Kalysren Blog

Silent Hill 2

2012-01-02T16:53:00Z

Game Info

Publisher: Konami
Developer: KCET
Platform: PS2
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Players: Single Player
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Release Date: September 24, 2001

Intro:
The game begins with James visiting a woman who is behind bars, but she's sitting in a rocking chair with a semi-nice room behind her, suggesting that she is, perhaps, criminally insane. His questions give way to a series of video sequences involving people and places you will discover in the game.

Getting Going:
James looks in the mirror in a grungy public bathroom and ponders his reason for being in Silent Hill. When you take over, you grab the map off of the front seat of the car and take the path to the city, entering the dense fog that permeates the remainder of the game.

Fun:
The game begins with several mysteries which make you want to play, and unravel, the story. After a while, though, the game became a bit tedious for me.

Visuals:
The city is covered in dense fog by day and total darkness at night. The wayside at the beginning overlooks a lake and park. As you visit various places throughout the town, you get the feeling that it may have been a nice place once. At the very least, parts of the town were nice. It is not now. Fences and barricades are everywhere; headless, zombie-like creatures roam the city; everything is trashed and covered in graffiti. The fog, alone, does an excellent job of creating the mood while robbing the game of any color to brighten that mood. Silent Hill is a dreary, dreadful place.

There is no HUD in Silent Hill 2. If you wish to check on your life and supplies, you must enter the menu. This creates a seamless, immersive main screen while your overall health is demonstrated by the clarity or color of the mini video screen in the inventory menu.

Sound:
The sound design is where Silent Hill 2 really excels. The sounds of your footsteps change as you move on different surfaces: gravel, pavement, wood, grass, etc. At times you hear another set of footsteps--the sound of something, unseen, pacing you. When you run, you breathe heavier once you've slowed to a walk. This is really creepy until you realize the breathing you hear is your own. Enemies cause a radio static that alerts you to their presence before they are seen. Your heartbeat becomes louder as you near death to alert you to take action.

Intelligence:
Silent Hill 2 is rather linear in that you are limited to certain areas until you "unlock" new pathways. James looks in the direction of points of interest to alert the player that there is something worth checking out. The only thing is, he doesn't stop looking there once you've looked into it. Your health status is demonstrated by the clarity and color of your vision in the menu screen along with the sound of your heartbeat and the vibration of your controller as you near death. Characters in the game further the story along, but I found myself wanting to ask each of them "Why are you still here?"

Immersion:
Silent Hill 2 is meant to be a completely immersive experience. While you are steering a character, James, around a screen, you can never be that character. However, KCET has used the absence of a HUD and the sounds of whispers, white noise, and unseen footsteps to create an immersive experience for players. Health is regenerated with the use of first aid kits and food. Considering the technology of 2001, this is successful. It doesn't stand the test of time, however.

The absence of the HUD is an excellent immersive technique by itself. The sound design is amazing and effectively combines with your lack of vision to create an eerie atmosphere and put you on edge. The controls, however, are not fluid. The story is slow to develop and inconsistent with most people's reality. In the end, the game reminds you that you're playing it, not in it.

Rewards:
Rewards are limited, but you can pick up a wooden plank, pistol, and shotgun along with the many health items. Bullets and shotgun shells abound throughout the environments. James dies when his health is depleted.

Cameras:
You really have no control over the camera. James must be pointed in the direction of things you wish to see.

Controls:
Movement takes some getting used to. The joystick is too fluid and has too much play. Using it feels sloppy. The arrows have too little control. Unlike most games, in which "run" is the standard of play, James walks unless you tell him to run by pushing the square button. Attacks are a two button affair: hold R2 and push X repeatedly. Attacks are very slow and purposeful; seeming to require a sort of wind up. There is no spamming the attack button.

Ideas:
The number one idea I took from this game was the way in which James turns his head to look in the direction of points of interest. It's not the first time I've seen it in a game, but it's absolutely brilliant as a way to alert the player to important items without ruining the immersion by highlighting the object in some way. I've also seen this done with a sort of flash in which the object is zoomed in on briefly. If I were designing a survival horror game, I would definitely look to the sound design in Silent Hill 2 before I designed the elements in my game.

Memory:
By the end, the fog, darkness, and slow movement of the game just became tedious for me. It felt more like I was looking for objects and a way out than for any real answers.

