Wire4D
BACKER
I got halfway through this 1 hour game.
I beat the boss of episode 3 (of 6), and instead of ending the level, my character kept flying through an empty desert as the music kept ending and restarting.
Just play Rez.
I beat the boss of episode 3 (of 6), and instead of ending the level, my character kept flying through an empty desert as the music kept ending and restarting.
Just play Rez.
2023
I'm the first person to go "Bad Game: Snore, but Bad Game (Japan): [soyjak pointing emote]", but holy shit this game is a pile of nothing.
It gets 2 stars instead of 1 because of the credits song. Plus the fact the karaoke mini-game is just for "99 Luftballons" and no other song.
It gets 2 stars instead of 1 because of the credits song. Plus the fact the karaoke mini-game is just for "99 Luftballons" and no other song.
2022
Solid metal experience that is dragged down by outstaying its welcome. Sorry, that was my review of any Metallica album after 1992.
Metal: Hellsinger is a game I enjoyed in small doses. It's a game that is pretty elegant in its simplicity. Using basic FPS combat, but paring every action with a rhythm based bonus, makes for a solid "gamefeel".
My issue is that is all that is going on here.
I know it isn't fair to compare this to a game released later. But Hi-Fi Rush is a game I loved, where it kept all the depth of a character-action game, then used rhythm mechanics to elevate that core, and set itself apart. Whereas Metal: Hellsinger is as basic of an FPS as it can get, with rhythm bonuses tied to it. So the former already had an engaging gameplay core with added rhythm mechanics, where the later only has the rhythm mechanics.
So after a level or two, I would feel the gameplay was pretty stagnant. To the point the game desperately needed gameplay/art/music switch ups far more rapidly to keep me interested. The challenge missions sort of achieve this, however they are extra game you would need to play, so it doesn't solve my issue with the core experience.
I feel like if each level in the game was split into multiple smaller levels (maybe even reworking them to have optional objectives, similar to the challenge levels main objectives), the game would have felt like less of a slog and maybe even be more replayable? (So each level was split into 2-3 standard levels of much shorter length, and the boss fight being its own level).
Ultimately if I wanted to play a shooter with similar art direction, where there are long stretches of the same song playing, I could just play the Doom reboots. Only I would be trading the rhythm timing with in-depth combat mechanics, which I think is a far better trade.
However if you reading this liked Doom (2016) far more than Doom Eternal, and would have liked it to be even simpler so you could focus on shooting a shotty and headbanging to music. Then Metal: Hellsinger might just be for you.
Metal: Hellsinger is a game I enjoyed in small doses. It's a game that is pretty elegant in its simplicity. Using basic FPS combat, but paring every action with a rhythm based bonus, makes for a solid "gamefeel".
My issue is that is all that is going on here.
I know it isn't fair to compare this to a game released later. But Hi-Fi Rush is a game I loved, where it kept all the depth of a character-action game, then used rhythm mechanics to elevate that core, and set itself apart. Whereas Metal: Hellsinger is as basic of an FPS as it can get, with rhythm bonuses tied to it. So the former already had an engaging gameplay core with added rhythm mechanics, where the later only has the rhythm mechanics.
So after a level or two, I would feel the gameplay was pretty stagnant. To the point the game desperately needed gameplay/art/music switch ups far more rapidly to keep me interested. The challenge missions sort of achieve this, however they are extra game you would need to play, so it doesn't solve my issue with the core experience.
I feel like if each level in the game was split into multiple smaller levels (maybe even reworking them to have optional objectives, similar to the challenge levels main objectives), the game would have felt like less of a slog and maybe even be more replayable? (So each level was split into 2-3 standard levels of much shorter length, and the boss fight being its own level).
Ultimately if I wanted to play a shooter with similar art direction, where there are long stretches of the same song playing, I could just play the Doom reboots. Only I would be trading the rhythm timing with in-depth combat mechanics, which I think is a far better trade.
However if you reading this liked Doom (2016) far more than Doom Eternal, and would have liked it to be even simpler so you could focus on shooting a shotty and headbanging to music. Then Metal: Hellsinger might just be for you.
2021
Played for the first time since launch the last couple of nights. Actually has come together a lot since then! A very neat co-op roguelike that was kneecapped by marketing comparisons to L4D.
