[EGD] This Game's Score Is To Be Determined

To Be Determined is a game created by tbremise

Hey everybody, its Moolatycoon back with the first review for Epic Game Drop 7. The Epic Game Drop is a huge forum event that challenges players to make the best game they possibly can so they can claim the top spot. To Be Determined is a game made by Tbremise, a well known ppg maker and a general on the forums. Tbr has always made games that fit just up to par to get the feature. He has never really delivered anything extraordinary, however by no means are his games bad. They are still fun and still feature worthy. Will To Be Determined just be another average game or did it really raise the bar on Tbremise's games. That my friends, is to be determined.

Scenery

If there is one thing Tbr gets right in all of his games its the look, the feel, the atmosphere. He has decorated his game with beatuiful graphics that he made himself (for the most part I think.) The game really lets you know where you are and what you are doing. In a forest? TREES! In a castle? CARPETS! Fighting a cheap boss that likes to get you with his one hit kill minions? Well, the scenery there wasn't that great, but the rest of the game looks really nice. The pillars, the trees, even the grass was all made with graphics. When you see an enemy you can tell that its not joking around, especially if it is placed in a cheap way. After a while I found myself talking to the computer begging it to let me by. Jungle Joe all over again *shudders*. More about the enemies later though. My point is, the game is beautiful, not much to it. The main character looks kind of derpy, but whatever.

Puzzles & Traps

Lets play a game! You're fighting the wizard because...well because...because shut up. You're fighting the wizard, how do you beat him? Do you

A. Grab Magic Crystals

B. Shoot him with your awesome powers

C. Send him through a portal to oblivion

or D. Destroy Crates...

That's right, D! Honestly, Idk what is wrong with this wizard, couldn't find a cool way to destroy his force field, nope. That seems to be the formula for this game. Shoot crate, oh look door opens. Don't even get how that works. Oh look, another crate, maybe I should shoot it. Hey, there is a box, if I open it will a door somehow open elsewhere? The main idea is that opening boxes and destroying crates are the main mechanic of the game, serving as the purpose for almost every level. It was a cool idea in the first (second) level but it didn't really fit with the rest of the game. Oh look, there just happens to be crates in the woods! Oh darn, that crate is blocking me from getting to the wizard. Don't think he could help us and just blast it open...no? I wish that his puzzles had been a little more diverse, because that is what is supposed to make the game unique. This just makes it seem more of an average game...

Layout

The level designs are pretty cool for the most part. The second to last level is horribly easy and its nothing special but the rest of the game offers nice looking maps that can be somewhat of a challenge. Figuring out what to do with the crates in level one (two) was kind of cool. When the crates reappeared in the following levels it wasn't as special because I already knew what to do. Level 3 in particular was a very well designed level. Even though the crates didn't offer much puzzlement, the maze design was cool and it was early enough in the game where anyone could experience this level. It was the hardest level in the game without being overly cheap. I feel that this was the best designed and decorated level. It kind of went downhill from here. Level 4 was ok, but Level 6 was a disappointment. It was supposed to get me psyched up for the final battle against some dude I'm supposed to care about but didn't learn anything about, but the level did not. It was incredibly easy and it didn't look the part. To Be Determined really shines on level three, but the other levels sort of drag the game down to a lower level. I want to see more of level three's effort across the whole game.

Enemy Placement/Concepts

This was probably the biggest issue I had with the game. Some of the enemies were placed very well, offering a challenge but not being annoying. Others, well, suffered. Tbremise seemed to really like to mess with you because just when you thought you would be getting to the end of the level he would screw you over with a jerkish enemy. Levels 3 & 7 really suffered from this, although 3 had the talent to make up for it. Level 3 only suffered because it was kind of hard to pass through some of the openings in the maze, and some of the enemies stretched to far so you would be stuck in a corner and you would get killed. Level 7 had overpowered enemies that took up just about the whole screen not to mention the projectiles coming to screw you over. The last level really suffered from the difficult spike, mainly because of the one hit kill enemies. It wasn't a challenge because the enemies were well placed, it suffered because they were so mean. One screw up and you basically lose. Maybe I just bleep, idk. Another issue the whole game suffered from was the lack of diversity. The enemies were just kind of bland, and they didn't really vary. There were two types really, the walkers and the mines. The mines screwed you over in one hit and the walkers, walked...The bosses were disappointing both in looks and gameplay. Unfortunately I think this was the low point of the game.

Gameplay

Honestly I can say I had fun until the final boss. The level 5 boss was ok, but was deathly easy. The rest of the game was decent, brought some nice fun challenges, and some angry rage quitting challenges. I quit on the final boss. I did encounter a bit of lag that made the game annoying on the occasion but it was not enough to hold me back from playing the game overall. The player moved well and the shooting concept was executed beautify, unlike some ppgs I know. Tbremise was able to deliver a decent experience with the controls and the concepts introduced.

Ratings

Scenery 4.5/5

Puzzles and Traps 3/5

Layout 4/5

Enemy Placement 2.5/5

Enemy Concepts 2.5/5

Gameplay 4/5

Overall 3.5/5

Conclusion

Unfortunately it seems that once again Tbremise has delivered something just above average. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. He should be very proud of what he accomplished in this game, but I have to be realistic and I just don't think there was anything uber special. Will this be featured? Yes, this game will most likely be on the list of games to feature for EGD, but do I see it winning and getting in the EGL? No. Sorry Tbr, you did a nice job though, enjoyed playing and reviewing the game.

Moola out.