No, that title was not a typo I was too lazy to correct, that’s how it really is. A little tucked away game in the corners of the world wide web my associate Aron bought to my attention so I thought why not give it a spin.
downWorld is an MMOPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Puzzle Game henceforth) merging together puzzle games and RPG elements. Before I go further I must stress that this game is currently in beta, but with what I have ran into so far I am compelled to write a review. Well, let’s get started.
Gameplay: Like I said it’s a Puzzle game with RPG elements. You can equip different gear to increase the damage you deal and reduce the damage you take from each color bubble. The gear and levels will also increase your HP. If you have played any puzzle games before of this caliber then there is nothing I can say about the basics (and in the time you spent reading this if you didn’t know how to play this kind of puzzle game you could have learned how to). The things to know is that the white crystals generate Flow (turns out this Flow is used in another game they run called ourWorld which predates this game). Think of Flow as Mana. Also, these bubbles do no damage, so you either get Flow or inflect pain. Flow’s used to preform special moves…yes this game has special moves which run the gambit from damage to protection. If you want to use them, just click on their symbols.
The black box pieces will strike out an entire column. The damage you deal with those depends on how many and what kind of bubbles you popped (think multi-elemental damage). If you manage to eliminate four or more of the same color bubble (connected to one another in a straight line) you get an extra turn (this counts those black boxes and Flow crystals).
Also, there is a multiplayer. You and some people can gang up on a creature, but beware of drop in’s. If you’re in the middle of a puzzle and have an opponent on the ropes all someone has to do is run into the monster too and its HP goes up. There is a stealth mode to prevent this from happening BUT I shouldn’t have to do this. Get on fixing it before the full launch, please!
Also, the enemies when they lose (unless they remove this once the Beta ends) explode into a bloody mess. I didn’t know puzzles could make you burst. When you lose, you become a skeleton. Lame.
Artwork: Usually, I don’t go near this segment, but since the art styles of ourWorld and downWorld were rather…unique I feel I have to touch on it. It’s horrible. Aron and I couldn’t bare to look at the games characters any longer than we had to. I was hoping that what I saw was just a place holder until the Beta ended…looking at ourWorld, I was sadly let down. To ourWorld’s credit the animation is more fluent than in downWorld…but this is not my chief complaint. The thing that bothered me the most was…
The In-Game Advertising: This…this would be the thing that made me want to eat the souls of the people who made this game. Each time you move to a new location you have to sit through this video promoting something…EVERY TIME YOU CHANGE LOCATIONS! They do this to try to encourage you to pay for Elite status where you get all kinds of perks (I wouldn’t know what they are or if they’re worth it, no money to see).
I know they need to make money but the way they “ask me” to give money for a month or three of no ads feels less like asking and more like bulling me into making the purchase. Imagine in real life going from point A to point B and between each point you’re slammed with an advertisement which you were FORCED to see through to the end, Could you imagine if you REALLY need to use the bathroom but this douche bag refuses to move till you hear his nonsense that you have no interest in? Me neither. They need to make the ads less intrusive. What’s wrong with having the ads appear every three map moves?
Judgment: I liked the idea of a combat puzzle game, but the horrible graphics and even more horrible ads getting in the way they pretty much guaranteed that I will not recommend this game to ANYONE! Who knows, they might shape up. I plan to post this in their forums and watch the fireworks. I feel like I gave this game far more attention than it deserved. As always I encourage you to try the game for yourself if you desire. If you enjoy it, that’s fine, good for you.
And now, for the obligatory YouTube video..
No comments:
Post a Comment