Reviews Archives - A DEA DLINGER https://www.thedeadlinger.com The diverse world of computer games Thu, 02 Jun 2022 13:26:31 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.0 https://www.thedeadlinger.com/wp-content/uploads/cropped-logo-32x32.jpg Reviews Archives - A DEA DLINGER https://www.thedeadlinger.com 32 32 Godlike Burger (PC) https://www.thedeadlinger.com/godlike-burger/ Mon, 02 May 2022 13:22:00 +0000 https://www.thedeadlinger.com/?p=58 There’s an old saying. I believe it goes somewhere along the lines that it’s important to make friends and eat people.

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There’s an old saying. I believe it goes somewhere along the lines that it’s important to make friends and eat people. No? Well, I’m pretty sure I’m close, but in the case of the game that we’ll be looking at today, I’m absolutely 100% correct. In Godlike Burger, you get to run your own diner. What’s on the menu? Well, burgers, actually, oh, and your customers. This particular time management game isn’t the fuzzy cuteness you’ve all come to expect from the genre, this one is all psycho and it’s got teeth!

In Godlike Burger, you take over the family business from your mother. Her diner was a hit at the time of her death and you vow that it will continue to be the talk of the galaxy. The major difference between you and the former owner, though, is that she could cook and you can’t and that her burgers were delicious and your recipe sucks. Something you realize pretty early on though is that nobody questions the food if it tastes good. If improving your recipe involves your customers eating each other, well that’s just par for the course. The more, “exotic,” the burger the better your reputation right? Right! Just don’t get caught.

Wow, this title is a breath of fresh air. I’ve played a lot of time management sims in my time and the cooking ones all start to feel a bit samey pretty quickly. These games tend to boil down to serving customers so you can buy upgrades, so you can serve more customers. I’m not saying that this isn’t fun the first five or ten times you see it but these things have been banished down the mobile black hole for a reason. 

Godlike Burger is what I’ve just described and a whole lot more. You have to cook for and serve your customers just as with many of those other titles. Added to the plate spinning, though, is the fact that you’ll need to murder some of your patrons without getting caught if you’re going to keep your inventory of burger patties well supplied. Also, just as with any other game like this you’ll need those upgrades, the difference here is that in this case, those upgrades are hilarious.

The thing about hacking a customer to bits with a meat cleaver when you have a diner full of eaters is that it’s fairly difficult to do inconspicuously. It makes far more sense to create a few “accidents.” How do you do this? Traps! There are a bunch of different ways to build your meat supply without getting your hands dirty and your apron all covered in gack. If someone is leaving and the sign just happens to fall and flatten them, that’s not your fault, right? The odd electrocution can’t hurt, (you,) and as long as there aren’t any questions as to what that burger sauce is made from we’re all good.

So the plan is relatively simple. What also helps is that your diner is also a spaceship. The best way to not get caught by the police is to not spend too much time on one planet in any one sitting. The bodies won’t pile up too high if you aren’t there. It also means that you can chase rarer, more unusual ingredients and help your ratings soar with your exquisite food. To unlock the paths to those new worlds you just need to complete a series of prerequisites and you’re away. You start out on a planet that’s literally a gigantic landfill and populated by rat people.  These will be your starting clientele. The fact that you’re human garbage also makes it a pretty fitting place to begin. After this, you have an entire galaxy of aliens to eat and greet all with their own favorite foods and immunities to some of your well-laid kill zones.

As I’ve mentioned there are lots of aspects that we’ll all know from this genre. You’ll need to grab various ingredients, then cook them, plate them and serve up a finished article. This is obviously all timed and you need to make sure you give the right orders to the correct customers while not burning anything. Godlike Burger takes this and puts it on steroids. This game is punishing! It’s really easy to end up with your hands full and if a station you need to drop something on is broken, (this happens a lot,) you won’t be able to empty them. If a burger burns while you’re juggling it goes in the bin and you start over losing ingredients and damaging the customer’s already fraying patience. Another fairly obvious point to make is that you can only serve a burger if it’s hot. They cool down really quickly so you need to utilize warming plates to make sure everything is toasty when it goes out. These are just the basics.

