donproject
1991
I probably had better things to do with my time than play fake cards. But that's what I did.
My first year of college, I was stuck with a crappy x86 PC. I know, "Boo hoo, you had a computer!" I'll acknowledge my privilege here. I will say I spent more time on the Mac and Unix computers in the lab once I found those, but that PC did get some work and game time done. Since FreeCell was included with Windows, I played that a bit, for sure. It's a version of Solitaire that claims to be always winnable (apparently only 1 of the 32,000 included in Windows is unwinnable and 8 in the first million possible deals...) and is pretty good for whiling away the hours while you wait for someone to invite you to a party or whatever college kids do. I wish it had a cool winning animation like Windows Solitaire, but the congratulations menu does okay.
Why does that King guy look so smug when you win?
Review from thedonproject.com
My first year of college, I was stuck with a crappy x86 PC. I know, "Boo hoo, you had a computer!" I'll acknowledge my privilege here. I will say I spent more time on the Mac and Unix computers in the lab once I found those, but that PC did get some work and game time done. Since FreeCell was included with Windows, I played that a bit, for sure. It's a version of Solitaire that claims to be always winnable (apparently only 1 of the 32,000 included in Windows is unwinnable and 8 in the first million possible deals...) and is pretty good for whiling away the hours while you wait for someone to invite you to a party or whatever college kids do. I wish it had a cool winning animation like Windows Solitaire, but the congratulations menu does okay.
Why does that King guy look so smug when you win?
Review from thedonproject.com
1980
Let's just get this out of the way at the start, Ms. Pac Man is better.
Regular ol' Pac Man is fine and if it's in the arcade I'm pounding sodas in, I'll definitely put a quarter or three in, but it's just not as fun as the changing mazes and cutscenes of the lady version. I mean, don't get me wrong, the sounds are iconic, the gameplay is smooth and fast, and as the game gets harder it will eventually give you a stress heart attack and you'll die in real life.
I do have a fun story about Pac Man, though. As a child we spent a week or two at a central Washington lakeside campground/"resort". They had a little concrete shack that held the laundry machines and about three arcade cabinets. One glorious year, we figured out how to cram our tiny hands behind the coin slot door to activate the credit switch. For those two weeks we were tiny royalty doling out free credits to ourselves and leave the machine ready to play for the next kids. We never really got good at Pac Man, but we got good at life.
Still, Ms. Pac Man is better.
Review from thedonproject.com
Regular ol' Pac Man is fine and if it's in the arcade I'm pounding sodas in, I'll definitely put a quarter or three in, but it's just not as fun as the changing mazes and cutscenes of the lady version. I mean, don't get me wrong, the sounds are iconic, the gameplay is smooth and fast, and as the game gets harder it will eventually give you a stress heart attack and you'll die in real life.
I do have a fun story about Pac Man, though. As a child we spent a week or two at a central Washington lakeside campground/"resort". They had a little concrete shack that held the laundry machines and about three arcade cabinets. One glorious year, we figured out how to cram our tiny hands behind the coin slot door to activate the credit switch. For those two weeks we were tiny royalty doling out free credits to ourselves and leave the machine ready to play for the next kids. We never really got good at Pac Man, but we got good at life.
Still, Ms. Pac Man is better.
Review from thedonproject.com
1984
Air combat is so simple!
Everybody knows that all you need to win an air war is one pilot who can shoot, move, and, above all, do a loop. Well, an air war that happens in two dimensions that is. With opposing pilots who can't really shoot. Or turn. But the other side has bigger planes!
Okay, despite the simplistic nature and basic graphics of 1942, it's still a good bit of entertainment. There are moments of terror when you almost get hit by a tiny round projectile or a plane punctuated by the necessary frantic movement to attempt to shoot down all of the many attacking planes. Later games in this bullet hell scrolling shooter genre just added more bullets and colors, but really didn't change the formula much, because that wasn't necessary. The fun is in the chaos!
However, this is a game you must play on mute. The audio is basically just static with morse code over the top until the end of the "level" when you get about three seconds to pause when you land on the carrier and a jaunty little tune plays. Trust me, hit that mute button while you just enjoy attempting to avoid exploding.
Hey, wait a second. In this racist country, it makes sense that Americans would love blowing up Japanese fighters, but why was this game popular IN JAPAN? I can't think of a game where Americans would be stoked to relive one of our military losses by playing the other side... Hmm.
