Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights of Loving

Game Title: Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights of Loving

Platform(s): PC

Stars (out of 5): 4

Content issues: There is no profane language, sex, or nudity in this game, but there is blood as well as guns and shooting. There is also consumption of alcohol.

Brief Summary: Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights of Loving are actually two separate games, but they are bundled together. Gravity Bone is supposedly the first game and Thirty Flights of Loving is the sequel. Gravity Bone is a game in which you star as Citizen Abel and you are essentially a man for hire. There are only two missions, neither of which involves shooting. Thirty Flights of Loving is different. This time you are not given any missions. You simply walk through the game, and then it ends. Although there are things that you can do and you are free to walk around, the game is essentially on rails, because none of your decisions can affect the outcome of the game in any way.

Like: The art-style is interesting and new. All of the characters in the game have huge square heads.

The world is fun to move around in and the missions in Gravity Bone are entertaining.

Dislike: Both games are extremely linear and extremely short. You can beat both of them within 30 minutes (tops). Gravity Bone also has a part where you have to make a ridiculous jump that doesn't seem possible, but just barely is.Thirty Flights of Loving could have removed the ability for the player to walk around and pick things up and just played as a movie and it would have barely changed anything, because all of the decisions that you make are on rails. As some have said, both of these games should probably have been free due to how short and simple they are. Finally, they are supposed to be short stories. Gravity Bone makes some sense, but Thirty Flights of Loving was totally lost on me.

Replayability: Because of the linearity of the games, I would say that replayability is extremely low. The only reason I would replay these games would be to see the art style again for inspiration or to try to figure out what the story is really about in Thirty Flights of Loving, which I am unlikely to do.

This was the best part of the game. Running on top of a table, breaking glasses and smashing food as you go.

Rage

Game Title: Rage

Platform(s): PC (also available on Xbox 360 and PS3)

Stars (out of 5): 4

Content issues: There is a lot of blood and gore in this game. Enemies can explode and their brains can come out if you shoot them in the head. They can be run over with a vehicles. There are levels where blood literally drips from the ceiling. There is also a game show that you have to participate in in order to progress in which you much go through a series of rounds where the sole goal is to kill mutants. Some of the missions that the player must undertake are also morally questionable. For example, in one city, you must perform tasks for the mayor, Redstone. He asks you to kill different groups of people and it is doubtful that he is in the right. Aside from violence, gore, and senseless killing, Rage contains profanity, including the F-word. Although the F-word is not used with great frequency throughout the game, there are some levels where it is used excessively. Finally, there are immodestly dressed women in the game, especially in the last city you go to.

Brief Summary: Rage is a story about the post-apocalyptic world which exists after a meteor nearly wipes out life on the planet. Several "arks" have been buried deep beneath the ground in order to preserve some of humanity, but there are other survivors and mutants who never went into an ark. You are an ark survivor and you help people through the wasteland, eventually joining a resistance group to help stop another group known as "the authority".

Like: True to form, id Software has delivered once again with the gunplay. All of the guns and other weapons are beautifully realized and are very satisfying to use. My favorite are the cross-bow, the wingsticks, and the sniper rifle, but you will find that most of the guns have specific times when they are particularly useful and particular enemies that they are useful against. Learning which gun to use, with which ammo type, against which enemy is where this game really gets fun.

Graphically, Rage is nice, but its main draw graphically are the animations of the enemies. The mutants especially have incredibly fluid animations. They can run and jump off of walls, do flips, roll, etc. I have never before seen enemies in a game that moved with so much fluidity and variety.

I also really love the racing and driving components of the game. The vehicles in the game are very fun to drive and feel powerful and maneuverable.

Dislike: There is far too much inappropriate language. It doesn't add anything to the game and it is very offensive to me. The gore is also excessive and unnecessary. The game would be just as fun if enemies just died. Finally, I like games where I feel like I am doing good in the world, even if doing so requires extreme means (like killing). When some of the killing done in the game is questionable on moral grounds, I don't like it. Also, if you don't have an Nvidia graphics card, this game may not work well for you. I got a new computer and graphics card and it runs great, but before I had an ATI video card and the game would not work at all for a long time. Eventually the drivers were fixed so the game did work, but after 30 minutes of play the game would freeze up and I'd have to quit. Also, the graphics, while nice, are fairly grainy and are already dated. The sky is even static.

Replayability: Because I moved from one computer to another in order to play this game, I ended up playing more than half of it twice. I don't think that I will play through it again, but I enjoyed both times through and in fact probably enjoyed the second attempt more. There are also multiplayer modes which should add longevity to the game, but I have not yet tried those.

Windosill

Game Title: Windosill

Platform(s): Flash (Windosill) PC (via Steam). Also available on iPad.

Stars (out of 5): 4

Content issues: None. As clean as a game can be.

Brief Summary: This game is a physics-puzzle game. The player is required to manipulate the objects in the world in order to acquire a cube that serves as a key to open the door to the next level.

