an occasional player's review

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Short & Snappy
2007-06-18 07:36:00
Title: La Croix Pan Author: TheJBurger Release Date: June 2007 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: None When the author announced La Croix Pan’s completion on the AGS forums, Vince Twelve remarked this is what new designers should aim for their first game. “Short , but with a high degree of polish, and trying out some complex scripting to ...
More About: Reviews , Games , Adventure , Snappy

'You mean this, this thing...is ALIVE?'
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: SpooksAuthor: Erin RobinsonDate Published: 2006License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: none[SPOILER ALERT: This article may contain several spoilers. I recommend playing the game first before continuing.]Imagine receiving a live fish as a prize for throwing darts. Not much to expect right? But then imagine doing so in a world populated with a beer-guzzling demon, a fallen angel, a fortune-reading eyeball, a talking scarecrow holding a floating ship *and* a three-headed invisible, um, ash vendor.You can't help having a real attitude. So what will you do with the fish?Welcome to Spooks, Erin Robinson's debut game and the second title to be feature in XII Games' website. The game was developed using the popular Adventure Game Studio engine, with the help of Vince Twelve (scripting) and The Scorposer (music).The game starts off with the player assuming the role of a sardonic ghoul named Mortia, who decides to pay the Carnage-Val a visit to see the sights. Not ...
More About: Live , Thing , Alive

FAQ's and all that
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Hi.You're probably wondering what an occasional game player like me would be doing writing these silly game reviews. How someone with fairly less extensive playing experience could have the right to rant and rave about games, and how would I even contribute to so-called "game journalism."Well, to be honest, I'm not sure either.For starters, I'd like to think of the site more as way to gain ideas on better game design (at least for me), and partly as an exercise in critical thinking. If the game merits enough attention even from a very slack player, then that game is really good. If not, well, better luck next time.As much as I can, all the comments I'll be making about games here won't include any material from other game review sites. The comments will be strictly "personal" for lack of a better term, but if I have to, I'll quote the other author directly & include a link back.So sit back and relax. If you feel you'd like something more insightful or professional, check out ...
More About: Hat , That

AGFW: Space adventure and more
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: Adventure s in the Galaxy of Fantabulous WondermentAuthor: Ben CroshawRelease Date: July 2005License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: Fully RamblomaticFinally finished Ben Croshaw's Adventures in the Galaxy of Fantabulous Wonderment (henceforth called "AGFW") after several hours this morning. Well, all right, granted that there are certain elements in the game that I no longer completed (like the research quest), and that I heavily used the walkthrough, I was still able to enjoy it.The story begins when you as Daniel Gordon gets berated by your boss playing a game 5 minutes before your shift ends. Seeing where this would eventually lead, Daniel decides to take a bus home...where he gets abducted and sold as a delivery guy to a group of alien mercenaries en route to their target. However, the mercenaries' target disappear, along with their own captain. Since this is the only way to get back to Earth, you agree to cooperate ("I can't believe I'm being threate...
More About: Venture , Space , More , Pace

Cool comeback
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: AnacreonAuthor: George MoromisatoDate Published: 1988, 2005 (v2.1d, Windows version)License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: AnacreonJust recently discovered there's already a great-looking Windows port of George Moromisato's classic space conquest game Anacreon. Its original title, back when it was still running in DOS, was "Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021" and there had been about 11 to 12 scenarios available then. The graphical port (version 2.1d), which happily runs on just about all Windows versions, sports a classy title screen and exhibits several improvements from the last DOS release (version 1.3.0). Cool .Moromisato admitted moving on from Pascal to C++ for this new version (which he had somehow maligned in the Anacreon's first manual) and is now at work on another space combat game (Transcendence). He is still very much optimistic about Anacreon's evolution as a game, and is planning to incorporate better multiplayer features in the future. The DOS...
More About: Back , Come , Comeback