Beep beep beep beep beep beepbeepbeeeepeeepeeep.
Review from thedonproject.com
Everybody knows that all you need to win an air war is one pilot who can shoot, move, and, above all, do a loop. Well, an air war that happens in two dimensions that is. With opposing pilots who can't really shoot. Or turn. But the other side has bigger planes!
Okay, despite the simplistic nature and basic graphics of 1942, it's still a good bit of entertainment. There are moments of terror when you almost get hit by a tiny round projectile or a plane punctuated by the necessary frantic movement to attempt to shoot down all of the many attacking planes. Later games in this bullet hell scrolling shooter genre just added more bullets and colors, but really didn't change the formula much, because that wasn't necessary. The fun is in the chaos!
However, this is a game you must play on mute. The audio is basically just static with morse code over the top until the end of the "level" when you get about three seconds to pause when you land on the carrier and a jaunty little tune plays. Trust me, hit that mute button while you just enjoy attempting to avoid exploding.
Hey, wait a second. In this racist country, it makes sense that Americans would love blowing up Japanese fighters, but why was this game popular IN JAPAN? I can't think of a game where Americans would be stoked to relive one of our military losses by playing the other side... Hmm.
Beep beep beep beep beep beepbeepbeeeepeeepeeep.
Review from thedonproject.com
1981
I'm just trying to get my frog friend home, calm down, world!
My local community pool had this classic as a cocktail cabinet and I would always enjoy throwing some quarters at it after my swim lesson or whatever. The music is instantly recognizable, probably because one of the songs is Yankee Doodle, which is weird, but whatever. Jumping between and around things while just trying to get home is pretty hectic as the speed increases on higher levels and the variation in obstacles makes things even more action-packed. Maybe I just get too greedy for points and always go for the flies and the lady frogs, but I'm not that stellar at this game, but it's still a good time.
Until I die of a heart attack from Frogger-related stress, that is!
Review from thedonproject.com
My local community pool had this classic as a cocktail cabinet and I would always enjoy throwing some quarters at it after my swim lesson or whatever. The music is instantly recognizable, probably because one of the songs is Yankee Doodle, which is weird, but whatever. Jumping between and around things while just trying to get home is pretty hectic as the speed increases on higher levels and the variation in obstacles makes things even more action-packed. Maybe I just get too greedy for points and always go for the flies and the lady frogs, but I'm not that stellar at this game, but it's still a good time.
Until I die of a heart attack from Frogger-related stress, that is!
Review from thedonproject.com
2020
They did it. Those bastards. They finally got me to play an XBOX game.
All they had to do was make a Diablo clone with cute and silly pixel art and I was in, I guess. The story is less captivating than the Diablo games (there's a bad guy, you gotta defeat them), but it is not terrible. The gameplay is pretty similar to Diablo, with spamming the attack button and different skills while bunches of monsters run around, but a little less varied. There are plenty of things to do and collect, just like Diablo games. So, if you don't want to support Activision/Blizzard anymore for all the reasons, maybe this would take the place of your Diablo needs?
However, if you're looking for a game that is just as good as Diablo, this ain't it. The dungeons feel randomly generated because they are basically randomly generated. There is lots of unevenness to them, with stretches of walking without purpose to being overwhelmed with arrows shooting at you without much predictability or reason to it. I've been finding it difficult to hit enemies on my first swing because I forget how far my weapon does or doesn't extend. I do like the variable difficulty for each area and the option for couch co-op. Having to discover the merchants is an interesting addition to the genre, I suppose. The weapons, armor, and magic systems are all very familiar and easy to master for a veteran isometric 3D action-RPG player like myself. Plus, you can summon a llama that spits at enemies. That's fun.
In general, it's a fun little game that I could probably play with my nephew whenever he comes over. Not ground-breaking or life-changing, just a bit of entertaining dungeon crawling! Pretty good for an XBOX game.
Review from thedonproject.com
All they had to do was make a Diablo clone with cute and silly pixel art and I was in, I guess. The story is less captivating than the Diablo games (there's a bad guy, you gotta defeat them), but it is not terrible. The gameplay is pretty similar to Diablo, with spamming the attack button and different skills while bunches of monsters run around, but a little less varied. There are plenty of things to do and collect, just like Diablo games. So, if you don't want to support Activision/Blizzard anymore for all the reasons, maybe this would take the place of your Diablo needs?
