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Dolphin was way easier to make run than buying Brain Age to softmod the WiiU. I forgot how neat some things were like being able to target specific body parts to shut down monster abilities
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Oct 13, 2018 14:10
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Crabtree posted:Outside of David Cage games and Illbleed, are there any horror games that kill off their protagonist mid story like Psycho? Like not YOU WERE ALWAYS DEAD, JOHN or anything that already occurred, but something that just really grabs at the player. This is from a few pages ago, but it's hard to answer this as it's basically a spoiler. That said (spoiler for a popular-ish horror game from early last year): Detention does this to pretty good effect, although it's less "the protagonist dies" and more "you weren't actually playing as the protagonist".
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Oct 13, 2018 15:11
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Coolguye posted:DbD's balance is a pipe dream because the game creators released a game with fewer concepts than actual Tag. like, the game we all played on the playground at 5 years old is objectively more complex than DbD's core gameplay. you can only dress up a game so bare bones so many ways before it becomes obvious what you've done, and people start seeing the hopelessness in the exercise. because it eschewed things as simple as stamina or a timer, they have shown themselves entirely unable to model a chase that's satisfying for anyone involved. survivors either have some way to infinitely juke the killer or they don't. if they do, they do not fear the killer and the killer player knows it. if they don't, they have no reason to really resist the killer because it won't do them any good anyway. the basic tug of war between killer and survivors has never been in any other state at any point during the game's life cycle. F13 has more issues than its own bugginess. The chases are fun, yeah, but there's a lot of not-Jason downtime that is pretty dull. 20 minutes is also longer than most any DbD match, so it's kind of a moot point.and the series it's based on is poo poo Also the issue with DbD hasn't been infinites for a long while now. There's only a few maps that even have sections that are reliable infinites (Torment Creek, Badham Preschool), and only until bloodlust kicks in, and they're getting looked at in this PTB. Torment Creek is losing like half its pallets, the swamp maps are getting crunched down, and I dunno Badham's still poo poo. The bigger issue, from the killer's perspective, is that generators get done super quickly so you need to shut down chases super quickly, but shutting down chases quickly often requires playing mindgames that too many areas in a map don't support. Like every Coldwind Farm map is hosed by the walls being partly see through so you're not going to trick anyone into running the wrong way unless they're not looking. Survivor side, there just don't feel like any rewards for wasting the killer's time even though it's pretty crucial to the team's chances. There's also all the obvious balance issues with SWF introducing coordination that pretty much every aura reading perk was not designed around, and they still need to finally just balance around that. I have no idea if those kindred changes are ever coming though. edit: Also seriously I have no idea who plays this game for the progression. You get the perks you want for your build, and it's a roulette wheel if you get them quick or not, and after that you're going to get enough blood points to keep yourself in yellow and green addons in perpetuity without much effort. Only 13% of players have even prestiged once, probably because most of the bloody cosmetics look like poo poo and Killers are really the only side that meaningfully (sort of) benefit from the better chances at rarities. I hate to break it to you but people do in fact just enjoy the video game and that's why they play. Except for me, I only play for scratched mirrors (in case it is unclear i am joking that's just my favorite myers setup). TGLT fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Oct 13, 2018 |
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Oct 13, 2018 15:43
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Cardiovorax posted:"Skinner box" is probably the best description for the "press a button, get a thingie" gameplay of games like Diablo et al that I've yet seen. Can't imagine why I never put that together in my head before. It's a very common descriptor, it's accurate, and Blizzard has an especially foul reputation in the area. The worst, most player-abusive sins in gaming come from applied behavioral psychology, and it's very clear that actual psych research is being applied toward that end (iirc Blizzard has actually had psych consultants brought in a few times over the years). It sucks because it's given social science research a bad reputation with companies that eschew lootboxes and other abusive models. Information theory and cognitive psych have a ton to teach about game design and balance, and they're getting shunned. Discendo Vox fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Oct 13, 2018 |
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Oct 13, 2018 16:09
