Score: 6

"A VAST Improvement! ...But Still too difficult"

submission: StormWinds:TLC

date: November 23, 2009

When I reviewed the previous game Stormwinds 1.5 I tore it apart for its insane difficulty and lack of helpful features such as hints. At the time I didn't even know that a third installment had been released. Stormwinds the Lost Campaign has almost everything I asked for. I wanted less difficulty: this game is less difficult, but still by no means easy. I wanted more manageable waves of enemies: This game has that to a degree, so preparing appropriate defenses is less of an ordeal. I also wanted strategic hints: and this game has strategic hints! ...However, Stormwinds The Lost Campaign still has the same weird upgrade system as the previous version so bringing new weapons up to speed later on in a campaign is still a huge pain. Nevertheless I am quite pleased with the new forms of enemies and new defensive turrets. The new music is also great, but I was nonetheless relieved to hear the classic Stormwinds theme is still present.

After 2 games it seems that Stormwinds is finally getting it right!

Animation: 3
Sound and Music: 4
Interactivity: 3
Originality: 3
Weirdness: 2
Overall score: 3/5

Score: 4

"This Has Really Got Me Steamed..."

submission: StormWinds 1.5

date: November 15, 2009

...And I REALLY wish I meant that in a good way. While I thoroughly enjoyed the previous iteration of this game: StormWinds 1.5 has made the fatal error of trying to fix what isn't broken. I appreciate the new enemies, new weapons, new upgrades and new campaign. What I don't appreciate are the new layers of difficulty. With its wonky control scheme, Stormwinds is a tricky game to get into, multiply that by the increased difficulty in 1.5 and you have an experience that is no longer enjoyable. It's the inflexibility of the campaigns that makes this game utterly unplayable. Without some inkling of recommendation as to which weapons are ideal, you often find yourself with the wrong weapons for the job and not enough resources to purchase the right ones. Thanks to the weird experience based upgrade system you have no way of bringing new turrets up to snuff either, this naturally causes them to quickly be scrapped by the swarms of steam powered jerks that are constantly harassing you. A good defense game should allow the player to experiment a little, this game doesn't.

Thus ends the rant of my review, now for the helpful part:
1: Make the game less difficult.
2: Reduce the number of the enemies or increase the base hit points of all turrets. ...Or better yet, do both of those things.
3: Put some strategic hints in this game ...seriously! We need them.
4: Tweak the upgrade system, experience should be put in a common pool where they can be spent on turrets of the player's choosing. Upgrades should apply to ALL turrets of that type regardless of how long they have been around.

Implement these changes in Stormwinds 2 or Stormwinds 1.6 or whatever and you'll have a game that I'll buy no matter how much you charge for it!

Animation: 3
Sound and Music: 2
Interactivity: 0
Originality: 3
Weirdness: 2
Overall score: 2/5

Score: 6

"Canab-AAAARGH!"

submission: Canabalt

date: November 4, 2009

I have no complaints in the animation department. The gray apocalyptic environment provides a more than suiting backdrop for the game... I would argue that most of its appeal lies in its background environment and music. The ominous mechs, roaring fighter craft (and for those skilled enough to see one) massive airships are all visually interesting.

The rest of the game hasn't got much going for it though. This was made in five days, which is immediately apparent because its single key control scheme hasn't got much depth (which isn't necessarily a bad thing.) The physics are reasonable and the main character's superhuman running and jumping abilities would make even a certain pair of plumbers envious. This still doesn't do much for the game's consistently unfair difficulty however. One of the things that really kills this game in the playability department is its unforgiving nature, it has a number of features that I don't like.
1- The game hasn't any discernible ending (as far as I know) so no matter what you do you're GUARANTEED to lose eventually.
2- 99% of your success (or rather the postponement of your eventual failure) is entirely dependent on luck. Yep, that's what I said... luck.
3- If so much as one pixel of the characters shoe hits the ledge of a building it's an automatic game over.

There is a small level of strategy to breaking your own records. Purposely tripping over objects to modulate your speed can give you more time to react if you need to crash through a building or skip over a proximity bomb. However if you slow yourself down too much you could wind up breaking your nose against a brick wall and furthermore your entire body several stories below.

