AshSamael's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Auto Necrochess]

It took me a few consecutive days of playing to finally beat it. And I enjoyed every minute of it! Stylish graphics, addictive gameplay, and sharp balance. If you go for a Steam or mobile version, I'll buy it.

[Derpy's Story]

A pony game with an original concept? Is there actually anything that can be more awesome?

Pluses:
+Awesome graphics and animation;
+Original concept;
+Great sound;
+Cool presentation;
Minuses:
-Controls could be way better;
-The game is too short.

Wow, this game actually looks amazing! Awesome animation in the cutscenes as well as in the game itself. The surroundings are highly detailed âEU" the factor thatâEUTMs rarely encountered in flash games. The concept itself is really interesting and the lack of interface makes it even better. The only two things that can be improved are the gameâEUTMs length (IâEUTMd like to see more puzzles and action sequences) and the controls âEU" sometimes Derpy moves way too slow or clumsy. One of the best pony games I have ever played.

[Hit the Road]

AWESOME!!!

Advantages:
+AWESOME conception AND realization;
+Perfect atmosphere;
+Beautiful interface;
+Nice graphics;
+Good special effects;
+Good scripting.

Disadvantages:
-It gets REALLY freaking hard sometimes!

Another quality puzzle on the net. Worth checking it out! Seen this one at ArmorGames already, but checked it on Newgrounds just to give my vote once more.

Well, first things first - the graphics and overall atmosphere. PERFECT, what else can I say? The game itself is constructed so good it's unbelievable: the graphical style, musical tracks, gameplay and effects work perfectly with one another. If you're a beginning game developer, you better check this one out to get a bit more experience.

The conception itself is pretty simple: do not let any of the pedestrians die, but it gets a bit more tricky when the car crasher or advances road schemes step in. The only minus is that sometimes the level is so hard it's ridiculous. But overall, a nice conception is perfectly realized.

[SleepWalker]

THIS GAME IS AWESOME!

Challenging, original, beautiful, innovating, playable. A MUST HAVE in a shooting games collection. WTH didn't I see it on a front page?

The bonuses make the game really dynamic, but it's too easy to play with the headphone bonus. Sometimes they're not so easy to find though.

Anyways, I loved the game and I'd LOVE to see more of innovating stuff like this on the portal. Keep it up, you rule!

[-AsteRock-]

Rhythmic, but not fun...

Pluses:
+Rhythmic shooting! Quite an original idea!;
+Nice music collection;

Minuses:
-Boring gameplay;
-Besides rhythmic shooting, there’s nothing new or original;
-Poor graphics.

First of all I’d like to explain why I think this game’s poor for the author not to get angry. There have been thousands of asteroid shooting games, and this one isn’t any different except it has a selectable soundtrack.

The game is built by a classical standard. It’s just a simple side-scroller you have played millions of times. It doesn’t even have upgrades or different enemies to make the game less monotonic. You just fly around with your arrows shooting the asteroids. No fun. The only original thing you’ll encounter while playing is that the spaceship shoots in the rhythm of the song you’ve selected.

The game has no decorations and even the main menu is minimalistic. The only beautiful thing in the game is Armor Game’s preloader made especially for the RockOut contest. But anyways, the game lags all the time even in low-quality mode, because when the asteroid gets shot it shatters in a large amount of pieces. The creator tried to save the situation by adding “glowing” effects, but he failed, as you’ll have to turn off the filters, otherwise you won’t be able to play.

The review is pretty short, because there’s nothing to talk about. Music. Spaceship. Asteroids. That’s all. That’s AsteRock.

[Ratmaze 2]

Entertaining!

Pluses:
+Original gameplay;
+Awesome conception;
+Comfortable controls;

Minuses:
-Ball physics make the balls hard to interact with.

Action games, RPGs, adventures and other popular game genres make their games look identical. But the good old arcade games are never the same. Most of them are based on old Commodore, TurboGraphX or NES games. Ratmaze 2 is one of such games. It’s styled and inspired by those games you were playing as a kid. It’s not just a simple labyrinth game: it’s an arcade mixed with puzzles.

You’re playing as a small white rat. Your objectives are to eat everything you’ll encounter. Yep, that’s all. But it’s not as simple as it sounds: the whole world is a large labyrinth. It is possible to decide if the screen will scroll in Options menu, but it’s far more interesting to play without scrolling. The gameplay tests your memory and reaction: you should keep in mind which route leads where, or which hole teleports you to a certain area.

The game is filled with mini-games, where you have to lead the ball to a hole. This will win you a letter (you will get a bonus if you’ll manage to get all the R-A-T-M-A-Z-E letters). These moments are pretty challenging and will test all the skills you obtained while playing the other arcade games.

Overall, Ratmaze 2 will bring back those nostalgic moments to your life and bring a tear on your face. Besides, it’s possible to play it hundreds of times: each time you’ll find something you didn’t manage to get before. Have fun!