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I know I've posted a hat trick of garbage these last few days but I'm trying to clear out a bunch of promising-but-disappointing Curator Connect games. I should have something good for tomorrow! 1. Little Nightmares 2. OK/NORMAL 3. Unforgiving - A Northern Hymn 4. Rise of Insanity 5. Paratopic 6. Rusty Lake Paradise 7. Cube Escape: Paradox 8. INFERNIUM 9. Dead Secret 10. All Haze Eve 11. Welcome to Hanwell 12. Gray Dawn 13. The Last Cargo    I would rather see an interesting failure than a boring success, but in a perfect world interesting ideas would get solid games built around them. Obviously that doesn’t always happen, sometimes because the ideas are more unique than good, and sometimes because the execution is lacking. I honestly don’t know which it is in the case with The Last Cargo, because it’s built around ideas I wouldn’t use for a game, and they don’t seem all that fleshed out either. It’s a shame because elements of the presentation and atmosphere are good, just wasted on a game with no coherent core. You awaken in a grimy elevator, wheelchair-bound and loaded with strange equipment. A voice explains that your avatar (the wheelchair guy) is helping a patient within their cargo management system, which I believe is fancy terminology for their memories. Like, in their head. You don’t know who the patient is or what their condition might be, but apparently all will be revealed if you can reach the last level of the system. That won’t be easy, as your crummy elevator deposits you onto every floor between you and your goal. These floors are occupied by particularly unfriendly automatons, so the sooner you complete your tasks and move on, the better. The atmosphere is the first thing you’ll notice about the game, and right from the onset it leaves a pretty heavy impression. Beyond the elevator doors are mazes of darkened hallways and decrepit chambers, cloaked in shadow and teeming with evil. Those first few minutes wheeling yourself around in the gloom are tense, watching for hints of movement and glints of blessed light. The audio is wonderfully understated for this grim excursion, and the sharp pixel art gives even the top-down perspective an evocative feel. Following those few opening minutes, though, you’re going to make two very important discoveries. The first will be when you finally find the main terminal and receive your mission for the floor. Said mission will be described to you in an impressively confusing mix of pseudoscience and mangled English, leaving you only the barest idea of what you need to do. Generally your task will be to find several features around the level, such as floor panels or corpses strung up on the walls, and use some plot item on them given by the main terminal. It’s usually not as simple as pressing E or whatever to do it either, so be prepared for a fair bit of trial-and-error to complete even the most obvious missions. The second thing you’ll discover is how un-threatening your foes actually are. On the first couple floors your foes will consist of faceless automatons that self-destruct near you, and security orbs that zap you if you stray to close to their patrol path. The orbs are easy enough to avoid by giving them a wide berth, but the mannequins like to creep up next to you before they pop. They might be a pain until you discover the One Weird Trick to never getting hit by them, at which point any possible tension left in the game bleeds away. I won’t even tell you what the trick is, because it’s so obvious I can’t imagine anyone fearing these wandering firecrackers for long. All this adds up to a game that isn’t scary in the least, and ends up being more frustrating than not. The controls only exacerbate the problem, as you’ll be grappling with literal tank controls the whole time. Prepare to get caught on every corner if you don’t turn wide enough, and also be prepared to stop dead every time you want to shoot at something. I’d love to spend more time talking about the elaborate inventory system, the survival elements, and the persistent progression systems rather than glaring issues, but it’s those issues that keep this game from being a good use of your time. You might get a few creeps out of the presentation up-front, but digging any further into this shallow offering is just going to break that illusion in half.
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Oct 13, 2018 17:13
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so they made a sequel to cry of fear?
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Oct 13, 2018 17:16
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Discendo Vox posted:It's a very common descriptor, it's accurate, and Blizzard has an especially foul reputation in the area. The worst, most player-abusive sins in gaming come from applied behavioral psychology, and it's very clear that actual psych research is being applied toward that end (iirc Blizzard has actually had psych consultants brought in a few times over the years). It sucks because it's given social science research a bad reputation with companies that eschew lootboxes and other abusive models. Information theory and cognitive psych have a ton to teach about game design and balance, and they're getting shunned.
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Oct 13, 2018 17:17
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Hey, you got Dead Secret onto my wishlist. Might as well bring on the bad games.
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Oct 13, 2018 17:20
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Section Z posted:Not horror unless you count pixelated warcrimes. But goon made game Brigador has a John Carpenter as gently caress soundtrack. Sort of Horror but more action co-op, Deep Rock Galactic has synth up to the nines. The bugs can be scaryish, but they all fit a kind of future retro look even with the new equipment like it was Aliens with dwarves. Got music that feels straight out of John Carpenters the Thing.