While you’re keeping an eye on the kitchen you’ll also want to keep an eye on your stock of burger patties. If it starts running low you’ll need to hop into the diner, murder someone without being caught and make it back to finish off the rest of the orders. If the customers see you attacking one of their own they’ll gang up and beat the snot out of you. This obviously isn’t the correct way to end your day. If they happen to find a body they’ll either attack you or depending on the customer, runoff and call the police. You definitely don’t want them snooping around so it pays to clean up after yourself and not leave any stray corpses dotted about the place. This should all be fairly self-explanatory but when you have burger patties turning to charcoal in the background it’s easier said than done.

To complicate matters further, (if they aren’t complicated enough already,) each day will present you with various obstacles. You might have protestors in your diner that want booting out, critics to keep happy, or blocked toilets. These are all extra headaches that need to be remedied if you’re going to keep your customers happy. Believe me, it’s really hard to plate food when there’s literally a geyser erupting from the loo in the gents. You also have freeloaders that aren’t buying anything and thieves looking to rob your patrons. This I might add is all in the first few days of your journey. Very long story short, this is not a game for the faint of heart or those of you with no multi-tasking skills.

Aside from everything I’ve just mentioned above you have the money management side of the game to contend with. In between days, you’ll find yourself buying ingredients, paying bills, and deciding what upgrades your going to opt for next. The upgrades are broken into roughly two main chunks, firstly you have your diner upgrades. These are the ones that make your kitchen less of a deathtrap for you and help the cooking process. Ingredients and sauce recipes can probably be thrown in here too. The other upgrades take the form of the death traps you want so you can off your customers in a more timely and believable fashion. Aside from all this spending, you’ll also want to plot your journey to other planets and see what missions you’ll need to complete to further the game. Lastly, you might want to do a bit of client research. You’ll learn what your customers like to eat as you go and a little bit about their general behaviors. This is really useful when you’re plotting to murder them.

So I love the premise and I love the gameplay. Godlike Burger doesn’t mess about, it’s bloody hard but in this particular case it just makes itself more addictive. I went back and replayed a bunch of rounds to just get better at the game. At no point did I feel frustrated and want to step away and for any title in this genre that’s absolutely crucial. All-time management games are tough, but they should never feel impossible and this gets the balance just right. I like the fact that you can set your diner up in pretty much whatever way suits you too. This gives your something of a breather from the manic nature of the game and grants you something else to think about, which is a pleasant break from the mayhem.

What I don’t like in Godlike Burger is the controls. I was playing with a keyboard and mouse, and to be honest a gamepad shouldn’t be a must for a game of this type. The actual controls were mapped out fine so this isn’t my issue. My problem is that they’re massively sensitive. It’s far too easy to double click something or tap and button twice and accidentally end up with an item you don’t want. This is a killer when you’re playing a game where you have to be fluid and everything needs to be in order, at speed. It only takes one small hiccup and it can throw everything off.

Other than a control setup that isn’t my favorite and way, way, too many things going on a once. I don’t have a lot of complaints. I’ve repeated levels over and over trying to find different ways to conserve ingredients and get more kills. This isn’t a gripe by the way. There is a roguelike component to Godlike Burger, so no two days will play out exactly the same. This means that you aren’t going to get bored replaying stuff. This also adds a bit of longevity so no complaints there.

All in all Godlike Burger is a lot of fun. So which of you probably won’t be getting your kicks here. Firstly, as I mentioned earlier this is a game that’s all about multi-tasking. If you can’t or your slow you’ll just have a massive amount of frustration coming your way. There is also a certain amount of backtracking needed if you’re going to do really well here so this isn’t a game for the impatient. You might buy the wrong upgrade, not get enough of a certain ingredient or just fluff up and lose more than you’ve gained on a run. All of these reasons will make you want to replay your current day and if you don’t mind repeating yourself you’ll be fine with this. If you do, there won’t be a lot of fun here for you. This is a brilliant addition for time-management fans, those of you with a sick sense of humor, and anyone that likes a lot of pressure in their game. Personally, I’m really enjoying myself. Very good stuff!