However, if you're looking for a game that is just as good as Diablo, this ain't it. The dungeons feel randomly generated because they are basically randomly generated. There is lots of unevenness to them, with stretches of walking without purpose to being overwhelmed with arrows shooting at you without much predictability or reason to it. I've been finding it difficult to hit enemies on my first swing because I forget how far my weapon does or doesn't extend. I do like the variable difficulty for each area and the option for couch co-op. Having to discover the merchants is an interesting addition to the genre, I suppose. The weapons, armor, and magic systems are all very familiar and easy to master for a veteran isometric 3D action-RPG player like myself. Plus, you can summon a llama that spits at enemies. That's fun.
In general, it's a fun little game that I could probably play with my nephew whenever he comes over. Not ground-breaking or life-changing, just a bit of entertaining dungeon crawling! Pretty good for an XBOX game.
Review from thedonproject.com
2016
In a dark world, we could use some simple color, but maybe also a little more.
The premise of Hue is simple enough: use colors to solve puzzles. It is a good mix of some mild platforming and some mild to medium puzzling. A lovely artistic style would be necessary for a game about colors and this particular game about colors delivers a solid aesthetic. It is cartoony but not cartoonish, cute but not cutesy, and simple but not simplistic. Visually, it is crafted well.
As I played through, I started off thinking this game was great and was going to land in a solid 4-star review, but as I progressed I found myself wanting to just get through it. It started feeling repetitive. The puzzles varied, but maybe weren't challenging enough? I did watch a video or two for the last couple, but most could be figured out without too much difficulty. Adding new colors and features was a nice progression, so I don't think it was only the puzzles. After some reflection, I think the music made the puzzles feel more repetitive than they actually are. Each music choice appears to be on about a ten-second loop. Maybe they were royalty-free loops the devs got for cheap and decided just to play to death, but I found myself playing without sound for some time, particularly when staring at a puzzle for several minutes making my plan of attack.
Slightly spoilery bit: I think the mom was a student when she fell in love with her professor? That made me feel a little weird despite the calming British accent the story was told in. Maybe they were both professors? It does say that he's not much older than her, but still... it feels weird and weirdly specific. Anyways...
A pretty and fun little game to play during some dark times while we work on how to get out of them.
Review from thedonproject.com
The premise of Hue is simple enough: use colors to solve puzzles. It is a good mix of some mild platforming and some mild to medium puzzling. A lovely artistic style would be necessary for a game about colors and this particular game about colors delivers a solid aesthetic. It is cartoony but not cartoonish, cute but not cutesy, and simple but not simplistic. Visually, it is crafted well.
As I played through, I started off thinking this game was great and was going to land in a solid 4-star review, but as I progressed I found myself wanting to just get through it. It started feeling repetitive. The puzzles varied, but maybe weren't challenging enough? I did watch a video or two for the last couple, but most could be figured out without too much difficulty. Adding new colors and features was a nice progression, so I don't think it was only the puzzles. After some reflection, I think the music made the puzzles feel more repetitive than they actually are. Each music choice appears to be on about a ten-second loop. Maybe they were royalty-free loops the devs got for cheap and decided just to play to death, but I found myself playing without sound for some time, particularly when staring at a puzzle for several minutes making my plan of attack.
Slightly spoilery bit: I think the mom was a student when she fell in love with her professor? That made me feel a little weird despite the calming British accent the story was told in. Maybe they were both professors? It does say that he's not much older than her, but still... it feels weird and weirdly specific. Anyways...
A pretty and fun little game to play during some dark times while we work on how to get out of them.
Review from thedonproject.com
2020
The inverse of Death Stranding? Or maybe the baby sibling of Cyberpunk 2077?
It is a dark and brooding night and you just want to drive your delivery ship to the place to get a thing to deliver to a different place. It is raining and hard to see due to all the pixels. You land, but you have to walk very far to get the package which takes forever, so you chat with a friendly stranger but it seems no one wants anything other than deliveries or transportation from you. There's a mood, but I think it might be slight annoyance? Anyways, you should probably save the city on your first night here, I guess.
There are a lot of good ideas in this game but they don't quite hit right. It is interesting looking but hard for me to maneuver around in a ship with squishy steering and moderately poor depth perception. It is an ambitious story but the voice acting is kind of a letdown and characters don't seem to be speaking to each other at times. It's a moderately large world, but there isn't a ton of difference between regions and having all the items on the map right from the get go makes navigation repetitive and kind of boring.
