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Joe is an average guy. This is an average game.

  • Redd
  • 04/05/2013 09:38 PM
  • 2800 views
This game is about four people who go out into the forest to sleep in a tent. Even though they have a perfectly nice cabin they could've slept in instead. They hit the hay for the night, but suspect that someone... or something... is watching them.

Visual - 3.5/5
You can tell very well that most of the graphics are custom made. The game also has a custom resolution, so you are able to see more of the game at a time. There are some pictures that add a nice effect to the game. The message box looks VERY nice, it was actually probably my favorite thing about the game. However, there were some problems. A few of the graphics clash, particularly the characters with the rest of the game world. Everything looks pretty high quality, and the characters just don't. Speaking of the characters, you can also walk straight through all of them, as if they were ALL ghosts. You should never add that in a game unless it's online, so you are able to walk through the other players. Sometimes, the pictures had very bad quality, not fitting in with the rest of them. The maps also need a little bit of work, but not too much.

Audio - 4.5/5
There wasn't much music in the game, but it adds to the overall creepiness of it. There were also many sounds that added nice effects to the game. I feel like there could have been a bit more music, or a bit more variety in it. Music, or lack thereof, is key to setting environment, so it must be used extremely effectively.

Game Play - 4/5
The game play was simple enough. Move around with the arrow keys, click on objects. There was also a nice little run feature. There is no fatigue system though, so you can run forever. There is also no absolute NEED to run, which kind of detracts from the system a bit. Other than that, it was pretty standard. There could have been a unique way of controlling or at least a run meter, which is why this is missing a point.

Story - 1.5/5
I felt like the game was very, very short. It had so much potential and didn't do hardly anything with the story. As far as I could tell, there were two different endings. A bad one, and a good one. This was determined by, also as far as I can tell, extremely nonsensical things. Your actions didn't really affect the story, it was more like doing a random extra thing affected the story. This made it look unstructured. It took me about an hour to figure out how to get the good ending for a "20 minute game," because it was so vague. The endings also happened immediately, one action didn't lead to the next one to provide multiple endings. It was very standard. There are many cutscenes that aren't even cutscenes... they just say things like "a few minutes later" and such. Like I said, this game could have been fleshed out a lot more, giving more endings and ways to achieve those that actually made sense.

Horror - 1/5
While the whole premise is quite creepy, and it does have it's scary moments, it's not classified as horror in my book. It's hardly even suspenseful, because of the lack of story structure in the game. I honestly don't even know what to call this game. It's like a "choose your own adventure" book with 10 pages. There were a few moderately creepy moments, such as looking through windows in the cabin, not knowing what's going to be there, but it proved to not be scary when it actually happened.

Conclusion
The game's final score comes out to a 3/5. The game definitely had it's fantastic and terrible aspects, giving this game an average score. It could have been fleshed out a lot more than it was, which just didn't happen. A few minor mistakes have also brought the game's score down, which is quite sad.

I would suggest at least trying it out. It's worth a shot. Just don't expect much.

Posts

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About the characters. There is only so much you can do with 32x32 pixels I am afraid.
I could have made them in another style, I guess, but I haven't gotten any complaints about it until now (quite the contrary actually). I'd love to hear suggestions on how to improve them. Would you have prefered a more realistic approach?

Music, or lack thereof, is key to setting environment, so it must be used extremely effectively.

Sure, music can be a good tool enhancing games. I opted to try something different out, though. I like how it turned out, myself.

Story/horrorwise: I set out to make a short game, and I achieved my goal. Sure I could have branched out more, but I saw no reason to.
There are many cutscenes that aren't even cutscenes... they just say things like "a few minutes later"

I'm guessing you're refering to the scene at night when they gather stuff before leaving the camp. Would you rather spend a few minutes inside the tent gathering stuff? I don't feel like this would have added anything to the game.

Like I said, this game could have been fleshed out a lot more, giving more endings and ways to achieve those that actually made sense.

I guess that's true. But then again, so could most games ever made.
I'm curious. Why is gameplay 4/5 when you mention all you can do is move with the arrow keys and 'click' on things (Something every other game can do) and there's a badly implemented running mechanic? Also, what you mention about the endings should probably factor into gameplay and not story. - The endings are part of the story, but how you get them is Gameplay.

As for the story, tell us what were your thoughts on the characters. If the myth of the Skinwalker was well translated into the game, etc.
I'm just saying, for what it is, it could have been better. It had much more potential.
A more realistic approach on the character graphics would've been nice. I wasn't aware characters could only be 32x32 in Ace. That kinda' sucks. But the trees look quite realistic.

The game play is what it was supposed to be, clicking on things around the map and walking around. But the running mechanic was a bit bad, yes, and didn't factor into the story much. That's why it's 4/5.

I have no problems with the character personalities.
The endings could go in game play or story, really.

Maybe they could have been shown in the tent collecting things instead of just saying a few minutes later.

This is just my opinion, though.
How do you know the running mechanic was not implemented as it was supposed to be too, then? Or anything else for that matter? How things are "supposed to be" is not everything. If a game was made to 'supposedly' be lacking in any given area, that wouldn't earn it a high score in that area, that would earn it a low score because other games like it have set the bar high in that area... Even in the best of cases it would earn it a "N/A" score, and that area not be factored into the final score at all.

All I'm saying is that 4/5 is kinda misleading when it comes to gameplay. But hey...
The running button is basically just a bonus. Why would it factor into the story if there's a running button or not?

I guess they could have been shown gathering stuff or something in the tent sure,
but is it really that big a deal? You kinda understand that they go get stuff, since they say so numerous times. You don't have to see every single thing they do, that just slows down the story.
I could show all four hours of them walking through the forest at night too.
That's basically the same thing. I skipped it because it brings nothing necessary to the story and slows down the flow.
Most horror games in which you can run often have a reason why. I was just playing The Forest Trail and you have to run in that game otherwise you die. Something like that. Moving slowly and being slightly frustrated can also add to the game's horror appeal.

Also, once again, I feel like the story could have been fleshed out a bit more.
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