Steam demo time again
Short reviews of the latest batch of Steam demos I’ve hacked at.
Mr Robot: I was hoping this would be an update of the classic C64 game "Mr. Robot and his Robot Factory," but it was not to be. Turns out it’s actually an isometric platform/adventure hybrid (remember Solstice? Yeah, like that) with some odd Shadowrun-y RPG combat sequences. Takes a bit of getting used to, but overall it’s pretty fun; it would be nice if some of the functions could be rebound, though, since the default bindings don’t do anything for me.
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee: Yes, I realise this game is about ten years old, but I never played it when it came out, and it’s on Steam now. Or that’s what I thought, anyhow, but it turns out that I actually have played this game; thing is, back when I played it, it was called Prince of Persia. I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now either. But if you’re a big fan of Prince of Persia and you’re keen to play the same game but with aliens, hey, here you go.
Sherlock Holmes: Nemesis: I don’t really know why I installed this one. It’s obviously a wordy shitty cutscene-y adventure game. True to form, I installed it, started it up, watched a few minutes of cutscenes and then started mashing the "skip scene" button (bonus points for actually including that, though) so I could get to the damn game. Then I got to the damn game and started mashing on the X in the corner of the window so I could get away from it.
Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena: I don’t really know why I installed this one, either. I also don’t know why I liked it so much. It’s very clearly a game for kids — and not just any kids, but girl-type kids. But you know what? I had fun playing it, so screw you anyhow. It’s basically just Where’s Waldo with the occasional weird puzzle or cutscene; if you liked searching for Waldo, you’ll probably like this game. If you don’t give a rat’s ass where that dude is, don’t waste your time.
Mount and Blade: I really wanted to like this one. It seemed kind of groovy at first, and the music in the tutorial was getting me in the mood to chop some dudes up with my sword. Then I walked out of the first room, got stuck in the door, and had to spend about two minutes wiggling and jumping trying to get free. So my initial impression wasn’t so hot. Then I got to the combat part and found another interesting tidbit: the collision detection and AI are a bit wack, and mobs will tend to run over until they’re standing directly inside of you, and you can’t hit them there. They, of course, can still hit you, which, combined with the fiddly controls, makes combat twitchy and annoying more than anything else. And, since as near as I can tell, there’s nothing to do in this game except fight mobs, that’s sort of the whole ballgame right there.
Tomb Raider: Underworld: I haven’t actually played this one, but I note with some amusement that Eidos hasn’t changed much over the years. Note the part of Lara’s anatomy that they feature in the game’s logo banner on Steam. Classic.
I played that goddamn Sherlock Holmes demo. Holy shit was that awful. I had to look up a walkthrough for the damn DEMO, that’s how annoyingly adventure-gamey it is. I couldn’t find the proper pixel to click on!
Comment by Dave | 8 November 2008
I guess the comedy moment is that there’s actually another Sherlock Holmes game by the same company that appears to be the exact same game. Its Metacritic score is one point higher — 72 instead of 71 (note: Metacritic scores below 80 can generally all be read as "zero" due to the plethora of reviewers who learned their trade from Rolling Stone and Gamespot and give every game ever at least 3.5/5 — ed.), and that’s probably only because of how completely hilarious and inappropriate it is to involve Cthulhu in a Sherlock Holmes game.
I’m serious. Cthulhu. No word on whether or not Yog Sothoth also appears, and hell if I’m going to play the thing to find out.
Comment by Darien | 8 November 2008