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Wildcat Gun Machine (PS4) https://www.thedeadlinger.com/wildcat-gun-machine/ Sun, 17 Apr 2022 13:08:00 +0000 https://www.thedeadlinger.com/?p=49 When we talk about genres known for their difficulty what springs to mind? Soulslikes, right!? Right! Yes, I agree entirely with you.

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When we talk about genres known for their difficulty what springs to mind? Soulslikes, right!? Right! Yes, I agree entirely with you. These games are rage-inducing, nightmarish manifestations of people’s minds that make the average sadist look normal. These games and all the “get good,” that comes with them are enough to give any straight-minded gamer who doesn’t like the idea of making deaths a hobby a migraine. This isn’t the genre we’ll be discussing today though. What else? Roguelikes? Well, this is my genre so I can attest to it being all things completely insane but no. This leaves us with the Bullet Hell genre. If getting shot to bits by far too much happening all at the same time is what floats your boat, then you’re going to love today’s game. I’ve been playing Wildcat Gun Machine. I have sore fingers and I think I might have just grown an extra set of eyes but I’m having a ball. Let’s find out why shall we?

What I adore about Bullet Hell is that this is a genre that’s right out of the arcades. These games always take me back to being about 12 and sticking my pocket money into something that was probably way above my skill level. I usually lasted about five minutes before I saw the word “continue,” flashing on the screen, but I was always having so much fun that more money was destined for that slot. Many of these games were the forerunners of what Bullet Hell is now. These weren’t games that involved in-depth stories. You were given a character, three lives, an arsenal of weapons, and a hail Mary. You went for it and you hoped for the bloody best. Wildcat Gun Machine, though not quite as brutal definitely harks back to those days and I’m totally here for it.

There isn’t a lot of story to this game. You teleport into an alien base, (or ship,) and have to wipe out room after room of murdering monsters while finding and buying gear and upgrading your own skills in the hope that you’ll stand a cat in hell’s chance, (pun intended,) of getting through alive. Pain is very much the order of the day here. Your enemies appear in waves and often when you think you’ve just offed the last beasty another bunch teleport in and make you an ex-heroine. This is the bittersweet joy that comes with Wildcat Gun Machine. You’ll have a lot of fun retrying that room that’s just ended you but you can never get comfortable; some of those areas have more waves than you’d expect and all of them are lethal.

Each zone has a basic formula to it. Imagine a large map that’s broken into colored sub-zones. These are locked off with keys that are also color-coded. All you need to do is find the keys to progress. Each level also has two sub-bosses that you’ll need to face if you’re going to move forward. These bosses are guarding an altar of sorts that you’ll need to blow the crap out of. Each altar is a key and when both are destroyed the boss door unlocks. Then all you need to do to get to the next level is beat the boss. It’s all very simple really. Isn’t everything, though?

The basic enemies are a serious problem without even taking the sub-bosses and bosses into account. These can be broken down into their own rough classes. First off, you have swarms that will try and mob you. These are usually more of an annoyance than anything else but they’re a real problem because they’ll take your attention off the bullet-flinging baddies that will spawn in behind them. Different enemies shoot different configurations of bullets and when there’s a lot going on it’s hard to keep track of what’s coming at you. There’s a lot of split-seconds memorizing to be done or you’re going to get turned into a pin-cushion in shot measure. Lastly, you have spawners. These big ugly bastards float about the place coughing up an endless stream of swarmers. It makes sense to take them out first but getting to them is an entirely different matter. There are other things doing their level-headed best to give you a bad day as well but to be honest they’re just adding to the torture so I’ll let you meet them when you play.

The bosses in Wildcat Gun Machine are absolutely ridiculous. You’ll be wanting to get your pattern recognition head-on quickly or you’ll find it really hard to telegraph their attacks. Sometimes there are so many bullets flying about the screen that all you can do is dodge the hail of death in the air. Bosses are very good at giving you other things to worry about than them so they can use one of their more powerful attacks to swat you when you aren’t paying attention. I love a good boss battle and the difficulty here is just right. You feel like you’re in the fight of your life but these battles never feel insurmountable. There are way too many bosses out there that are difficult for the sake of it. Sometimes you’ll realize that you’ve just brought the wrong weapon to the party and a switch-up will work wonders. You have a sufficiently sized armory so it’s fairly difficult to run out of ideas. If you get the formula right you’ll be fine. Until the next thing comes along and eats you, of course.

