Recent reviews by RustyOatmeal

JUST ONE... MORE... BELT

This isn't just a poor mans Subnautica, this is a homeless guys Subnautica. In two to three hours you'll see everything there is to see and by the end you can reallly feel the point at which the Dev must have thrown their hands in the air and walked away. There is no real reason to build another base. There's barely even any reason to expand the base. I invested some time into expanding to include a storage room and extended hallways between two of my initial harvesting spots, only to realize some time later that the second-tier resources and gear would have only taken minutes to find past getting the first round of equipment, the third just barely past that. You'll be tasked with finding the 9 pieces of your broken submarine if you play adventure or survivor mode, and that is where you'll spend three hours scavenging to get yourself to the surface. In sandbox mode you'll still build and see everything in those few hours, but with the goal removed and the option to buy starting items with mysterious boxes of gold coins that show up in Adventure and Survival.

There's a lot of potential here, and it reminds me of Minecraft in alpha, but that's not a compliment for a finished game. It isn't especiallly pretty, and the uninspired, low-res graphics don't get anywhere close to earning the title of stylized. It's just... bland. The graphics are bland, the gameplay is bland, the crafting is bland. There's so little meat to this game and whats available is barely palatable. The developer has another survival/crafting game called Sky Break that looks like it may get a little more polish... but if they walked away from this game in its current state I'd be concerned about what gets left on the table for that one.

Holy cow, where do I begin?

I was introduced to this game by my lovely girlfriend, and it re-ignited my long-snuffed love of adventure games. Deponia originally caught my eye after seeing a Let's Play by mangaminx, and truthfully it was the steam/dieselpunk art style that caught me first, and I finally picked it up from the Daedalic bundle. Well worth it.

Despite some quality issues I could moan about with the audio and the less than polished cutscenes that reminded me more of early Newgrounds flash animation than a final release, the game had me from the word go. The writing is witty, the characters vibrant, and the story is executed with a loving finesse that embraces its cliche's so fondly it's hard not to excuse their faults, and then makes up for it with a sharp left-turn into some strikingly emotional scenes that defy the conventional tropes.

As far as the puzzles go, I've certainly faced down more maliciously obscure combinations but I won't say there's no fridge-logic to be had here either. Expect to need a guide once or twice, if for no other reason than to go "Oh, I have to click on -that- pixel?" or "Well I would never have figured that pattern out on my own." The game leaves you plenty of clues through the comments made when you try to combine or use items at certain spots, it's the minigame puzzles it throws at you that seem to defy any intuition. Even these, if you're observant enough, have their answers provided to you nearby.

The first Deponia game has its quirks and oddities, it's own peculiar flaws and triumps that are the marks of any labor of love by a smaller company; but where the polish and sweat really shine through here is the lovingly thought out story, characters and level artwork, which is what any adventure game fan is there for in the first place, and it delivers these with plenty of flourish.

Straighten up and get in line! Tower Wars is a unique tower defense game with a heavy emphasis on technique and planning. This isn't your grannies Bloon Wars, babies! If you're too good at the rest, come play with the best. A super-helpful and friendly community, addicting gameplay, ranked seasons where players who truly put in the effort can win fame and prizes and a delightfully whimsical Steampunk art style. The learning curve is high, but those who perservere and learn the ropes march towards glory. Be warned: You WILL get your backsides handed to you your first few rounds in multiplayer, but not to fret. The community has done a great job of creating guides and videos that are easily available to get new players up to speed, and the guy who just slaughtered you in six rounds will also more than likely be totally willing to give you a practice round or two to show you how things work. All that said, my favorite part of this game is actually the audio and voice acting. Skillfully put together, it matches the art in theme and energy, and the voices of both the King and the troops are amusing even when you're on a losing streak.

An adorably morbid zelda-like game with fond memories of Smash TV. The backstory is only hinted at and can be enjoyed for the simple pleasures of collecting powerups and destroying grotesque lost relatives and deformed or abortered former siblings with your own tears, but those who enjoy over-analysing (Fans of Silent Hill, anyone?) will find just about every aspect of the game full of symbolism to poke at a deeper, tragic story behind all the shooty-fun.