AloneInTheDark's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[BR's Climate Chaos]

Great Job

This is an innovating flash game in so many ways. I dont think i've seen an adventure game with such an advanced graphics engine yet.

The graphics are really clean (I assume Dim drew it all) and I really think you've improved alot from the very first Another Day. I did kinda miss the 'dancing' style, but with this amount of detail it must be a pain in the ass to draw for every background & character.

What i really loved about this game is that it did capture the Another Day atmosphere perfectly. I personally always saw the Another Day series as a series that combines cute, almost childish characters and backgrounds with essential mature themes. Friendship, confusion, standing up for yourself, insecurity etc. I think the story of this game, climate change, is brilliant. It's very actual and a serious problem, but presented in a very light hearted and cool manner in this game.

The actual gameplay was very well thought out also. The inventory system worked swell and the combination keyboard/mouse never gave any problems. The camera feature is very awesome, but i haven't really discovered the use of it yet. Maybe it's because I'm only still halfway and i will need to use it later :)
My only complaint is that the objectives are a bit simple. So far it's been all about going to place A, get an object and deliver it at place B again. I think it would have been awesome if there were some small mini games in the game.

Also I think the conversation system could have been done a slight bit better. The icons in the text balloons were slickly designed, but they prevented to convey any humor or depth in the dialogue. I think if there were subtitles or something, that you could have add some more humor to the dialogue and suck the viewer a bit more into the story.

These small things prevented me from giving this a full 10, but i really loved everything else about the game nonetheless. Ever since nightmare I was looking forward to a game from you two again and this one certainly lived up to all the expectations. I just wish that we could solve the global warming problem in reality also with some magic stones :p

AITD

[Johnny Rocketfingers 2]

A 9 score, but not only for you alone

The 10 is also for everyone who participated in the project. That includes the game programmer NegativeOne.

You've been causing quite some bad mood within the forums by not co-authoring him. And i agree with them, the role of NegativeOne in this game is of such a large part that not mentioning him as one of the co-authors is an insult to all the time and energy he put in the project. I understand that you want to take most credit, since the series is yours and you wrote the dialogue etc, but pretending you made this awesome game all by yourself is untrue and uncool. A band is more than its lead singer, a movie is more than its director.

Anyway, It would be unfair to give you only 0's in this review because the review should be about the game and not about the drama.

And there is no question about it, this became a real gem. Every aspect is so well worked out. The awesome animation, the cool dialogue, the scripting, the badass music. It all contains so much personality and fits in the concept perfectly. Your drawing style looks fast & cartoony and really adds to the cool atmosphere.

However i think the first part is still better. Besides the fact that it was all new then, i liked how the first one was in essence a movie with interactive elements in it. This one is an adventure game with awesome cutscenes. Though it was very well coded, the adventure part was at points slow and frustrating since the puzzles were pretty hard and I was for the most part walking around in the same background finding minimal spots to click with the mouse. It took away from the fast tempo and coolness of the series. Seeing a line like 'Are you new to adventure games or something?' when you try to figure a puzzle out, is funny the first time, but plain annoying the 20th time.

Fortunately there are enough walkthroughs here in the reviews to read when you get stuck and the awesome ending animation made me forget about all the frustation the game caused. If you plan on doing a third one, then take these things into consideration as well as to handle things with the actionscripter in a more mature way. It really causes a bad taste to the series.

AITD

vastcool responds:

He is credited in THREE places dude. THREE. Once on the pre-loader, which EVERYONE sees first. At the end credits (where peoples names NORMALLY GO to get credited). And lastly, in the freaking Game Info. But I guess having the programmers name in 3 different places is not good enough.

[Unreal Flash]

Lovely game

Damn, this is seriously one of the best flash games i ever played.

Just when i thought it couldnt get better after playing warbears recently, I encountered this. Very simple concept and really well translated to the flash medium. The hopping around & fragging enemies is simply plain fun.

Impressive how you implemented so many game modes and options in it. From the character creation to the different weapons and playmodes. Everything felt like unreal tournament, but it still had its own qualities. The weapons were really cool and simply fun to play with. My only complain is that the plasma rifle is a bit too powerful when the computer handles it, since the AI almost fires a hit every time with that weapon. But maybe thats cause i set the mode on godlike ;) Another annoyance is that you and the AI gets a killcount when they frag a teammate. Hell you even get a killcount when you frag yourself :/

Except for some other minor flaws (that arent even worth mentioning when focusing on the big picture), its all well done and nothing but praise. I honestly believe this could be the most popular online game ever IF you manage to implement a multiplayer mode. This is simply meant to be played vs others. Since all the cool aspects of UT are translated succesfully, the game neglected the major one. Which is the multiplayer mayhem. Right now i can only imagine how sweet it would be to headshot Luis (:p) with this flashgame.

AITD

[Busy Burger]

Wonderful concept

That was one clever, entertaining game.

I love these type of games that rest on simple but addictive concepts. Who could ever think of making a flash that's about working in a fast food restaurant. Seems like one of the most boring things to do, but you've proved us so wrong. For that alone you deserve a good score.

The game reminded me alot of the old Bullfrog games. Im not sure if you used to play them, but they used to be my favorite game company when i was young. They made games in which you had to run a hospital, theme park or create your own dungeon. They were always so extremely addictive, original and fun. Too bad the company is gone and they dont make alot of those type of games anymore. It's one of the reason i dont play games anymore. Not just because i am too old, but also because there isnt alot of creativity involved in the creation of the contemporary games. It are all shooters and c&c clones. Its funny how a strong, original and different concept like The Sims, that doesnt rely on state of the art graphics or sounds, became one of the most succesful games in PC history... Anyway this is getting off topic.

