Really Big Sky (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Really Big Sky (Steam Store Page)
Really Big Sky (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
20140204:
Playing this game for the first time today, I found it confusing to play, and not at all fun like Jamestown (PC) (2011).
While I thought the drilling mechanism was potentially cool, its actually been kind of boring. What will happen is a black screen will be coming, you'll need to switch to your drill, and then collect some power-ups. In other words, it simply provides a little break and doesn't provide any core gameplay.
The game instructs that you can drill through some meteors if you're fast enough, but I have yet to do this.
However, let's get back to the confusing gameplay. While yellow and blue are different colors, I had trouble differentiating between enemy particles (yellow) and star power (blue). Seeing as you're suppose to collect star power, this confusion often led to my demise.
One option I thought was strange was that, by default, the option is to keep fire on. This was strange to me, especially when not firing builds up pressure for a special fire shot.
On a different note, the powerup mechanism, via purchasing upgrades at the end of a level, is also not well-explained. While there are a bunch of possible upgrades, I have only seen the use of two of them: bigger star collect radius and mine release.
Overall, this game seems to have a high learning curve and I've yet to find it enjoying. Instead, I only find myself dying to stupid things.
I'll definitely continue playing it at another time, but my first impression of it is thumbs down.
[20141201 Edit]
20140205:
The game takes some getting used to and eventually a lot of the difficult things that caused my deaths were no longer a problem. However, I would still content that the game is difficult and curse the many enemies which appear unexpectedly.
From a more analytic point of view, perhaps the difficulty is derived from a combination of the randomness and the difficulty in seeing the ship.
I would also like to reiterate my complaint on the game's lack of instruction. In particular, the shop system is void of any explanation and sometimes the enemies have shields which seem like they can't be broken.
There are events in the game where the ship speeds up and there's all these enemies. That's ridiculous.
One great thing about the game is the multitude of modes available. Of all the modes, perhaps my favorite is the Boss Rush mode. My second favorite is the Retro Mode where I can actually see what's going on. Perhaps my least favorite, or at least low on the list, is the one that wants to emulate a shmup. Personally, I think a schmup should have predictable elements which a player can react in predictable ways.
While also tired, I tried out a little bit of each mode, but nothing screamed out, play me forever!
[20140202 Edit]
Relevant Links:
Really Big Sky (Steam Store Page)
Really Big Sky (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
20140204:
Playing this game for the first time today, I found it confusing to play, and not at all fun like Jamestown (PC) (2011).
While I thought the drilling mechanism was potentially cool, its actually been kind of boring. What will happen is a black screen will be coming, you'll need to switch to your drill, and then collect some power-ups. In other words, it simply provides a little break and doesn't provide any core gameplay.
The game instructs that you can drill through some meteors if you're fast enough, but I have yet to do this.
However, let's get back to the confusing gameplay. While yellow and blue are different colors, I had trouble differentiating between enemy particles (yellow) and star power (blue). Seeing as you're suppose to collect star power, this confusion often led to my demise.
One option I thought was strange was that, by default, the option is to keep fire on. This was strange to me, especially when not firing builds up pressure for a special fire shot.
On a different note, the powerup mechanism, via purchasing upgrades at the end of a level, is also not well-explained. While there are a bunch of possible upgrades, I have only seen the use of two of them: bigger star collect radius and mine release.
Overall, this game seems to have a high learning curve and I've yet to find it enjoying. Instead, I only find myself dying to stupid things.
I'll definitely continue playing it at another time, but my first impression of it is thumbs down.
[20141201 Edit]
20140205:
The game takes some getting used to and eventually a lot of the difficult things that caused my deaths were no longer a problem. However, I would still content that the game is difficult and curse the many enemies which appear unexpectedly.
From a more analytic point of view, perhaps the difficulty is derived from a combination of the randomness and the difficulty in seeing the ship.
I would also like to reiterate my complaint on the game's lack of instruction. In particular, the shop system is void of any explanation and sometimes the enemies have shields which seem like they can't be broken.
There are events in the game where the ship speeds up and there's all these enemies. That's ridiculous.
One great thing about the game is the multitude of modes available. Of all the modes, perhaps my favorite is the Boss Rush mode. My second favorite is the Retro Mode where I can actually see what's going on. Perhaps my least favorite, or at least low on the list, is the one that wants to emulate a shmup. Personally, I think a schmup should have predictable elements which a player can react in predictable ways.
While also tired, I tried out a little bit of each mode, but nothing screamed out, play me forever!
[20140202 Edit]
No comments :