★42

Zup!

118/118 (100%), 0.5 hours

A simple physics puzzler the aim is to get the blue box onto the green platform by means of propulsion. There is minimal difficulty, the majority of puzzles are a matter of eliminating the wrong explosives until you find the one that launches the box to the goal. Later on there is a little bit more precision and timing required but nothing ever gets too tricky even after the introduction of new mechanics. The entirety of the game, all 40 levels, all 118 achievements and the "secrets" can be completed within half an hour. It's a nice little time waster but nothing more than that.

There is one bonus that may appeal to some people and that is the design of the achievements. Much like those for LYNE, there are two full sets of the alphabet, numbers and symbols, one set blue the other purple, ideal for decorating profile showcases.

Global Ops: Commando Libya

24/24 (100%), 8.9 hours

One of my SteamGift wins finally completed but I feel bad because this game is very, very bad. Although an action packed and over the top third-person shooter there would be nothing to make this game stand out if it weren't for the dumb AI, the bizarre key bindings and the inconsistent difficulty. It is the very definition of generic military shooting game. I promise I'm not exaggerating any of these claims. I had the AI run straight past me at some points, one key is bound to many actions (space bar is used for sprint, forward roll, crouch and jump) most sections are a walk in the park (even on the hardest setting) then there will be this one random enemy which is a pain in the butt that caused seemingly random deaths. :|

Oh well, it wasn't all bad, some of the one-liners were amusing at least.

Lucius II

65/65, 15.0 hours

If you have not played the original Lucius turn back now.

The story continues as Lucius wakes up several months later from a coma in a psychiatric ward. As much as I like the sequel I don't think it holds up when compared to the first game. The Improvements are noticeable, in particular with the size and variety of levels, you're no longer restricted to the same house each time, also the gameplay itself has room for more creativity and with more opportunities to gruesomely murder a person, or multiple in each level, heck you literally have a chance to massacre an entire town at one point. However with freedom that has been introduced there was definitely knock on effect with some of the more dramatic finales that are now missing, making the game feel rather bland and less exciting overall. There's no buildup and no "ah-ha" moment as you solve the puzzle, you don't have to look far to find something for the kill and sometimes it is just given straight to you, the inhabitants aren't particularly bright and prone to walking into a fire. The story was one of the better parts of the original alongside having to learn about the inhabitants, without that many of the lives taken seem meaningless but the music is much better in this game, no more endless irritating stings!

Ukrainian Ninja

8/12 (67%), 2.6 hours

Another SteamGifts win finished!

I don't understand the concept of this game. The "ninjas" seem like entirely different species to the other humanoids and they defeat major enemies by dropping incredibly oversized dynamite on them but despite the size the blast radius is the size of a teaspoon? All this whilst releasing zombies unto the city and dodging lesser enemies that can shoot through wall? Eh.. that last one might be a bug. Aside from the weird stuff it's fairly unremarkable platformer filled with bugs, like being left behind with the floor of an elevator, or getting stuck going around corners. It'd probably also be fairly difficult if it weren't for the fact you can brute force your way through the entire game, so many check points and very easy to just jump over and ignore enemies.

It's okay but could have done with a lot more polish and expanding on the ideas introduced.

StarFence: Heroic Edition

20/22 (91%), 10.1 hours

Another SteamGifts win finished!

Part tower-defence, part shooter is a game where you take control to defend the base. Every level feel very samey but as more bonuses and upgrades are unlocked it does get easier even as the screen becomes a mess of ships, mines and lasers. It doesn't take much to find yourself very overpowered, destroying a craft in one hit. Problems lie when you have to heal, to do so you have to stop shooting which usually means gameover when your overwhelmed by enemies. Be careful where you're aiming because hovering direct over the base stops the shooting but won't heal unless you're clicking also it's not easy to see health bars when a ship explodes near by. It gets very fiddly if you wish to add more objects to the field, even outside of battle but quite often the levels force you to do so. I do like the art design, nothing too fancy but it does remind me of Aeon Command in a way, beautiful and colourful backgrounds with simple but detailed ships.