Brownie Cove Cancelled is another odd game that I came across recently. The concept is that you are stuck in an airport. It sounds overly simple, and in many ways it is but it is experience that is hard to forget. The game is created by Sand Gardeners, who also made Brownie Cove Express, Exhaust Lands and First Morning to name but a few.
I like sour sweets but sometimes there are some sour sweets that catch me off guard. They are so sour even I find them a bit much, sour bubble gum is one that springs to mind. Wandering around Brownie Cove's airport I found myself asking was this too much even for me?
Story
The story is simple, you find yourself in an airport waiting for you flight to board when just a minute before there is announcement. 'This is an announcement for all passengers on flight BC036 to Brownie Cove. We are sorry to inform you that your flight flight has been delayed. This is due to...unforeseen circumstances. Please check the boards for more up-to-date information about this flight.' That's the whole thing there is no more than to it, and I didn't feel the need to know more.
Visuals
The visual are a fuzzy pixilated mess designed to make you feel uncomfortable. There are a few maybe not nice, but odd things to look at including a small gift shop with mini toilets, a vending machine area which is designed in a way that makes them feel overwhelming.
The designs and animations are created by Colin Le Du and Marc Loths. I have never played a game that feel as uncomfortable to look at as Brownie Cove Cancelled, the whole game revolves around this idea. Music
There is no music just ambient sounds that you would hear in an airport, echoing noises, trolley and luggage move around and the occasional intercom sound. That lack of music makes Brownie Cove Cancelled feel all the more uncomfortable and really reminds me of times I was caught in an airport.
These sounds are put together by Sam Machell who like his colleagues are great at making you feel uneasy.
Gameplay
The game leaves you open to explore the airport, walking blindly around as you wait for your delay flight - which will never arrive. The other people in the airport look unhappy and you are either seeing their thoughts in speech bubbles or they are muttering to themselves. While you explore you will come across floating fish moving around like it's not big them, a graveyard because of course airports aren't fun enough already. If you decide you don't want to walk around yourself you can let your character do it and see what they do.
Every game is an experience but very few come close to feeling like Brownie Cove Cancelled. If someone had never been to an airport and you were trying to describe it to them show them this game. They would probably never go to an airport.
Final Thoughts
So after mindlessly roaming the Brownie Cove airport for an hour how did I feel? Uncomfortable, anxiety ridden and couldn't wait to leave. Now as this is the purpose of the game I can't fault it, I can only imagine how much more intense it would be if I had tried it on a VR headset (not available, but who knows). This was strange one and hard to rate, this one gets a 3 out 5
Every now and then I come across a random game that makes me think 'yes, I'm must play this'. Yet Another Exhausting Day by Gao Ming is one such game. Mostly because the concept sounded so random, but I'll reveal all soon.
Sometimes we need a snack, in my case, it's usually unhealthy like a bag of crisps. One of my go-to crisps is salt and vinegar Hula Hoops, simple tasty but not exactly filling. Playing Yet Another Exhausting Day I found myself asking was this simple snack just what I needed?
Story
Humans spend a third of their lives sleeping, imagine if you could do more, imagine if you could be a superhero. Or at least that's what the protagonist wants to try and be. The game has you fall asleep but rather than relax you get to navigate the world (your home). That's the story, it's not overly fleshed out but like the old flash games of old that you would find on Mini-Clip, there is no real need for it.
Visuals
The visuals are quite good in Yet Another Exhausting Day, which is unusual for such a small game. The textures of the chairs look really detailed and the wood surface tops look good as well. There are fun visuals like dancing milk pots and a giant smartphone which have to try and interact with.
Overall the visuals are charming and fun, and while simple has a strange depth to them.
Music
The music is fun and often starts up beats but fades out like when you see a character falling asleep, the best of example I can think of is in Bad Santa where Billy Bob Thorton eats a load of chocolate and finishes off a bottle of alcohol and then fall over and passes out. Don't worry quickly it goes back to being positive again.