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Oct 13, 2018 17:23
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When I was talking about infinites in DbD crap like badly placed windows was only one small part of what I was talking about. Junk like “become literally invincible” perk combinations like have plagued the game on and off and screw off perk combos that allow the survivor to functionally infinitely evade the killer using other features also count. If you hear about survivors being too powerful I guarantee there’s one of those stupid infinites in the meta at the time and that is absolutely true right now. I don’t know who you think you’re disappointing by saying you like DbD though TLGT, we have all liked lovely games at some point in our lives. It doesn’t change the fact that the game is bad, and DbD is extremely loving bad.
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Oct 13, 2018 17:29
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The big thing about Friday the 13th is that the developers went in with a clear idea in mind that the killer *should* be overpowered as gently caress. Didn't always work that way in practice (to this day he can be smacked around and danced on by any Chad who knows what he's doing), but they always had a balance going where even if the councilors were organized enough to make Jason's life miserable by rushing the win goals, it was made up for just by the fact that he could kill anyone he caught up to with minimal effort. Also the community was incredibly chill about most things. I played pubby games all the time and rarely ever found anyone complaining about losing, which is super rare for an online game.
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Oct 13, 2018 17:49
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Might just be because it's a licensed game and no true "hardcore gamer" takes those seriously, so the player base kind of self-selects for people who don't have their heads quite that far up their asses.
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Oct 13, 2018 17:57
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Coolguye posted:When I was talking about infinites in DbD crap like badly placed windows was only one small part of what I was talking about. Junk like “become literally invincible” perk combinations like have plagued the game on and off and screw off perk combos that allow the survivor to functionally infinitely evade the killer using other features also count. If you hear about survivors being too powerful I guarantee there’s one of those stupid infinites in the meta at the time and that is absolutely true right now. That's an weirdly hostile response to what I posted. If you use infinites to mean something other than what the general community means (map design issues that lead to infinite loops) when they use that phrase, that's cool but you should probably clarify that. The skinner box stuff is weird and doesn't really line up with what I see from anyone else. People don't really prestige, and people seem to keep playing after they get the perks they want.
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Oct 13, 2018 18:01
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Yeah, coolguye, maybe chill out a bit.  The call shouldn't be coming from inside the thread.Coolguye posted:I don’t know who you think you’re disappointing by saying you like DbD though TLGT, we have all liked lovely games at some point in our lives. It doesn’t change the fact that the game is bad, and DbD is extremely loving bad. 
Bogart fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Oct 13, 2018 |
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Oct 13, 2018 18:05
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i am not sure how you're reading hostility at all in what i posted during a piss break from playing frostpunk. i was just responding to the 'i'm sorry' stuff and that was confusing. that you like it isn't really changing anything about the game. i was a huge fan of EYE and that game is loving awful. the skinner box stuff isn't an opinion though, that's absolutely an integral part of DbD's design. Coolguye fucked around with this message at 18:11 on Oct 13, 2018 |
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Oct 13, 2018 18:05
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Coolguye posted:i am not sure how you're reading hostility at all in what i posted during a piss break from playing frostpunk. i was just responding to the 'i'm sorry' stuff and that was confusing. that you like it isn't really changing anything about the game. i was a huge fan of EYE and that game is loving awful. "I don’t know who you think you’re disappointing by saying you like DbD though TLGT, we have all liked lovely games at some point in our lives. It doesn’t change the fact that the game is bad, and DbD is extremely loving bad." is strangely personal and comes across as hostile. I already admitted I like Hide and Shriek, and a solid chunk of my posts have been about problems with DBD, I'm fine with where I am when it comes to flawed video games. The skinner box stuff might be an element of its design but it doesn't seem to be why anyone still plays it. At this point the bloodweb just feels like their stupid way to (not really) balance fundamentally imbalanced addons. I cannot imagine the killer who only plays for those few moments when they get something like the iridescent hatchets either. The entire addon/bloodweb/perk system is a wreck but I don't think it really explains why people still play the game, especially when a significant chunk of them don't engage in aspects of the system they don't have to. edit: If the hate to break it to you thing came across as defensive, then I apologize that was not my intent. I meant it more as "unfortunately people like the bad game" TGLT fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Oct 13, 2018 |
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Oct 13, 2018 18:15
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Would anyone be interested in jumping through the hoops to make the Outbreak games work? I never got to play them multiplayer before and it's spooky game month which seems as good a time as any
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Oct 13, 2018 18:23
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Cardiovorax posted:Might just be because it's a licensed game and no true "hardcore gamer" takes those seriously, so the player base kind of self-selects for people who don't have their heads quite that far up their asses.
