• Add Review
  • Subscribe
  • Nominate
  • Submit Media
  • RSS

Hold onto your hatchet!

  • Waxius
  • 04/06/2018 05:25 PM
  • 1651 views
The Ranch - by InfectionFiles

Back in the day, you couldn't keep me away from games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and probably a hundred or so knock-offs. I used to pick on those CD-Roms that had a 100 games on it and I looked for the Doom-like games to play. I even got one from a Chex cereal box, and you blasted away the "soggies". Those were the good 'ol days.



Playing "The Ranch" by InfectionFiles brought be back to those days. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this game was made for the Retromania event and was done in less than 5 days! I could not have accomplished that myself.

The Story:
You are on your way home, only to find that your ranch has been overtaken by aliens and monsters. With only a hatchet to defend yourself, you must hack and slash your way back to your ranch house and find any surviving members of your family. Can you take back your home, or will it forever be inhabited by these horrific creatures?



Game Play:
The Ranch offers 5 levels of game play with each adding just a bit more difficulty than the last. Each level has an entrance sign and an exit sign, but you must complete the level's tasks before you can leave and go to the next stage.

The controls are very simple, use the arrow keys to step forward, back, or turn left and right. You have a hatchet, but it took me a moment to realize that there was NO attack button. To attack the enemy, just walk forward into it and mash the UP button. You'll trade blows with every monster you kill, so choose your battles carefully. Scattered about the levels are water jugs, rations, and camprolls that all restore varying degrees of HP and AP. Try not to overuse your items because you won't know where you'll find the next one.

Since you cannot employ hit and run tactics on your enemies, you'll have to decide which ones to fight and which ones to run from. You do gain experience for monsters you kill, but I'm not sure if it's possible to kill them all without running out of healing for the higher levels.

Level 4 is particularly challenging, as it's a haystack maze with lots of dead ends. If you're not careful, you could find yourself trapped between a wall and an alien that you're not strong enough to fight. Save your game often!

There are also locked doors that you cannot open without the key, so you might have to go outside to find it!

Graphics/Atmosphere:
The graphics has a mix of faux 3D walls and tiles, which can look a bit blocky when you get up close, but I still think it's better than the first iterations of doom games, so this wasn't a detractor for me. The highest detail went to the aliens and monsters themselves, and this makes them much more intimidating.



Overall:
Overall, the game is definitely worth playing. It can be completed in under an hour. I really liked the atmosphere and the level design. I died a lot on levels 4 and 5, but each time I restored I took a different path and found an healing item and pressed on. This made the game challenging and satisfying without being impossibly hard. There was only one monster I couldn't defeat... and it's this guy:



I wholeheartedly recommend playing "The Ranch" when you get the chance!

Posts

Pages: 1
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
Thank you again for this review! :)
Waxius
"Someday I'll finish my game... someday.."
3898
Anytime! Your games are always fun to play!
InfectionFiles
the world ends in whatever my makerscore currently is
4622
author=Waxius
Anytime! Your games are always fun to play!
That really means a lot :)

Maybe one day the biggest thing I want to do for this game besides adding more levels is making it a shooter!
Pages: 1