Murder
Developer: Peter Moorhead
Publisher: Curve Digital
Rrp: £1.99 (Steam)
Released: 21st October 2015
Available on Steam
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
Murder is a sci-fi/cyberpunk point and click adventure that seems to have taken some reasonably heavy influence from movies such as Bladerunner and Ghost in the Shell.
Actually from the way some of the scenes are cut (and the main characters name) I think the influence might be more heavily taken from sci-fi anime rather than a western film. Either way, you play as Motomeru Minori, a Leuitenant in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police.
This game does depart from convention in a few ways such as the character not moving to just anywhere you click the mouse, instead she will only move if you click a point of interest.
Murder is also a game that really needed a title that stood out more. When you type Murder into Steam this game isn’t even in the pop-up that shows the first five hits. Which is a shame because its not actually a bad game, just very very short.
The game is fully voice acted, and not terribly either and has a gorgeous pixel art style. I mean it the animations, art and design of this game is top notch and really gives the feeling of a fleshed out world. The music too is well chosen, fitting well into the cyberpunk feel with its mix of electronica and vocals. Which is why its so damn frustrating that the game is so short! I would love to play a longer game like this!
I know what many people will say and think about this game, ‘its too short for the money’, ‘this should be free’ and to be frank, I agree with them. I feel that this game should be much longer, I want it to be I know that much.
Peter Moorhead was one of the developers who protested Steams revamped refunding system, and having played this game I can see why. The game lasts about twenty minutes, and given that one of the qualifiers for getting a refund on Steam is to have played less than two hours, I can see where he’s coming from. Unlike many developers who churn out a lot of shovel ware and dump it on Steam or the chancers who create broken and buggy games to earn a quick buck, Peter Moorhead has actually put a lot of time and effort into his creation. Because of this I can completely understand why he would oppose Steam refunds working in the way they currently do, many people will refund this game simply because of how short it is, saving them £1.99.
Of course in the long run we’re better off with the refunds being as they are, unfortunately that means that people like Peter Moorhead have to take a hit for the team… because people can be gits.
Well, that stopped being about the review fast, didn’t it? The thing is this game is hard to talk about without mentioning all that.
The question is is this short game worth the money? In my eyes… Yes, but only because I love the genre of Cyberpunk way more than is probably normal. For most people who don’t fangasm over the idea of cybernetics etc, this likely won’t be your cup of tea.
The Cat and the Coup
Developer: Peter Brinson and Kuroshio Valanejad
Publisher: Peter Brinson and Kuroshio Valanejad
Rrp: £ Free
Released: 15th June 2011
Available on Steam or on their own website
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
The Cat and the Coup is a documentary game about Mohammad Massadegh, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran and the events surrounding the CIA coup against him.
During the game you play as a black cat, who seems to revel in toppling all his plans.
Artistically it puts me in mind of Terry Gilliam (the man responsible for the animated scenes in Monty Python). A great thing about this is that nothing that you see on the screen is window dressing, every item has a meaning.
A word of warning the game starts off in a windowed mode but once you follow the on screen instructions (pressing space) it changes to full screen. Also if you start the game and then not press anything for a minute or so the game automatically quits, not a huge deal I know but I feel it worth mentioning.
Honestly? I’d like to see more games like this. Though I wouldn’t choose to play this sort of thing on a regular basis, I did enjoy learning through it. This is a short game, literally lasting only a few minutes once you start playing. If you have no interest in history though I can’t recommend it.
DLC Quest
Developer:Going Loud Studios
Publisher:Going Loud Studios
Rrp: £1.99 (Steam)
Released: 18th March 2013
Available on Steam
Played Using: A Xbox 360 control pad
DLC Quest is a side scrolling platforming satire/parody (I’ll be honest I’m not sure which because it seems to straddle both) game. In this you play as…err, Player.
The game is split into two short parts, DLC Quest and Freemium isn’t Free.
To be honest there isn’t much to be said about this title, it makes a lot of very good points, usually through the ‘awardments’ that you’re given throughout your playthrough, but besides that there isn’t much to it. You collect the coins to buy more DLC giving you more skills, to get more coins to get even more DLC until there’s none left. Once you have it all you go and face the bad guy and that’s it.
So do I think this game is worth looking at? Well, not really, and definitely not for the Rrp. It’s too short (the whole game took about thirty minutes) and while it makes some good points, it’s too shallow for me to honestly urge people to get it. That being said, grabbing it while in a sale could be worth while, anything below £1.
