henke on 16/9/2013 at 16:58
The "Experimental Game Pack 01" launched today for backers of the LA/GS kickstarter. The purpose of this thread is two-fold: 1. I will play each of the games in the pack and post my thoughts about them. 2. I will brag about getting to play all the games in the pack while you commoners will have to make do with looking on from the sidelines.
GAME 1: ALPHABET
I'm playing these in alphabetical order and IN A FUNNY TWIST OF IRONY the first game in the list IS CALLED ALPHABET. And you know wha? This game... is kinda fantastic. I mean just look at it.
[video=youtube;Kw-bpXYIeys]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw-bpXYIeys&feature=youtu.be[/video]
Oh man, no way the rest of the pack can live up to that. It's gonna be all downhill from here for sure.
GAME 2: CONTROL
In this one you control a hand that has to control various gamecontrollers throughout the years. I can't get past the first level. This game sucks.
GAME 3: COUREUR DES BOIS
This one is a black and white boat-paddling art-game. You are stuck on a boat paddling down a long and winding river, constantly having to steer your boat from getting too close to the water's edge where wild pumas roam waiting to eat you up should you stray too close. MUCH LIKE LIFE, one might say. Pretentious graphics aside, I am enjoying the physics-based gameplay of this one, though it's more the kind of thing that would make for a fun minigame than the kinda thing that could carry a game on it's own.
TO BE CONTINUED
I'll play and review the rest of the games later in the week (provided I can drag myself away from GTA V long enough to do so). Stay tuned!
henke on 17/9/2013 at 04:42
WHAT, no replies? Did you guys SEE that Alphabet video? Isn't it the greatest thing with the greatest music and you wanna tell me how super jelly you are for not getting to play it? Oh well, like Moses famously said "Hey guys check this out" and threw pearls before swine, so shall I throw more impressions of the Experimental Game Pack 01 before you lot.
GAME 4: DEPTH
This is a first person puzzler in which you solve puzzles via the magic of depth perception! Kinda like Perspective. At 20 levels it is the meatiest of the games in the pack so far. I've only made it to level 5, where things got a bit more complicated via the addition of physics-objects. Will have to play more of it later. Verdict for this one: not bad!
GAME 5: ELECTRONIC FORTUNE TELLER
This one is a NES-rom. After I'd gotten it running on an emulator and entered my name and date of birth and the current date, this is what it told me:
Inline Image:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/electronic-sweet-n-fun-fortune-teller.jpgTHANKS ELECTRONIC FORTUNE TELLER!
icemann on 17/9/2013 at 08:01
Makes you want to go on a shooting rampage after listening to the music to alphabet for more than a few minutes. Sounded good at first.
henke on 19/9/2013 at 14:40
I have a better name for this game pack: "The sift-through-a-bunch-of-crap-to-find-the-occasional-glimmer-of-something-that-might-be-worth-playing pack".
GAMES 6-15:
gamespaceSpacegame - pretty good platformer, but it's only 1 level. I think. I haven't managed to beat it.
golden age moths - this is just a .air file. Dunno how to get it working.
guilded youth - text adventure that starts out with kind of an interesting twist, moments after which I loose interest and turn it off.
inputting - another game about pressing keys on your keyboard. Not as good as Alphabet.
irrational exuberance - first person game where you walk around on spaceislands and look at particle effects. Jesus.
izlags - game where you move a DELL computer over a broken up glitched-out landscape. Can't tell if it's supposed to be like this or if the game broke and the developer couldn't be bothered fixing it and simply passed it off as an "art game".
LA Death Disk - frisbee-based platforming sports-game, is what I guess this one might be labeled as? This one has quite good gameplay, and a bumpin' soundtrack. Shame it's only 2 player local matches, or I'd be enjoying this one.
micomonocon - the flimsiest-made and worst rythm-game I have ever played.
a moth in relay - branching poem which spews noise and black and white imagery at you while it prints out on your screen.
pachalafaka - Another "game poem". At least the watercolor graphics and jazz soundtrack of this one looks and sound nice.
Al_B on 19/9/2013 at 17:33
Quote Posted by henke
I have a better name for this game pack: "The sift-through-a-bunch-of-crap-to-find-the-occasional-glimmer-of-something-that-might-be-worth-playing pack".
So basically it's the modern equivalent of the (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassette_50) Cassette 50 games but without the watch?
faetal on 19/9/2013 at 17:36
Quote Posted by henke
irrational exuberance - first person game where you walk around on spaceislands and look at particle effects. Jesus.
This might be my favourite game review of all time
:D
henke on 19/9/2013 at 20:34
Thanks. Yeah I totally gave myself a pat on the back after I finished writing that one. Nailed it.
WingedKagouti on 19/9/2013 at 20:58
Quote Posted by henke
Oh man, no way the rest of the pack can live up to that. It's gonna be all downhill from here for sure.
How prophetic.
Kuuso on 20/9/2013 at 10:33
You actually paid something for this?
henke on 20/9/2013 at 11:01
15 euros.
IT SEEMED LIKE A GOOD DEAL AT THE TIME OK?
22 new games from Arcane Kids and Bennett Foddy and the Hotline Miami guys? WHO KNOWS what crazy stuff will fall out of the heads of these guys when they're unrestrained by COMMERCIAL PRESSURES and QUALITY CONTROL, is what I thought. Ok, haven't gotten to the Arcane Kids game yet, that's the next one in the list. An abstract first person skating game. Could be good. And Bennett Foddy hasn't finished his game yet, so I still have that to look forward to.
I could still break even. I've calculated that the Alphabet game brought me exactly 8 euros worth of joy. Depth, Coureur Des Bois and LA Death Disk brought me an additional 7 euros worth of joy, but unfortunately things like Control, Irrational Exuberance and A Moth In Relay brought me 4 euros worth of anguish, which has put me back in the red. Hopefully the last 7 games will be good enough to bring me up to a total of 15 euros worth of happiness. Here's hoping.
