WorldOutkast's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Shooter Whacker]

As far as a demonstration of an engine goes, this is a rather fun and addictive game. However, I feel as though a few things are definitely missing, key of which is music.

The sounds that you did have were fitting, however I feel that in games like this, background music is equally as important to set the scene, and to keep the players interest. Perhaps also a system which tells the player when the next wave/level of difficulty of enemies has been reached wouldn't go awry, either.

The graphics are passable as they are, and I did like details like power-ups appearing on the player ship when acquired. However, I think a few more power-ups, such as rate-of-fire increase would go a long way, as well as updated graphics.

All in all, I had fun with this. I look forward to seeing more from you in the future!

[Many Mans]

Simple, challenging, and rather fun. The graphics (or lack thereof) and font give this a very retro-arcade sort of feel which I quite like. The simple gameplay is addictive, to say the least.

My only complaint, and the only thing which could make this better, would be that it needs sound. Some 8-bit music playing in the background and some simple low-fi sound effects would really add to the atmosphere and the retro feel.

All in all, fun! This would make a good iPhone or Android game, I think.

acdimalev responds:

I'll have to experiment with dual-stick on Android.

I don't think I'm done toying with this game. Sound is definitely on the list for a future release.

[Sniper Wars]

Honestly, this is a great start to a game, but I really feel that it can be improved in a number of ways.

The graphics have a somewhat cartoony feel to them, which is good in and of itself, however the visuals grated on me with their repetition. For example, all of the levels are the same: soldiers hide behind six tanks in the exact same place for the duration of what could possibly have been a two-hour long battle. Some variation, such as different levels with different enemy hiding spots, and perhaps some civilian targets to avoid (classic shooting-gallery/killhouse style) would have been great.

Probably adding a little depth of field to the world wouldn't have hurt either, being a 'sniper' game, and all, there really wasn't much of a sense of scale. The tanks appeared to have been stacked on top of each other; this really could have used some perspective in my opinion. Although, I did notice that enemies scaled down when the levels got further along.

The gameplay mechanics are nothing new; tried and tested Time Crisis style shooting-'em-up. However one major concern of mine is the lack of a reload; I did notice the ammo counter down the bottom, but reloading was instant, which to me defeats the purpose of having it! Perhaps a type of cover mechanic, similar to the aforementioned Time Crisis, making it necessary to take cover to reload in between clips.

And now, the sound. Well.... there isn't any. This made gameplay rather disconcerting, as I couldn't tell when I was being shot at, when I was taking damage, or even when my shots were connecting other than relying on visual feedback. I would say that before all else, sound should be added. Unless it's just me, but my speakers aren't quite *that* broken (although they do like to be from time to time).

All in all, this is a very promising start to a game, and I wish you the best of luck with it! I look forward to seeing what this becomes.

[Decision 2]

Having played this game solidly for an hour and a half, I feel that I'm now able to write an honest review.

This is simply incredible.

There feels to be nothing missing in this game. The graphics are polished and crisp, the user interface is friendly, and the controls are very easy to pick up and use right away. The character animations are near flawless, and I particularly like the death animations, they definitely set this game a cut above the rest.

The ambient soundtrack is immersive, to say the least, with the different sounds of the world mixed in slightly to create a very eerie and threatening atmosphere. The weapon sounds are excellent, too. The shotgun in particular is satisfyingly meaty, and the accompanying result on the zombies only helps that.

The gameplay, though, is what really sells me on this. It would've been so easy to leave this as a straightforward 'kill the bad guys' game, but no. The strategic components are very well thought-out, upgrades in particular shone for me, as I found myself often trying to balance between firepower and auxiliary support (such as income, sprint rate, health regen, et al).

The cons for this are simple.

1) as stated before by a few reviewers, the game is rather repetitive, and I do feel that another music sample may have been used for combat with large groups of enemies, something a little bit more metallic, to really get the adrenaline flowing. Although, I can see why you didn't, as it may have disturbed the overall atmosphere of the game.

2) The window for this game was much too small. Not to the degree that it would've rendered the game unplayable, but just enough to annoy me.

All in all, this is simply incredible, and I don't know why the hell this isn't on Steam.

This needs to be on Steam.

I'd buy it.

[Code]

I can see this being a very interesting mechanic. As you say, it's extremely short though. The art was somewhat lacking of polish, and I feel for such a game, a more 'technological' feel would be appropriate, rather than the 'mysterious-olde-English' thing it had going.

Sound effects are definitely required, as well, nothing too fancy, but just some simple beeps and buzzes to provide some feedback. I spent a while trying to figure this out, and that would've helped.

All in all, I can't justifiably protect this. But I look forward to seeing what you manage to incorporate this into!

[level]

Interesting premise. Sound effects are somewhat needed, but as you say, they'll be added soon. One feature that I think would really come in handy would be a "Previous Level" image somewhere unobtrusive, as I found myself forgetting where I'd come from a lot of the time. But more levels, some sounds, and perhaps a little polish on the graphics, and I'd say we have a winner!