SoulCalibur V Coming 2012

2011-07-26T17:44:00Z

It's still hard to find information about the upcoming SoulCalibur V, due out in 2012. During San Diego's Comic-Con, Namco Bandai finally opened up a little to tease fans of the franchise with a trailer, screenshots, and character art.

SoulCalibur V (SCV) is being brought back as the result of an outpouring of fan response to a request brought forth by Tekken creator, Katsuhiro Harada. If the fans wanted it, he said, the Project Soul team, which disbanded in 2009 after the making of SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny, would be brought back together to make another game.

To reflect this reunion of the team and the fans, Project Soul now has a new logo. According to SCV's producer, Hisaharu Tago, this also reflects a new era and direction for the team.

New to SCV are Natsu and Z.W.E.I.

Little is known about Z.W.E.I., yet. What is known is that he is a self-taught fighter who carries one sword. Tago hints, however, that the sword is not his main fighting method and that Z.W.E.I. means two in German.

Natsu is a 17 year old female character who wields two ninja swords. She was brought up by Chic, but is Taki's student. Her fighting style will be very similar to that of Taki, who is clearly not dead. Her fighting moves will take advantage of the advances in game development that make faster combos and agile evasions work better than ever. Don't be fooled by her cutesy appearance; we all know fighting girls can be tough opponents. This one harbors the demon, Arahbaki, within her.

Ivy is returning with an updated look and better fighting moves in SCV. Adopted by Early and Countess Valentine, Isabella Valentine is actually the daughter of Cervantes. She wields the snake sword; which is a sort of chain sword.

The trailer is a teaser of the new characters and some of the new gameplay to be expected. Tago promises that Project Soul will work hard to maintain the game balance we've all come to expect while adding innovations in the form of new Quick Moves, stunning combos, and high damage special moves.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Screenshots for SoulCalibur V:

Follow the progress of SoulCalibur V on their website, facebook, and Twitter. You might also want to follow Namco Bandai's Filthierich and Daishi_CALIBUR on Twitter for all the latest news.

Get Ready To Rumble

2011-06-30T19:40:00Z

What the world needs now is another fighting game. Nope, no it doesn’t. But, if the game is done well and it’s also free to play, how can you complain?

Newgrounds is a staple on Kongregate games. They offer a host of free video game action on their website, as well. So, for fans of their games, they have created Newgrounds Rumble. This arena fighting game allows you to choose one of eight familiar characters to fight with, but you will be able to unlock more as the game progresses. Like most fighting games, you will then find yourself fighting against other brawlers from the list.

Each Newgrounds brawler features a backstory and specific positives and negatives. If you’re not familiar with the Newgrounds toons, there are external links built right into the game in which you can watch video or play games featuring them.

Newgrounds Rumble features upbeat fight music to keep you going and really set the pace while not being overly repetitive. The controls are all keyboard based: A to block, S for a standard attack, and D for fierce attacks. The arrow keys move your player around the screen which offers plenty of items to fight on per level. This is a departure from your standard fighter which generally keeps the battle on one level, moving back and forth on the screen. Another notable difference is that your fighters can actually fall out of the screen and re-spawn. Since you won’t gain any health benefits from doing this, it’s more strategy than an immediate benefit or punishment.

There are multiple modes to choose from, including career mode, survival matches, challenges, and multiplayer options. Newgrounds Rumble is a challenging game. If you can manage to rack up a five combo string, you can even earn a badge and five Kongregate points today. While the “Relentless Attacks” badge is listed as easy, this won’t be an easy task.

Needs More Cowbell

2011-06-29T17:20:00Z

Sometimes, game balance is an elusive quality. It completely escaped Viricide’s developer, 2DArray. Balance is a games’ ability to be accessible to people of varying skill levels. If a game is too easy and most people are able to complete it, it is out of balance. Likewise, when a game is too difficult, only highly skilled and competitive players are able to enjoy it. For everyone else, it becomes frustrating, rather than fun.

Viricide features a perpetually depressed AI subject to multiple viruses. There must be 17, at least, for that is the number of levels you will have to beat in order to earn today’s Kongregate badge and 15 points. You are a ship in the computer’s virtual space. You must shoot and destroy the neon squares and circles to obtain the o’s within.