Animation: 4
Sound and Music: 3
Interactivity: 2
Originality: 3
Weirdness: 2
Overall score: 3/5

Score: 5

"Nothing Too "Wonderful" Here"

submission: Cave of Wonders

date: September 9, 2009

It almost pains me to rate this low but I have to make an example of this flash game. The animation is beautiful and the sounds are pretty good but the rest hasn't got much going for it. There's very little story here so I don't know what the main character Bomtoons is fighting for. The "hack & slash" gameplay was nothing too innovative despite the game's weirdness and although the novel fight is reasonably easy to master, the platforming section would be a lot less excruciating if Bomtoons didn't control like a brick. His speed is fine but if he could jump slightly higher and had a little bit of hangtime to his jumps, fully completing this game might fall within the realm of normal human abilities. I managed to do it but I didn't really enjoy it. Choppy jump physics will kill ANY game, I cannot stress that enough! The length of the game is another issue, I'm not demanding an epic, but I would have appreciated something that felt a little less like it was cut from the last section of a fully featured flash platformer. Even releasing a series of different "episodes" that take place before this final fight would improve the whole thing immensely. The medals don't impress me either (I actually avoid them by playing while logged out).

It's a spiffy animation, but as a game this just offers too little when it could otherwise offer so much.

Animation: 5
Sound and Music: 3
Interactivity: 0
Originality: 1
Weirdness: 4
Overall score: 3/5

Score: 5

"Too Fast?"

submission: OrbAttack

date: June 19, 2009

This isn't a bad concept for a game, but the controls really killed it for me. With the slightest touch of the arrow keys that little ball takes off like a rocket, making it easy to slam right into a faraway enemy when all you really want to do is evade a nearby one. Having all that speed at your disposal is completely unnecessary when your opponents are slow, and your maneuvering room so very limited, it only serves to make the game more difficult than it should be.

My proposed solution: If you want the ball to move that fast, than this sort of game should really be controlled by mouse instead of arrow keys.

Animation: 4
Sound and Music: 2
Originality: 3
Interactivity: 1
Weirdness: 2
Overall score: 2/5

Score: 9

"Short Circuit!"

submission: Little Wheel

date: June 15, 2009

This game has a lot of great features in it, not the least of which is the charming original storyline. I am very impressed with the animation, using nothing more than dark silhouettes and lights on a hazy brown backdrop; it manages to convey a wealth of visual information. The animations are unbelievably smooth and the objects have an unprecedented level of depth to them. The unique visuals give the whole game the feeling of a surreal cartoon that the player gets to control. The music could not be more fitting and the sound effects were simply great. With its extremely straightforward point and click controls, this game is very easy to learn and its puzzles are easy to grasp (and there's a handy walkthrough if you get stuck). I really wish this game was longer, or that it included alternate missions and routes; it would improve the replay value considerably. A concept like this could be developed into a full length console game for the casual gamer. -Little Wheel is guaranteed to induce smiles as well as electrical currents.

Animation: 5
Sound and Music: 4
Originality: 5
Interactivity: 5
Weirdness: 4
Overall score: 5/5

Score: 7

"Heh, Not Bad!"

submission: Cat Face ep.13

date: June 11, 2009

I won't call this the greatest thing to ever hit the portal but it did bring a smile to my face and for that it deserves a second look. This submission earns an average score in almost every category. The animation was simple but clean, the voice acting was very good and the original character and weird story are deserving of praise. This is a great little creation for those wishing to amuse themselves, at least for a short while.

Animation: 3
Sound and Music: 3
Originality: 4
Weirdness: 3
Overall Score: 3/5

Score: 7

"Uhhhh..."

submission: Shinukoto!

date: June 9, 2009

This animation has a lot going for it, but it's hard for me to get into a story that revolves around nothing more than someone trying to kill herself. This video really tries hard to make the concept funny but it just doesn't do it for me. Having seen the effects of suicide in the real world might have something to do with that personal preference... it adds punch to that last scene though...

Animation: 5
Sound and Music: 4
Originality: 3
Weirdness: 5 (Shock Value Modifier: -4)
Overall Score: 3/5

Score: 8

"Has a Lot of "Heart""

submission: Zelda: Heart for the Hero

date: June 7, 2009

Let me begin by sincerely apologizing for the pun above. The animation on this short is very smooth and professional looking and the sounds are crisp and clear. As far as video game parodies go this is a fairly original concept. The joke itself has been used by others before but this really expands on the idea with its hilarious one-sided dialogue. This miniature misadventure also earns some brownie points just for being weird. -Even for those who haven't ever played a Zelda game this is an amusing skit.

Animation: 5
Sound and Music: 4
Originality: 3
Weirdness: 4
Overall score: 4/5

Score: 9

"It's A Blast!"

submission: Ultra Sheriff - Nemesis

date: June 3, 2009

What can I say? I'm floored by this. I am particularly fond of the animation in this submission; everything looks extremely organic and dynamic. The dark, moody environments give this animation the perfect feeling of menace. The music isn't anything more than it has to be and the sounds are amazing. There isn't much story to be told here, but maybe that's a good thing. -So, when's the next mission?

Animation: 5
Sound and Music: 5
Originality: 4
Weirdness: 4
Overall score: 5/5