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Oct 13, 2018 18:27
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As someone that actually worked in an operant lab for a few years, "Skinner box" is an awful term to use. It's just a designed, controlled environment. ALL games are Skinner boxes.  Just call them lovely games.
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Oct 13, 2018 18:38
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Accordion Man posted:Another part I think is an elaboration on that first point in that it attracted fans of the movies so they were just content to experiencing the movies in game form instead of playing to win.
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Oct 13, 2018 18:58
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Does Zombie Master on Source have any players left?
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Oct 14, 2018 01:50
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chitoryu12 posted:Does Zombie Master on Source have any players left? There's a handful of barely active servers. I think people have mostly moved to ZM: Reborn, now. I will play ZM with you. I will play ZM with anyone. Because it's pretty old now; for those who don't know, ZM is a decade-old HL2 mod that centers around an unusual form of asymmetric horror multiplayer. Essentially, all but one of the players are survivors in a zombie-apocalypse scenario and one player is the Zombie Master, who plays the game as an RTS where he has to guide his horde of zombies to annihilate the players. The maps tend to be fairly large and feature structured objectives - for example, in one (backwoods), the team have to split into half; one set holds out at an old decrepit house in the woods, while the other half ventures out through the woods in search of a car battery needed to get the team's van running so they can escape. As well as his zombies, the ZM has access to a bunch of trap triggers that allow him to activate environmental hazards; collapsing bridges and scenery, sudden electrical fires, and so on. He also has a variety of zombies at his disposal as well as the basic Shamblers; fast-moving Banshees that can climb walls and jump, huge, dissected-corpse looking Hulks that can kill the survivors in two hits and take a huge amount of punishment, and a few others. As you've probably noticed, these sound rather like the L4D special infected; I remain convinced to this day that ZM was a direct inspiration for L4D. What makes the mod ridiculously fun is a combination of the teamwork required, and the fact that a skilled ZM means the experience is completely different every time. The huge variety of maps combined with the total unpredictability of the zombies mean that it varies between a slapstick comedy of errors and a feeling of genuine pressure where the zombie horde constantly adapt to the survivors plans and are always coming in through your weak spot. While it's a frequently buggy and low-budget mess, at its best it absolutely nails the feeling of a 1980s zombie movie. Tolth fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Oct 14, 2018 |
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Oct 14, 2018 09:11
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what's wrong with the remake/sequel?
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Oct 14, 2018 10:20
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A big flaming stink posted:what's wrong with the remake/sequel? No idea. It's actually pretty new, as in in beta for less than a year, so it wasn't around the last time I checked on ZM. I'm trying it out as we speak. Edit: It has better graphics and seems way less buggy, but also has a relatively low playerbase with a handful of servers. Second Edit: Manually jumpscaring people who think the map is completely safe is still incredibly satisfying. Tolth fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Oct 14, 2018 |
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Oct 14, 2018 10:30
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A lot of custom maps even have traps that do little to no harm and are just jump scares. There’s also a fuckton of gimmick maps, ranging from obstacle courses to paths where almost every trap is an instantly lethal meme reference and the players are more in a competition to sacrifice others and trick the ZM into triggering early.
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Oct 14, 2018 18:19
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I've never even heard of ZM before. It sounds amazing.
