Score: 4

"Don't love it"

submission: William and Sly

date: August 10, 2009

When you get past the (really wonderful) look and feel to the game, the gameplay is remarkably shallow. It's just dull fetch quests - not much in the way of plot or anything to really move the game along. It feels incomplete.

Score: 6

"Basically modern Missle Command."

submission: Vector Boom

date: July 7, 2009

Not bad, basically a more modern Missle Command. The powerups are dull, and full power causes you to use up any other power ups you're saving (because the blast covers the whole screen to be effective). Turrets are nearly useless, they should be stronger. I got bored by about the 7th level and decided to do something else. Playable for a few minutes, nice diversion.

Score: 6

"Good, a bit overrated"

submission: Friendly Fire: BaG

date: July 6, 2009

I like it. It's a fun little diversion - the voice work is hysterical, the concept is fun.

I don't particularly like the weapon system; you can only use one, and it's the only real incentive to keep playing, because the levels are completely monotonous. I like the music, I like the overall feel to it.

The control is terrible, the back-sliding is annoying, the physics are odd.

The guns are diverse, but dull.

There is not really any story or reason to keep playing after you are powered up.

Good game, not nearly as good as is indicated by the reviews.

Score: 8

"Hah!"

submission: 8 Bit Pwny Club ep.1

date: June 26, 2009

A flash animation that's genuinely funny, without a tired premise? Inconceivable.

Well done.
More please.

Score: 7

"A lot of work went into this"

submission: DarkBase 2 - the Hive

date: June 25, 2009

Well done. There has been quite a lot of praise for this, so rather than be repetitive, I'll stick to the things I didn't like:

The narrative: A lot of great reviews about the story here, but personally, I found it trite and forgettable. The dialogue and story weren't engaging or believable. It seems that a lot of great games, even from major production houses suffer from narrative which seems like it was written by young teenagers who watch too many cartoons. Stay away from the "where am I, what happened... oh wait, now I remember things!" cliche. It's tired.

Fuzzy scrolling: when I move, everything is fuzzy. I have a fairly high end PC which should be capable of anything you can do using flash. It's disorienting. I don't like the dynamic camera at all, it's almost manic when changing directions a lot.

Flashlight: This is a video game crutch which is never fun. Managing energy for light sources in games should be eliminated, particularly in action games. It's tedious.

Weapon changing: Is there a way to use the scroll wheel to change weapons? Reaching the right number key in time can be difficult.

Map screen: a dynamic mini-map in the corner would be more useful than having to pull up the map screen constantly. Also, the marker for your character should blink or be somehow much more easy to spot instantly. The red speck is hard to locate.

Readability: It's hard to see how much ammo is left. Some of the text is hard to read as well. Increase the font size of the HUD.

Overall, I really liked this for the same reasons that have been repeated over and over. It's a lot like Gauntlet, with monster makers that need to be destroyed, maze-like levels, etc. It needs work in a few areas to rise to exceptional, but it's very good.

Score: 8

"Funny"

submission: Upgrade Complete!

date: June 25, 2009

Clever illustration of ratings based on upgrade systems rather than the game itself. Really stupid shooter with over-the-top upgrade system. Game over screen is hysterical. Good job.

Score: 0

"useless"

submission: [SG]~ NovaShades Birthday

date: June 24, 2009

This really, really stupid. Dumb animations made for one person would make a better email than a NG submission.

Score: 8

"Really funny"

submission: Tenchi Muyo in a Nutshell

date: June 24, 2009

These voiceover shorts are really, really funny. Which is rare around here.

Score: 5

"REALLY cheesy but well animated"

submission: Chris Brown- Don't Matter

date: June 24, 2009

I appreciate the animation quality and effort. It's REALLY corny though.

Score: 9

"Well Done!"

submission: Learn to Fly !

date: June 23, 2009

One of my favorites. VERY few physics based games play this well. Enjoyed the upgrades, though it was a bit too easy to obtain them all. A lot more different gliders would be nice, as would other rockets and more interesting upgrades. The "stages" heading is confusing; usually different levels of a game are divided into stage 1..2..3...etc. So at first, I wasn't sure if I was skipping levels or what. Lastly, the ending... maybe a bit predictable. Would have liked something more clever...

Either way, very enjoyable all the way through. Favorited.