It's already the 22nd of July, and I genuinely have no idea where the month has gone. I have been working through three games this month, Mass Effect 3, Sushi Striker and House Flipper, all on different platforms. I have been enjoying playing House Flipper, and thought to myself it's finally time to review it.
I really like coffee, I don't have it everyday or anything, but at least once week I'll have a cup, or three. I really like the taste, it puts a smile on my face and makes me feel relaxed. But, for me it's not just about the taste, it's also the smell, that rich coffee aroma that seems to just linger in the air. However like everything when it comes to food and drink, there are good and bad quality versions. A good cup of coffee can really start your day with a bang, where as a bad cup, well it can it can effect you negatively, especially your stomach if you're like me. Playing House Flipper I found myself asking, was I drinking a good cup of coffee, or would I be getting a pain in my stomach later?
Story
The game has less of a story, and more of a premise, you start out in a run down home office, after some initial cleaning you get on your laptop and go through jobs you receive via email. I liked the fact that the emails you read don't come across as canned responses, and some of them had a lot of heart, especially those where a loved one passed away, or a young couple were thinking of starting a family. All jobs are painting and decorating jobs of various shapes and sizes, some will take you as little as five minutes to complete, others can take you in excess of thirty. The idea is that you build up enough money to purchase a house, do it up, and then flip it.
Overall a simple but entertaining premise nonetheless.
Visuals
The visuals are fairly impressive, and with each new update Empyrean releases they are tweaked a little more. The game focuses on a realistic look, that reminded me of how I felt the first time I played The SIMS when it was released back in 2000. There are two things that stood out and made me chuckle, the first was 'Huckers House' which was a copy of Walter White's home from Breaking Bad, complete with spray paint on the wall saying 'Hamburgberg' (presumably they couldn't have it say 'Heisenberg'), and a hole in the floor used to stash lots of cash, which you can keep. The second thing was the free Apocalypse DLC which allows you to have a fallout shelter, complete with rations, generators and weapons.
Overall a visually impressive game that manages to keeps things both simple and enjoyable.
Music
In earnest there is not too much I can say in relation to the music, it's very subtle and lingers in the background. Similar to The SIMS the music is calming, and chipper, if the suburbs had their own theme music it would probably sound like that featured in House Flipper.
The composer is Draco Nared, a Polish composer, arrange and performer, who's previous works have included the new survival horror game Agony, Circle of Light, and Old Phantaruk - Main Theme.
I am unsure of the length of the soundtrack because all I could really hear was the main theme, in honesty though a game like this doesn't require much of a soundtrack.
Gameplay
Okay, House Flipper might not have much in the way of story, and lacks a little in the music department, but it's makes up for that with gameplay. While I'm not great at painting, decorating and general D.I.Y. I do like to watch it on TV, and give it a go from time to time, so for me House Flipper was perfect.
There are a slew of jobs waiting for you to complete, from tasks as basic as throwing out rubbish and mopping the floor, to knocking down walls and installing showers. The game slowly introduces you to each new ability so you can become familiar with them all. The game provides you with a tablet that you can use to buy new items, check on potential buyers, track your stats, take and view pictures, and most important of all the perks menu. The more you work the better you get, painting can take a while in the beginning, and you might not use paint that efficiently, as you progress that all changes when you unlock perks. In some houses you will need to buy and assemble radiators, showers, baths and more, each of which are fun, and are generally straightforward enough.
Empyrean recently released a free Apocalypse DLC, the main objective is to outfit a fallout shelter, it was fun, but for me just felt like a distraction from the rest of the game.
There were two things that drove me a little crazy, the first was cleaning windows, it always felt awkward and clunky unlike most other elements of the game. The second thing was trying to place items on shelves which just never seemed to work correctly.
By far the most enjoyable thing to me was doing up a bathrooms, plastering, tiling, picking the colour scheme, installing new sinks, toilets, choosing the lighting. I really loved it.
Overall the gameplay is highly entertaining with few notable complaints, I look forward to playing the game for many more hours, and look forward to seeing what Empyran adds in the future.
Final Thoughts
So after twenty plus hours (despite what Steam registered) how did I feel? Really good, the game is very different to anything else I have played this year. 95% of the time I would be the first person to complain about a company releasing an unfinished game, but in the case of House Flipper it's a little different. The game works, but there is so much more than can be added to it and Empyrean are continuing to do this through free updates. Scoring this game was incredibly difficult, mostly due to the fact that if I was to hold it to the same standard as I normally do it might get 3 out of 5 due to lack of story and music, however the bulk of the game is the gameplay itself, so with this is mind I give House Flipper 4 out of 5
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