Your weapons loadout is great in this title. There are so many action games out there that give you thousands of weapons to play with. This is brilliant in essence, but in too many games you find yourself using about 10% of what’s on offer. All the weapons in Wildcat Gun Machine are useful depending on the task at hand, and your play style. As an example, I know grenade and missile launchers are powerful, but they aren’t usually very fast or accurate so they aren’t my go-to guns. I like machine guns, particle weapons, and for those small rooms that need clearing out quickly flamers. It’s very much a case of the right tool for the job but nothing you’re given feels like it doesn’t belong, it might not just be your bag. Also important to mention is that none of the weapons are carbon copies of each other with just enough difference to give them a new name. All of the gear you get is stand out and this is really good to see.

So, what’s a gun machine when it’s at home then? It’s a mech. This big stompy metal thing gets more big and stompy as you kill bosses and adds more weapons to its already slightly ludicrous arsenal as you go. Think of this as you’re ultimate and when you kick it off, everything around you suddenly isn’t having fun anymore. The gun machine also makes you invincible for a small period of time, so you can upset everything else in the vicinity without fear of death. So what’s the kicker? Simply it’s a bloody nightmare to get. You have an ultimate bar that fills as you do well and very importantly don’t die. If the bar hits full you have one ready death machine. This is a rather large if though. Should you drop from the mortal coil this bar resets to zero. Expect to do that a lot so using the gun machine is more of a treat than something you should take for granted; unless you’re really good at the game, in which case all power to you.

So, this all sounds like a giant dose of arcade blasting fun, right? What’s not to like? To be honest not a lot. Wildcat Gun Machine is a love letter to late 90s shooters and the graphics are testament to that. The musical score is energetic and perfectly fitting for the genre and it controls like a dream. That’s all the nuts and bolts boxes ticked then, so what else? Well to be honest the biggest downside to this game is also what makes it so much fun. It’s brutally difficult. This is the sort of game that makes your fingers hurt after a bit from clenching your controller. Literally, anything can, and absolutely will kill you and if you don’t like that immense difficulty curve you’ll struggle here.

The other thing that I’m not sure about is the backtracking involved when you die. Wildcat Gun Machine has a spawn system that allows you to reappear at the start of the room in which you were killed. This is fine as long as you have respawns. You start with three and then buy more from the shop as part of your upgrades up to a total of nine. As long as you can keep these you’re fine but should you run out you’ll get dumped back at your save point and have to track back through the area you’ve just done. Everything respawns and if you got past a room earlier to the one you lost by the skin of your teeth and then get stuck, tough luck. I found this frustrating as an experienced player, I can imagine a newcomer to this sort of thing getting really annoyed and giving up.

Aside from the hair-pulling difficulty, there’s nothing not to like here. The thing about games like this is you generally get what it says on the tin. You buy these titles because you’ve got a fair idea of what to expect and all expectations are met with this one. As long as it looks and plays great we’re all good. I got to the point a little while ago where I didn’t need to play on for the purposes of this exercise, I knew what was coming. This hasn’t stopped me from continuing to play anyway, purely because I’m having too much fun with it and this in and of itself should speak volumes. All in all, really good stuff!

Read more https://www.thatvideogameblog.com/review-wildcat-gun-machine-ps4/

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Ashwalkers (Switch) https://www.thedeadlinger.com/ashwalkers-switch/ Fri, 08 Apr 2022 13:05:00 +0000 https://www.thedeadlinger.com/?p=46 The survival game genre these days is usually a frantic first-person resource gathering to get through a horde of flesh-eating creatures.

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The survival game genre these days is usually a frantic first-person resource gathering to get through a horde of flesh-eating creatures. Sometimes there’s a narrative, and sometimes there isn’t. Well, a new developer, Nameless XIII, has created a mix of survival and adventure game with Ashwalkers . And when we talk about story, we should expect greatness since this developer is one of the co-founders of DONTNOD, the ones behind the Life is Strange series .

