Recent reviews by bachewie

Note: This review is based off me playing it for the first four days after its initial release to Early Access.

This is my easiest Early Access review to date. The art direction and sound draw you in and the gameplay keeps you coming back for more. Beautiful concept, setting and identity that provide the backdrop for a refreshing experience for any gamer. The first time I played the river smashed me and the wilderness (animals and elements) kicked me while I was down. Fear not, I got better with practice of how to handle my raft, what to craft and how to manage my resources. Really rewarding and the game can only get better as it gets refined. At $20, it isn't a steal, but well worth the content and experience being delivered at this stage. I'll be following this one to see where it ends up.

Feel free to check out any of my VoDs of the Flame in the Flood for reference:

First look - http://www.twitch.tv/bachewie/v/17791313
Third play-through - http://www.twitch.tv/bachewie/v/18284618

I really torn on this review, so I'll start by outlining how I got here…

1. Watched trailer. Not interested in buying due to the thought of another sandbox/physics/voxel game.
2. Read forums and developer posted roadmap and Trello board. Super excited for a developer actually providing transparency into their process. This is key in Early Access.
3. Bought the game due to point #2.
4. Played for 40 minutes and have no desire to go back.

There is a voxel physic engine is there, but the gameplay around it is muddled. It isn't fun to build anything as blocks just topple over or pivot unnaturally when they are 3 or 4 blocks high. The crafting and recipe system can't be understood easily and building a controlled rocket doesn’t jive with the crafting system. Bottom line this game is missing a cohesive identity. It either needs to embrace the voxel physics engine and remove crafting or making the crafting less complex to embrace the fast past action game of warding off enemies from your flag.

There are bits of good. The menus/UI and overall presentation feel good. The random seeding is a good piece of tech and brings a lot to the table.

The frustrating....no sound or video options. That main menu music is out of control, so please give me a slider. The game is forced to full screen and cannot be ATL+TAB’D out of or put in window mode due again to the lack of any options. The basics are important, even when releasing in Early Access.

Bottom line this a bit beyond the tech demo concept as it has some thought around a full gameplay experience. I just think it is a very muddle gameplay loop which causes it lack an identity. Combined with the frustrating building process, I did not see a path of me engaging further due to being entertained or attempting to get better at a skill to help me progress further.

TL;DR – Even at $5 I have a better chance of recommending a smashed bread $5-dollar foot long sandwich to a friend than this game.

Keeping it short and sweet: This is a $10 tech demo in Early Access that has no elements of being a game. I laughed and I cried because the tech demo is enjoyable, but for about 15 minutes then it gets repetitive. A game without progression (has two areas when it launched in Early Access), character anything, or a score system should not be considered beta or on Early Access. Put this one back in the oven and I'll pay $10 once it is a game.

Note: This review is being written after my 2hr play session on the first day the game was launched on Early Access. This is not a future review of what the game could be, it is a review of the game as it stands in Early Access.


The good
- The world and presentation was great. Art, sound, noises, all fantastic and add to the overall mood.
- Multiplayer works, which is not always the case. No clue if it was cross-platform as I am not even sure what other platforms are supported.
- No tutorial. Dropped in to an unknown world not knowing how to do things makes things get real, real fast. Added to the horror aspect of the game.
- Perspective. Sat nav view of me and the rotating map is something I have never seen done before.


The bad
- No tutorial. The other side of this beast, no clue I had filters or could access a map. Still not even sure what the filters were for.
- Lack of variety in gameplay. The gameplay loop is run to an area, pickup something, shoot monsters/bugs. Rinse and repeat.
- Long open areas between waypoints. There is nothing to do between waypoints execpt run away from monsters.
- Noct monsters. There isn't a point to engage with them if they aren't attacking me or if they aren't surrounding a waypoint.


The Ugly
- Crashes. After two hours I had crashed the game three times. If I can't play your game I can't help you.
- Controller support not listed on the Steam Store page. I honestly almost didn't by this twin stick shooter because it didn't list it on the store page. When I went into the controls I noticed it mentioned X360 controller mapping.
- After about 30-45 minutes I had seen everything the game has had to offer. Plain in simple after two hours of repeating the same content 3 times, I have no drive to return to the game.


Bottom line: It feels like it needs 6 more months of work in-oder for me to be able to sell it to a friend for multiplayer. There just isn't a enough meat on the bone at this stage for it to be fun and engaging gameplay.