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Timothy Reese wrote a new post, ArcheBlade Review, on the site Einfo Games 9 years, 11 months ago
It’s good to see a little variety thrown in to the established formulas in order to keep things smelling fresh. CodeBrush Games takes a step in that direction by shaking things up with ArcheBlade.
ArcheBlade has all the feel of a MOBA with the touch of a fighting game. The genre is already dominated by the titans like Dota 2, and ArcheBlade needs to be quite impressive to draw in a reliable following. At first glance it really has a lot of potential. How long can that impression last?
Gameplay
ArcheBlade is pretty straightforward. The left and right mouse buttons control your attacks. By clicking both buttons in combinations you can use more powerful or contextually important attacks. That would be great if it were in any way relevant.The big flaw with this – and let’s admit it, all fighting games – is that the handful of possible combo attacks are in no way important to some players. No matter how hard you try to string together that block breaking combo attack, more often than not, you are getting thrown into the air and demolished by someone with an overused right mouse button. In fact, the only time I have racked on any kills is by rolling my face around on the keyboard.
In all seriousness, the combat mechanics need a lot of work. ArcheBlade is the kind of game that seems almost completely devoid of any depth. I won’t lie and say there is absolutely no entertainment value whatsoever. If I could afford all the best items I would also enjoy making newcomers miserable. The cold truth is that this game doesn’t entice me into spending any money, and as a result there is minimal room for progress.
With some more complexity, the mechanics could be more balanced in a way that makes playing ArcheBlade enjoyable in the long run. There just aren’t enough options – or even enough balance between characters – to stave off a team of button mashing madmen.
Presentation
The overall value of production is something of a mixed bag. I’m too cowardly to admit I may be biased toward the sexiness ArcheBlade carries in its artwork.The game may be no more or less enjoyable without an array of sexualized female characters and the equally emphasized masculinity of some of the men. All in all, ArcheBlade looks nice. The fighters aren’t particularly complex in appearance, but they are given enough detail to be a pleasant sight.
Where the inconsistency becomes apparent is in the presentation of the few arenas you may find yourself fighting in. The characters are appealing enough to make me expect some degree of depth to be found in this game’s environment, but to put it bluntly, they just fall short of my expectations.
I can’t reasonably expect something on par with a game whose gameplay is more complex, but I would at least like to see the maps fall in line with the visual appeal of the rest of the game. The few maps that do exist are bland and generic. ArcheBlade is an arena fighting game, so the maps serve the purpose of hosting the often frustrating engagements that come with the territory. Each character has an appearance to suit her personality, but the environments leave way to much unsaid.
Once again on the positive end, ArcheBlade has an appealing soundtrack the compliments the violent fantasy it is set in.
ArcheBlade benefits from its relative uniqueness. Being a third person arena fighting game makes it stand out to me. The question is: Is it good enough to keep me coming back for another round?
There are a few maps with different game modes. The variety ends just about there. Not only are you unlikely to be impressed by the handful of maps and modes, the typical round goes down the same way no matter how many times you play it.
There are plenty of characters, but you’ll be lucky to see half of them in game. There are no restrictions on how many people can use a character at once. The bottom line is that no matter how hard you scour the server listings, chances are you’ll just find another match full of scantily clothed women with ranged attacks.
Freeness
ArcheBlade’s freeplay model disappoints me. The fact that I have to endure round after round of frustration in order to gather pocket change is wildly irritating. I had received a small teaser for gems, the premium currency, when I started playing. Unfortunately, nothing can be done with so few, so early.On a more positive note, gear upgrades are mostly locked by level. You’d think this would help to stall the inevitable leap toward pay to win. That might be the case if servers were more restrictive with the level range. At the start you can only afford to unlock one or two fighters with no gear. The abundance of leveled vets makes it impossible to get any momentum.
The Verdict
ArcheBlade looks like it should be a quality game that should keep you playing for hours. Unfortunately, the design doesn’t seem to add up to that fleeting impression it gives you at first glance. The mechanics are simple, but fail to bring about any sense of entertaining gameplay. I wouldn’t go so far as to say ArcheBlade’s only appeal purely in the visual aspects of the game. But the bottom line is that the most attractive part of the game is the artwork. -
Timothy Reese wrote a new post, Block Story Review, on the site Einfo Games 9 years, 11 months ago
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Timothy Reese wrote a new post, Villagers and Heroes Review, on the site Einfo Games 9 years, 11 months ago
There have been a number of excellent crafting and adventure type games that absolutely devoured my time when I played them. Villagers and Heroes is not one of those games.