There are a handful of tracks in the game each as fun as the other, as there were no credits at the end of the game I can only take Gao Ming himself created the music.
Gameplay
Yet Another Exhausting Day is a 3D physics crawler, you use your body to roll and push yourself forward similar to a worm. Occasionally you will have to use your head to activate certain items. The aim of the game is to escape each of the rooms by collecting a key and getting to a padlocked door.
The physics are funny in the game and can take a while to get used, especially when crawling up a wall or moving sideways across a chest of drawers. There are two main enemies in the game, pillows and milk pots. The pillows if you touch them make you fall unconscious (damn pillows, all cozy feeling the warm embrace as the san..dman...come...I'm awake!). Then there are the milk bottles, as we all know milk is good for you just before bed, you fall asleep if you touch it or skirts milk at you. There is one friend though, beer! That's right, and just like really like it gives you superpowers and makes you move fast. The game can be tough when it comes to navigation but as it is quite forgiving as a whole it's easy to overlook.
When you complete one of the two main areas you end up being able to access a dressing room and a superpowers lab. They are just for fun and not really needed, coins and gems can be collected during the game and these can be used to make purchases.
Overall there is a lot of fun gameplay and I was left wanting more.
Final Thoughts
So, after just over an hour how did I feel? Really really positive. I enjoyed my short time with Yet Another Exhausting Day. The story may have been a little lacking but the visuals, music, and gameplay made up for it. A fun gem that you can donate any amount you want to purchase it. Gao Ming has a number of other fun looking games that I will likely delve into. This one gets a solid 4 out of 5
At the end of last year, Steam was offering a great deal. Basically, you buy Frostpunk (a masterpiece in my mind) and This War Of Mine. Eagerly I bought them, played Frostpunk and forgot about This War of Mine, until recently. Being on top of most games I wanted to play that been released this year I decided to give it a go.
Salmon Wellington. For those who have not tried let me give you a breakdown, it a massive piece of salmon covered in usually a dill or prawn sauce, all wrapped up in pastry. It is a mammoth eat, and leaving the table there is no way you still be hungry. I usually share one between two of us and finish feeling like I have fought a battle and won, barely. Well, why don't you buy salmon parcels, same thing but smaller and you won't feel that way? That's good advice and is exactly what I now do. Playing This War of Mine, I found asked was this too much for me to swallow and was I left satisfied?
Story This War of Mine is set in the fictional city of Pogoren in Graznavia. A war has broken out between the government and the rebels. Outside of this, there is no back story so you never know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, in honesty though wars are never that black and white. Exploring the locations around you and listening to the radio gives you a small insight into the world that was and now is.
The game is short on story, but in many ways that is not important. The game is about survival and very quickly you realise that nothing else matters.
Visuals The visuals are incredible and each scene looks like images from a sketchbook. This along with many other elements make the game feel very haunting and are a constant reminder of how bleak things are in Graznavia. Even during the day when sunlight pierces through parts of the house it still feels dark. The house you and other survivors call home is beaten up and is barely a shell of a house, most of the places around you are in a similar state.
The game has a 2D style and has you looking at cross-sections of buildings similar to dolls houses. This works well for the most part but on occasion can be difficult to tell if you can walk forward or have to find another route.
The visuals are impressive if not other reason that the emotions it stirs inside you, it isn't about winning or losing, it's about surviving and 11-Bit Studios the creators are very good at instilling this point. Music
Easily my favorite video game soundtrack from last year was Frostpunk composed by Piotr Musial. He also created the score for This War Of Mine, Witcher 3 and Anomaly Warzone 3. The soundtrack is downbeat and offers little hope, of course, this all helps in making the world you are in seem more desperate.
The soundtrack comes in a little under an hour, my favorites tracks were; 'This War Of Mine', 'Still Alive Inside', 'No Good Choice', and 'We Keep Going'.
