PANGAROIDS Review

Before going on, for full disclosure, a while back the two people who made this game had apparently asked me to take a look at it. Unfortunately, I only recently got the notification I had gotten a message. Sometimes WordPress has the funkiest glitches. On top of that, I had a lot going on outside of my online presence so it took me a while to finally get to this one.

PROS: A solid Asteroids clone with some twists.

CONS: Not the deepest experience

POWER-UPS: Be sure to get them often.

With that out of the way, I’m getting to this now. I contemplated calling this a mini-review at first because on the surface there isn’t much to talk about. Upon seeing it for the first time your likely reaction will be “Oh, an Asteroids clone. Okay.” and go on about your day. But after you play it for a while you’ll start to see that they did put some thought into differentiating it from the many games that have taken a shot at updating Asteroids.

Pangaroids is a game that adds a slight hint of Pong into the mix by having borders around the playfield. What does this do? Well, the Asteroids (which I think are supposed to be space hockey pucks) can bounce off of the borders at various angles. So when you aren’t initially crushed by one of them, they can still rebound into you. As in Asteroids, shooting them blows them into smaller pieces that you also have to avoid while shooting them.

This results in the screen getting cluttered up a lot faster than in Atari’s old vector game. To help you, there are power-ups that will randomly drop from the destroyed space pucks. You can cycle through them before picking them up by shooting at them. And while it never gets as varied as other shmups that do this like Twin Bee or Cotton, it does break up the formula a bit. There are missiles, shields that can protect you from a hit, and a few others. Some of them will affect enemy behaviors to a minimal degree.

The game also has a similar thruster mechanic to Asteroids. So you have to try to anticipate where momentum is going to take you in addition to where your targets are going to be. So the game does have a bit of strategy involved within its space. Visually, the game doesn’t really do much to stand out. Make no mistake, it doesn’t look bad at all. But it has a clean, sterile look within its border, and sprites give off that early 2000s Newgrounds vibe.

The game controls well enough, with a little bit of floatiness you’d expect to see in any game following Atari’s classic arcade game. You move the ship using the arrow keys, and you fire with the space bar. Honestly, it’s pretty good for what it is. It isn’t going to set the world on fire and won’t pull you away from a deeper game you might be playing through. But for a game you can fire up in short bursts, it’s a pretty good option.

I’d say if you own a laptop you should add it to your Steam library. It’s the kind of game you can play on a commute or while waiting in an office for an appointment. And if you’re an old-timer like me, you may want to drop some time going for a high score. And you don’t see solid freeware games like this these days very often. As publishers usually go the ad-driven or microtransaction fuelled route instead. A full-fledged freeware microgame that plays well is a rarity. And the whole thing was made by a figurative handful of people so all in all a solid effort.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

Fistful Of Frags Review

I’ve had a lot of doctor visits as of late. If you’ve been following my Twitter feed you might have noticed me lamenting my poor dietary decisions over the last 30 years. Suffice it to say, when bills start piling up, you kind of have to put game purchases on the back burner. At least until you catch up. What does this have to do with today’s game review? Well if you’re in a state of “I can’t spend any money on non-essential things right now” it can suck. Especially if it means spending your little bit of free time bored.

Fistful Of Frags

PROS: It’s free! Really, really free! A western setting! Fun.

CONS: It really isn’t much to look at. Too similar to TF2. Minor bugs.

HOLY HALF-LIFE 2 BATMAN: Yes it’s another indie game that started out as a Source mod.

Freeware used to be a thing. In today’s climate when someone says “Free.” many of us instantly think about pay walls, and timers. Sometimes a game will start out as a paid game, and then become free. Team Fortress 2 is the most famous example of that. Its only post download purchases are the purely cosmetic hats people buy. But 30 years ago, there were many free games if you were playing on a computer. Often times computer magazines had entire sections devoted to free games, and other programs. All you had to do, was take the time to type in the 15 pages of code, and remember to save.

