Reverse Crawl Review

Reverse Crawl is a turn based strategy combat game. Your goal is to take over the kingdom that was once yours by bringing back allies from the dead or making bonds with new and old ones.

Troop selection.

Gameplay is very simple, at the start of each battle you can choose what kind of troops you are summoning to control in a hex-grid field. You can only move, attack or guard until you get some other special command. The goal is to defeat all enemies before your own troops get defeated. Relying on strategy and spell casting to overpower your opponents is mandatory, as your own troops are not as strong as the heroes you face.

Battle grid.

The main progression happens through the story. After every chapter you get to chose between three adventures. On top of it you will be getting a new power, unit or spell that you can use in combat. Every successful combat gives you experience that you can then use for unlocking stronger powers and perks.


Overall Reverse Crawl is a corky story and not a bad game. The idea of being the dungeon still has strong untapped potential as the game is more about combat then "being the dungeon" yourself. There are a lot of UI improvements that could be made, and the number scaling does not enhance experience. That said, it is an indie game made by a single developer and definitely not a low standard to stand on. Specially when you always need to take into consideration unit weaknesses before deploying them. Could say it is kind of convoluted, but maybe that is not a bad thing for this kind of game.

Valley Review

Valley is a first person adventure game. After getting lost in a kayaking trip, your goal is to find your way out of a mysterious Valley.

Collectible hunt.

Gameplay is very simple, you run and jump around shooting beams of life or draining it out of the valleys nature. If you die you will automatically harvest the life from the Valley to be reborn. Progression happens as you move through the story, very simple. There is also a collection going on the side that you will use to open secret doors in one of the last stages of the game.

Enjoy the thunder, it only happens once!

We feel that the pacing could have been improved by layering the different mechanics you learn through the game in the same challenge. Most of them you will learn, use it and then never encounter them again, wasting good possibility space.

Although it was made by a small indie studio, the game boosts an AAA quality. Goes without saying that budget does affect the length of the game, making Valley a short experience overall, but one definitely worth journeying into. Specially if you want to see what a handful of capable developers can achieve.

All You Can Eat Review

Disclaimer: I received this game for free from the developers.

All You Can Eat is a very short and simple "comic game", for the lack of a better term.

It plays like a point and click game, where you click to interact with objects and locations. You also have a few specific interaction options by dragging the items into the objects themselves. By solving some puzzles you will progress through the story and reach the point where you can export your gameplay to a PDF file and print.

Made by two indie developers with a unique approach and a very interesting way to keep your legacy. We really like the idea of being able to share our story with friends, without them even knowing it was a game, in the first place.

DOOM Review

DOOM became a mark in history as one of the best FPS games back in 1993. The new DOOM (2016) is by no means short of that. With a gameplay unique to its franchise, you will sure find it entertaining.

Gun Upgrades

DOOM's gameplay is very straight forward: Get some guns and convert demons into piles of flesh and blood. By itself is nothing new, what does make its playstyle unique is the mechanic called Glory Kill, which you might not wrongly assume by its name it is extra gory for an already sanguinary game. After weakening demons enough they enter a staggered state that allows you to kill them with your hands. Who needs guns anyway? More than that, the demon's body part you are aiming at and your position relative to it will change what animation gets executed, no easy feat may we add. Although Glory Kills are a small addition to the genre, it has deep implications in the way the game is played as well as how powerful it makes you feel.

Runes

Progression through the game is done primarily by moving through the story. You also get 3 secondary progression systems that will make you more powerful as you play. The first is adding bonuses to your weapons by finding gear drones, completing battles, challenges and finding secret spots on each story chapter. The second is increasing your suit power by finding elite guards and argent cells scattered through the stages. The third is through powerful runes that will add/change specific mechanics of the game by completing rune trials.

Although not a direct gameplay mechanic in itself the animation system created for the game has to be mentioned. Every creature has multiple reactions depending where it was shot at and with varying degree of pain. From simple twitches to full rage reactions for heavy damage, if you keep an eye out for these you will be amazed by the variety and responsiveness of the creatures to your actions.


With outstanding music, well paced fast action gameplay, and an aggressive mechanic DOOM will sure keep you on your toes! More than that, it effectively make you feel like the only one that can possibly stop hell from taking over! A decent multiplayer with user made content will also extend the gameplay if you are into it.

PS: There is much more to the animation system than we could possible mention here. If you are interested you can hear about it first hand from the developers themselves: Bringing Hell to Life: AI and Full Body Animation in DOOM (GDC Vault subscription needed).

Hero Generations: Regen Review

Hero Generations: Regen is a rogue like strategy game where you have to balance between adventuring and managing your life span.

Time for Adventure!

The gameplay is simple, each character has a maximum number of years to live and each turn/move/action in the game grid takes away 1 year of that counter. During that time you can train your character, kill monsters, build cities, explore the map and find love. Before you reach the end of your life time you need to find an accepting mate to keep your bloodline going. In case you fail, it is game over. If you succeed you will be prompted to draw the attributes that your child inherits from a pile of cards. The quantity of draws you get is influenced by life span left, up to a cap of 16 draws and some traits you might posses.

Still got 120 left!

There is no long-term progression for the game. Every new game is self-contained and no progress is carried over. That said, the game does have a power progression as you go through the generations and accumulate resources and build cities that can empower your character. And if you survive long enough each generation card becomes stronger. Despite all that, having a longer lifespan is a clear advantage over everything else.

World Grid almost fully built.

Speaking of building you going to need gold in order to build. Gold can be acquired through combat, quests, and from buildings themselves (like farms). You can also use gold to purchase items from merchants, including a very special traveling one that can offer some of the best gear in the world. So keep those farms running!

Hero Generations Regen is a simple, enjoyable and unique game. Despite some minor issues like uselessness of damage, excessive randomness and a "rigged" feeling from the combat power system, the game presents a unique approach to using life span that we wish more adventure games would take.