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Oct 14, 2018 19:24
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I requested this one from the developers, Bloober Team, and despite absolutely slagging their last game Layers of Fear they still gave me a review key for this one. And you know what? I'm glad they did. 1. Little Nightmares 2. OK/NORMAL 3. Unforgiving - A Northern Hymn 4. Rise of Insanity 5. Paratopic 6. Rusty Lake Paradise 7. Cube Escape: Paradox 8. INFERNIUM 9. Dead Secret 10. All Haze Eve 11. Welcome to Hanwell 12. Gray Dawn 13. The Last Cargo 14. Observer    It’s no secret that cyberpunk can have a very strong horror bent. The merging of machines with flesh is quintessential body horror, after all, and you can’t deny the creeping dread of soulless dystopias and unrestrained capitalism. Observer is one of the more notable titles to take a stab at cyberpunk horror, by way of the developers behind Layers of Fear. That originally gave me pause, as I am no fan of that particular romp. And while this one shares some of the same weaknesses, its robust story and improved pacing make it a journey worth seeing through. Dan Lazarski is a very special detective with the Krakow Police Department, known as an Observer. In the grim, neon future of eastern Europe this means he’s wired to invade people’s brain-bits and experience what they did. This is super useful for investigating murders, which is perfect because something very un-good is going down in a slummy apartment building under lockdown. Dan’s going to have his cyber-hands full sorting out the twisting mess of clandestine connections and machinations there, and on top of that his checkered past is coming back to haunt him. He’s also voiced by Rutger Hauer, who brings some appreciated gravel to the role but sounds like he’s too old for this poo poo, like beyond the actual direction I’m sure he got to sound “too old for this poo poo.” Observer is a first-person horror adventure, much in the same vein as 90% of the indie horror titles cluttering Steam these days. Unlike those titles, however, this one features an incredible visual style and level of polish that should be immediately apparent. Layers of Fear’s strong suit was its visuals, and they’ve only improved for this outing. The apartment complex where the game is set is a vision of futuristic squalor, a 20th-century brick edifice painted and wallpapered countless times, peeling and crumbling from neglect, jury-rigged with exposed wiring, and beaten by the rain of a dystopian corporate metropolis. Layered over this antiquity is a veneer of gleaming neon and networked wonders, forming a sharp disconnect between eras in the very halls you walk. It’s a great setting for any game, but Observer makes the most of it to ramp up the intensity of its tale. Dan’s been sent to investigate the place because of a lockdown, possibly cause by the deadly phage. This is a strange disease that afflicts those with implants, and so all the residents must remained locked up in their residences. You can speak with them through their kitbashed intercoms, and what you’ll get in return is a cross-section of neuroses and tragedy. The folks that end up in a futuristic flophouse are a motley bunch, and despite some cartoonish voice work have some very interesting stories to share. They’ll also point you towards the dark secrets of the complex, excesses of the digital age that have defined new atrocities to inflict upon the undeserving. Some of what you find here will be grim indeed, and it only gets grimmer the further in you get. Combing the complex and speaking with the residents forms a major part of the gameplay, which can make it feel like nothing’s happening for significant stretches of the game. That all changes when you reach a crime scene and plug into the victim’s mind, which dumps you into a digital nightmare world to sort out. Unlike the investigations, these sequences have little direction and involve you moving forward through brutal vignettes on an unclear path to the clue you’re trying to uncover. The atmosphere and presentation here is top-notch, but be aware that much of the actual horror hinges on jumpscares and stingers. This is where the game seems the most like Layers of Fear, and it’s not a flattering comparison, especially when Dan’s own neuroses start mixing in and making it hard to distinguish reality from imagined threats. Fortunately there’s more to the game than just that. You have two special vision modes that let you scan biological or technological points of interest for additional evidence or backstory. You can also find terminals that hold story snippets and bits of world-building, along with a remarkably addictive puzzle game to play in your spare time. There are photos and other collectibles to find, and plenty of residents to speak to that are in non-essential areas. From this perspective the game honestly works better as an adventure title than a horror one, as the scares tend to be the weakest part of the design. I was certainly creeped out and uncomfortable in many parts, but the brunt of the jumpscares and spooky rooms fell flat for me. It was the story I was here for, and it was good enough to keep me chugging along. Overall, Observer is a solid package that just might not be solid in the ways you’re hoping. The setting is fantastic and fully-realized, the story draws from the darkest, most depraved parts of cyberpunk, and the graphics and sound design really sell the whole thing. But it can drag a bit when it’s not being scary, and when it does try to be scary it tries a little too hard. It’s not obnoxious like Layers of Fear was, and in fact it shows a lot of maturation since those heady days of dolls slamming face-first into cabinets. Observer is a step in the right direction and a fine cyberpunk adventure, and those with weak constitutions will find it a frightful jaunt as well.
