Category: Accessible Games
Hey everyone,
There's a really cool game that came out yesterday called the Gate. It's more of a Halloween game, but it's really fun. It's got very hi quality sounds, ten levels with five bosses, and it's just kick ass. Very challenging, in my opinion. Especially the first boss. lol
The game is a little on the pricy side, but I dunno. I haven't beaten the game yet, but I think it's kind of worth it. Although I buy every game that comes out, so I can't really say if you think it'll be worth it or not.
You can check out the game from:
http://www.vgstorm.com
You can play the demo before you buy the game, which gives you a pretty good taste for the game. The game costs $35, but from now until the end of November you can get it for $29 and change.
Enjoy.
Shit that's a rip off.
meh, pass. not for me.
I agree with the last poster.
I can't even download it so... it's useless to me. I need my own computer! :(
sounds like it could be good but yeah, on the pricy side indeed. Damn curiousity.,.. If I download the demo and end up liking it I don't know if I can resist not buying the game...
If you read the manual it says that it is compatible for windows xp and above but it doesn't work on xp so don't try to download it yet.
I heard a recording of it and I really like it. if I find it I will post it here as well.
Played the demo and liked it, so I bought it. True I do find some levels borderline unfair even on Easy, but at least it's not a game you can pick up and beat in half an hour.
This is true, even if the first boss was a nightmare. And no, I don't mean just because it's supposed to be a horror-themed game, lol. It definitely is pricey, but it's a challenging game. I don't regret my purchase.
Nor do I. Of course I'm currently stuck on the last level LOL.
Damn you're all so convincing. lol. I will check out the demo and consider...
It's definitely got a great atmosphere.
So few games available for mac. My PC's are for work only so.
True. Unfortunately the Mac OS didn't have the traction with the blind when BGT was first developed that it now does, otherwise I'm sure it would have been another story entirely. I myself have yet to actually use one, thoug I would like to to see how using VoiceOver on an actual computer compares to using it on say an IPhone.
Another side scrolling game. We really need some new concepts in audio gaming. And yeah, $35 would buy me a lot more mainstream gaming experience, IMO. Though I know the market is small.
I had a try at this one for the fun of it, since it has a free demo.
Please note: some spoilers ahead; if you don't want any gameplay hints or ideas or warnings at all, do not read past this point.
Seriously, don't.
Okay, you've been duly warned.
The boss at the end of the second level is murderously hard. One hit from it is instant death. You're asked to use a weapon which you have to reload every five shots, and which can mysteriously not hit an enemy if it's...too close. It's a bow, so unless the enemy is sitting on your shoulders you should conceivably be able to put an arrow through its face. Nope. If you're too close, you shoot, you miss, and probably get plugged.
But I beat that boss.
In the following levels, you get new enemies that basically do the same as old enemies, except they're faster, can appear out of nowhere, and take more hits to kill. Okay fine, I can live with that.
Then you get a really interesting quandary. Three enemies in conjunction in the same level. Bombers that can insta-kill you by dropping things on you which detonate after a small time; spiders which can spit web and then start pelting you because the web freezes you; and worst of all, big lumbering zombies that take several shots to kill and which will poison you if they hit you. Worst bit: they often appear in groups alongside each other, and you don't get an item to cure the zombie-poison until -after you kill your first few zombies.
Let's also remember that all the hitting and missing with arrows will deplete your arrow pouches, and that the mini-boss on the level before (didn't mention him previously) basically requires arrows to effectively kill. So soon you'll be left with a really speedy weak short-range knife and a big honkin' slow damaging sword, facing enemies that can poison you, paralyze you and insta-kill you while you're unable to move.
I've seen my health go from 100 to 0 in about four seconds, without a bomber, because I had a zombie poisoning me and at least one spider biting me while I was frozen.
And all this is on the easy difficulty. Level 4 of the easy difficulty.
I'm sure that eventually I could come up with a pinpoint strategy that might get me through this, but frankly I can't be bothered. I'm in favour of games having a learning curve or not being handed to you, even on easy difficulties, but I feel like maybe this one suffers from some shaky logistical planning. Rather than appealing to the majority of the player base - at least on easier difficulties - and making a game which ramps up slowly in difficulty, I feel like the developer here might have seen a handful of expert testers get through it, said "Oh well, it's possible" and called it good.
Just to put it in perspective here, most of the audiogames.net community has had serious trouble with the first boss. I was among that group, although I managed to pull out a win eventually. It's a very fast, very precise battle, and I damn near ran out of arrows. In that fight, if you have no arrows, you're done, because there's no other means of hitting long range. So this isn't just me struggling with a game and deciding it's too hard.
For the sake of argument, I would like to see something like the following as a means of moderating the difficulty curve:
1. Arrow pouches (and the bow itself) hold more arrows on lower difficulty (say 20 on easy?) This would mean you'd have way less trouble pelting enemies at a distance, and that alone would take away a great deal of the ridiculousness that can crop up.
2. Devil Spiders can spit web and freeze you; I'd like to see that made so that it can only be done once per spider. If you get nailed, then you're in for it; if you jump or are too far away, then all the spider can do is charge you and start biting.
3. I'd like to see ghosts and the Grey Lady (that first boss) do damage based on your difficulty; maybe on easy they'd do 20% of your health, then on normal 40%, going up to instant death on Nightmare, which is supposed to be very hard anyway.
4. I'd like to see the sword's speed increased somewhat.
5. I'd also like to understand exactly what's up with the fact that sometimes you can be right on top of an enemy, and ten or twelve quick stabs will all miss, even though it's biting the hell out of you. Rats and bats can evade. Okay. But is this random? Because it really argues against the sword when you can't hit the little buggers.
Anyway, that's my rant over. I wasn't really planning on buying this game to begin with, but after the trial run, I've uninstalled it and definitely won't be pursuing it further. It'll be interesting to see how and if this game develops further, but with the exchange rate, I'd be paying forty-odd dollars for a game with decent music, half-decent voice-acting and (in my opinion at least) a very unbalanced, unpolished playing experience.
What we need is more games that explore more of what side-scrollers truly have to offer rather than just going left to right or vice versa. So far people only know the most basic side scroller types and so they're generalizing. True Perilous Hearts and MOTA looked to be trying to push the boundaries but unfortunately neither has been released or seems likely to be. As for me I have found a more orless workable strategy for getting past those levels without wasting too many arrows. It's still not easy but nor should it be. I still agree about the Gray Lady though. I don't believe a boss should only have instakill attacks. Maybe have one that they use every now and then but that can be avoided. Carmilla, a later boss in the game, is a good example.
Noes that game only work on Windows?
Well seeing as it was developed using the BGT kit the answer is yes. The Mac OS didn't have the traction it does now at the time BGT was first developed.
I've often thought of trying to get into audio game development. I'm a narrative gamer, and I find games with good stories are one area where audio games are drastically lacking. Even something like a Blind Legend, which had a pretty decent premmace and good gameplay potential was bogged down by terrible writing and voice acting, not to mention plot exicution. Admitedly I've been spoiled by the sighted games market, but I'd love to see an audio game that took story seriously. Had I the time, knowledge and resources, I'd love to dip my toe into that realm to bring narrative and gaming together.
This is, unfortunately, all too true.