By the time MS-DOS was king, and about to be usurped by Windows 95 Free games were all over the place. Hobbyists made them. Even some companies made them. Sometimes even companies unaffiliated with gaming somehow gave away a free game. Chex Quest anyone? But of course over the years that became less, and less common. Eventually freeware games were replaced with shareware games. Where you had the first 30% of a game for free, and then bought the full game if you really enjoyed it. This proved to be a very successful model for companies like Apogee, and iD who would give us Wolfenstein, Rise Of The Triad, Doom, Duke Nukem, and Quake. Eventually however, we even saw those days disappear.

Rather than follow the path of micro-transactions forged by smart phone games, Fistful Of Frags opts to be freeware. True freeware. There are no add-ons to buy. No cosmetic items. Nothing. You have the complete experience for no charge whatsoever. But even a free game isn’t free from scrutiny. After all, it still has to be fun enough for you to want to download it in the first place. Fortunately Fistful Of Frags is fun enough for a download.

The game pretty much clones the experiences of Team Fortress 2, and Half-Life 2’s Death Match mode. You have your classic push cart mode. In it, you’ll have to move a mine cart from one side of the map to the next within a time limit. The opposing side will attempt to stop you. There is also the point capture mode, where you have to hold a position for so many seconds. In this game you also have to have the area clear or the timer will stop until you take out the enemy team. If you can keep them at bay, you’ll capture the point, and move onto the next. These modes also take a page from Counter Strike by having a shop at the start of each round for your load outs. Don’t worry though, the currency is not based on actual money. Rather, your round performance as a team will determine how much you’ll be able to spend. Suffice it to say, you’ll want to do well enough to have your favorite tools available.

Then you have the standard Death Match mode. Kill more opponents than anybody else within the time limit to be the victor. The game does add a few of its own provisions to the rule set though. First off, you won’t have access to everything right away. You’ll be allowed to choose a starter weapon, and favored hand. But many times you’ll begin with your fists, and have to find a weapon in the field. There is a variant of Death Match called Break Bad, where each kill gets you money, that you can use toward your load out on your following life.

Each of the Death Match modes can be played in teams, or in free for all settings. If you play in teams, there are four factions: Desperadoes, Vigilantes, Bandits, and Rangers. All of the factions are functionally the same. The only change is the player model you’ll be using. In team games, you can even play four team variants. So this allows all four factions to be in a game at the same time.

The game does attempt to differentiate itself from other modern shooters. One of the ways it does this is with its melee fighting system, and with its emphasis on dexterity. When you are completely unarmed, you can still have a chance at survival. It has a left punch, and right punch mechanic using the left, and right mouse buttons. You can also kick people back to get some distance. The game doesn’t go as deep as it could however. You don’t really get to steer your swings the way you do in something like Chivalry. But the fact you can mix things up is encouraging. The game could have easily gone with the fist as a pointless button 1 jamming affair. Instead it went with a system akin to a boxing game. Moreover, when brandishing firearms, or melee weapons you can choose which hand to use. Each hand setup has advantages or disadvantages. You can have a right-handed, a left-handed, or ambidextrous position. When using two weapons the left button is the left gun, and the right button is the right gun. Some of the alternate firing modes are a lot of fun too. Like the Clint Eastwood inspired rapid-firing of a revolver. There is even a focus on counting the number of times you’ve fired a weapon as it has a western theme.

That old west theme also works in the game’s favor. There aren’t a lot of western themed games compared with other settings.  So Fistful Of Frags stands out. It also has some fast, arcade movement, mixed with some realism. At least in the fact that picking up too many items will actually slow you down. This is one game where hoarding weapons can actually be a detrimental thing. Plus the game has some pretty great level design. Maps flow for their game modes really well. Weapons are mostly pretty good, with many of the weapons having some pretty good effectiveness. You’ll also stumble upon colored crates in maps. These have different weapons in them, and certain colors yield better ones. Of course the better crates are often in places near choke points, or places that leave you vulnerable. So going for them can be a pretty big risk.