Like: This game is very clever. The simple shapes and colors make for a pleasing art style. The physics and animations are exceptionally impressive. The controls are very simple and intuitive (click or click and drag) and the puzzles are a delight to discover and unravel. I love how nearly everything can move in physically realistic ways, and how everything is very responsive to the user's touch. In many games I see lots of objects in the world and I want to be able to interact with those objects so that I feel like I am in a real place. Most games do not deliver that, but this one definitely does.

Dislike: It's incredibly short. I beat the entire game in 30 minutes. That said, the game is priced accordingly. It is inexpensive and those 30 minutes were quite enjoyable. It is a bite-sized puzzle experience.

Replayability: Relatively low. I can see myself looking back at this game to get inspiration for cool things to do in games with Physics and could play this game again in a year or two after I have forgotten how the puzzles work (This is really how I feel about all puzzle games. For example, I played Braid again a few years after my original playthrough and I had forgotten enough of the puzzles for it to be fun again.)

Infamous

Game Title: Infamous

Platform: PS3

Stars (out of 5): 4


Brief Summary: Infamous is an open-world action platformer. Cole starts out as a normal man, but through an accident acquires special electrical powers. These powers become stronger and develop as Cole progresses throughout the game, and these electrical powers can be used to great effect. Some of his powers are: glide, grind cables and rails, shoot electricity out of his hands, and more. The game includes healthy doses of both action (fighting enemies with his awesome powers) and platforming (scaling buildings, grinding rails, gliding through the air, jumping, etc. The platforming in this game is truly awesome and Cole's powers really make the player feel powerful.

Content issues: Violence is certainly present, but not overly graphic. There is some suggestive talk and one level where you have to fight a very skankily clad woman. If not for those content issues. I would have given the game 5 stars.

Like: I love the open world. You can go anywhere. I love the train that goes through the world and the ability to ride on top of it. I love the climbing and platforming mechanics. Being able to scale large buildings, grind metal cables, and glide through the air is very satisfying and are the principal contributors to the fun of the game. The combat is good. I like how Cole levels up and how he gains access to more powers and to more powerful versions of powers he already has. It makes you, the player, feel very powerful, which is a must in a super hero game. Basically, just running around town, moving from building to building via gliding or grinding or scaling and using your awesome powers is extremely satisfying.

Dislike: My main complaint against this game is the objectionable content. The woman who whispers to Cole suggestively and the really skanky woman that Cole has to battle are completely unnecessary and really hurt the game for me. I also dislike how it is possible to lose opportunities so that you can no longer free 100% of the city. I got one of the zones to 94% and was unable to do anything else to bring it to 100%.

Replayability: After you beat the game, you can continue to run around the city, gathering the remaining shards and doing whatever else is still left. This is kind of fun for a little while, but without any important tasks to complete, it quickly loses its fun. You can replay the game and be an evil character if you were good, or a good character if you were evil, but I don't like being evil, even in games, so that option does not appeal to me. Also, the revelations that happen throughout the game are a large part of what makes the game interesting, and there would be nothing new the second time through. In short, I will probably never replay this game, primarily due to the content issues mentioned.

Arkedo Series -- 03 PIXEL

Game Title: Arkedo Series -- 03 PIXEL

Platform(s): Xbox 360 Live Arcade

Stars (out of 5): 4 (For an Xbox Live Arcade Indie Game)

Content issues: None. As clean as a game can be.

Brief Summary: This game is a simple platformer. The main character, Pixel, is a cat that can walk, run, jump, and high jump. He can also climb ladders. Pixel works his was through a series of beautifully crafted pixel art levels until he reunites with his cat friends.

Like: This game has excellent, classic platforming. I love the super jump that the cat can do and I use it everywhere that I can. The moving platforms, spring boards, and hazards are all perfectly executed and a lot of fun. The modern take on retro graphics is very pleasing to the eye. This game has pixel art, but it's blown up and two tone. There are also artfully crafted backdrops to every level. The animations are the cat are fun and cute. There is a lot of attention to detail in this game as well, such as leaves falling when you chop down a tree, moving clouds leaving a little trail, etc. The music is catchy and works well with the art style. There are also signs throughout the levels that are either helpful, humorous, or both.

Dislike: This is a hard game. Many parts of the game have to be executed perfectly in order for you to succeed. Many times a tiny misstep results in starting over from the very beginning. There are far too few checkpoints, which adds to the difficulty level, and I dislike how the entire level is reloaded if you die. The programmers could have simply moved you back to the beginning of the level or to a checkpoint, reset the enemies, and away you go. Waiting for the level to reload is annoying. Another thing that I dislike is that the only thing that you can get from a treasure chest (after beating the mini-game) is having your health restored to full.

Replayability: Moderately replayable. If you have a bunch of games, you will probably never come back to this one once you have conquered it, but if your game collection is limited, then after a month or two this game would be fun again.

Game Reviews

I am an indie game developer and student at the University of Utah. I also love to play games. As I complete video games I will post a review on this blog. This will help me to better understand what makes games good and fun and it will give me a chance to improve my writing skills. Hopefully the reviews will also be helpful to you, the reader, when deciding which games to purchase and play. I will review all sorts of games from Indie to AAA and I will include my likes and dislikes in relation to the game as well as a brief content review. Enjoy!