[Editor App] Let's Fly! - Review #12

Flightless is a game created by windchimera734

It�s been almost 2 months since you haven�t seen any review from me. I have been quite busy in real life and also on Sploder too. Forums is kinda addictive but I must not forget that there are always some games which needs attention, a review or a feature. The only problem is that I don�t have the powers of an Editor to feature games, so that means there is one last thing to achieve here. I am happy that I�m given one more chance to get Editor and I don�t want to miss this precious chance, even though I passed the voting a month ago. xD So, I present you my 12th review of Flightless as my Editor Application, a game made by Windchimera734. Based on Wind�s profile, he loves Shooter games (finally found that Wind is a he xD). It�s the only featured game Wind has and I find the opportunity to thank Netshark for creating the voting thread and Matty for letting me write an Editor Application of a featured game. I was planning to write it before it got featured, but I was too slow. So, shall we start?

Game: Flightless

Maker: Windchimera734

Creator: Physics Puzzle

Genre: Action

Release Date: Sunday March 2nd, 2014

About the maker:

I�m pretty sure most of you don�t know who Windchimera734 is, so I want to talk about him briefly. I don�t know why I have the feeling that Wind has been here before but he is actually new. He is known as Shiftry on the Forums, quite mature, accurate in his opinions and active at times. Furthermore, he is very good at finding the right words to describe what he does, likes and wants. If you give a look at his profile, you will see a lot of mature comments and also a good description of him. I haven�t played his Shooter games but they look very appealing, which means that he focuses on getting others attention. But what about Flightless?

Review:

A flightless bat is like a plane without wings. I guess you could say that you can�t imagine a flightless bat, because you haven�t thought about that before. Flightless is a simple title, but it gives an attractive impression at those who wants to play. One word titles always sounds professional and hides a lot of things, which makes people curious. To be honest, the thumbnail caught my attention. Flightless has a short storyline but it didn�t feel like is enough for this game. To be honest, I didn�t read the storyline at first play because I thought it was just a simple and short one. I was right but this didn�t make me change my opinion of the game. I started to play Flightless without getting warned by the storyline which says �it won�t be easy� and I got screwed. As I said before, I have lost some of my gaming skills as I changed my computer but also took a long break without playing any game and I think this is the right game to test all the skills needed to play a Physics Puzzle Game. At first, I was testing the controls, looking for glitches and finding different ways to get through the level as I always do and I did it right. I realised that there is nothing that can glitch you out of bounds or either making weird annoying noises of smashing objects. I played it over and over which gave me the opportunity to analyze the game from toe to head. xP I have beaten the game to make sure that it�s possible because Wind was the only winner of it. I just played the game again to see if there are any other members who can actually get to the last level and yes, 4 people including me and Wind are able to win.

So, let�s talk about the difficulty. It took me around 20 minutes to beat the game, but I could do better if I had my old computer. The main objective of the game is requiring the power orbs which will fulfill Fluffy�s dream, to fly. Power orbs are located everywhere around the levels, starting from the bottom to the highest places. The game requires skills, especially those you don�t have. xP All levels need balance, accuracy, speed, timing and a fast decision where are you going to. There are rotators, elevators and falling objects which requires a good concentration. You simply understand how all the mechanics and stuff work on level 1, but you still need to be more careful in further levels which is way the difficulty of the game starts from easy to near impossible. I consider myself as ready to play these kind of games because I have played enough games like Psychotic Pong series, Being Ultimate, TeleBall, Demon, The Birds And The Bees etc. which needs a lot of time to learn the basics of the game by testing yourself using different ways to solve or beat the game. I was scrolling down the comment section of Flightless and found YoungCaliman�s comment which says: �This is a nice first game. But be careful with the difficulty. I like myself a difficult game. I�ve made quite a few of them. But I would advise that if you are going to make a game difficult, make sure it is appealing to the player and most players will want to keep playing. Since this game, does not have a concept or gameplay that doesn�t necessarily stand out, it doesn�t have that replay effect on me when I lose half way through the level. But it�s a good first game.� That�s the exact feedback I would give to Windchimera to Flightless, as the gameplay didn�t have the retry effect. I don�t understand though, how a flightless bat can jump though. It doesn�t look original to me.

Since I talked a little about appealing, let�s say that placement is the most important thing this game had to have, otherwise would lose all the good appearance and the game would be a mess. I see that Windchimera has focused on this section and I want to appreciate his work, but I think there is some things missing out there: fresh ideas. The level design and decorations are repetitive, even though you go through different habitats. I honestly like art work with the drawing tool and it actually looked nice to me. Flightless is not a laggy game which fasten the gameplay and creates difficulty at jumping over falling objects or either catching the elevator in the right time. Other than that, the game was pretty enjoyable. There�s one more thing which could improve the game: mechanics and links. I�m not sure if Windchimera knows how to use all the Widgets, Controls and Physics of Physics Puzzle Game Creator, but I think he knows the basics. You know that PPGs need to use physics to create a lot of new stuff and mechanics. Only one mechanic caught my attention through the entire game. There is a large tile which is connected simultaneously with some power orbs. Each time you collect one of them, the large tile will detach and keep the balance using the other power orb. I honestly haven�t seen this on Sploder games so far and haven�t ever thinked about making it. The game lacks of graphics though. It simply needs a lot of graphics to make the game look better.

One way or another I had to criticize enemies in the game. There is only one actual enemy in the game, another flightless bat and that�s all. I am disappointed from this fact as I expected a boss battle or several enemies which requires different ways to avoid or kill them. Yeah, you may call the falling spikes or lava as your enemy but I don�t. They are not living things. If the flightless bat is the only enemy, I guess that�s all I have to write about. The enemy is bigger than player which prohibits you from jumping over it. That�s quite annoying and I was forced to touch him and lose a life because there was no other way to get through that passage of the pit. I�m smarter than the game though, why I have to follow the path game has given to me? It�s time to use cheat and tricks. I simply found other ways to avoid falling spikes and the enemy without losing any life but anyway, I�m always unlucky and fall every time into the lava pit. Anyway, this is one fact which proves that Windchimera hasn�t hard worked on enemies and forced paths. Even if he really did think about that, that�s not enough to save all the fun and work of Flightless project.

Pros:

-Appealing thumbnail and attractive title.

-Action packed, fast-paced gameplay.

-Average length.

Cons:

-Repetitive placements.

-Old concepts.

-Cliche storyline.

And finally, to the ratings and conclusions:

Creativity: 3.5/5

Placements: 4/5

Originality: 3/5

Addictiveness: 3/5

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Overall: 3.4/5

Conclusions:

Flightless isn�t the best game I have played, but it�s a good game which keeps its place as a good example of Physics Puzzle Game Creator. Though, I�m pretty sure improvements could increase the chance of getting a 100% feature. If you were to ask me if Flightless is feature worthy, I would have spend time deciding. I was the first one to beat the game and I thought the game could be impossible for the others so I waited for other winners. Furthermore, I need a second play to decide if the game was feature worthy or not. If you ask me to describe the game only with one word, I would say �decent�. I don�t know who is the guy who featured the game, but I�m pretty sure he is a Physics Puzzle Game fan and I respect his opinion. So, I�m done with my 12th review of Flightless and I�m going to review more after finishing some big projects out of Sploder world. Until next time, bye bye!

NEW! Favorite part of the game screenshot: http://i.imgur.com/o7VfU7I.jpg