Overall, the 9 hours I spent with Cloudpunk were fine but not awe inspiring. I really could have used a chapter select or something when I messed up a timed delivery, and fast travel would be a wonderful addition, but otherwise I think just a slightly better execution of these good ideas would have made this great for me.
I did like Camus, even though they pronounced his name wrong.
Review from thedonproject.com
It is a dark and brooding night and you just want to drive your delivery ship to the place to get a thing to deliver to a different place. It is raining and hard to see due to all the pixels. You land, but you have to walk very far to get the package which takes forever, so you chat with a friendly stranger but it seems no one wants anything other than deliveries or transportation from you. There's a mood, but I think it might be slight annoyance? Anyways, you should probably save the city on your first night here, I guess.
There are a lot of good ideas in this game but they don't quite hit right. It is interesting looking but hard for me to maneuver around in a ship with squishy steering and moderately poor depth perception. It is an ambitious story but the voice acting is kind of a letdown and characters don't seem to be speaking to each other at times. It's a moderately large world, but there isn't a ton of difference between regions and having all the items on the map right from the get go makes navigation repetitive and kind of boring.
Overall, the 9 hours I spent with Cloudpunk were fine but not awe inspiring. I really could have used a chapter select or something when I messed up a timed delivery, and fast travel would be a wonderful addition, but otherwise I think just a slightly better execution of these good ideas would have made this great for me.
I did like Camus, even though they pronounced his name wrong.
Review from thedonproject.com
1991
They're really aren't enough medieval times button smashing, side-scrolling, fighter games, are there?
Yeah, this is just a Double Dragon-style side-scroller brawler game where you smash that sword button millions of times, but it stuck with me over the years. Perhaps the key location at my local 7-Eleven or the limited play time due to the cost of quarters or maybe just because I read Once and Future King at some point around when this game came out? The graphics are fine, the game play is fine, and the music is fine. The digitized fighting sounds are a bit over the top, but not ridiculous. The translations are sometimes bad, but that doesn't make the game less fun. Not amazing, mind you, but just empty-headed slashing fun.
Sword sword sword sword sword sword sword...
Review from thedonproject.com
Yeah, this is just a Double Dragon-style side-scroller brawler game where you smash that sword button millions of times, but it stuck with me over the years. Perhaps the key location at my local 7-Eleven or the limited play time due to the cost of quarters or maybe just because I read Once and Future King at some point around when this game came out? The graphics are fine, the game play is fine, and the music is fine. The digitized fighting sounds are a bit over the top, but not ridiculous. The translations are sometimes bad, but that doesn't make the game less fun. Not amazing, mind you, but just empty-headed slashing fun.
Sword sword sword sword sword sword sword...
Review from thedonproject.com
1982
If there's a hierarchy of Pac Man games, I'm nearly 100% sure that this version is at the bottom.
Of course, I did play it for literally hours. So much so that the terrible sounds are embedded in my brain, from the wild siren that starts the level, and the "bok choi" sound of eating a ghost, to the weird "donk" sound when you eat a pellet (well, dash, really).
While the sounds are pretty bad compared the arcade, the tragedy does not end there. The map is different (the wraparound is at the top?), the colors are despicable, everything is square, there are only two ghosts, and THERE ARE ONLY TWO GHOSTS. Look, everybody agrees this version is vastly inferior to the arcade version and probably even the google doodle version. This isn't a hot take. However, I'm not going to give it 1 star because if I had an Atari hanging around and this cart appeared...
I'd probably still play it again.
Review from thedonproject.com
Of course, I did play it for literally hours. So much so that the terrible sounds are embedded in my brain, from the wild siren that starts the level, and the "bok choi" sound of eating a ghost, to the weird "donk" sound when you eat a pellet (well, dash, really).
While the sounds are pretty bad compared the arcade, the tragedy does not end there. The map is different (the wraparound is at the top?), the colors are despicable, everything is square, there are only two ghosts, and THERE ARE ONLY TWO GHOSTS. Look, everybody agrees this version is vastly inferior to the arcade version and probably even the google doodle version. This isn't a hot take. However, I'm not going to give it 1 star because if I had an Atari hanging around and this cart appeared...
I'd probably still play it again.
Review from thedonproject.com
1979
I'm not going to hold back here: This is the best bowling game ever made.
Listen, bowling is just mastering a repetitive motion, right? You pick a ball off the rack, put on some old-timey shoes that 100 people put their stinky feet in, cram down some cheap food, walk up to the dots, and do exactly the same thing you did last time. Do the exact same thing 12 times and you get a perfect game.