Overall it well put together soundtrack and is a perfect example of how a well-written soundtrack can really help set the tone and mood of a game.
Gameplay
This War of Mine is a pure survival game and it never lets you forget it. From day one you and your group of survivor need to spend time raiding the house and building items before nightfall. One night comes you will have options to scavenge. This is where things can get tough. You need to ensure someone is on guard in the house, anyone sick should be asleep and where ever you visit you need to ensure the pay off is worth it. Especially in the early part of the game, there will be a number of low-risk places to visit, as you move on this will change. If a character gets wounded during scavenging or gets killed it can massively effect if your group will survive or not. There will a lot of trial and error and even then you will often be left wondering will you survive?
Scavenging is essential in the game, you will need it to upgrade your house, keep everyone fed and healthy along with making sure everyone is armed and can defend your home. I found the game could be unfair at times, even with bulletproof vests and guns some character would get severely wounded. The game also doesn't seem to like if you are doing well, characters can go from perfect to exhausted in a night even if they are well rested and there is no drama in the house. Equally, if things are tough it likes to pile it on, for example, one person had died and one was quite ill but was getting better. I go out scavenging, I come back and damn Anton started fighting with the other guy in the house, two days later they were dead.
Peoples mood have great importance in the game so having someone who can boost morale is great. Build a guitar, radio, make sure defenses are good and if someone like coffee or cigarettes makes sure you have them.
The game offers you the options to kill people, some are fairly innocent and others are far from it. This can affect the group's morale but sometimes there is no choice if you want to survive. Luckily people will come to you for help and this seems to help in balancing this out
When it comes to survival games I kind of have a love-hate relationship. I really enjoy games like The Flame In The Flood and Frostpunk, they offer a challenge and while they can come close to toeing the line of wanting to pull your hair out it stops just shy of it. There are others like The Long Dark and This War of Mine which continually beat you down, pushes you over the line and makes you pull your hair out. This is likely a reason why I am almost completely bald (that and a number one razor blade). While some people may like this level of torture, in the end, it wasn't for me. Final Thoughts
So, after thirty hours how did I feel? Happy, really happy. The war finally ended and I survived (well Cveta did). The story was lacking but it wasn't wholly necessary for there to be more. The visuals and music were close to perfect and helped in creating the war-torn world. The gameplay was often grueling and sometimes felt you unnecessarily hard and I certainly felt like I was suffering from my group at times. I found it hard to best describe the game lucky enough my partner in crime Nolls did, 'it's like The Sims, but depressing and set in war-time'. The game was pretty solid as a whole, this one gets 3 out of 5
Anyone who has read some of my previous posts knows that I'm a fan of Limited Run Games. They basically release limited runs of games that are normally only available as digital downloads. Recently they advertised that they were running a new title Minit. The game is made by Devolver Digital, the dark minds that brought us Hotline Miami, Not A Hero and Mother Russia Bleeds. Starfish Nolls and I decided to play it together this weekend so the review is a combined effort, hope you like it.
Yay, it eats a lot of chocolate eggs and potentially get diabetes Sunday! We both still like chocolate eggs but wonder how much of our excitement and enjoyment comes from the nostalgia of having them as kids. Nolls particularly loved the simple black and white pixellated look of the game and that it features Tamagotchi style characters - something else she loved as a kid. Playing Minit we both wondered did it appeal simply because of nostalgia, or if there was something of substance here.
Story
So the story...mmm there is a lot to say. Basically, you are a duck Tamagotchi, Q*Bert looking character called Minit, they head to the beach and finds a cursed sword that causes you to die every sixty seconds, proving once again nothing in life is free. The aim is to try to remove the curse and help a few of the people/creature things around you.
Overall, the character interactions are fun but the story itself is extremely lacking and even a little more would have made the game significantly more engaging.
Visuals
The only colours used in Minit are black white, and variants on them and it looks like a game from the eighties. But that's not a negative, in fact, despite these limitations Minit offers some great visuals. This is why games from the early eighties which looked like this are timeless.