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Oct 14, 2018 21:13
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It's more horror adjacent but The Missing is great and everyone should play it.
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Oct 14, 2018 21:15
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Bogart posted:I've never even heard of ZM before. It sounds amazing. It really does. I'd be down for trying to get a game together
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Oct 14, 2018 21:15
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Len posted:It really does. I'd be down for trying to get a game together The (superior) remake of the mod is here if anyone wants to give it a try. The population is very small but if people want to play it should be easy to use one of the dead servers. Expect low production values.
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Oct 14, 2018 21:53
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No More Room in Hell kind of spoiled me on all the other old source zambie games.
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Oct 15, 2018 00:28
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Skyscraper posted:Monstrum is old now, but it seemed like it got a lot of things right about monsters and objectives. Monstrum looks like a super fun game and I hope the devs are able to make sequels using the same idea of "you are trapped in [place] with [random monster] and [items are randomly spawned] and to escape you need to find one of a few methods of escape and obtain the necessary items to successfully escape without getting killed" My favorite thing about it was that while the game was in early access and they were working on the 3rd monster, they actually patched that monster in a previous update secretly so people would play it expecting either the weird lava monster thing that runs around breaking down doors or the strange sleek vent-crawler monster when suddenly the lights would start blinking and you'd find yourself getting attacked by a goddamned specter. Legit a neat game and I feel like it might have been overlooked. Idk why I don't see more people talk about it. FreudianSlippers posted:Giallo is usually non-supernatural* whodunit stuff though. Like one of the reasons Argento made Suspiria was to distance himself from giallo by making supernatural. The Clock Tower series is mostly giallo as hell, the director likes him some giallo so you get this sorta giallo-inspired game filtered through japanese design and you end up with things like Clock Tower SNES, Clock Tower 2/PSX, and Nightcry.
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Oct 15, 2018 01:10
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Sakurazuka posted:It's more horror adjacent but The Missing is great and everyone should play it. That's great news and I've been hyped for it since i saw the trailer. Unfortunately it's still not released on the switch in Europe.
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Oct 15, 2018 01:38
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That's very weird since it's out on PS4 and Steam here.
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Oct 15, 2018 01:49
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Hahaha wow, just finished up John's recent ending video for The Conjuring House and hoo boy that ending You go through all of that effort for several several hours of keyhunts and padding and then the game is just like "whoops you died anyway" lmao
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Oct 15, 2018 07:18
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i would happily organize a few games of zombie master, ya'll are more than welcome to use my discord server to sort things out if you need a spot to sit in, but be aware that tolth specifically mentions skilled ZMs. if you do an in-house you can expect the survivor experience to be one of generally confused ease the first half dozen times because the ZM's controls are awkward as gently caress and it's entirely expected for them to fall flat on their faces the first couple of times playing. on the note of chintzy asymmetric games, though - i was surprised to see that Contagion has continued to receive updates, and apparently it got its last one a week ago! i feel like i should revisit it to see if it ever got less weird at some point.
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Oct 15, 2018 07:55
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If timezones don't get too wonky you can count me in for some Zombie Master funtimes. No-one ever expects you to use the expensive "spawn a single zombie anywhere" option to set up an ambush in a tiny room or blind corner; it never fails to get them.
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Oct 15, 2018 08:38
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FreudianSlippers posted:Giallo is usually non-supernatural* whodunit stuff though. Like one of the reasons Argento made Suspiria was to distance himself from giallo by making supernatural. Ah! My bad there. I guess the thing I was going for was "more dream-like". Would that be an apt description? I haven't seen that much Giallo, but even when Western slashers seem to teleport all over the place the Italian slasher stuff seems to... well, you got it spot on there, "It doesn't quite work if you think about it." That seems to be what Last Year is going for. Having the killer be able to spawn anywhere that will result in a dramatic and theatrical kill. Spawning traps and pitfalls where, if it was a regular human killer, would have required incredible luck and foresight to have pulled off. Imagine that Last Year trailer if it looked as striking as Suspiria. If the killer was wearing a giant Owl mask or something interesting looking. Crashing down from that skylight in a stream of deep red light as some jazz-funk Goblin kicks in. GOD! That'd be rad.