Atari's Bowling game captures this perfectly. Boil yourself a hot dog and cook up some grocery-store brand fries, put on that pair of bowling shoes you stole that one time, and the atmosphere is basically complete. Your computer image shimmies up to the line and you try to do exactly the same thing you did last time. Do it right and you get a pretty stellar success animation. What more do you need?
Mark it a 4, dude.
Review from thedonproject.com
Listen, bowling is just mastering a repetitive motion, right? You pick a ball off the rack, put on some old-timey shoes that 100 people put their stinky feet in, cram down some cheap food, walk up to the dots, and do exactly the same thing you did last time. Do the exact same thing 12 times and you get a perfect game.
Atari's Bowling game captures this perfectly. Boil yourself a hot dog and cook up some grocery-store brand fries, put on that pair of bowling shoes you stole that one time, and the atmosphere is basically complete. Your computer image shimmies up to the line and you try to do exactly the same thing you did last time. Do it right and you get a pretty stellar success animation. What more do you need?
Mark it a 4, dude.
Review from thedonproject.com
1979
The neighbor across the street from me had an Asteroids cocktail arcade cabinet, I'm pretty sure. I think he also had a mustache.
Asteroids is definitely a game that has been copied a million times. Playing the arcade version on those vector graphics is an experience that is vastly different than the copies though. It just looks cooler and feels more correct.
The game is pretty simple: Don't die. Asteroids are headed for your ship from every direction and you've just got a little pea-shooter to blast those things into smaller bits which then head out randomly as well. Good reactions and timely trigger finger will let you live until you don't anymore. Apparently the current record holder played for 60 hours, which is... wow. I mean, the game is pretty fun for maybe 20 minutes, so I guess I'll never be setting a record.
1979, man. Crazy times.
Review from thedonproject.com
Asteroids is definitely a game that has been copied a million times. Playing the arcade version on those vector graphics is an experience that is vastly different than the copies though. It just looks cooler and feels more correct.
The game is pretty simple: Don't die. Asteroids are headed for your ship from every direction and you've just got a little pea-shooter to blast those things into smaller bits which then head out randomly as well. Good reactions and timely trigger finger will let you live until you don't anymore. Apparently the current record holder played for 60 hours, which is... wow. I mean, the game is pretty fun for maybe 20 minutes, so I guess I'll never be setting a record.
1979, man. Crazy times.
Review from thedonproject.com
This game brings balance to the... jokes and fun!
The internet was saying that this game is good. So, I used some gift cards and actual money to purchase it. In this case, friends, the internet was not wrong.
There are two types of people in Star Wars fandom, I think. Those that get so fired up about cast or plot decisions that they post on right-wing-enabling social media sites and cause harm to... well, everybody, and those that enjoy the content or say "oh, it's just a movie." As a Star Wars tattoo-having individual, you might think I'd get riled up about how this film or that season of that show is the worst, but it turns out, it is just entertainment, folks. Lego Star Wars absolutely gets that school of thought and is better for it. Tons of in-universe jokes (like Luke's obsession with blue milk, for example) that gently lampoon the franchise while still honoring the joy that exists in the Star Wars universe. As my own thumbing of the nose to the keyboard warriors, I tried to include most of the hated characters in my party as much as possible. A Jar-Jar, Rose Tico, Emperor Clone, Wicket, Topless Kylo Ren, Salacious Crumb team is... well, it isn't great, actually, but screw those guys.
Apart from the jokes and the recognizable universe, this game has plenty of gaming things to like, as well. It is enjoyable for me to play as your favorite characters and is definitely for folks who like collecting. Playing through all nine movies was enjoyable for someone that has seen them all lots of times. There are greatly varied mechanics for characters on the planets, in hijacked capital ships, or in any of numerous other ships that allow a player to find their own style. You can be uncivilized and use a blaster or classy and just headbutt people as an astromech droid, you can also climb, grapple, glide, jetpack, use the force... everything but swim, really. I probably could have upped the difficulty a notch, but solving the platforming puzzles and finding the characters, ships, kyber blocks, and secrets without just looking up the quest online was enough for me. (I did cheat for the two cheat code characters. Also, love that cheat codes are in this game!)