This is where the concept fails to find balance. There is no indication of how much damage your ship does to any particular flying object or what differentiates one square from another. And, it takes a barrage of hits just to destroy one. If an enemy runs into you, you’re destroyed and the level is failed, unless you manage to get enough o’s to pass the level. Circles, introduced in level 2, move more quickly and randomly than the squares do. Even when you do manage to take an object out, you will have to maneuver the minefield of enemies to collect the o’s, which disappear in short time.

Upgrades are expensive, mostly in the 200 o’s range and up. This means you will be fighting with a low-level ship for some time before you are able to upgrade. Meanwhile, the enemies are getting stronger. You will not be able to choose your level, which means gameplay is stuck on any level you are unable to pass and you won’t be able to go back to easier levels to level up.

Viricide has the same play mechanic as the Facebook game, Vorp!, a polished and balanced game with much better graphics and gameplay. For my time, and this mechanic, I’d prefer to play that.

NBA Street Vol. 2

2011-06-29T02:11:00Z

Game Info

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Electronic Arts
Platform: PS2
Genre(s): Basketball
Players: 1-4 Players
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Release Date: April 28, 2003

Intro:
The intro to NBA Street Vol. 2 features a brief music video of night court, outdoor, basketball action featuring some of the special plays that will be available in the game.

Getting Going:
From the menu screen, you’ll have a variety of modes to choose from and decisions to make.

Play It~Choose the game you want to play.
My Team~Create a “baller” (avatar) and a custom team.
Rewards~Unlock new players and courts.
Options
High Scores
Inside Vol. 2~Tells you what’s new in Volume 2

Games are announced by Bobbito Garcia. He has announced for playground basketball tournaments in New York for 20 years.

Fun:
Unlike most sports games, NBA Street takes it to the street for some real three-on-three action. It brings in a nostalgic touch with the addition of basketball cards of NBA All-Stars. Because it doesn’t seem as serious as a normal sports game, it earns the added feel of fun.

Visuals:
NBA Street Vol. 2 shines more in its animations than in straight-up visualizations. Games go very fast and action on the court is constant. You won’t find yourself staring at backgrounds or spending a lot of time noticing the characters on the court. Instead, your focus will be on the moves, combos, and following the ball.

Sound:
The track during “baller” creation is overly repetitive and annoying. Music during gameplay, however, does a good job of setting the pace and is kept well-below the level of game announcements. Announcements are clear, humorous, and plentiful. There is perfect scripting here to keep you informed while still offering plenty of “smack talk” when you’re failing.

Intelligence:
The character creation portion of the game really needs an overhaul. In addition to failure to pay attention to the sound loop during avatar creation, there is no clear direction for “let’s play." Instead, character creation just seems to loop endlessly.

Once you get into actual play, the game really starts to shine, however. Under “Play It,” you will have more choices to make:

Pick-Up Game~Quick Exhibition game
NBA Challenge~Take on NBA teams and unlock rewards.
Be a Legend~Experience the life of a street legend (career mode, in other words).
Street School~The game tutorial

Players on the other team definitely play to the best of their abilities. They will quickly rack up points and style points. They will perform special moves and even earn replays for their best plays. NBA Street Vol. 2 is definitely not a one-sided game.

Immersion:
Because the game is so action-packed and one of your rewards is the ability to “draft” a player from the other team when you win, NBA Street Vol. 2 keeps your undivided attention during play.

Rewards and Punishments:
As you play, and win, you will unlock jerseys, player cards, and the ability to add players from the other team to your team. You will also earn “Development Points” which you can use to unlock new moves. Moves earn you style points and can be harder to block.

Cameras:
There isn’t any camera control. The camera follows all of the court action, focusing on ball possession. A circle around the player indicates who is up for defense and who has the ball on your team when the ball is in your possession.

Controls:
NBA Street Vol. 2 is definitely easy to learn, but hard to master. There are a multitude of moves and combos to learn. The tutorial basics are 15 lessons alone. The buttons change from offense to defense. L and R buttons boost in various ways to give you an extensive list of combo moves in order to rack up those style points and get an edge in the game.

Ideas:
Pay attention to how long you spend on customization and how that affects the player experience. Avatar creation is an important decision-making process that instantly involves the player in any game. Don’t rush them by making the experience a punishing one.