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Oct 15, 2018 08:40
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I just remembered that Ultimate Chimera Hunt is a thing that exists. It's a asymmetric GMod game based on Mother 3 where one player is the Ultimate Chimera and the others are all pig soldiers. It was scarier than it had any right to be. I'm also a complete and utter wuss though so of course I'd get scared wandering around in the dark and running away from the Ultimate Chimera when it showed up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Acx4obI65Ew
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Oct 15, 2018 08:40
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1. Little Nightmares 2. OK/NORMAL 3. Unforgiving - A Northern Hymn 4. Rise of Insanity 5. Paratopic 6. Rusty Lake Paradise 7. Cube Escape: Paradox 8. INFERNIUM 9. Dead Secret 10. All Haze Eve 11. Welcome to Hanwell 12. Gray Dawn 13. The Last Cargo 14. Observer 15. Dark Deception    Stop me if you’ve heard this one: It’s Pac-Man, except you run around in the maze in first-person and you can’t see the ghosts until it’s too late. Oh, you haven’t heard that one? Probably because it’s a terrible idea. That didn’t stop the folks behind Dark Deception from turning it into a game, though, a straight twist on the classic formula that goes out of its way to be frustratingly cruel. And while they clearly tried to expand upon the idea, they did so with a busty grandma and cheap jumpscares instead of anything worthwhile. Supposedly this is a “story-driven” title but all you’re going to get is that you’re in trouble and you need a magic ring to fix things. Lucky for you, you’ve got Bierce to guide you through this ordeal, basically Elvira if you tack on 30 years to her prime and allow her breasts to defy the laws of physics. She’s a caustic, sardonic presence who guides you into hellish mazes to hunt up fragments of gemstones you need to make the ring out of, I think? Seriously, whatever story you’ll find here is so forgettable your first few ragequits from the game will wipe it from your memory. The first maze Bierce ushers you into is cheekily called Monkey Business, a twisting hotel serviced by giant, satanic versions of those clanging monkey toys. After a brief intro littered with jumpscares you arrive in the maze, and are directed to collect 289 soul shards. That’s two hundred eighty-nine things you need to collect and then return to the entrance with. Two hundred eighty-nine. Luckily they’re littering the halls at regular intervals, like the dots you collect in Pac-Man. Exactly like that, in fact. There are no power pellets (or shards, or whatever edgy thing they would be here) to save you from the monsters, though. Once you collect a few shards the monkeys come out in force, clattering down the halls to give you a Five Nights at Freddy’s-esque death performance. You get three lives to clean out the maze, and if you lose them all you get to start all over. And that’s going to happen. A lot. Many, many, many times, and the reason for that is simple. Pac-Man works because you can see the entire board and strategize based on that information. Dark Deception, in stark contrast, expects you to track your foes solely by sound, noting when their tell-tale jangling gets closer or changes direction. That might even work if the maze was as open as Pac-Man’s boards, but these developers can’t even get that right. The hotel is a knot of long, unbroken hallways and blind intersections, perfect for slamming face-first into the jaws of a murder monkey. Nearly all of my deaths have been from getting pincered in long hallways or ambushed around corners, deaths that could easily be avoided if I were given the tools to properly strategize. You have a tablet that shows your immediate section of the maze, but not the monsters. For that you need a special gem there’s only one of, and it only lasts 60 seconds. One time I got it just to see how all three monkeys boxed me in from off the edges of the tablet, to end my run in truly unavoidable fashion. Dark Deception is a waste of time. It’s a very pretty waste, a waste that’s certainly different from the rest of the horror pack, but still entirely a waste. You will lose over and over and over again for no discernible reason. And if you do manage to persevere and clear the maze, you get a teaser for future development. That’s right, the game is one single make and one annoying-rear end enemy right now. If this one ever grows into a varied, creative game, and gets some strategy patched into it, maybe it’ll be worth a look. For now, though, you’ll get a jumpscare or two to giggle at before growing bored or angry at this thing.
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Oct 15, 2018 16:27
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