However, the joy of collecting and side quests isn't for everyone. There are approximately billions and billions of puzzles, quests, events, and things to find in this game. If you're a completionist, you'll have to put that need aside or spend your whole summer on just this game. There are also some minor control/camera annoyances (riding a Fathier on Canto Bight was my least favorite), the game did crash once on me (to be fair, it was in rest mode or being played for several days), and I wanted a little more info about how characters behaved differently. For example, I think Wicket is faster than Obi-Wan (Ep III, with cape), my favorite duo in my playthrough, but I wasn't really sure.
Overall, I had a good time playing this game, chuckled a bit at the jokes, unlocked all the characters and ships, ended up with 15 billion studs, and maybe I'd even dive back in for some DLC? If it comes around on PS+, that is.
Review from thedonproject.com
The internet was saying that this game is good. So, I used some gift cards and actual money to purchase it. In this case, friends, the internet was not wrong.
There are two types of people in Star Wars fandom, I think. Those that get so fired up about cast or plot decisions that they post on right-wing-enabling social media sites and cause harm to... well, everybody, and those that enjoy the content or say "oh, it's just a movie." As a Star Wars tattoo-having individual, you might think I'd get riled up about how this film or that season of that show is the worst, but it turns out, it is just entertainment, folks. Lego Star Wars absolutely gets that school of thought and is better for it. Tons of in-universe jokes (like Luke's obsession with blue milk, for example) that gently lampoon the franchise while still honoring the joy that exists in the Star Wars universe. As my own thumbing of the nose to the keyboard warriors, I tried to include most of the hated characters in my party as much as possible. A Jar-Jar, Rose Tico, Emperor Clone, Wicket, Topless Kylo Ren, Salacious Crumb team is... well, it isn't great, actually, but screw those guys.
Apart from the jokes and the recognizable universe, this game has plenty of gaming things to like, as well. It is enjoyable for me to play as your favorite characters and is definitely for folks who like collecting. Playing through all nine movies was enjoyable for someone that has seen them all lots of times. There are greatly varied mechanics for characters on the planets, in hijacked capital ships, or in any of numerous other ships that allow a player to find their own style. You can be uncivilized and use a blaster or classy and just headbutt people as an astromech droid, you can also climb, grapple, glide, jetpack, use the force... everything but swim, really. I probably could have upped the difficulty a notch, but solving the platforming puzzles and finding the characters, ships, kyber blocks, and secrets without just looking up the quest online was enough for me. (I did cheat for the two cheat code characters. Also, love that cheat codes are in this game!)
However, the joy of collecting and side quests isn't for everyone. There are approximately billions and billions of puzzles, quests, events, and things to find in this game. If you're a completionist, you'll have to put that need aside or spend your whole summer on just this game. There are also some minor control/camera annoyances (riding a Fathier on Canto Bight was my least favorite), the game did crash once on me (to be fair, it was in rest mode or being played for several days), and I wanted a little more info about how characters behaved differently. For example, I think Wicket is faster than Obi-Wan (Ep III, with cape), my favorite duo in my playthrough, but I wasn't really sure.
Overall, I had a good time playing this game, chuckled a bit at the jokes, unlocked all the characters and ships, ended up with 15 billion studs, and maybe I'd even dive back in for some DLC? If it comes around on PS+, that is.
Review from thedonproject.com
2021
Was this remastered from a PS1 game? Oh, it's a 2010 XBOX game. That's why it sucks, I guess.
Apparently, people like this game? It's not for me. I'm not into horror games, which is where this is supposed to land, so that might bias me against it. I played all the way through episode 1, waiting for a hook, but just couldn't get there. Perhaps it was the absolutely terrible delivery of the dialogue? Everything sounds like it is being read for the first time by someone who just wants to get through the day so they can get back to their real passions. Internal dialogue hints like "I wonder how to get up there" or whatever are delivered before you even have a chance to look around and then given to you three different ways nearly immediately. This dude is running for his life in a dark forest full of magically appearing ghost-zombies and just sounds absolutely unperturbed. I don't like it.
I'm also not into games that feel terrible to play. The camera is too far from the shoulder of our boy Alan. I think the flashlight is supposed to also be the visual cue for your aim, but I can never tell if I'm actually hitting anything. And why does Mr. Wake have the power to overcharge his flashlight to stun shadow-zombies? Oh wait, maybe he's the zombie. Is that the twist? Don't tell me, I don't care. I'm trying to cross a log over this river with this godforsaken terrible movement system and am too furious at wasting two hours of my life on this game to hear you tell me that "The story is good, actually." I'll never know because the gameplay is not good.