[Flashcraft - TD]

Had all the fun of TD... but Flash!

TD has always been a favourite at LANs, so when I saw this on the front page, I had to try it. Well, I loved it. Just like a classic game of WC3 Tower Defence, I could've played for hours... homework permitting >:(

The graphics... well, they did the job. Nothing too flashy, but good to look at, nonetheless. Very clean, true WC3. Nice job.

Style... it's TD! Given that it's my second favourite form of Warcraft (make an Enfo's Team Survival one, and you'll replace God ;) how could you not expect a high score? I didn't like the small lag that came when I built heaps of towers, but oh well. It's a flash game... I'll live with it. Well done.

Sound... True Warcraft... the sounds and music were perfect. No complaints, but I've been playing lots of WC3 lately, so I'm kinda sick of the music. Hence the one point deduction. Hope you don't mind ;)

Violence... I killed things. There was blood. Oh well. I'm not too traumatized. I think.

Interactivity... what I didn't like was the ability to only build 16 towers. But this is a flash game, so I guess I don't mind. Lots of interactivity, lots of upgrading. Some hotkeys would've made my day though.

Humor... fun, fun fun!

Overall... 8. This will never replace true WC3 TD for me, but it's a great flash substitute, and an excellent timewaster for when I just can't be fucked finding Frozen Throne on my desktop. Very nice job... no major complaints except the lack of hotkeys and few towers. But apart from these small things, it was great. Very well done, keep it up!

8/10

[Zombie Grounds II]

Not worth a full review.

I was looking forward to playing this game, until I found that I couldn't click on anything, just like the last guy said. I would fix that and re-submit.

Nemo responds:

There is nothing wrong with the game. Everyone else seems to be doing fine... besides that other guy.

[Make your own link]

You know what? I actually like this.

Now, I'll tell you this to start off, it needs a lot of work. I'll try to tell you as much as I can in this review. It has a lot of potential, but it needs a lot more options, and a lot better graphics, for two things.

Graphics: Meh. I have definitely seen better. I liked them, but his arms and legs were a bit strangely-formed, and he looked like he was wearing a miniskirt instead of a tunic. Take some drawing tutorials, then I would suggest re-doing this. I did, however, like the eyes and mouths for some reason. In short, needs improvement, has potential.

Style: It's basically a dressup game. Nothing really special about this. I didn't like Link's breathing animation for this, his chest rose and fell way too quickly and way too high. Fix that. If you'd used gradients to color him, it would've really helped boost your mark for this.

Sound: A few small Zelda sound effects. You should probably put some music selection into the next one, with Zelda theme songs and stuff. Nothing special thus far.

Violence: Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Link have swords and shields? At least put those in the next one. Otherwise, DID NOT HAPPEN.

Interactivity: Well, it's a dressup game, so you get neutral for interactivity. You could've put a lot more in here, really, like music selection, background selection etc. Fix that.

Humor: Nope.

Overall, you get 5.5. This has a lot of potential, and I would like to see it protected. Otherwise, it's nothing special in terms of art, sound, style or interactivity. But keep working on it, and if you make another one and need a character model, try e-mailling or AIMing (preferably e-mail) me, and I'll see what I can do.
In all, a reasonably good game that would benifit from some improvement. Hope this review helps.

5.5/10 (DECENT!)

vondijk responds:

THanks a lot for all the critics.. Tough I wont EVER put any music in it, music in such simple things just anoyes me... Music is more for movies in my opinion

[Space Shooter (Kb game)]

Wow... just... wow.

Ok... this'll be a relatively short review, but I would just like to congratulate you on the excellent coding in this game. I don't think there are many people here who could do something like this with just actionscript. Once again, congratulations.

Graphics: I didn't like them, but considering you did the whole thing in actionscript, all is forgiven. Maybe you should make a "proper" space shooter next, with updated graphics, more attacks, etc. Other than that, nice work (for AS).

Style: You get the extra point for the scrolling stars in the background. They added a lot of depth to the game. Other than that, needs a lot of improvement.

Sound: Nonexistant.

Violence: Ahh.... you shoot some boxes. Next time, either try to code some AI to fight back, or just draw some enemies. Don't just limit yourself to actionscript.

Interactivity: Well, I had a couple of problems with this. For one, the speed. The ship moved and fired way too slowly, and the boxes moved too quickly. If you actually draw it next time, please fix these.
Other than that, excellent.

Humor: Did not happen.

Overall, you get a 4.5. It's not worthy of anything higher due to the fact that it had no sound and very basic graphics, although it deserves recognition because it was made simply with actionscript, and has a 2k filesize. I hope to see this improved on, with better graphics, sound and more features. Keep it up.

4.5/10 (ALRIGHT!)