Reviews - HumbleGamerCJ

Just finished playing this game.

The graphics are functional, if not world beating and occasionally laggy, and the story is interesting. The atmosphere while you play is intense and really got me excited as I walked gingerly through the dimly lit levels.

The sound built to a nice crescendo and there were a couple of subtle but well done jump scares that, although not Outlast levels of scare, did enough to really put me on edge.

**MINOR SPOLIER ALERT**
I get into a downstairs room and I heard a voice, quietly at first, telling me to leave. It got more insistent and grew louder. I was on the edge of my seat, the skeletal form next to me sitting still, watching my fear grow. The whisper had become almost a shout, a madman demanding I leave and then...

It ended. Cut to black.

I know its an episodic game, and I know that it's possibly more of an experiment to see what can be done and achieved rather than a look forward to an entire game, but to build the tension and atmosphere to such a point and then just have no payoff whatsoever? It felt deflating and really anticlimactic.

Now, I'm not asking for the most blood-chilling, soul destroying, make me jump out of my seat and scream like a girl kind of scare in the first episode. I get pacing and I know you have to hold something back for future episodes, but something. A face, a scream, a vision... anything would have been better than what I got.

All that being said, it really does show potential and it is because of the obvious potential and promise that was on show that I was so downbeat about the game when it ended so quickly and with so little payoff. I wanted to be scared, I wanted to be knocked for six by the developer, and it really felt the game was heading that way. But, for a game with such obvious intent and direction, the ending was just too much of an anticlimax for me.

There is so much potential on show, even if the game is a little laggy in places,that I want to give it more than a 5 but short leng

This is a good indie horror game. Atmosphere is great and the sound design is very good.

The graphics are in the slightly pixelated style that is very popular at the moment and, though I doubt the Unity engine was stretched by this game, they are pleasing to look at and add to the overall feel of the game.

The story is simple - you're a lost school boy in Idaho trying to figure out what's gone wrong. You are dropped into the world and told to find 8 balls and to avoid the creature with red eyes. It's very Slender-esque, but that doesn't turn out to be a bad game. That style and genre has worked very well and I'm a big believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". This game utilises the basic model well, but with it's own style and twist and atmosphere which set it nicely apart from Slender. It borrows ideas, but it certainly isn't a clone.

From the very first moment I was accosted by the unearthly screaming of some terrifying, unknown creature away in the mountains in the distance. The howl died away leaving only the crunch of my feet on the snow and the whistle of the wind. And, at one point, even that stopped, and there was something even scarier about the silence, so the sound and atmosphere are the major pluses about this game for me.

The only complaint I would really have is that the objective of collecting balls seemed to have little to do with the opening exposition all text, so it felt odd and a little arbitrary, and some more direction could be needed but a lot of others don't like too much direction in survival horror so it's a personal preference thing.

All in all, a good game that with one or two tweaks could be a real corker. Would love to see and HD graphic upgrade, personally, but it's very good as it stands and worth a play :)

HG

Graphically, very very pleaseing and charming. Wonderfully witty and clever dialogue and story. Great characters and a very engaging story.

I am not a natural or frequent 'point and click' game player, so this was a different experience for me. That perhaps contributed to how difficult and sometimes obtuse puzzles and their answers were to me. There is one puzzle which hinges on you giving a gift to one of the NPCs with only a very slight hint towards that even being possible. I know it's a mystery and that you can't lead your players hand in hand through the story - that rather negates the 'mystery bit of it and I'm glad this game doesn't - but sometimes you're going to get a player (like me) to whom this is not a natural thought process, so a gentle nudge or a kindly hint on screen or in a journal might occasionally be useful.

Those personal feelings aside, I would happily recommend this game. If you do like point and clicks (and even a touch of hidden object knowledge or expertise might help in this one, but I don't do them either so take that with a pinch of salt) and mystery games, then this really is a great choice! The style and the writing are brimming with charm and tongue-in-cheek wit, beautifully delivered and realised.

And if you're new to this kind of gaming, and you fancy a bit of a good, fun challenge that will really get you thinking about fifty-miles outside the box, then this is a great starting point!

A good, solid game that perhaps occasionally needs to direct the player a touch more. 7/10

Good game. Atmosphere is very god, and the way the monster just walks at you is really creepy :S

I'm pretty bad at it, so the monster appeared very quickly each play through and I wasn't aware I had a sprint button (probably my bad for not reading things thoroughly) so I got caught very easily too. Maybe adding a mechaninc where the flares hit the monster and cause him to stagger, thus offering you a couple of extra seconds? It is just a thought. This also meant the game was very short (which might be down to developer intent or my lack of skill)and I had to Alt-F4 out of the game every single time after I had been caught, which is an issue.

Other than that? This is a good solid, easy to enjoy, unnerving and, at times, very scary game.