Memory:
If I could only describe it in 50 words, how would I describe it? NBA Street Vol. 2 puts players on the street courts of their neighborhoods and lets them in on the action. It gives you plenty of ways to do that in style and offers plenty of rewards.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell

2011-06-24T01:13:00Z

Game Info

Publisher: Activision
Developer: Neversoft Entertainment
Platform: PS2
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)
Release Date: April 8, 2003

Intro:
It’s not what the intro does; it’s how it does it. Splinter Cell tells the story of two agents sent in behind enemy lines and captured. You are then introduced to Sam, who will be sent in to rescue them.

For a PS2 game, the pine cone and tree graphics blew me away. But here’s why Splinter Cell does the intro better than most: It introduces a stealth action style of play as good as any spy movie. You are going to get the opportunity to play with a more realistic spy experience. Depicted scenes include sliding down tunnels; using gear such as night vision goggles and small, flexible cameras; shooting while hanging, and rappelling down the sides of buildings. By the time the intro is finished, you’re just sitting there thinking ‘I can’t wait to play.’ That’s what an intro is supposed to do.

Getting Going:
Choose your difficulty and check your options, which will acquaint you with the controls. Then, you’ll move on to training camp. This might seem a bit scary at first. Training camps are usually not something you can skip and, in some war games, will pigeon hole you based on skills. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but, if you don’t play well there, it sets the mood for the whole game. That shouldn’t really be the case here. You must be able to accomplish the skills to move beyond training camp and, if you put the game down for any length of time (days, not hours) you might forget some of what you’ve learned but, overall, Splinter Cell’s training camp is fairly easy and gets you up and playing rather quickly.

Fun:
It’s always difficult to identify fun on its own, without comparison to other games in a genre. Splinter Cell’s alerts are much less jarring than the sudden noise and exclamation point experienced in the Metal Gear Solid franchise. Drops are more natural and gameplay just feels more intuitive. This all adds up to a fun stealth action experience.

Visuals:
As already stated, items in the outdoor environment are phenomenally rendered. Much of your action takes place indoors, however. Here, most items are where you might expect to find them; a first aid kit on the floor amidst a well-searched house or on the desk in a police station, for instance. These items look like they should, as well, instead of being rectangular boxes or a shiny pixel on the screen. The night vision works well and gets much too bright to use in lighted areas. People are shiny and look like they are made of painted clay, but for 2003, this is still outstanding artwork. The map, however, is difficult to use. It’s in a menu, not on your HUD. While it shows you the overall layout of the land, it doesn’t say where you are. It’s green-gray and dark brown without any hint of landmarks other than street and building names. If you are lost enough to need the map, it’s fairly useless. Also, load screens are tediously long.

Sound:
The sound effects include the crumple of paper when you step on it, typing sounds on a keyboard, grunts from Sam as he hauls things or maneuvers, and the rustling of leaves as you brush past plants. While the voice acting is superb; ducking is not done very well. It is difficult to hear the voice speaking to you from the com in your ear over the bass of the background music. The soundtrack does do a great job of setting the mood and the pace of the game, however, and this is essential to good sound design.

Intelligence:
Beyond the introduction, the AI is the place where Splinter Cell truly shines. NPC’s definitely notice you. They run, hide, and lay in wait. If they leave an area in fear, they may come back. If a police officer is alerted to your presence, he may seem to go away, but he doesn’t reset. Instead, he waits for you. If you injure an enemy without killing them, they may, for instance lay down on a couch in agony, but they will still shoot you if you come across them. Health is not restored over time or at save points; you must come across first aid kits to replenish it. There are varying ways to accomplish any goal, offering you a lot of choices and freedom. Splinter Cell is a stealth game; if you shoot your way through it, you’re going to have trouble finding ammo.

Immersion:
There is a lot of thinking to be done with Splinter Cell, but also a good chance that you will have to repeat things a few times, especially if you start a difficult mission low on health. For this reason alone, Splinter Cell often fails to be fully immersive. If the game gave you one shot at it, or more information, you might feel more immersed. However, Splinter Cell tends to be a very balanced game. While you might find yourself repeating situations, you’ll learn from your mistakes and less challenge would dramatically decrease the fun of the game.

Rewards and Punishments:
Every computer that you can access grants you a data stick with more information about the story. Drops include first aid kits and, rarely, ammo. If you die, you will be returned to the last save point or checkpoint to try again.

