RealHaloMan
2012
A fun, quaint game that also shows you some of the history of the gaming industry.
4.5 stars excluding xen.
4 stars with it.
If you really like the source engine and seeing the limits of it, as well as stuff like source platforming, and just playing a shooter that feels like you're on drugs, this game's pretty good. There's also an incredible attention to the detail throughout the game, just explore the opening act before the actual combat sections begin and you'll found countless details. Unfortunately, I think the game loses itself and what makes it so much fun in Xen.
4 stars with it.
If you really like the source engine and seeing the limits of it, as well as stuff like source platforming, and just playing a shooter that feels like you're on drugs, this game's pretty good. There's also an incredible attention to the detail throughout the game, just explore the opening act before the actual combat sections begin and you'll found countless details. Unfortunately, I think the game loses itself and what makes it so much fun in Xen.
Presentation - The game has a stunning art style that I can't really do justice with words, along with equally beautiful music. Its honestly one of the game's strong suites.
World Design - To talk about the open world briefly, its one of those worlds you appreciate more over time as you play the game; the interconnected of the world is just real neat and it feels rewarding exploring Zenozoik.
Writing - The game's narrative has some shockingly good high points and doesn't really have any big low points to hold it back. Probably one of the things I was shocked the most by.
Gameplay - There's a lot to talk about, but I'll be brief. As far as the good, the combat is really, really fun and sort of feels like a mix between a Souls-like and a fighting game. There's a lot of fighting styles to choose from and customizable moves, that once again make you feel good for exploring the world, however that is not to say I don't have critiques. For one, I find the camera to be the clunkiest part of this game; there's just way too many moments in fights, particularly in tight rooms, where it feels like I'm fighting the camera. I'm not sure what could've been done, but it did feel like a shortcoming. Secondly, I ran into a number of bugs where the repetitiveness of those bugs made me feel there was a lack of polish, the most offensive of these being a bug I found twice where in Pseudo's double kick special, he'd just start doing the kick indefinitely without stop. Notably, though not a gameplay bug, there was a moment in the final, final boss where Pseudo's head wildly stretched out twice. The experiences here are different from my friend who doesn't have nearly as many bugs.
Basically, if you want a bite sized game (like about 20 hours) that offers you a lot of ways to fight, is visually impressive, and can surprise you with its endearing writing, Clash: Artifacts of Chaos, is more than worth it. The polish in some areas and some shortcomings with the camera hold it back for me, but its still a great time.
World Design - To talk about the open world briefly, its one of those worlds you appreciate more over time as you play the game; the interconnected of the world is just real neat and it feels rewarding exploring Zenozoik.
Writing - The game's narrative has some shockingly good high points and doesn't really have any big low points to hold it back. Probably one of the things I was shocked the most by.
Gameplay - There's a lot to talk about, but I'll be brief. As far as the good, the combat is really, really fun and sort of feels like a mix between a Souls-like and a fighting game. There's a lot of fighting styles to choose from and customizable moves, that once again make you feel good for exploring the world, however that is not to say I don't have critiques. For one, I find the camera to be the clunkiest part of this game; there's just way too many moments in fights, particularly in tight rooms, where it feels like I'm fighting the camera. I'm not sure what could've been done, but it did feel like a shortcoming. Secondly, I ran into a number of bugs where the repetitiveness of those bugs made me feel there was a lack of polish, the most offensive of these being a bug I found twice where in Pseudo's double kick special, he'd just start doing the kick indefinitely without stop. Notably, though not a gameplay bug, there was a moment in the final, final boss where Pseudo's head wildly stretched out twice. The experiences here are different from my friend who doesn't have nearly as many bugs.
Basically, if you want a bite sized game (like about 20 hours) that offers you a lot of ways to fight, is visually impressive, and can surprise you with its endearing writing, Clash: Artifacts of Chaos, is more than worth it. The polish in some areas and some shortcomings with the camera hold it back for me, but its still a great time.