Gone Home
Developer: The Fullbright Company
Publisher: The Fullbright Company
Rrp: £14.99 (Steam)
Released: 15th August 2013
Available on Steam
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
Walking Simulator, this is a term that has cropped up for a certain type of game. For some its a badge of pride to others its a mark of derision. These games tend to be narrative heavy and gameplay light, the player essentially reduced to being nothing more than a walking camera. A witness to events that occur around them and without their involvement. The latest game by the Chinese Room ‘Everyone’s Gone to the Rapture’ is currently being critically panned exactly because of this, that and the run button being hidden apparently. But here’s the thing, not all of them are like that, in the same way that not every 2D platformer is a Mario clone or every JRPG a Final Fantasy clone.
It’s June the 7th 1995, you’ve arrived at your parents new home after having been away on your travels for over a year. Only a thunder storm greets your arrival as no one’s home, which is particularly strange since it’s well past midnight that you arrive. A note on the door informs you that your sibling has run away for some reason, first things first though, you need to get off of this porch.
The story is told to you through three means, firstly there’s the audio that occurs when you inspect an object that’s related to the main story. Secondly there’s the text you can read on documents around the house and lastly there’s the environmental storytelling. You may not have heard of environmental storytelling before but I can guarantee that you’ve had it used on you at one point or another. Environmental storytelling is when the area you’re in gives you clues as to whats happened. In the case of Gone Home in the main hallway there are cardboard boxes with ‘Front Hall’ written on them, combine that with the apparent sparseness of the décor and you can assume they either recently moved in or will be moving out. There’s a lot to read into in this house, it even gives a few red herrings.
If there is one thing this game is good at its atmosphere, even though this isn’t a horror game there were definitely parts of the house that left me feeling unsettled and paranoid. Sadly for many this is something that drove them away as they expected a horror game rather than what they got… which I’d love to tell you but it would ruin the game for those that haven’t played it yet.
The story of the game is kept coherent through the usage of locked doors which as you unlock them (not always with a key) a new segment will be revealed. If you find that to be too easy you can use the ‘modifiers’ menu when you start the game to unlock all the doors. This menu also allows you to activate a number of other modifers such as having all the lights in the house turned on from the start, just in case you don’t like the dark, which I think is a considerate touch for those suffer from a fear of dark places.
I have to love the concept of this game, you returning home to find the home you left isn’t the same one you arrive to in a very literal sense. That speaks to me on a personal level as I’ve had that happen. You feel like a stranger in what is technically your own home, it’s a very disconcerting feeling as you feel like you’re intruding on your own life in a strange way.
Enough of my ruminating on this game and the connection it makes with me, the question remains is it any good? The short answer, yes. The long answer, its very good… but since its only about three hours long I can’t say I can honestly recommend it on the price £14.99 is a bit steep. Thankfully it appears on sale quite often so if you can snag a copy then it’ll be worth it. Be aware though that it is a walking simulator, there are no ghosts, bad guys or anything like that. There are puzzles to solve some even being optional and quite hard to do but if you want action you won’t find it, if you want a heartfelt and interesting story you could do much worse.
Detour
Developer: Sandswept Studios
Publisher: Sandswept Studios
Rrp: £3.99 (Steam)
Released: 16th May 2011
Available on Steam
Played using: Mouse and Keyboard
Detour is a RTS… Sort of. You definitely have to think tactically, but instead of units of marines or tanks you have roads and nails.
Credit where credit’s due this is one of the most unique twists on a the RTS format that I have seen in a very long time.
The aim of the game is to get a set number of your trucks from one side of the map to the other by building roads. The thing is, your opponent is also trying to do the same thing. You can block each other’s progress by tactically placing roads in the way of their route or do some nastier things.
Building items requires credits, credits build up naturally over time but can be acquired much more quickly by owning a goldmine or other types of shop.
Right clicking with the mouse places an item, left clicking bulldozes it. If you hold [F] while hovering your mouse over a menu item it will bring up a description.
It’s a graphically simple game, and that works in its favour helping the gameplay flow better and feel responsive. Besides when trying to outfox your opponent you aren’t really looking at what’s on screen anyway… Not really. Your more looking at the screen in your head.
The game has got a few strange bugs though, like the music stopping when you attempt to perform a illegal action, but nothing game breaking.
While this game does have a single player campaign it’s abundantly clear that multiplayer is where the game is focused. The single player is more of a tutorial on how to play and doesn’t provide much of a challenge, in fact I beat the whole game in about an hour. On the whole, I think I would only recommend this game to someone who likes RTS and wants something different.