Fistful Of Frags is one of many Source games that started out as a Half-Life mod, and it shows. It puts its wild west theme to good use. It has some great stages. But it isn’t going to win any beauty awards. The game looks very much like a 2004 release, and there weren’t many visual upgrades added to the engine. Where other games that started as mods have had overhauls, this has not. There aren’t a lot of lighting effects, or other visual add-ons to hide the limits either. The game even launches with a Half-Life 2 icon on your taskbar. It does nothing to disguise the fact that it runs as a stand alone mod. There are also some technical hitches that hold it back a bit. Sometimes I found myself stuck on objects. Some of the maps have areas you can go beyond, where you shouldn’t be able to. Sure you’ll die, but falling into a barren wasteland, and clipping through objects is something to be avoided. Then there is the minor nitpick in that there are only four player models. One for each team. Character variety could certainly add some more personality to the game. The main drawback however, is the lack of modes. With what you’re given, you might opt to play Team Fortress 2 with its added classes, and constant updates. Or you might opt to play something like Quake Live if you’re just itching for some Death Match action.

Be that as it may, I can say the game is FUN. Even if you only play it in short bursts, or the occasional night with friends. It controls well, the maps are interesting, and again, there haven’t been many western themed games compared with other settings. And because we’re talking about freeware here, you aren’t out anything if you end up disliking it. Hopefully though, the developers can take what they’ve learned, and apply it to a more fleshed out, deeper experience. There is certainly enough to build upon. As it stands, Fistful Of Frags is definitely worth checking out. Even if it is fairly average.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

 

Expendabros Review

All too often games based on films, or other properties, in a word; suck. Expendabros is one of the rare exceptions.

PROS: Blows the last Expendables tie-in out of the water. FREE.

CONS: This is really less freeware, and more a glorified demo.

UNKNOWN: If this game has any actual spoilers. If it does. Expendables 3 will be weird.

Developed by the same team that is making BroForce,  Expendabros is loosely based on The Expendables 3. As such, the game works as not only a movie tie-in, but as a demo for BroForce as well. The game runs on the same engine, and uses many of the same assets that are in its predecessor.

Expendabros is up to four players on a single machine. It plays essentially the same as BroForce. Players will have to get from one end of the stage to the next. The whole affair is reminiscent of games like Konami’s Contra, or SNK’s Ikari Warriors. You will be attacked from every direction from grunts, mechs, gunners, and more. The game also throws in some really fun, and over the top bosses for you to conquer. Many of them are very challenging, and difficult to defeat. Particularly the end boss who practically turns the game into a bullet hell shoot ’em up.

Where  Expendabros differs from other 2D side scrolling shooters is its environments. Pretty much, every sprite the game displays is destructible. This means you can shoot your way through the terrain, almost like Dig Dug. Doing this can be both beneficial, and detrimental. It’s good because sometimes it means you can skip through a difficult section or get the jump on a deathtrap device. It’s bad because it also sometimes leads to dead ends or bottomless pits.

During missions, you will have to free prisoners from cages. When you do this you’ll slowly unlock members of the cast of Expendables 3. Unlocking the characters adds lives. But each character has their own abilities. Terry Crews gets a giant chain gun that is handy against bigger enemies. Dolph Lundgren gets a lot of cool explosives. Sylvester Stallone uses his dual pistols, while Jason Statham throws his trademark knives.

Unlocking the team members helps you last longer because when you die, another member is put under your control at random. It goes like this until you either clear the level or lose every team member.  There are also NPC characters throughout the game. You can interact with many of them, giving them weapons. Upon doing so these characters work a lot like the option orbs in Konami’s Gradius.