Overall the visuals are pleasantly simple, the pixelated starfish, seahorses, scorpions and other creatures in the world look great, as well as a submarine and spooky old house having fascinating appearances. The use of simple black and white is simply great. In our opinion, the visuals are one of the strongest parts of the game.
Music
The soundtrack is both fun, whimsical and never gets old listening to it. The soundtrack is composed by Finish composer Jukio Kallio. He has created music for multiple games including Nuclear Throne, Dave The Diver and Luftrausers.
The soundtrack runs little over thirty minutes and has some great tracks including, 'Minit's Awakening', 'Sabasaba Desert', 'New Home', 'Jukebox: Speed Metal', and 'Sharp Business'.
Overall the music is perfectly suited to the game and helps keep you calm when you're struggling to figure something out.
Gameplay
The controls are simple but the gameplay itself is often far from it. There are two buttons, attack and die. You will die a lot, but this is actually all part of the game. Every sixty seconds Minit will die and respawn at his closest home. Dying as often as you do encourages you to learn the simplest way to get somewhere and figure out puzzles quickly. Playing the game with someone else certainly make it more fun and helps point out things one of you may have missed. Nolls, used to Circle on the Playstation controller being a 'Back' button, frequently killed herself in the early stages of the game, but it was never annoying, just funny. We'd definitely recommend this as a two-player experience.
There are many things essential to complete the game but there are a lot of extra things too meaning there is a lot of replayability and you are even offered a plus game once you have completed it. There was one thing that stumped the two of us and we couldn't figure out how to proceed further. Right on the edge of the screen, there is an almost impossible to see bush and behind it is the water can. It seemed awkward to find for the sake of it and once we got it plowed through everything else. It may seem like a small complaint but seemed a little out of keeping with the rest of the game, as we had to look up a walkthrough for that solution but otherwise figured out and stumbled upon all of the essential things, and many optional ones too.
Overall there was some great gameplay and we enjoyed our time with Minit.
Final Thoughts
So, after three hours of playing how did we both feel? Not bad. The story was lacking which was a shame - it felt like there was an intriguing concept there, but it was never revealed. The visuals and music were perfect. The gameplay has a lot to offer, utilizing simple concepts well and with the exception of one or two annoying parts, it was fun. We both enjoyed Minit but feel it never quite lived up to its full potential, so this one gets a 3 out of 5 (although a replay might bring it up to 4).
I remember playing The Division a couple of years ago, it had some great gameplay and looked fantastic. Naturally, when The Division 2 was announced I was pretty excited. It was recently released and I knew I had to play it as soon as possible.
Walkers Crisps recently enough released a new style of Crisp - Max Strong. There are a handful of flavors which are really intense including Jalapeno and Cheese. However, initially, I wasn't too pushed on them. I found the heat level on them overly intense and could taste that and nothing else. While I like a little heat I need flavour too. I gave it time and tried them again and I really loved them and now they are one of my go-to crisps. Playing The Division 2 I found myself asking was it an instant winner or did it need more time to fully appreciate it?
Story
In the first game, you were dealing with the aftermath of Green Poison - a deadly virus that resulted in the break down a lot of the world as we know it. Division Agents were activated to try and uphold law and order, along with helping to rebuild. Several months after the initial outbreak the Strategic Homeland Divison (SHD) network goes dark. This network connects all Division Agents and its loss will cause chaos, which is where The Division 2 starts. Essentially you need to travel to Washington D.C., get the system online and potentially get the cure for Green Poison. There will be many obstacles along the way but you won't be alone.
The story in many ways takes a back seat to the gameplay. Reflecting on it now, there is some good story scattered in the main campaign, but in a lot of ways, the most rewarding stories are the settlements mission which I'll get into later.
