I played Secret of the Oracle on Hard and had a frustrating time, I played The Armageddon Machine on Easy and breezed through it; for Aliens Ate My Baby Sitter, I split the difference and put it on Medium.
Unfortunately, the higher difficulties emphasize the inelegance of Keen 6's enemy design. A lot of them require multiple shots to defeat and that's a probably a betrayal of the graceful simplicity displayed in previous titles. I could stomach that and be okay but I have problems with the yellow beetle Gik creatures as they usually pounce at you as soon as they enter your field of view and they are invincible. Very frustrating and they killed a lot of my enjoyment of the levels they inhabited.
Keen might be a franchise meant for lower difficulty. I probably would have enjoyed this a lot more if I had set it on Easy, much like how I enjoyed The Armageddon Machine despite it being a pretty repetitive title. The locations and presentation of Keen 6 might be the best in the franchise. It's a got a great alien look and a masterful use of the EGA colour palette. Many music tracks are good too.
If it weren't for the enemy problems, I think this would surpass Secret of the Oracle as the best Keen game but even on its own, it's still pretty solid and if someone loved Keen 4, I'd recommend they play this as well.
Unfortunately, the higher difficulties emphasize the inelegance of Keen 6's enemy design. A lot of them require multiple shots to defeat and that's a probably a betrayal of the graceful simplicity displayed in previous titles. I could stomach that and be okay but I have problems with the yellow beetle Gik creatures as they usually pounce at you as soon as they enter your field of view and they are invincible. Very frustrating and they killed a lot of my enjoyment of the levels they inhabited.
Keen might be a franchise meant for lower difficulty. I probably would have enjoyed this a lot more if I had set it on Easy, much like how I enjoyed The Armageddon Machine despite it being a pretty repetitive title. The locations and presentation of Keen 6 might be the best in the franchise. It's a got a great alien look and a masterful use of the EGA colour palette. Many music tracks are good too.
If it weren't for the enemy problems, I think this would surpass Secret of the Oracle as the best Keen game but even on its own, it's still pretty solid and if someone loved Keen 4, I'd recommend they play this as well.