A very well made game!

I can see tremendous potential for schools and educational classes picking this up, but it's aalso really good fun at home! I got stuck (sadly) on the level "Out Of The Blood Stream", but I shall cedrtainly be re-attempting it in my spare time! (I kept getting destroyed :S)

The graphics are good, the concept is brilliant (reminded me of that old movie "Inner Space"), and it's really well implemented. My one issue was that the controls were, for me, not as intuitive as perhaps I am used to. Maybe using the mouse to turn instead of the arrow keys might help this?

Other than that, no real complaints at all. A very good game and well worth the £2 price tag! Download it!

On the face of it, and at the core of it, this is a good game.

I have played the demo and I like the concepts they use, particularly using sound to direct you through the pitch-black darkness, and the design is clearly well thought out and structured.

However, there are a couple of nagging issues:

1) The graphics engine. It's laggy, and no matter how low the graphics are set it stays laggy. I was maxing between 7 and 12 FPS, which is not good. My computer plays Skyrim with FULL graphics at 30 FPS, so I was surprised and annoyed that I couldn't enjoy this game at the quality it was intended (and, I have to say, deserved) to be played at.If this was fixed, though, I could forgive many of the otehr little annoyances that I hexperienced.

2) It's still quite buggy. I know it's an Alpha, and I shouldn't be too harsh, but the bugs I've experienced are simple things, and mostly in the Farming section - unable to harvest the crops, having to click on planks 4/5 times, unable to click the spade at all... I'm sure its a quick fix and it's a fix I would like to see.

3) It's confusing. I like a challenge, don't get me wrong, and I hate games that spoon feed me, but having (for example) a key that its not singled out (as in "Amnesia" and others where useful items glow), that is a similar colour to the wooden bean it is hung against, that is about the size of a real key and thus is very VERY small on a computer screen, in a graphics engine that is already laggy, and ina dream sequence which has an added blur effect... well,l it took me nearly 15 minutes to find it. That's too long, by anybody's standards. This issue can again be solved either by the graphics alterations I've alluded to or by the addition of hints or a journal or something like that.

As I said at the start, this is fundamentally a good and interesting game. But the little things (and they are little things) really do let it down. 6/10.

The Humble Gamer (www.youtube.com/humblegamertube)

Before I being, I have only played the demo version of this game so take my comments with this in mind.

Fundamentally? I liked it.

For what it is, this is a very well designed game. The levels are beautiful, the Ogres have the right mix of fairytale "Shrek" and (for want of a better word) "stompyness" to make it fun, and the basic concept and gameplay are solid and very well presented.

It is, however, a very simple game and probably better aimed at children than adults, but that's not a bad thing - not all games have to be gritty, realistic shooters or deep, dark horror RPG's. Even us adults sometimes just wanna kick back and stomp some poisonous mushrooms!

The reasons I scored it 6/10 are as follows:

1) I think the Ogre customisation could perhaps have a few more options (things like hats or armour or hairstyles etc.) just so each player can have an Ogre that they really feels is "theirs". What is there already is good but it's just a bit thin, though this is totally personal preference.

2) The idea is great, but I think maybe adding a little more story to it would drive the player to get the highscores more. i'm not talking Skyrim, but just a reason for stomping on the poisonous mushroom houses. Maybe the local Gnomes are trying to sell the Ogre's hide to an evil Wizard or something??? Just a thought... lol

3) Carrying on from that, maybe adding simple yet engaging enemies (like a couple of said Gnomes) to the higher levels might give the player a bit of an extra, fun challenge (though since I only played the demo this might well have already been implemented)

This is a great starting point, and I think you should be proud of what has been achieved, but it just needs more. Even if it is a "kids game", throw in a couple of challenges other than just finding the house and stomping on it. If you do that, I reckon that this will be a very good, fun and engaging game for children and every adult's inner child :)

Artistically brilliant, lovely soundtrack and a ridiculously cute lead character! Simple, fun, easy to play, great to relax to - everything a good game should be :)

I still think that, personally, the introduction of a camera moving mechanic (holding down the RMB or using the Right Analogue Stick on the XBox controller) would be very useful, especially for the jumping puzzles.

Apart from that? A very good game.

A very good game. A fantastic story, good characters, brilliantly diverse scenery and locales, a beautiful score and a whole heap of fun to play.

The only reason it's not a 10 is because I think it wholly deserves a full, HD remake to carry the story upon (though I appreciate this is nit-picking and highly difficult and time consuming to produce, but there it is).

Download it and play it NOW!

Great game guys! Love the humour and the puzzles. Starts slowly, but really kicks on and gets engaging! Fantastic!

Perhaps could have a journal or some sort of puzzle aid added? Maybe a map would be useful to? But, that's entirely personal preference and lack of instinct speaking.

Great game, well worth the DL.

The Humble Gamer