Visuals
The visuals in the first game were fantastic, but Ubisoft has stepped up their game even further in The Division 2. This time you have moved away from the snow-covered streets of New York City and into the beautiful and dire-looking Washington D.C. The world looks and feels a lot more open and something that really stood out to me was the weather. Sometimes the sun will be shining, or it could be raining heavily or there could be a light mist. All of this helped to create a more organic feel in the world. One of my favorite moments visually is when you are making an incursion into the Capital Building - it feels really intense, smoke everywhere, mortar rounds going off, your character getting stunned, bullets flying everywhere.
Overall the visuals look great and are a welcome upgrade from the original game, I can't even imagine what The Divison 3 will look like (they are totally doing another one).
Music
The music perfectly fits the game, it can often be subtle sounding but always present, that is until the battle tracks start and things get crazy. The sound moves from light guitar work and low key orchestral sounds to a more intense rock sound. The composer is Swedish composer Ola Strandh, who worked on a number of video game score including; The Division, World In Conflict, Ground Control and Far Cry 3.
The score comes in at just over two hours and features many great tracks. My favorite being; 'Prologue 2', 'Balcony Rotary', 'Dock Wrecks', 'Espinoza', 'Fire', 'Hyena Hunt', 'Junior' and 'Take The Capitol'.
The soundtrack is perfect and really helped heighten my overall enjoyment of the game.
Gameplay
There is so much talk about when it comes to the gameplay but I will try to limit it all to a few paragraphs. I like organisation, so a well-structured menu is a good thing, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Even the menus have menus, it can be overwhelming at times and some menus feel like they could have been removed and/or simplified.
The weapons are great and there is a huge variety of them. There is an option to obtain them through missions, buy them, upgrade them, or break them down and make better ones. The same goes for protective armor. There is the option to buy and sell items with credits but honestly there is no point, you will find and craft better gear then you will ever find in the shop. Credits as a whole seem to be a rather useless currency.
There are options to change the look of your character from facial hair and tattoos to clothing. I didn't feel the need to pimp my agent but it was nice to have the option. Something I couldn't stand apart from the obligatory loot boxes were the dumbass Fortnite dance moves and other unnecessary gestures you can 'purchase'. Not only was it unneeded but felt very out of place and clunky.
The Division 2 offers a perks system, you can purchase them by finding SHD Caches around the world. Quickly I had purchased the all the upgrades I wanted with plenty of SHD caches to spare. There are also skills you can obtain by doing certain missions, my two favorites were the drone and turret. Both great for crowd control and even better if you like to play solo like me.
The settlements are a great element of The Division 2, you get to upgrade them see them improving and earn rewards from doing so. I also feel there was a more human element to the settlements than anywhere else in the game.
The enemies in the game can be tough at times and each faction has a different way to attack you. Winning a battle doesn't feel like dumb luck as the AI is pretty sophisticated when it comes to combat. There are strongholds, control points, and many activities you can complete to help reduce the enemy threat and help make Washington D.C. a safe place.
After the story ends what's next? Well when the story is over, there is not only the Dark Zone which players of the first game will be familiar but also a new enemy. These enemies are so tough the game will let you know that even with Epic gear you need even better gear to stand a chance. Signature weapons are unlocked which are great powerful weapons that really help clear an area, each of these have their own perks and can be upgraded.
Overall there is some great gameplay but also some really annoying elements and that's without discussing some of the bugs and glitches I encountered while playing - such as my character not responding, almost as though the server connection was lost. The result was occasionally having to reset and return right to the beginning of a long mission, rather than restarting from a checkpoint.
Final Thoughts
So, after forty plus hours how did I feel? Not bad. The story felt a little lacking in places, but the settlements helped in picking up some of the slack. The visuals and music were spot-on. The gameplay had a lot of good parts to it but also some bad ones as noted above. Overall this game was tough to score, higher than a 3 out of 5 for sure, but not quite a 4 out of 5. I don't like decimal scores but in fairness, I don't see any other way. The Division 2 gets 3.5 out of 5