In Ashwalkers, the world is gray. The action takes place in a post-apocalyptic world (as in most survival games). A team of four must find a new shelter for a tiny population that has survived a volcanic eruption. Members must work together with their strengths and weaknesses to combat not only the harsh environment, but also the inhabitants, be they creatures or humans.

The Ashwalkers trailer may make it seem like a game with complex elements, but rest assured, it is not. In fact, it’s a very simplistic game about walking, gathering resources and camping. In short, the game is basically just wandering around and making decisions, and the decisions you make can be life and death.

As in other survival games, you have limited space for resources, which are already scarce. The four members have their own stats, such as hunger and heat, which decrease over time. If you neglect to keep their stats, the member may die because of you.

To update your stats, you must camp, and fortunately, in this world, you can do so at almost any time. At camp you can distribute the resources you gather, choose who will rest, guard the camp, talk to each other, or seek additional resources. Keep in mind that camp is not a sanctuary; things can happen during the six-hour quests, which can be random.

As the walk progresses, at certain points the team is faced with a situation where choices must be made. This is where the individual experience of the team comes into play: the immediate team leader Petra, the aggressive warrior Singh, the diplomatic scientist Kali, and the stealthy scout Nadir. While you can certainly always choose the same position in all the decisions you make, it will always not lead to what you want; that is the nature of the Ashwalkers . It has to have replayability. Hence the 34 different endings.

The thing is, it’s very hard to focus on the story or gameplay elements of Ashwalkers , when the controls are twitchy. Many times I wasn’t sure if my controller was working on choices or even just walking around. There’s also no way to control the camera, and the worst part of the journey is when my team is walking down hallways and they keep going back in and out of it because the camera has decided to pan another room in the opposite direction.

Ashwalkers is also a slow game. No, really. While a full run should take you at most an hour and a half or two hours, you may see your run increase to three. That’s because there’s no way to speed up the walk, the load times are a little slow, plus the annoyances you’ll encounter just by controlling everything in the game. It sucks because I really wanted to like this game. It looked cool, it had a good story, but the gameplay just wasn’t well implemented. However, if you really like survival games and you like a good story, you might want to consider this one.

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Ravenous Devils (PC) https://www.thedeadlinger.com/ravenous-devils/ Tue, 01 Mar 2022 13:11:00 +0000 https://www.thedeadlinger.com/?p=52 Either my stomach is getting weaker as I get older, or the games are getting bloody as hell lately. What could be more twisted than cutting someone up and eating them

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Either my stomach is getting weaker as I get older, or the games are getting bloody as hell lately. What could be more twisted than cutting someone up and eating them? Cutting someone up, cooking them, and then, of course, feeding them to someone else! This is especially important when the customer doesn’t know that their favorite pie “might have people in it.” That’s just part of the idea behind Ravenous Devils , a delightfully dark game coming to our PC screens.

We’ll journey through the violent streets of Victorian London in Ravenous Devils , a story that would make Sweeney Todd blush. You will step into the shoes of a couple who take their work very seriously. It’s extremely important to take pride in what you do, and it still applies if you also happen to be a serial killer. The great thing about London is that there are a lot of people in it. It means that people really won’t notice if the occasional unfortunate soul goes missing. By running a tailor who just happens to be a floor above a pub/diner, you have the perfect setup to get rid of a few unfortunate souls, get rid of them, and then make money off their remains.

The plan is simple. Customers come to the tailor for a fitting, they are brutally stabbed with scissors and dumped down a shaft in the kitchen below the diner. While the blood is wiped upstairs, the body is crumbled into patties or turned into sausage meat. These tasty foods are cooked and sent to unwilling, hungry customers, more than willing to pay to satiate themselves. Meanwhile, clothes are stored and processed into clothes for sale at tailors. Smart? Well, it’s definitely a cheap and easy way to gather supplies. As long as you don’t get caught, you can make a lot of money. You can only hope no one knows who you are. You’re a little on the run after another business opportunity didn’t go quite as planned.

