if i recall correctly;
I personally got this as a "pre-order-bonus" so I am not 100% certain with the newer players

( and when I say I "pre-ordered"-this, I specifically mean I got the "AirMech Prime Booster"-pack back when the / this "campaign"-mode was part of the bundle.
"Steam" might say this product was offered for me "free", but in reality I've purchased this a long time ago, thus I've gotten some other exclusive "ancient"-perks as a early-old-funder )).


As for some other examples, as of writing this "review", you can get keys for the "loot-crates" which can contain various in-game-cash-shop / store items.
And you can also unlock several skins just by completing some of the missions and milestones.


Of course, at the moment the biggest benefit of "Wastelands" is to get Kudos far more faster in order to get the Kudos-items a lot more easier.
Especially "Crate Capsules" which can contain various rare items you can open-up with the keys you can get via gameplay over here instead of using cash.

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Gameplay-wise there isn't that much of difference in comparison to "Strike", aside for obviously the adjustable / modifiable / non-standardized parametres, semi-similar to "Legacy"-times.

Things can get super-hectic quite abruptly though, especially during the non-Normal-difficulty-levels.

Fortunately, unlike what some of current trends are, you're allowed to keep everything you pick-up even if you're not able to complete the missions / win the sessions;
only penalty at the moment is a slightly increased Kudos-costs to restock your lost units (since none of them survives unless you're able to finish the mission).
So even in "fails", you still can have some progress experience and monetary-wise
(alongside keeping the loot you have picked up).

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So if you're looking for non-player-vs-player action in AirMech-universe, this companion-game is highly recommended to purchase.

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And even if one isn't all interested in player-versus-player-gameplay, we (everyone involved) still recommend sign-in "Strike" daily to get various daily-perks that cannot be gained via "Wastelands"
( Daily-Login-Reward-Crate which upgrades with each VIP-status-grade
(the daily-logins also include a chance for salvage-bundles),
various bundle-offers, etc. ).

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Well, it's good 8-bit-chiptune-music; kinda hard to add anything else.

Aside maybe that it a good first-commercial-impression to say the least
(supposedly also the first time venture for video-game-background-music of the composer).

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If you ever had the urge someday to have chance to play a remake of "Game Over II" (known as "Phantis" in Spain), this might be (the) one;
aside for the title (and the story), this could mistaken quite easily as a official-remake (especially when looking at the sprites).
(( Supposedly this game however is officially "okay'ed" by the original developer of "Phantis", so you could consider this game as a semi-official remake. ))


Naturally others might enjoy this game for its own merits, especially after mastering the simplistic control-scheme (and couple of "speedrunner-must"-move & tricks

Spoiler (move mouse-cursor over the "black-void" on the right-side):
Most important "secret trick" being "Rain of Bullets" (Jump Forward -> Shoot Downwards) to progress the levels as fast as possible (plus you have a slightly faster rate-of-fire due having less projectiles on screen).
So no, you're not forced to stand still while shooting, like many / most of the "reviews" are telling here on Steam-store;
it's an option, but it's simply safer to shoot while jumping.


This is genuinely one of those "frustratingly good games when you're not good at it"
(E.G. "Cave Story"),
which seemingly is super difficult thing to achieve even today.
(well, aside maybe for a single secret "leap-of-faith"-jump. Bu the is surprisingly lenient to begin with
(E.G. you can restart a level via main-menu (continue) while keeping your current progress (points and upgrades mainly)).


There are also three difficulty levels:
- Easy: Unlimited Lives, Checkpoints Heal, Lives Heal, almost all enemies die with a single shot
- Normal: Enemies more resilient (+1-hit required); Starting lives: 9; Checkpoints Heal
("Heart"-pick-ups both heal to max-health and give extra life so you can continue from checkpoint)
- Hardcore: Starting Live(s) 1, Checkpoints don't heal

Running out of all lives forces the player to start from the beginning of the stage.