[The Last Stand.]

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ! ! !

Pluses:
+Awesome graphics;
+Great atmosphere;
+LOTS of zombies to slaughter!;
+Gameplay full of complete drive;
+Lots of weapons;
+Original system;
+Beautiful menus;

Minuses:
-The walking to a certain place to shoot a single zombie isn’t fun ;
-The game needs more sound effects;
-A bunch of small glitches.

I love zombie thematic. I like movies, Flash toons and other stuff with a lot of zombies getting killed by a bunch of survivors. And if it’s a game where you can take part in the whole action – it’s a real treasure for me. No, really. The Last Stand has just become one of my favorite zombie – themed things.

The game greets you with a beautiful main menu, the graphical effects of which are far better than a lot of complete movies on Newgrounds. Yeah, there’s a lot of blood. All the other menus you will encounter (in-game menus or the “shopping” screens appearing before each night) are also done professionally and witty. The “Call mum if I live” note brought a joyful tear to my eye.

The whole gameplay consists of walking on the territory the main hero protected with the special wall and shooting the attacking enemies. By the way, not only shooting. The survivors, who you can find are also here helping you to take out the deadly dead crowd. They are not very effective and wise, but sometimes can be quite helpful in large numbers. You have two weapons to select from during the battle: the primary one and the backup. It’s about to you to select both from quite a big arsenal. The only problem is, to accurately shoot a certain zombie, you have to walk to the area right in front of it, and, as I think, It’s not so fun. Could feel much better if the main character was standing on one spot.

Before the day ends you can edit a schedule of what to do during daytime. You have 12 hours overall. They can be spent on the wall repairs, or the searches for weapons to expand your arsenal, or the survivors who will help you survive. Afterwards you select two weapons you want to take on the “hunt” and there you go. The game lasts 20 nights, so you’ll have plently of time to fully enjoy the process.

Probably, the only minus in the game is its sound. Yes, there are zombie moans and shots, but there’s just not enough of them. The painful screams of the zombies, some rare phrases of you and your teammates, some “squishes” and “splats” could solve the problem completely. And also there is no music. Silent Drum ‘n’ Base or horrifying music, like the one from the main menu could do the job.

The Last Stand is really one of the best zombie games made in Flash. It’s not a dumb-ass click-n-shoot, this one is far more detailed and interesting. Lots of gore, thousands of zombies, bunch of powerful weapons and the chainsaw. What else do you need?

P.S.: And the main thing I have to say is THANK YOU. Thanks for all the pleasure and joyful time I had while playing this game. No, really, thanks a lot. I’m very grateful ;).

P.P.S.: I sincerely hope I’ll see lot more stuff from you. With zombies.

[The Bankrobber]

A great, high-quality product.

Pluses:
+Awesome graphics;
+Great movies;
+Nice conception;
+Dynamic gameplay

Minuses:
-Some actions take pretty long time to perform;
-A bit freaky controls

Bank Robber is a great 3D game, created in the style of movies like “Italian Job” or “Foolproof”. To complete each level you have to carefully learn the map of the bank and get prepared to the job: get the crew and their equipment.

The first thing that intrigues the user is the conception of a game: you don’t just rush into the building shooting everything that moves. You should follow your very own tactical scheme you invented yourself and be extremely careful. The game gets even more dynamic when you make all of your crew members busy: the fist one unlocks the safe, the other one unlocks the exit, while the third one takes part in a police shootout.

Why is Bank Robber a special game? Not only because it’s professionally done and stuff. It’s also because you take responsibility of each action you perform: even snatching each pack of cash or gold pieces. Each level begins of learning the blueprints of the bank building you’re about to rob: you create a perfect plan of what you’re about to do: first, you send one team member to unlock the door, and then you go to another room, just as you’ve planned. To increase the feeling of serious pressure you have to carefully select the equipment you’re about to take on business: the screwdrivers, plastic cards, explosives and other tools. If you’re not sure of what you’re taking, you can see the list of the things you’re about to encounter: different kinds of doors or alarm systems.

The storyline is given through the movies which are done in the comics style. It all begins with you in prison, seeing your new cellmate, who was a professional bank robber. You decide to continue his business. First you get the crew (3 men maximum), then you get the blueprint and equipment.

I can’t name the exact genre which the game belongs to: there’s a large piece of tactical strategy, a little piece of stealth and action. The camera is set right under the roof and you’re able to see the whole bank with all it’s rooms, so you can change your plan if it’s urgent. This reminded me of Chicago 1932 game. The graphics are done in 3D and look perfect, but the animation is a bit disappointing, but soon you just won’t be noticing that. The aim of each level sounds simple. Break in. Don’t get caught. Open the safe. Get out. But it’s just not that easy: on your way to the prize you’ll have to attack enemies, hide from the cameras, unlock doors, hack computer systems and sometimes even encounter the mini games (e.g. the red floor one).