They will go about the level shooting grunts on your behalf. But they can, and usually will die from explosions, bullets, and things meant to kill you. You will also find flagpoles around the area. These act as checkpoints. Getting these raised means your next character will spawn next to one upon your death. Some of these are pretty difficult to get to. Especially in the later stages where the challenge begins to ramp up.

Visually, the game isn’t going to blow you away. It has a decent look to it going for a nice spin on the look of 8-bit, and 16-bit consoles. Between levels there are some pretty cool cinema screens that tell the story. Some of these are interactive QTEs.  Again, it goes a long way to try to bring back feelings of Contra, and Ikari Warriors. Games that actually took inspiration from theatrical, and direct to video action films.

The audio is actually quite nice. There’s an announcer in the vein of old Midway shooters like Smash TV. Guns, and explosions sound really cool while also being a throwback to the halcyon days of arcade cabinets. The Expendabros isn’t a very long game. You can clear it in four hours or less. But the game is a lot of fun for that short ride. By the end you’ll find the freeware title did its job, making you want BroForce. Or, like me, you’ll want BroForce as soon as it’s completed. BroForce is still in Early Access, and you may be wary of paying money for an incomplete game. To be fair, the developers at Free Lives have continually supported the title. But seeing how it isn’t done, you might want to choose to wait as I have.

As it stands, Expendabros is a really great introduction to BroForce, and one of the best freeware games you can get right now. The fact that it is this well put together, and a movie licensed game is a rare miracle. It isn’t often we see a good  game based on a movie, and rarer to see a free good game based on a movie.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

 

Unreal Tournament IV details.

Ironically, as I’ve been working on the Unreal Tournament retrospective Epic has also gotten seemingly wistful. Last week Mark Rein hinted that a new UT was going to be in development via Twitter. A lot of folks began wondering what exactly would happen. A full-fledged $60 UT4? A port of UT or UT2k4 to web browsers a la Quake III? A Free to play game full of micro transactions?

Well it appears we have an answer. Personally, I’m having a bit of a mixed reaction. Because on the good side of things, the game will be freeware. Not a F2P, pay wall filled game asking you to buy every little thing. A free game. It is also going to be on the latest version of Unreal Engine. Which also means those who wanted AAA visuals will get them. (If not AAA then certainly pretty close.) A lot of UT veterans are working on it, which is also a good sign. There will be a lot of fan input meaning, that a lot of the really serious fans of UT/2k3/2k4/3 may see the balance they want, along with features they want. There will be a vast amount of fan, and official content as optional expansion packs with creators splitting profit with Epic. Development is also focused on PC platforms Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. This is going to make it great for the mod community who want to do projects that are ambitious, and large.

On the bad side of things, this is new territory for Epic. They have always been about bleeding edge blockbuster games for full price. Even in the days of shareware, demos of Jill Of The Jungle, Jazz jackrabbit, and more, were pushing MS-DOS games to their limit. They rivaled their competition like iD, and Apogee even back then along with the major publishers. The idea of a compelling game going out the door for free making all of its money through community expansion packs is still a great risk. There is the chance that some of the purchasable content made by fans sours the game’s reputation if it turns out poorly.  Also just as fan input can be very good, it can also be bad in some cases.  Sometimes the things competitive gamers want can alienate the gamers who just want something easy to get into with less serious friends. Sometimes factions develop within competitive communities too. Each wanting contradictory things. So there is the chance that the infighting drags down development. The hope there is that the open nature of everything means that there will be expansion content for every kind of player.

All of that being said, I am cautiously optimistic about this news. No attempt at an arena styled FPS has really made waves since Unreal Tournament 3. UT3 also had its own troubles, and steep competition from other contemporary styled shooters. After it faded away few captured its feel. But even those that did failed to capture the player base required to have a vibrant community.

Hopefully, UT4 will be able to succeed where UT3 failed, appealing to a new generation of fans, while also dragging us old timers out of retirement. I certainly can’t wait to see how everything turns out.