2022
Neat short thing (assuming student project?). Would say 2/5 for presentation slightly elevating what is otherwise a short and sweet twin-stick game.
However game crashed on a boss fight (I assume), crashing the game and corrupting the (short 15 minutes of game) save file.
However game crashed on a boss fight (I assume), crashing the game and corrupting the (short 15 minutes of game) save file.
2023
I think Dredge is 100% worth playing, and can fully see why many people think it's a 4 or 5 star game.
I personally found it very interesting and tense for the first half, then it became tedious for the back half. But I think that is extremely subjective, and many will have a better experience.
I personally found it very interesting and tense for the first half, then it became tedious for the back half. But I think that is extremely subjective, and many will have a better experience.
2023
A character-action rhythm game, oozing with style and all the QoL features these action rhythm games have needed for a LONG time.
Easily the best game Tango Gameworks has made so far.
Easily the best game Tango Gameworks has made so far.
Armored Core with planes is still kino as fuck.
2016
Game is good, I am dumb. (Won solitaire though!)
2022
What could have been a very satisfying short experience, is sullied because of RNG.
QUICKERFLAK features high-speed combat with an extremely short window for reaction times that will result in either successfully moving to the encounter exit point, or death which will restart the whole run. While the enemy count/types is set for each encounter, the placement of said enemies and the arena layout is determined randomly.
While I understand the appeal of random arena layouts to expand out what would be a 5-60 minute experience, to be far more repayable. With the level of execution required to progress (and severe penalty for failure), without tuned layouts that can be learned, both achieving a flow state and death feel arbitrary.
(A compromise might be to have an option that sets the game to pause on each new encounter until the player presses M1. While I understand this would go against the intended frantic nature of the game. Without the ability to fully absorb information, it further exacerbates the feeling that wins/losses are almost entirely due to "good/bad arena RNG".)
If the dev made a more fleshed out spiritual successor with this exact visual aesthetic, sound design, and game feel, but with set levels. I could easily see it become a cult classic.
QUICKERFLAK features high-speed combat with an extremely short window for reaction times that will result in either successfully moving to the encounter exit point, or death which will restart the whole run. While the enemy count/types is set for each encounter, the placement of said enemies and the arena layout is determined randomly.
While I understand the appeal of random arena layouts to expand out what would be a 5-60 minute experience, to be far more repayable. With the level of execution required to progress (and severe penalty for failure), without tuned layouts that can be learned, both achieving a flow state and death feel arbitrary.
(A compromise might be to have an option that sets the game to pause on each new encounter until the player presses M1. While I understand this would go against the intended frantic nature of the game. Without the ability to fully absorb information, it further exacerbates the feeling that wins/losses are almost entirely due to "good/bad arena RNG".)
If the dev made a more fleshed out spiritual successor with this exact visual aesthetic, sound design, and game feel, but with set levels. I could easily see it become a cult classic.
2020
Early Access game with no updates since July 2021. Wouldn't recommend unless a 1.0 has been silently in the works for years and releases out of nowhere.
2016
Vaguely remember it being interesting, but it literally cannot be played anymore.
2015
Poor mans Anarchy Reigns from the Gundam ExVs devs, that is somehow even less accessible to play than Anarchy Reigns in Current Year™ (ie, it cannot be played at all).
2021
It's Sokoban!
2022
There is some nice presentation, and the soundtrack has some bangers, but damn this isn't it.
A setting/narrative far less interesting than that original. Paired with a spin on the 'Press Turn Battle System' that is wildly less engaging than any other I've played. I just can't get through it.
I already tried to play this game near launch, and only came back recently after vaguely heard about post-launch improvements.
The "emulator-like" game speed increase in battle and being able to move faster in dungeons, is the smallest band-aid to the much deeper issue that the core of the game, combat and dungeon navigating, are terribly dull.
A setting/narrative far less interesting than that original. Paired with a spin on the 'Press Turn Battle System' that is wildly less engaging than any other I've played. I just can't get through it.
I already tried to play this game near launch, and only came back recently after vaguely heard about post-launch improvements.
The "emulator-like" game speed increase in battle and being able to move faster in dungeons, is the smallest band-aid to the much deeper issue that the core of the game, combat and dungeon navigating, are terribly dull.