MRG
Newbie
- Joined
- Mar 24, 2007
- Messages
- 1,174
- Reaction score
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Greetings all,
Perhaps it's just from my own slanted viewpoint that I have noticed that ever since the awesome movie "StarShip Troopers" was released several years back, (and the horrible sequel that followed) that the PC gaming market has been flooded with low budget titles, where your sole purpose was to stay alive, as wave after wave of for lack of a better term, "Interstellar Bugs" came at you in a mindless fashion. While true, this can be an amusing way to pass the time, albiet a very short time, games of that nature always seemed to get old very fast. At least for me. Running around in a static environment, looking at the same game textures over & over, not to mention listening to the poorly recorded "Heavy Metal" music that almost always seem to be a staple of these types of games does not do much to justify the cost of the original game itself. Is this because in the future there exists no other type of music, except for Heavy Metal? I guess having classical music from say Bach or Beethoven playing, would fail to get your blood pumping. So like I said above, combine it all together with the as yet unmentioned poor game play, it simply does not justify the cost that you paid for the game.
However, every so often that all changes. Take the game "Shadowgrounds: Survivor" for instance. This game released by Frozenbyte Studios, is not only budget priced, but is actually a whole lot of fun to play. Add in the fact that the game has rather good Graphics, Audio, Gibs & a heavy dose of Physics & you'll find yourself well on your way to having some fun for a change. While it's true that each gamer has a different idea of what they consider to be fun, overall, I believe that Shadowgrounds: Survivor will satisfy any gamer, once he or she remembers the type of game they are playing, because after all, this isn't meant to be the next Half-Life, but it is meant to be fun & for the most part, it succeeds at doing that rather nicely.
What most impressed me, was the fact that the changes you made to your character upon leveling up, actually made a noticeable difference in game. Wheather it was the simple act of adding points to your life pool, allowing you to take more damage, to upgrading/editing your weapons so that they stopped the varied enemy types in their tracks a little sooner. You also don't have an unlimited amount of skill/upgrade points to use, so you must first decide on what you want to do before just placing points Willie-Nillie. I mentioned above that the game had decent graphics. That wasn't just idle txt to take up space. The graphics really are pretty good for this type of game. Everything the the muzzle flashes from your weapons to the explosions themselves. My eye was caught the first time I saw shadows cast from a light source. Very impressive & also in real time. Not pre-rendered or static shadows. The enemies you encounter & manage to kill, are varied in size & speed, not to mention their abilities. Some will attack you on sight, either up close & personal like or from a distance with their own types of weapons. Of course the AI is for the most part mindless, but you kind of expect them to be in this type of budget shooter. However, that being said, more times than not, I was "lead" into an area from retreating enemies, only for them to then flank me & come at me from all sides. The enemies that pop out of the ground, attack you & then go back underground can be tricky.
The audio in the game is pretty well done with the weapons you get sounding powerful & the limited voice acting being convincing.
The physics engine is very impressive & for the record, I think it is the best of any budget priced shooter I have yet played & I own quite a few. Scattered around each map, are a very large number of objects that you can interact with. Either by moving or shooting at. If you come to an area where you see a grouping of enemies, you can barricade an area, engage the enemy & then retreat back to your barricade & then until the enemies either destroy or overcome your barricade, you'll have a slight upper hand on the coming battle. I'm not sure of Gibs should be in the same paragraph as physics, but the game has very nice Blood & Gibs. Shoot an enemy & he'll bleed, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Every so often you'll get off a lucky shot and manage to blow off a body part of an attacking enemy. You'll see the limb go flying & if you get a really lucky shot or manage to hit an explosive device next to the enemy, then you'll be greeted to body parts & blood flying in all directions. Really adds to the games ambiance & enjoyment factor.
The game comes with a "Survivor" mode which is different than the Single Player part as it just places you against waves of harder & harder enemies on different maps. Fun to see just how long you can last or to blow off some steam. In survivor mode, you get to pick the char you want to play as, upgrade your equipment and then head in game.The game lacks a true multi-player, but it does come with a Co-Op mode, which lets you & a buddy take on the baddies together. I don't advise you to play the Survival mode until after you have finished the Single Player part, only because the Survival Mode will allow you access to weapons you'll not see until later in the game.