(Some info has been taken from here: http://steamcommunity.com/app/279160/discussions/0/558749191298683834/#c558749191313968302 )

There is also level-selection in which you can jump right into the stages you have unlocked.
However, upgrades are only "run"-specific ("continue"-button); they aren't "permanent" or otherwise "carry-over-able" into the level-selection-screen.

- There is a very good reason why the enemies spawn infinitely: It is needed in order to purchase upgrades.
You can either opt to purchase armour-pieces which both work as cosmetics and gives one extra-hit-point each
(to Serena herself only, important to remember when you get to the last-stage).
Or you can purchase gun-upgrades (explosion-radius -> +fire-rate-increase -> +tri-spread-shot).

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Music some really neat "FM synth" ("Frequency Modulation synthesis") that you would get by taking music from Super-Nintendo / Famicom, Sega Megadrive, and Amiga, and then you'd throw them into blender.

Same could be said about the graphics and the animations.

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Objectively I personally can't say much new or otherwise special.
Well, aside that this one those actually good games in which the storage-space isn't bloated, and general speaking the game requires very minimal amount of computer-processing-power.
And it's very stable, as in no crashes for example.


All in all, a very good "modern-retro"-styled-game utilising modern-tech quite well.

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(( Hmm, seems like Steam doesn't actually doesn't delete the reviews you delete and then "re-write". But they apparently count the new "from-scratch" reviews as updates.
I suppose this is a way to reduce the "link-rotting"... ))

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Frankly told, even with the unit-carrying gimmick, the game isn't all that different from any other "action-per-minute-micromanagement"-game that dominates the markets.

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And granted, I really am not into "these types" of games, especially with non-existent “comeback”-mechanics.
I.E. for the most part, killing opposing team players and units helps nothing, especially since no "credits" is given (to purchase more units).

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Why do I still keep staying around and even recommending this game then?

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Mainly because of the (for the most part) genuinely fun and interesting tournaments.


And giving these ("Carbon-dev") folks money actually is acknowledged in-game with some nice perks, especially when considering there is no "ransom"-items in the store (E.G. no inventory-slots).
Permanent "VIP-status" that gradually gives more (outside-battles) perks alongside many alternative ways of collecting the "collectables" certainly is far more "customer-friendly" than majority of the monetization-schemes seen today in the video-game-market.

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There is also a "companion"-game called "Wastelands" in case you really aren't into player-versus-player-gameplay and instead would like to give a "campaign / story"-mode a try.

Best thing is that both games share the same account thus can unlock almost all the content regardless the "environment" you're playing within.

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So yeah, "nothing too much special" and the game is (surprisingly) functional. So objectively speaking, "Airmech" is not a bad game.

I personally am mostly here to have "outside the game" fun to which many of the players alongside the Carbon-team seem to just fine with
(unlike some companies that might outright kick you out if you aren't pumping money into them 24/7...).

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For what it is worth, it's what has been advertised: A semi-interactive pixel-animation-feature.

It is certainly an interesting experiment indeed; kinda hoping there could one day a "remake" of sorts in form animated-feature-film.
((The experiment more than likely has been pushing the game-engine to its limit alongside various other rather clever visual-experiments.))


For less of than a movie / cinema-ticket (10€ currently here in Finland), you'll get not only a nice feature-length pixel-movie but also the soundtrack.

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Frankly told, there isn't anything new I can say that hasn't been already said:

"Trine" simply put is a well crafted and tuned physics-puzzle-platformer most obvious inspired by the classic "Lost Vikings".


Even after a decade this game holds up really well for the first game of the "Trine"-trilogy, especially if you play the "Enhanced"-version.


- Biggest noteworthy thing to mention beautiful visuals while also not too hardware-demanding either.
- The music is simply gorgeous- but this composed and mostly performed by "Ari Pulkkinen" so not a big surprise here.


So if you like the games such as "Lost Vikings" but are looking for something more "softcore" with more than just "1-to-1"-solutions to puzzles, this game certainly is worth trying out.

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