+1 star because it is set in my home state, though.
Review from thedonproject.com
Apparently, people like this game? It's not for me. I'm not into horror games, which is where this is supposed to land, so that might bias me against it. I played all the way through episode 1, waiting for a hook, but just couldn't get there. Perhaps it was the absolutely terrible delivery of the dialogue? Everything sounds like it is being read for the first time by someone who just wants to get through the day so they can get back to their real passions. Internal dialogue hints like "I wonder how to get up there" or whatever are delivered before you even have a chance to look around and then given to you three different ways nearly immediately. This dude is running for his life in a dark forest full of magically appearing ghost-zombies and just sounds absolutely unperturbed. I don't like it.
I'm also not into games that feel terrible to play. The camera is too far from the shoulder of our boy Alan. I think the flashlight is supposed to also be the visual cue for your aim, but I can never tell if I'm actually hitting anything. And why does Mr. Wake have the power to overcharge his flashlight to stun shadow-zombies? Oh wait, maybe he's the zombie. Is that the twist? Don't tell me, I don't care. I'm trying to cross a log over this river with this godforsaken terrible movement system and am too furious at wasting two hours of my life on this game to hear you tell me that "The story is good, actually." I'll never know because the gameplay is not good.
+1 star because it is set in my home state, though.
Review from thedonproject.com
2022
An excellent balance of... everything!
At its most basic, Cult Of The Lamb is a fantastic thematic successor to a game I loved in my youth: ActRaiser. You're essentially a god building a following and you intersperse the sim aspects with some action. In Cult, the action is roguelike instead of limited to a number of lives and everything is more complex than in a game from 30 years ago, but the spirit is still there. For me, it is a great mix of action and planning that both excites and relaxes the player.
The graphics are impeccable, the gameplay is smooth and fast-paced, the story is decent, and the sim parts are not too tedious. The fake-language voices of the various folks you meet are wonderful. The variation in the weapons and other attacks that you have for each run are enough to keep you coming back for more action, if you're into that. The customization of your cult (base) is enough to keep tinkerers entertained, as well. My only complaints are that the music is pretty repetitive and that it could use more levels instead of repeating the same four worlds twice. Oh, and I came across some bugs a few times (like, why does everything stop for a couple seconds at dawn?).
All in all, it is fun, pretty, and you get to be a cult leader while killing some demons and gods. Excellent.
Review from thedonproject.com
At its most basic, Cult Of The Lamb is a fantastic thematic successor to a game I loved in my youth: ActRaiser. You're essentially a god building a following and you intersperse the sim aspects with some action. In Cult, the action is roguelike instead of limited to a number of lives and everything is more complex than in a game from 30 years ago, but the spirit is still there. For me, it is a great mix of action and planning that both excites and relaxes the player.
The graphics are impeccable, the gameplay is smooth and fast-paced, the story is decent, and the sim parts are not too tedious. The fake-language voices of the various folks you meet are wonderful. The variation in the weapons and other attacks that you have for each run are enough to keep you coming back for more action, if you're into that. The customization of your cult (base) is enough to keep tinkerers entertained, as well. My only complaints are that the music is pretty repetitive and that it could use more levels instead of repeating the same four worlds twice. Oh, and I came across some bugs a few times (like, why does everything stop for a couple seconds at dawn?).
All in all, it is fun, pretty, and you get to be a cult leader while killing some demons and gods. Excellent.
Review from thedonproject.com
1981
This review is for the Starpath Atari 2600 version...
A solid port of a good arcade game!
The Starpath port of Frogger is pretty darn close to the arcade game, even though it is on the 2600. They do include the race car row speeding up pretty early, which makes this game slightly tougher. Also, you have to play it with the Atari joysticks, which are not as good as the arcade sticks. However, the music and graphics are pretty comparable and you don't have to blast quarters at it when you die, so... good job, programmers!
All the fun of a heart attack at home!
Review from thedonproject.com
A solid port of a good arcade game!
The Starpath port of Frogger is pretty darn close to the arcade game, even though it is on the 2600. They do include the race car row speeding up pretty early, which makes this game slightly tougher. Also, you have to play it with the Atari joysticks, which are not as good as the arcade sticks. However, the music and graphics are pretty comparable and you don't have to blast quarters at it when you die, so... good job, programmers!
All the fun of a heart attack at home!
Review from thedonproject.com