Reddie Reviews: The Cave

The minds at Double Fine Entertainment have released their newest addition to the adventure game genre. Is it great or is it a pile? Let's find out.                                                          


                                                                 

                                                        About the Game:

In a twist of storytelling, The Cave is your narrator. He/it is a sarcastic, creator type character that references current trends and pop culture. At the beginning of your first play through you choose three characters out of seven. Each one has their own story, nuances and special abilities. In such, each has it's own area within the cave that can only be reached while using the appropriate player.
                                                               
                                                                 Sound:

Ambient music, narration and NPC voices take up the majority of the sounds in this game. The narrator has a great voice that is deep and ranged and the npc's voices fit their characters well. Each playable character also has distinct footsteps. You can always tell who you are playing as. The Hillbilly walks in bare feet and the Adventurer has heavy boots. This raises my only issue with the sound design, some of the character's movement sounds can get incredibly annoying and I was forced not to use the time traveler as much as I would have wanted to due to the futuristic laser Wah Wahs that grated on my brain. Also NPC's have a small set of speech options that makes returning to them tiresome.
                                                                Graphics:

The Cave has a neat graphical style. With a 2.5D perspective and cartoony style, the visual style is consistent and immersive. You are able to discern everything you need to know within seconds of looking at the new area you are in. Anything destructible is obviously distributable and pressure plates are very visible. The lighting effects relate to your environment well. As expected Double Fine has kept their game looking fresh and amazing.

                                                  

                                                       Game play and Writing:

The writing is incredibly reminiscent of previous games done by the guys at Double Fine, it has the same humour you would expect from a monkey Island title for example. It's sardonic and witty and if you like that type of comedy then you'll love this. As stated previously each character has a unique story and they flow seamlessly between each other with parts of The Cave only accessible to that individual. The history of each character is portrayed in a series of cave painting that work as single panel comics depicting the storyline. These can help you discern what your nest move and overarching goal is for each player none of which is all that altruistic. The Game play is not unlike The Lost Vikings, where you find yourself switching fairly regularly between all three characters in your team constantly to solve the puzzles put in front of you. However they don't ever interact with each other (you can't say, use one as a platform for another) Each special abilty feels like it belongs and isn't forced, the Knight for example; has a leap of faith ability. There a couple of issues in the game play department. First off, with only 7 characters and the need to play with three at a time, you will find yourself repeating most of the game on the 3rd run through, repetition is a trend in fact in this game. There are sections that don't belong to a specific character that don't change and are always there such as finding the old prospector's mine carts. Once you figure out the solution to the puzzle the first time, every following attempt feels like a grind. Speaking of grinding, it seems like all of the puzzles involved backtracking up ropes and ladders that just feels like padding out game time. The puzzles are very easy to an adventure game vet and are more suited to a younger audience even though the subject matter is obviously for a more mature player. I played on PC and it gives you the ability to use both keyboard and/or mouse. DO NOT USE THE MOUSE, it is useless and it will make you angry. When you click your player moves on a path that you can't stop. There were only two places in the game where it made sense. The keyboard works well but with an non configurable control scheme it can feel cramped at times.  

                                                             The Nitty Gritty

If you can deal with a ton backtracking, repetition, shifty controls and simple puzzles get this game. The writing is excellent and the comedy is good. I had high hopes for this one.

I begrudgingly give this game a 6.5 out of 10.

Review: Hotline Miami

I bought Hotline Miami on the recommendation of my friends. I was told that it was one of the best games of the year. For those who don't know Hotline Miami is an Indie game produced by Dennaton and released on Steam through the Green light program. Let's take a look at it.

                                                         About the game:

Hotline Miami is set in Miami in the late 80's, it is an experience that harkens back to the days of 2d shooters and represents that period in gaming effectively.  It is a story heavy single player experience that tells you very little until much later into the game which gives the player an opportunity to explore and develop their own version of events. There is very little that I can share, without ruining the experience so we will look at the technicals instead.

                                                                Sound:

This game's soundtrack is ridiculously good, with a retro style and a strong 80's sound you get seriously pumped up while wiping your enemies off the map. The music fits the time period perfectly and your attacks sound strong and brutal in an 8 bit style.

                                                              Graphics:

I can only describe the graphics as old. Based off of a 16 bit engine, Hotline looks like the original Grand Theft Autos. Blocky and pixelated it seems like it could have been made in the late 80's on a big box arcade. Though it is just a series of pixels you never feel as though you can't make out the characters, items or set pieces around you. The only issue with this style is that without shading, you can't really be sure if you can hide behind cover or if it is only waist high.

                                                              Game play:

The game play is fast and harsh. Hotline is probably the most violent game that I've played this year. With the ability to put the bat to someone or chase a crawling enemy down and knock his head into the ground until he sprays blood across your surroundings, you will get your aggressive kicks out to be sure. One of the most ridiculous combos that I've done, was to take down a guy with a bat, pick up his pipe to smash someone else, walk into the kitchen grab a pot of boiling water and pour it on another guy's face. Fast paced and brutal, you walk through the game wondering what the reason for your aggression is, this is answered in the later levels and the violence seems to fit fairly well once you learn more about your protagonists journey. Each level is scored by a variety of factors including how bold you were and what your largest combo was. The more reckless you are, the higher your point total. Don't expect to make it through alive on your first try, you will die. Many times, but the game doesn't punish you harshly for this. The levels save on each floor of each level you play and the respawn time is fairly instantaneous. To help you out in your journey you aquire masks that each have special abilities that can be earned by having a high score in each level or by locating them on the map as a collectable.

                                                         The Nitty Gritty:

This game can sometimes be incredibly frustrating. The hit box detection can be unresponsive leaving you shooting a guy in the face and him not dying, just to turn around and own you. Also, it is not optimized for dual monitor displays and your mouse doesn't lock to your main display. I found myself clicking outside of my main monitor and stopping the game, only to jump back in and die immediately due to the dog that was on my ass. I sometimes get a strange bug after a couple of re spawns where the floor textures disappear and the screen flickers like I'm in a crappy rave and once I was on the last part of a very difficult level and the last enemy clipped through a wall, never to be seen again, leaving the level unfinishable. But all in all, these are small gripes for an otherwise amazing experience that will keep you coming back for more.

                                                        The Round up:

After looking at the pros and cons, I give this game an 8 out of 10.

For the price (between 2.50$ and 10$ depending on sales) you can't do any better.  


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