[Stallion][Editor Application] 01001010 01001010 01010011 00111010 00100000 01010110 01101001 01110010 01110101 01110011

Review by meowmeowfurrycat on Thursday, July 30th 2015

[Before we begin, a bit of background: Sploder Gaming Elites (SGE) is a forums "club competition" where each of three teams gains monthly points based mainly on the games their members have created and the quality of those games. This game -- Virus by JJS -- is the first to be released as part of SGE (aside from Troyio's Trip, which isn't worth discussing further). As a rule, we incredible, s.exy, modest gods of gaming at Team Stallion try to review every game made under our label to promote creativity and give them the attention they deserve.]

[I should also note that I sidestepped the EGD reviewing schedule by using this game for my editor application. Two in one, splodes. In simpler terms, you should all pretend that this review is better than it actually is. Okay? Okay. I love you guys c:]

Alright. Virus presents itself as a fairly typical action/puzzle shooter. The story -- relayed over "walkie-talkies" -- is nothing to write home about. It didn't really add to my game experience, but it didn't get in the way of it either. It did explain the gameplay . . . but that explanation wasn't necessarily necessary. The scenery is similarly meh. It's fine in some places, sloppy in others. But those are the minor details and really the only unremarkable parts. I got the worst parts out of the way in one paragraph. ONWARD HO!

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The gameplay itself is sweet, a nice blend of action and fast paced puzzles. One particular note I'd like to make is that while this is a ship shooter game, JJS managed into integrate robot enemies into the mix because racial diversity. This easily had potential to go south (robots are much more powerful than their streamlined counterparts, and our beloved Space Cadet could have quickly been crushed), but instead, Virus played the difficulty just right and kept me on my toes. Each room has a mix of robots and ships that did me serious damage, but JJS knew precisely where to give the player that blessed little plus circle of health. The combat space, too, was perfect for me: there was room enough for me to maneuver and exploit my full arsenal of tricks (and as a bonus, I encountered very little lag). Too often games are linear not just in terms of plot progression, but geometrically as well, and players are forced to fight head-on in cramped little passageways. There wasn't anything innovative to experience here, but it was a blast nevertheless.

The puzzles are another high point in the game. For the most part, they rely on powerups which expire quickly (invisibility and even the maligned and neglected atomic), forcing the player to move quickly and get that adrenaline pumping. These are fairly creative -- some of the puzzles are clicheclicheclicheclichequicheclichecliche, but the rest are either completely new or fresh takes on old puzzles. I used the walkthrough just once, and even that was unnecessary. There are enough hints for a smart player (like me :DDD) to make it through with pride intact.

But the real (advertised) highlights of Virus are the metapuzzles; that is, the puzzles which refer to links outside of the game. There are only two of them -- messages which tell you to go to a specific url which gives you the puzzle answer. I must admit that these are pretty cool; after all, given the limits of the classic creator, its no surprise that eventually someone would go above and beyond. But this "above and beyond" is disappointing. I can't help feeling that JJS, an experienced game creator, could've done a lot more with this. Instead of just an image describing the correct "code," how about a minigame? Or a riddle? Or a video? Or anything, really? The possibilities are (pfft) endless.

But don't let that give you the wrong idea. Virus is still a great game -- it's fun, fast (it took me fourteen minutes to beat, but felt a lot shorter), and (for me, at least) restarting isn't a big deal. The contrasting elements of the gameplay (action and puzzles) are meshed together well, creating a blowing-stuff-up/thinking-carefully-while-things-are-blowing-up-around-you hybrid that's p r o n e to the best of both worlds. The metapuzzles don't live up to their full potential, but at this point they're basically icing on the cake. Virus is lubricated, juicy, and (I hope) the torch bearer of a new era of metapuzzles. (Is that too much to ask? Probably. But optimism never hurts.) It's a solid start to SGE, too, and if (when? if? AAAAAAHHHHHHH) I become an Editor I would feature this straightaway. Go team!

July 30, 2015

You can read more about SGE at http://forums.sploder.com/index.php/topic,458396.0.html

You can read more about Team Stallion at http://forums.sploder.com/index.php/topic,458433.0.html