The graphic design was very slick & cute and really created a good atmosphere. I also like the simplicity of just pressing buttons and operating levers to make the food. Perhaps it was even a bit too simple at points. Maybe some more interesting elements could have been added here and there, because after a while it got a tad boring.

Its very cool to see independant people create creative games in flash and such. Games that large companies would never dare to invest in because of its original and risky concepts, but which prove to be really addictive if they are made with care!

AITD

[Barbarian Bob]

Way to go!!!

That was so well done. Finally a game that can add new interesting elements to the side scrolling game genre.

What was brilliant about this game is that the gameplay had this tactical feel to it. It isnt just pressing one button all the time while walking from left to right, but every opponent was a challenge and every time and every slash had to be timed .

Also, the visual style was very cool. Simple, but really easy to the eye and with fun animation sequences here and there. maybe the main character looked a bit too dull, but the animation of the character and the cool moves made up for this.

No complaints either on the soundtracks and effects. All brilliantly chosen. I love the epic medieval track of the first level and the trancy songs later on. It really added to the fun experience.

Unfortunately the thing has a few minors also. First of all, 3 lives is way too little. 3 lives might be enough if you start each level with 3 lives again, but going through all the levels with this small amount is not cool. Especially when a smack from a big enemy takes away 2 lives or if you fall in spikes (which are very unclear btw) results in immediate death. Game over.. no continue or level restart, just do the entire thing again.

Also the button combination felt awkward. It would have been better if you could defend with the d key and jump with the s key! Your configure was very annoying at start, but after a while you get used to the combination though.

And finally i would suggest some more different weapons for the main character. The sword was very cool, but maybe it would be awesome if he could use a flail or spear also?

Anyway, all the minors are nothing when they are put next to the clever gameplay you created. Above all, the thing was extremely fun to play and that is, at least in my opinion, the most important thing for a game

AITD

Skribble-Style responds:

Thanks alot for the lengthy review, man.

About the character looking "dull". It can be percieved that way; but Brandon was trying to go for a faceless warrior look. Like, he is just slaughtering these people and doesnt give a crap.

Key combination! Heh, I knew alot of people wouldnt like it. I was going to add custom controls, but as I said, there just wasnt enough time. Ill be sure to add that in the next version.

As for not having enough lives. There are secret lives to find! The first one is on top of the shield of the statue. Look around for more ^__^

[MMPolarity Reconstruction]

pretty good but

This game was very awesome. But there were a few things that were so godly annoying.

I hated it how you were confronted with new situations and challenges when you didnt have 1 clue on how to approach them. It started at the first level with the laser beams coming from wall to wall. I didnt know the color of the shield absorps the same color of the laserbeam. Later i read that you wrote a bit about it in the instructions, but it would have been alot better if you gave the instructions ingame.

Then at level 2 the laserbeams come from down to up between two platforms and i didnt know they pushed me above when i jumped through them! So i kept dying from the spikes every time until i found out.

And at the last level you have to chose between one of the two holes to jump in and then you get confronted with yet another laser beam and you sort of just have to guess what color its going to be. >:(

Make the thing more clear for the people who play this man. Theres no point in being all mysterious about these type of things. Nobody will die in one of the mentioned situations and think 'Hey too bad, this was fun, i still dont have any clue what to do, but lets try again'. It is simply frustrating.

I also liked it better if the camera just moves with the character instead of just a still camera and you walk from scene to scene. Neway, good game, make a sequel or something and make sure you make it more gamer friendly and add some other megaman characters in it. Then you will have a real gem

AITD

Frankenroc responds:

The instructions DO say that when you're blue you absorb blue and when you're red you absorb red...

I only gave a quick list of controls on the commentary to let people who just wanted to start the game a chance to jump in.

As far as the screens, there are some that self-scroll, but I do see your point.

If I do make a sequel, I will keep your comments in mind. Thanks.

[Hair Cut]

lol!

I swear, this is one of the most hilarious games i ever played. Haha, so original too. Really, keep up the good work.

- AloneInTheDark

[Sinjid: SotW]

you genious

Damn, this is together with 'Devine Intervention' the best flash game i have ever played.

After seeing the intro and the ingame graphics for the first time, i was a little bit sceptical wether this game deserved the high score. But after playing it for 10 minutes i got completely hooked to it. I finished the game now after a couple of hours and it has been such an awesome experience.

The best part about this game is undoubtably the character development and skill system. The different classes are really well worked out and i love how they all have their unique strengths and weaknesses. I finished the game with the spellcaster and the magical spells this character had were really badass.

The interface and level design were also brilliant. I knew how everything worked the first time, without reading an annoying tutorial/manual. This is something even most professional games fail to do. The same goes for the skilltree and the equipment of the different items and weapons. 1 minor thing is that once you've levelled up and selected a skill, you cant undo it anymore and change it to another one, when you accidentally clicked the wrong one.

This game is simply finished. Alot more can be said about it, but i would just suggest to play the game (again) instead of reading this annoying review. Oh and by the way, the fact that you managed to make this under 1,6 megs is unbelievable. If you make a sequel, you shouldnt change anything about the concept, it is perfect. Maybe work a little bit more on the artwork and the thing will be even better than it is now.

AloneInTheDark

[Splash and Dash]

hey

That was a pretty nice game man. Its highly underrated, i can almost feel the amount of time and pain in the ass work that went into this thing. It is kinda like the racing games i used to play on my gb.

But the real reason im writing this review is cause i noticed u are from nieuw sloten. Thats exactley where im from too. Ok so i guess we r friends now, lol j/k. Neway, keep up the good work

[Bubbles]

Just wanted to tell this

This is pretty funny, because i can tell by the choise of your music that you are about my age. All those songs were really awesome in my high skool days and we have the same musical taste.

Cool game by the way