Audiosyncrasy
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Just got hold of Joey "Pepe" Smith's recently released solo album Idiosyncrasies yesterday. The album features Smith at the helm, writing almost all the songs and doing the acoustic guitars. Fellow musicians Jun Lopito and Dondi Ledesma handle lead guitars and the rhythm section, respectively.Listening to it strangely reminded me of two things: Johnny Cash's rendition of "Hurt" (old Nine Inch Nails song) and the character Sal X in Eric Gamalinda's novel Empire of Memory. Despite Smith's so-called "vocal jabbing" here (which is reminiscent of his singing style in Juan Dela Cruz), one can hear the years that's behind each song, especially in tracks like "Eto Na Ako!", "Ihip ng Hangin", "Jueteng Shed", even "Hi-Tek Babe." And yet, as one listens to the songs, one feels as if he's as young as Sal X, still as irreverent, impulsive, and a bit unpredictable.The eleven songs included in the album definitely has that "old school" feel to them, with most, if not all, harking back to the...
More About: Audio , Audi , Dios , Sync

Emily Enough: Twisted (but) fun
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: Emily Enough : ImprisonedAuthor: Logan WorsleyRelease Date: 2005License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: (None)I'm currently playing another AGS adventure game called Emily Enough: Imprisoned (EEI) by Logan "Anarcho" Worsley. It's a tale about Emily Enough, the highly intelligent heiress to the Enough estate, who decided to murder her parents and everyone else in their household because her birthday demands were not met. She was then tried and sentenced to live in an asylum until her 21st birthday. But that's not the fun part yet.The fun part is in the asylum. The game begins during Emily's arrival in the asylum. It turns out the mental institute is owned by a chemical company, which is currently undergoing several "infrastructure changes," so to speak. To save money, the company had to move their offices over to the institute so they could try recovering there.Emily shudders at what she sees happening inside, and wants to escape. How she does that is up to...
More About: Fun

Afloat on The Infinite Ocean
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: The Infinite Ocean Author: Jonas KyratzesRelease Date: 2005License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/Just finished playing Jonas Kyratzes's short graphic adventure The Infinite Ocean. The current version available for download is actually a complete rewrite (done by programmer Kevin Clancy) of the original release, which helped fix all the bugs and improved some minor details as well. Freelance composer and sound effects designer Adam DiTroia provided the haunting music which excellently sets the overall tone of the game.[SPOILER ALERT: This section of the commentary gives out heavy hints on the game. If you have not played the game yet, it is recommended to do so before continuing.]Similar to his older piece Last Rose in a Desert Garden (which he has just recently re-released), Kyratzes expounds further on his pacifist views in the game, making effective use of the artificial intelligence concept in conveying his philosophy and c...

Last requests: On 'Mourir En Mer'
2006-12-02 15:49:14
(For now, I'll be posting some of my older articles from at least a few years. These articles were written at a time when I've been going back and forth between switching blog hosting services and getting into other Real Life (tm) events, so part of the articles themselves bear some comments about what's been happening with me.)Title: Mourir En Mer ("To Die At Sea")Author: Daniel "Dorcan" MullerRelease Date: 2003License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: Digital Mind StudioI'm currently enjoying our remaining weeks in training, or at least trying to. Apart from having to absorb a lot of information (even for someone who's worked fairly long in tech support), I'm planning how to possibly finish TGR and do my other stuff within the next 1 to 2 weeks. Hmm. We'll see.In the meantime, though, I've finished playing Daniel Muller's adventure game Mourir En Mer, thanks to a Len Green hint near the final stretch (yeah, yeah, so much for playing with no walkthroughs). T...
More About: Last , Quest , Requests , Quests

CreatureComp
2006-12-02 15:49:14
I'm currently working on an entry for David Fisher's Creature Comp which was announced last August 22. I've been using Inform 7 for this and so far it's been great.Originally I was hoping to squeeze in a TADS 2 game for the annual competition but seeing how it's already near the submission deadline, I opted to go for a smaller comp and work on my entry there. Since this project's been ongoing even at work during my breaktimes, I should (hopefully) be able to finish it early enough to get a couple of testers.In the meantime, I may post one or two articles every few weeks. I am currently into Kyratzes' new "game" Museum of Broken Memories which was released just a couple of weeks ago, and I've finished with Ben Croshaw's Trilby's Notes. There are other games sitting in a folder somewhere here that's been waiting a long time to be unzipped as well, so there's going to be more material here in the near future.Tags: competition, CreatureComp, interactive fiction, occasional pl...