Cameras:
This is another area in which Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell really does excel. You have full control of the camera and are able to look up, down and all around. There is never a feeling that the camera is too loose or too tight, won’t look where I should be able to look, or is stuck at a bad angle.

Controls:
Sam Fisher can do an awful lot of things. He can, of course, crouch, jump, sneak, walk quickly, and climb. He can also climb pipes, slide down ropes, do wall jumps, peek around corners, and do splits on the wall. This leaves you with a lot of control options, but a lot of controls to remember. Shooting with R2 and R1 feels a little counterintuitive. I had to keep reminding myself to use the correct finger on R2, which aims, so that I’d be able to shoot because enemies have happy trigger fingers! You may not get a second chance, especially if you are low on health. Like many games, it is easy to learn, but difficult to master. In a fighting game, where this might be something you can learn as you go, that is a good axiom. Here, you’ll definitely want to have some mastery early on.

Ideas and Memory:
Splinter Cell kind of caught me unaware. I’m a huge MGS fan and, while there are several Splinter Cell games in this franchise, this is the only one to make my list. By contrast, almost all of the MGS franchise received high enough critical reviews to make the list. At #83 on the list, it also falls below all but one of the MGS games.

Although they are both stealth action franchises, there really is no comparison. Splinter Cell manages to tell its story without lengthy CG’s that break up the game action and without jarring alerts. Death scenes aren’t the overly dramatic, and somewhat amusing, yelling sequences found in MGS. Instead, I found a more realistic rescue mission-style game that fit the intro and my expectations of a stealth game. I will continue to be a fan of MGS, simply because it is some of the most outstanding story-telling in any franchise. For pure stealth action fun, however, I’d choose Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell.

Kindergarten On Steroids

2011-06-22T15:27:00Z

A puzzle game, well designed, challenges you without frustrating you too much. In any game, that balance is important. In a puzzle game, it’s essential. You don’t want to make a player feel dumb, but you also must avoid a feel that anyone could succeed.

One of the ways to achieve this is to, at least, let your players know the rules of the game up front. Today’s Kongregate game, Blocks With Letters On, fails to meet this basic requirement. The only instructions for the game, in the beginning, are to use the mouse to select a letter and the arrow keys to move it.

Right away, the controls are counter-intuitive. If you are right-handed, you’re constantly moving your hand from the mouse to the keys. Everything should either be on the keyboard or on the mouse. Since this is an un-timed and, more or less, static game, this isn’t a huge deal. It just lacks flow.

If you’re thinking that you will have to figure out the challenging word, that’s not the case. Most of the words, at least in the lower of the 64 levels, are only three to four letters long, and are pretty obvious. The challenge is to get all of the letters in their proper places in the yellow box. Once you understand this, the first three levels are pretty easy.

On the fourth level, a set of instructions pops up, but it is not immediately apparent that this is a new rule set for this level only. In fact, it was rather annoying because this rule lets you move your blocks anywhere in the white squares, including up and down. This is not usually allowed; blocks can only move back and forth. The fourth level felt freeing, like a reward, but it was taken away in the very next level.

The reward, if you will, is that you receive a poorly drawn picture of the word item, along with the spoken word. It feels somewhat like elementary school, when you were learning to read and spell. It is also the only sound in the game, which completely lacks a sense of tone or pace without it. Blocks With Letters On automatically saves to your computer. If it takes you a bit to figure out the rule set and you’d like to retry the game once you have, that will be a challenge in itself.

If you make mistakes, you can reset the level. The game also offers 10 hints and 10 clues. The clues are in regards to what the word is; the hint tells you how to solve the puzzle. In fact, it’s not a hint at all; it tells you exactly what you need to do to solve the puzzle.

The “Fiendish Finish” badge is only worth five points on Kongregate today, but you only have to get to the fifth level. Blocks With Letters On is not an awful game; the end user experience is just poorly designed, so if feels like an awful game.

Loved and Hated

2011-06-21T15:57:00Z

I really wish that game designers would choose a genre other than platformer when they want to get a message across. Games like Braid and Closure seem as intent on frustrating the player as they are on getting their story across. That’s a shame because their message will only reach a limited audience.

Besides side-scrolling progress through the game, a platformer is all about challenge. It requires precise timing, jumps, obstacles, and traps. Loved, today’s Kongregate Badge of the Day game, has nothing on games like Braid, however. Still, by the end levels, I wanted to take out Alexander Ocias, the game’s designer.