Gosh, that title is gory! There’s nothing like watching someone get shoved into a meat grinder to wean you off food; for a living. There is nothing in this title for children or people with weak stomachs. If you like a little blood and murder. however, Ravenous Devils has everything you need to have a really good time. Thus, graphically, the setting is absolutely perfect. It’s dark, grim and full of guts. Just the way Victorian London should be; apparently.

The gameplay in Ravenous Devils takes some getting used to. In most dashes, you play in one plane. In some games you may be in a restaurant or diner, and in others you may be behind the counter preparing food for a number of guests appearing in front of you. In both of these scenarios, you’re playing on a level playing field. It’s vertical here. You have a kitchen in the basement of the store with a diner upstairs. Then above that are tailors. That means there are a lot of back and forth operations to be done. The fact that you are juggling two characters also requires some acclimation. If you’re cooking in the kitchen, you can’t focus on what the customers are doing above you, and you can’t even see the tailors. The same goes for the opposite: if you’re killing/making clothes/catering to clients above, you can’t keep an eye on the food.

There is a certain amount of smoke and mirrors in the gameplay. The actual gameplay loop is not that inventive. Like any other game of this genre, you follow a series of steps. The more updates you add, the more steps you add, but it’s still a case of following a pattern. For example, you start with a simple diner. As you update, you start adding tables.

Serving customers at these tables often means making food for them to order, which means you’re not refilling the diners’ table. This instantly complicates the task, add in the work that needs to be done in the tailor’s shop, and suddenly things get more complicated. The more tables you add, the more money you will make, but the more difficult the process will be. Let’s not forget that you need a fresh flow of bodies for cooking, so you need to learn to work in tandem very quickly.

The gameplay cycle is not necessarily something that makes this game stand out. While what you do is different, as is the overall layout of the game, the basics are still pretty similar to what we’ve seen before. What makes Ravenous Devils noteworthy is the story. Without going into too much detail, it’s really dark, creepy, and well-written. As the game progresses, you’ll also have the added headache of having to kill on demand. Someone knows what you’re doing and will let you keep doing what you’re doing as long as you feed them well. However, they have some pretty exotic tastes that you need to fulfill if you want to avoid jail and away from the gallows.

All in all , Devils of Prey is like a charm, looks great, and is really addictive. There isn’t a huge amount of stuff to dislike here. It’s a game you play for five minutes and then wonder where your day went. Plus the fact that there aren’t many games that let you be the bad guy, and the whole “reverse horror” thing is a breath of fresh air, and I can really imagine getting on board. If you don’t like repetitive games, this isn’t for you, as it’s not something you can really get around. Likewise, if you don’t have a strong stomach or are under a certain age (yes, you know who I’m looking at), then you better stay away. If none of the above bothers you or if you’re a big fan of time management simulators and are looking for something new, I highly recommend trying this one. As a final note,Ravenous Devils royally costs £3.99. That’s an absolute steal for the game you’re getting. Ten out of ten for value for money, and even more reasons to find out what you think.

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Metal Tales: Overkill (PS4) https://www.thedeadlinger.com/metal-tales-overkill/ Fri, 04 Feb 2022 13:15:00 +0000 https://www.thedeadlinger.com/?p=55 Well, you should see it! I just found a game that combines two of my biggest passions. Namely blowing the crap out of things in a roguelike setting and melodic music.

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Well, you should see it! I just found a game that combines two of my biggest passions. Namely blowing the crap out of things in a roguelike setting and melodic music. Here we have a game that allows me to blow the crap out of things in the roguelike setting to screaming heavy metal. Today we break down the game Metal Tales : Overkill . But does it hit all the right notes? Well, let’s find out, shall we?

The story in Metal Tails : Overkill literally could not be simpler. A demon breaks out and infects all rock and metal fans, turning them into obnoxious minions. As a guitarist who is suddenly forced to watch as his (or her) musical family is turned into monsters, you set out to destroy the demon and his subordinates. This involves you going from bars to festivals, destroying all opponents until you reach your ultimate goal. Honestly, it’s all a bit corny, but I like it, and it doesn’t need to do anything special since it’s an action game. There’s enough there to give you an idea of what you’re doing, and that’s fine.