I can’t even estimate the number of hours I’ve spent mining ore in Runescape – keep in mind that is also a free game. Or how many I’ve spent grinding in World of Warcraft. However, I can definitively say I will not be going back to Mad Otter’s MMO adventure.
Gameplay
Villagers and Heroes isn’t a combat based game. With only a handful of abilities and some perks available from weapons, there just isn’t a great amount of depth to the combat system. I’ve yet to encounter a single combat scenario in which I had to do more than wait for the enemy to die while occasionally clicking a special ability. If this game were about grinding XP in the wilderness, I wouldn’t give it the time of day.That being said, what Villagers and Heroes is really about is crafting. Much of the game is centered around gathering supplies – during which those combat skills will save your life – and crafting. The gathering and crafting skills go hand in hand. Without the proper gathering know-how, you may be left to spend all your coin in the auction house.
On the plus side, you can be a master at any and all the skills. One admittedly neat feature is that you can be a part of a village. By buying a house you can farm, raise animals, and even customize your house. I’d have to say this is the main appeal of the game since so little actual combat seems to happen.
The gist of the gameplay rests on gathering materials to level up those skills and going home to craft away whatever generally useless doodad boosts your crafting skill. This type of gameplay certainly has its appeal to specific audiences, but without a doubt, is not for me.
Presentation
Villagers and Heroes is a cheery sort of game. The atmosphere is very chilled and laid back. Spending time in the middle of Ardent City is somewhat like being in some festival. Everything is colorful with relaxing tunes in the background. Much of the game is quite tranquil.Depending on how you set your graphics, Villagers and Heroes can be quite nice looking. There are lots of little details that can kill your frame rate, but if you can’t run it comfortably these can be scaled down.
Some of the less friendly areas also benefit from the nice artwork. There are plenty of creepy crawlies and assorted scaly things roaming the hostile wilderness. Though I have yet to walk out into a new environment with the same levels of awe as I’ve had in more established titles like The Elder Scrolls series. Hostile territories are typically dark and gloomy, and the cities seem to be in a perpetual state of festivity, but nothing in the world strikes me as more than a prop in a video game. That is to say, I’ve yet to feel as though the world is in any way alive.
In all honesty, Villagers and Heroes fails to hold my attention. While I can say with some certainty that there are people that would enjoy playing it, it would be dishonest to say I was anything but bored most of the time.
This game isn’t for me, but I’m likely not the part of the “target audience”. Villagers and Heroes has plenty of sometimes drawn-out and stretchy quests to do, and bounties that can be collected over and over. In fact, there are even some little errands I enjoyed performing even just for the hilarity that ensues.
Freeness
Villagers and Heroes can be played without buying anything. Not that it has in any way persuaded me to spend money.There are things like travel stones that can be bought – when you run out of the ones you get for free – in order to travel around the map. Otherwise you just have to walk. Which is time consuming and sometimes irritating, but at least you didn’t have to pay for it.
In the end
Villagers and Heroes is pretty much just one of those games that either keep you engaged or bore you to death. As far as MMO games go, this game just doesn’t hold the appeal more well developed games do. That is just my experience with this game. It can be a somewhat entertaining and even slightly charming walk in the park, but overall just fails to make me come back – let alone make me spend money. -
Mikael Raheem and Timothy Reese are now friends 9 years, 11 months ago
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Timothy Reese wrote a new post, Ghost Recon Phantoms Review, on the site Einfo Games 10 years ago
Ghost Recon Phantoms Community Page
I won’t lie to you. I’m a long time Ghost Recon fan boy. When I saw Phantoms release on Steam it hit me like a ton of bricks. Immediately after I caught my breath I installed […] -
Timothy Reese wrote a new post, Warframe Review, on the site Einfo Games 10 years ago
Warframe Community Page
Do games need a story to be fun? You might say co-op based online gaming is the cat’s pajamas. If cats wore pajamas that is. Or if these games didn’t sacrifice so much depth in order to […] -
Timothy Reese wrote a new post, Tactical Intervention Review, on the site Einfo Games 10 years ago
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Timothy Reese wrote a new post, FreeOrion Review, on the site Einfo Games 10 years ago
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Mark S Taylor and Timothy Reese are now friends 10 years, 1 month ago
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Timothy Reese changed their profile picture 10 years, 1 month ago
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Timothy Reese became a registered member 10 years, 1 month ago