According to Ocias’ game synopsis, he wanted to make a game that touches players in some way and makes them think about the choices they make in daily life, as well as in-game. Loved succeeds.

Utilizing simple black on white graphics along with a smattering of colorful shapes, Loved begs the question ‘Are you a Man or a Slave?’ As you travel through Loved, you are told to do things. It is your choice of whether or not you do them. You can, of course, play multiple times, making different choices as you go. There will be consequences, in the end, for the decisions you make.

The music is mysterious and somewhat haunting. If you run into any red square or land on spikes, you will leave shattered pieces of your former self wherever you died. You will then be returned to your last save point, the feminine statues in the game. When you succeed at some things, you’ll get a “Good Boy.”

Toward the end, colorful blocks close in to block your path, while allowing the red block to pass freely. When you die here, the red block jiggles, as if it’s laughing at you. You will have to really up your game here. Wrong moves will either up the ante remarkably, or block your passage altogether.

Despite the amount of expletives directed at my screen at the end, Loved is a fairly balanced game that offers a lot of decision-making, music that gives the game a really creepy feel, and the sort of story that stays with you when you’re through. What you take away will be different for everyone. For me, I felt that the “voice” that directed me was a controlling female and that Alexander Ocias wanted me to look at how women treat men. But, it could just as easily be a parent or any controlling partner. It could be a commentary on sexuality, depending on how you view it. It could even be a commentary on personal choices, the decisions you make, and the consequences of action or inaction. It is all up to you, the player.

Regardless of what you take away, playing Loved on Kongregate today will earn you 15 points and the "A Man Chooses; A Slave Obeys" badge.

Pirate Blunder

2011-06-20T15:31:00Z

It’s been a busy morning on the high seas, but as the Captain of this pirate ship, you’re taking things kind of slow. “Slow and steady wins the race,” as the saying goes. Whether or not this was the intention of Game in a Bottle when they created Treasure of Cutlass Reef, it is the overall feel of the game.

You will begin by choosing one of three difficulties: Captain, Colonel, or Admiral. Take your ship and crew out and fight the waves of enemy ships that come your way. When each round is over, use the gold you’ve plundered from your enemy kills to buy upgrades to your cannons, crew, and ship.

Treasure of Cutlass Reef is played in a top-down view. The only sounds in the game are the sounds of lapping water and men fighting; the game would have been better served with a soundtrack to set the pace. Upgrades are the only rewards. Despite three levels of difficulty, there isn’t a noticeable difference in gameplay or results.

To be fair, it is doubtful that ships on the water would move faster or maneuver better than the ships in this game. Treasure of Cutlass Reef just doesn’t seem very balanced. You, the player, are not empowered in any way. There is a small amount of strategy involved in play, but you could just let things happen, as well. You’re able to switch the side of your ship in which the cannons shoot from, but it doesn’t always seem to work and, a few times, my ship seemed to switch sides on its own. Battle action is limited to positioning your ship and shooting your cannons as quickly as your cannons will reload. Enemy flagships have names; you are completely anonymous. It could be argued that you get to pick the name, but you have the same view of your ship and crew as you do of the enemy’s. There is nothing in the game that keeps you vested in the outcome.

Defeat occurs when either your ship’s integrity is compromised or the last of your pirates is killed off. To add insult to injury, you are asked to enter a name once you are defeated. Presumably, this is for the leaderboards, but it is the only time you cease to be anonymous.

The real prize in Treasure of Cutlass Reef is the badge attainment for Kongregate. It took me all of five minutes to earn the “Scurvy Scallowag” [sic] badge and receive my five Kongregate/PowerUp points. For five minutes, you can, at least, give the game a try.

Big Difference

2011-06-17T20:54:00Z

It’s kind of an age old question: What makes a game, a game? Is it enough if it has rules? Does it have to teach you something? Should you have to master it or use some kind of skill to play it? Should you earn some sort of reward for accomplishing something beyond simply progressing to the next puzzle or quest? Shouldn’t you have to use your brain in some way to play?

I’m not going to answer these questions, although I have very definite thoughts on the subject. Since it is an old question, it has many answers, perhaps as many answers as there are players or developers, or both. Simply put, it was the question that kept running through my mind as I played 4 Differences.