Overall, Bank Robber is a perfectly done game with a lot effort put into it: all the graphics, the game system and pother things were really hard to make and think of. This game really deserves a lot of your time and attention. As the people say, vote 5!

[VR Defender Y3k]

Hey, really creative... BUT FREAKIN' IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Pluses:
+Brand-new ideas based on old conceptions;
+Gameplay which demands tactical and logical skills to be involved;

Minuses:
-The game is really hard to beat;
-Graphics could be much better;
-Sound is very, very poor.

VR Defender Y3k is based on Tower Defense, the additional map for WarCraft III. Nevertheless, it has a lot of new ideas. You are given a map and the “base” which has to be defended at all cost by building the towers, which shoot the enemies.

No matter what difficulty you will choose, the game will seem to be really hard for a player with any gaming experience. Hardcore gamers, here’s a chance for you to test your skills! The difficulty depends on the form of the map: it’s “easy” if it has a lot of routes reachable for the towers, and it’s really hard if it has only few.

Overall, you have 7 types of towers to build. The first one, the Machine Gun is really weak and has a small shooting range, but it costs only 50$. Pretty good for the beginning. The next ones,
Flamethrower and Ice Cannon cost 200$, have a giant shooting range and attack power. They are the most usable in the game, because they’re an optimal weapons (if are built in large numbers). Don’t forget to sell the useless Machine Guns to clear space and gain the perfect positions for more powerful weapons. The last four have to be called “monsters”, as they are the perfect destroying machines. Too bad, but their cost can allow you to build only few of them during the whole game.

The graphics of the game reminded me of Neon, an Xbox Live Arcade game, but they are poor anyways. All the enemies and the towers are drawn with simple circles, triangles etc. DizzyWeasel, try using “Modify > Shape > Soften fill edges…” (available in Flash 8 and higher) after transforming the lines into fills to make the graphics look more good. The photo with the space panorama moving on the background doesn’t look beautiful at all.

The sound is really frustrating and poor. There is a possibility to select one of the three music loops, and each one gets pretty annoying when some time passes. The sounds of shooting is very quiet and ugly. The sound has to be modified. A lot.

Despite the ugly graphics and sound, VR Defender Y3k is a perfect experience for advanced gamers, which requires a lot of strategy, tactics and logic. I expect the author to re-submit the game with updated graphics and SFX. Good luck.

[The Handy Man]

Awesome!!!

Pluses:
+3D graphics;
+Addictive gameplay;
+Weapon difference;
+Different enemies;
+Saving and loading the game ability;
+Three levels of difficulty;

Minuses:
-Very poor sound;
-The shotgun is completely useless.

Handyman is a professionally done product which deserves a special place in the world of Flash gaming. It’s not just a simple “time killing” game.

The game began impressing me from the main menu: a gangster don sitting in the room, who is a completely 3D model. And all this was put into a Flash game. Great. The possibility to save and load the game impressed me even more, but it’s not very useful in a demo version.

The gameplay is pretty simple: at first it seems to be a simple click-n-shoot game, but this one appears to be a bit more detailed. First of all, it has three kinds of weapons: a pistol, a shotgun and the Thompson. Very good. The player is given a certain amount of ammo before each level, but no possibility to get more. From my point of view, the game could be more entertaining, if the amount of ammo was strictly limited, and the player could get more by shooting the enemies or so.

There are three standard difficulty levels: easy, medium and hard. As for me, the first one should be called “Child’s Play”, because it’s way too easy. The third level is really challenging and almost unbeatable. I’m not even sure that it’s possible to complete the game on this difficulty level. The Medium level is an optimal one. Not too hard, but not too easy as well.

The whole gameplay consists of shooting enemies and hiding behind something to reload the guns. But it also can be used in another way. I used to hide when my health status was critical and there were too many shooters on the screen. When they hit you, a really scary effect appears: the screen becomes bloody-red and rocks. This brings the player in a panicking condition and forces him to hide. Looks awesome, but lasts too long. In each level you have to take out 60 enemies to win. Sometimes a red cross appears on the screen. It doesn’t look too good with well-detailed objects on the background, so it can be treated as a disadvantage of the game. To get some health you have to shoot it.

The other problem of the game is the shotgun. I expected it to have a large hitting circle, but it was shooting as good as a pistol did. Besides, you have to reload it after each second shot.

The main and only serious problem of the game is the sound. Developers didn’t make much effort to make the game sound beautiful. The only things you hear is the cacophony of shots and stupid phrases the hero says (there are about three or four of them). “Meet you in hell”, “That hurts”… Doesn’t sound pretty. To get this problem solved, the only things the creators could do is insert some music. It could cover the other sounds and make the game more enjoyable.

The Handyman is a perfect, high-quality Flash game which surely deserves your time and attention. Beautiful 3D models, intensive gameplay, several kinds of levels and weapon types… This game just can’t be bad!