What’s really weird is that the intro is not told in English, while everything else in the game is in it. It’s not bad, it just sticks out like a sore thumb. Maybe they didn’t have time to record the intro more than once before launching, but I hope they fix that later. The fact that it plays out like a comic book and all the text is in English makes the narration even weirder. It’s literally the only such thing in the game, so it’s all a little weird.

Metal Tales : Overkill is a title that doesn’t do anything particularly clever on its own. You swap whatever instrument of pain the other games give you for a guitar and run from room to room killing metal fans. They were possessed by demons, so it’s all for the greater good, but seriously. On top of that, the inevitable boss battles and the usual cheating shenanigans, giving you a different pass each time; there really isn’t a huge amount to mention. Any of you who know me know that this is my genre, and I play a hell of a lot of these games. That said, I’m always looking for something new in addition to the usual antics, and usually my jaded ass will mark a game for not standing out. In this case, I’m going to give Metal Tales a pass, and I’ll explain why in a moment.

The enemies you encounter don’t particularly stand out, but they’re all pretty well suited to their roles. From the sonic shooting guitarists to the stacks of speakers on spider legs to the screamers who throw a beam more than an 80’s mullet, it all fits the aesthetic very well. This is something that I think is really important, and also something that shouldn’t be an issue. You’d be surprised how many games I’ve played chasing a certain theme and then throwing a bunch of enemies at you that have absolutely nothing to do with it. Bosses are fun to fight, too. I’ve experienced much harder boss battles in other games, but honestly, it’s nice to face enemies that are challenging enough , without the crushing wall of pain that the developers seem to want to subject us to every time we get through a level.

Speaking of levels. Here’s where I’d like to see a little more. None of the levels are particularly large, and while they look nice, they get a little same. Most of the levels have a store, a challenge room, and a trap room. The stores still didn’t have anything I wanted. I can usually build my run around things I find in the levels, so there hasn’t been much reason to use them. The challenge rooms are fun. Here you get waves of enemies thrown at you that you need to defeat quickly. A quick finish gives you rewards, and they’re a nice distraction from clearing the room.

Finally, trap rooms aren’t always worth exploring. They may contain moving saws, jets of flame, or burning floor tiles. The thing is, they don’t always have the reward at the end of the gauntlet that you really want. By the time you might have lost a life or two and decide if you really want the prize, you’re stuck because you need to get back without dying. To me, when you get to the end of the room, the traps have to stop so you can get out. We have completed the task, please give us a break. Other than that, it’s a little bit so-so, fun, but not much to write about.

As you may have already realized, Metal Tales: Overkill is a fun but rather simple arcade shooter. The lack of any real innovation would normally be a disappointment, but in this case the game is a vehicle for something else that I think is really important. What makes Metal Tales: Overkill stand out as something worthwhile is the music. All of the tracks featured in this title are written by real metal bands; none of which are known to most of us. You can hear these tunes playing in the background as you walk (obviously), but cleverly and importantly, in my opinion, they can all be heard separately in the game’s extras.

Each band has its own biography and accompanying song. I think supporting those artists who aren’t necessarily new, but little known, is extremely important. The fact that you can learn about them and maybe follow someone else that you would never run into otherwise is absolutely great, and I sincerely wish we could see that in more games. These people need all the help they can get. When you play Metal Tales , you’re supporting these artists, and if you look at it that way, the game doesn’t need to break records because it serves a different purpose. One last point: I don’t think it’s a record company giving away money to gamers, there are much easier ways to do it, I truly believe it’s for bands.

So, Metal Tales : Overkill is a slightly above average roguelike that helps a very important cause. If you just want a good action game and don’t care about the music, it’s not really your thing. Go out and buy something like The Binding Of Isaac, you’ll have a lot more fun. If, on the other hand, you just want a fun game with a killer soundtrack that gives some really great bands a chance to get noticed, try it. If you’re not interested in the rock and metal genres, you probably won’t like it, but it should be pretty understandable since the whole game is built on that premise. Personally, I like that it champions music, and I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It won’t win any awards, but it’s a great way to kill time and have some fun in the process.

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