4 Differences is a 15 level puzzle. It’s like those missing item pictures in books or magazines when you were growing up. One of these things is not like the other, except, in this case, four of these things are different. Figure out what has one more line or a different squiggle. However, this is a colorful, sometimes animated, version and the images are attached to each other. It’s actually a lot easier because the cursors mirror each other on both sides of the picture so that you can, for instance, drag it along the cloud line to see if there is a difference.

The background music does do a good job of setting the pace and creating a mood for 4 Differences. It’s rather like one of those New Wave soundtracks that you might meditate to. In fact, that’s the best way to describe 4 Differences: meditative.

There are no rewards, no power-ups, no decisions, not even any real rules. You really don’t have to give much thought to what you’re doing, although it will have your complete focus while you search.

I guess I’ve said I “played” it. Doesn’t that, alone, make it a game? Puzzles are sold in the toy department, by games, right? It’s a question that won’t be answered today. Whether or not you agree that 4 Differences is a game, it will earn you a Kongregate badge and 15 points. The one thing I was really pleased with? It didn’t take long to play. I was worried that it was going to be a long game. So, if you want a quick, and easy, 15 points and a badge to add to your page, 4 Differences is well worth the play.

If Today Was Your Last Day

2011-06-16T16:23:00Z

Every now and then a game comes along that makes me want to strip it down to it’s finer points and figure out where it went wrong. I Have 1 Day is one of those games. It’s an 8-Bit adventure that is as much puzzle-solving as it is story.

You awaken in jail on the day of the prince’s coronation with no idea of who you are or why you are there. First, you must get out of jail, but then you have to figure out what to do next. The catch is that you have a limited timeline in which to accomplish these mysterious goals.

I Have 1 Day has a a rewind feature, however, so any decisions you make can be undone. If you’re truly lazy, there is a link to the walkthrough built right into the game. While this does reduce player frustration, it kind of defeats the purpose of creating a puzzle-solving game--especially one in which the puzzles are as light as these.

Overall, you’ll have limited decision-making. Because of the timeline and the travel times, you will lose fairly quickly if you make wrong decisions. However, any loss can be overcome by going to the log book and starting over at any hour. There are absolutely no rewards or level-ups of any kind. Any items you obtain will be used to accomplish another goal.

In short, I Have 1 Day is no more than an interactive story. Your decisions are limited to right and wrong choices, although there can be more than one way to solve a puzzle. The consequences of doing one thing over another is usually a time debt. The only reward is an eventual win and 15 Kongregate/PowerUp points if you play today. If I really had only one day, though, I'd skip this game.

Defend Whose Honor?

2011-06-15T19:36:00Z

What if you wanted to create a game that was part tower defense and part RPG? You might come up with a game like Defend your Honor! If you're Armor Games, however, you might actually identify it as part tower defense and part strategy. But, really, aren't all tower defense games about strategy?

The point is more how to create a tower defense game that isn't a rehash of every other game in the genre. Defend your Honor! succeeds. You begin as an Elf Mage, but you're kind of a loser; paying rent, but living in your parents' basement. In order to save your reputation, you take on a quest for the Walrus King; you must return his statue.

A quick look at the main screen will make this seem like a quick task. Don't be fooled. There are five doors on the main screen, but each door hides three battle mazes. By the time you get to the third maze in each environment, you will have picked up a new party member. You still have mazes and monsters, but instead of fighting with new arms or bigger castles, your units are characters with a brief storyline of their own. Among them are a Dwarven Brawler (melee fighter), Troll Rogue (ranged shuriken thrower), Undead Cleric (buff), and a Human Bard (slows enemies). Spending the coin you gain from killing enemies earns you upgrades in range and strength of attack. If you manage to save some, you can buy more mercenaries, -er friends, for your team. Instead of protecting your castle, you are protecting your quest item from destruction.

**small spoiler alert** The final level is a game changer. No matter what you have in your arsenal, I can almost guarantee you'll want more of something. Whatever your strategy has been, it might change. The enemies are tough, but few, which means that your upgrades are also few. Choose wisely.

If you're playing for points, you won't need to get to the end. Today's Kongregate badge, the "Rookie Badge" is only worth five points, but you only need to complete Door #1 and earn your first walrus. This, like all Badge of the Day games, gets you bonus Kongregate points plus GameStop PowerUp points. If you choose to play to the end, however, Defend your Honor! is worth three additional badges and a total of 35 more Kongregate points. It will also almost guarantee you the seven trophies unlockable in this game.