Gameplay Trailer:
http://files.filefront.com/Shadowgrounds+Survivor+Trailer/;8300492;/fileinfo.html
Official Website:
http://www.shadowgroundsgame.com/survivor/
Final Score 3.5/5
-MRG
Perhaps it's just from my own slanted viewpoint that I have noticed that ever since the awesome movie "StarShip Troopers" was released several years back, (and the horrible sequel that followed) that the PC gaming market has been flooded with low budget titles, where your sole purpose was to stay alive, as wave after wave of for lack of a better term, "Interstellar Bugs" came at you in a mindless fashion. While true, this can be an amusing way to pass the time, albiet a very short time, games of that nature always seemed to get old very fast. At least for me. Running around in a static environment, looking at the same game textures over & over, not to mention listening to the poorly recorded "Heavy Metal" music that almost always seem to be a staple of these types of games does not do much to justify the cost of the original game itself. Is this because in the future there exists no other type of music, except for Heavy Metal? I guess having classical music from say Bach or Beethoven playing, would fail to get your blood pumping. So like I said above, combine it all together with the as yet unmentioned poor game play, it simply does not justify the cost that you paid for the game.
However, every so often that all changes. Take the game "Shadowgrounds: Survivor" for instance. This game released by Frozenbyte Studios, is not only budget priced, but is actually a whole lot of fun to play. Add in the fact that the game has rather good Graphics, Audio, Gibs & a heavy dose of Physics & you'll find yourself well on your way to having some fun for a change. While it's true that each gamer has a different idea of what they consider to be fun, overall, I believe that Shadowgrounds: Survivor will satisfy any gamer, once he or she remembers the type of game they are playing, because after all, this isn't meant to be the next Half-Life, but it is meant to be fun & for the most part, it succeeds at doing that rather nicely.
What most impressed me, was the fact that the changes you made to your character upon leveling up, actually made a noticeable difference in game. Wheather it was the simple act of adding points to your life pool, allowing you to take more damage, to upgrading/editing your weapons so that they stopped the varied enemy types in their tracks a little sooner. You also don't have an unlimited amount of skill/upgrade points to use, so you must first decide on what you want to do before just placing points Willie-Nillie. I mentioned above that the game had decent graphics. That wasn't just idle txt to take up space. The graphics really are pretty good for this type of game. Everything the the muzzle flashes from your weapons to the explosions themselves. My eye was caught the first time I saw shadows cast from a light source. Very impressive & also in real time. Not pre-rendered or static shadows. The enemies you encounter & manage to kill, are varied in size & speed, not to mention their abilities. Some will attack you on sight, either up close & personal like or from a distance with their own types of weapons. Of course the AI is for the most part mindless, but you kind of expect them to be in this type of budget shooter. However, that being said, more times than not, I was "lead" into an area from retreating enemies, only for them to then flank me & come at me from all sides. The enemies that pop out of the ground, attack you & then go back underground can be tricky.
The audio in the game is pretty well done with the weapons you get sounding powerful & the limited voice acting being convincing.
The physics engine is very impressive & for the record, I think it is the best of any budget priced shooter I have yet played & I own quite a few. Scattered around each map, are a very large number of objects that you can interact with. Either by moving or shooting at. If you come to an area where you see a grouping of enemies, you can barricade an area, engage the enemy & then retreat back to your barricade & then until the enemies either destroy or overcome your barricade, you'll have a slight upper hand on the coming battle. I'm not sure of Gibs should be in the same paragraph as physics, but the game has very nice Blood & Gibs. Shoot an enemy & he'll bleed, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Every so often you'll get off a lucky shot and manage to blow off a body part of an attacking enemy. You'll see the limb go flying & if you get a really lucky shot or manage to hit an explosive device next to the enemy, then you'll be greeted to body parts & blood flying in all directions. Really adds to the games ambiance & enjoyment factor.
The game comes with a "Survivor" mode which is different than the Single Player part as it just places you against waves of harder & harder enemies on different maps. Fun to see just how long you can last or to blow off some steam. In survivor mode, you get to pick the char you want to play as, upgrade your equipment and then head in game.The game lacks a true multi-player, but it does come with a Co-Op mode, which lets you & a buddy take on the baddies together. I don't advise you to play the Survival mode until after you have finished the Single Player part, only because the Survival Mode will allow you access to weapons you'll not see until later in the game.
Gameplay Trailer:
http://files.filefront.com/Shadowgrounds+Survivor+Trailer/;8300492;/fileinfo.html
Official Website:
http://www.shadowgroundsgame.com/survivor/
Final Score 3.5/5
-MRG