Get OUT!

2011-06-14T15:44:00Z

Some people just don’t frighten easily. Even when they are scared enough to run, screaming, from a scene, they come back for more. It’s almost as if it’s a challenge; like they have to see how much they can take.

In Haunt the House, you play a very Casper-like ghost. All you want is a little peace and quiet. The people of the house want to have a party, however. 30 people, of all ages, are there. Using every technique at your disposal, can you scare them out of the house without scaring them to death?

Haunt the House has a bit of a sandbox quality to it. You can go anywhere in the house and haunt most any item. As you create a more terrifying environment, you’re able to increase the scares with bats, demons, and monsters under the bed. You can make things levitate, swing, break, and even juggle. The problem is, you will scare some people until they run screaming, but the second they think they’ve reached safety, they settle down. They even return to places they were scared from before, as if to stand up to you. Sometimes an old technique works. Sometimes you have to try several new tricks. Likewise, there is no herd mentality. While scaring one party-goer, the one standing next to him remains oblivious and unaffected.

The sound effects, haunting music, visuals and animations all work smoothly together to create a hauntingly fun aesthetic. Haunt the House won’t spook you; it’s doubtful it will even make you laugh out loud. But, it will amuse you as you find creative ways to scare 30 resistant people out of the party and pick up 15 Kongregate/PowerUp points when you earn the “House Cleaning” badge.

Bringing Up Dragons

2011-06-13T14:40:00Z

It’s kind of ironic that today’s Kongregate badge game is How To Raise A Dragon; I just watched How to Train Your Dragon last night for the first time. The game and the movie are completely unrelated, though.

How To Raise A Dragon is an 8-Bit side-scrolling adventure in which you raise your dragon from hatchling to adult. You may choose the color of the dragon by the foods you choose to eat. A bit of warning here: eating red food and blue food does not create a purple dragon. Likewise, going from one color to another does not automatically change you to the new color. Instead, you will get various combinations and mutations of colors depending on what you eat.

As an adolescent, you will get to choose your skill. You can be either a fire-breather, mist-breather, or healer; again, it depends on what you eat. There are seven types of behaviors and four titles to unlock, but what you choose is limited for each game. To get your "Dragon’s Tale" badge, worth five Kongregate/PowerUp points today, you only need to finish your adventure once.

As an adult dragon, you will choose how you interact with people, choose a home, and interact with a hero. How To Raise A Dragon is a very linear game. It doesn’t take long to get through the story and earn your badge.

Even for 8-bit, the animations are lacking. The only sound in the game is the persistent chirping of the birds. This is actually welcome. There are way too many Kongregate games that seem to rely on the short, repetitive, music loop. On the whole, however, the game is an effective amusement and worth the time to complete it. It is also part of the Pixel Pack; if you’ve already played, simply pick up your five points. If you want the medium badge, however, you will have to play the game repeatedly, making different choices as you go.

Calling In Favors

2011-06-10T17:36:00Z

You’ve assassinated a senator and you need a new identity, you say? Well, step right this way. For a few tiny little favors, we’ll be happy to help you out.

This is the premise for today’s Kongregate Badge of the Day game, Another Small Favor. The game is a sequel to A Small Favor, a game with the same basic storyline. You go around collecting items to trade for favors. If you know how to play the game, you can complete the entire thing in ten minutes. If you’re unsure, it’s going to take you much longer.

Another Small Favor doesn’t do a great job of connecting the dots; that’s the actual point of the game. You have to figure it out for yourself. It’s fairly linear, however, and a bit simplistic. The graphics and animations are fairly polished. The music is unobtrusive and fitting.

There is a hint button, in the game, if you’re stuck. However, it should come with a gigantic spoiler alert. It’s an entire walkthrough, plus a video walkthrough of the game; a game which completely lacks a save function. So, if you are stuck, you’re better off finding the solution or you will have to play through the game again. Once you know the solutions, it’s not exactly hard. Even when you finish the game, it offers you a chance to play again. With only one solution to every puzzle, which you now know all of the answers to, the replay value is about zero.

Is Another Small Favor worth playing? Sure. Finish your adventure, collect your 15 points and your "Identity Crisis" badge and move on to other, more challenging, fare.