Terra Atlantis (PC) Review

 

Terra Atlantis is a vaporwave inspired First-Person Shooter. This means the games visuals have a Retro inspired vibe. If you didn't know Terra Atlantis was a modern PC-game, you could mistake it for being a PS1 Port. Since this was done intentional and seems to fit well, I have to say, that I like the visual design. The soundtrack of the game is also very calm, like you would be taking a long meditation and in fact pretty relaxing.

The relaxing ambient stands in a bit of contrast to the gameplay, which can become quite intense. Terra Atlantis has some kind of story about people trying to find a new planet called Terra Atlantis, where the gods that abandoned earth have gone and created some sort of new paradise. The story doesn't really lead anywhere and can safely be ignored. This game is more focused on its atmosphere than a strong narrative.

After a brief tutorial, the game offers the player 4 very different levels, that can be completed in any order to unlock a final stage in the Olympus. There are a jungle, desert, snow and a temple level to explore. I appreciate the level diversity, but was very annoyed by the enemy placement in this game. These are some of the cheapest I have ever experienced in any game. Terra Atlantis is primarily a shooter, with very minor platforming elements. The shooting itself feels satisfying and is very precise, even though it lacks variety. There is only one weapon with infinite ammo, nothing else. The game isn't really challenging, but can feel very cheap a lot of times. In the jungle and snow level especially the environment is just filled up with thousands of bushes and trees, you can't look through and enemies hiding inside and instantly running at you from all angles (fun fact: most enemy models represent computer folders and error messages, which is quite funny). You can't see or really anticipate them. The gunfights therefore have nothing to do with skill or reactions and instead mostly consist of shooting in all directions on every environmental element possible. This really annoyed me and was so unnecessary. The game never gets insanely hard or anything, but just very annoying. Equally annoying is the fact, that dying in the final stage teleports you into random previous stage, that has to be completed once again. This isn't the case in any of the other levels and just another example of an unnecessary annoyance.

 

Result:

Terra Atlantis really nails the vaporwave style and is therefore probably worth playing for the vibe alone. Movement and gunplay feel precise and satisfying. The level variety is appreciated. The level design and enemy placement however is very frustrating and prevent the game from reaching its potential. Terra Atlantis is also rather short and can probably be completed in around 30-40 minutes. If you ever wanted to experience a PS1 like FPS on PC or are curious about vaporwave, than the game is worth a recommendation. You just got to prepare for plenty of frustrations along the way.

 

6/10

Recursive Hate - Spider Hell (PC) Review

 

Recursive Hate lives up to its promise of being a Spider Hell. The only question is, whether it is trip to hell worth experiencing?

Fighting Spiders is the only unique and interesting element of the game. If you dig the premise, than the game can potentially be fun for a couple of minutes or a small amount of hours. The Spiders animations and sound effects are actually done quite well and will allow you to live out your wildest exterminator fantasies. If you shoot the corpses of the bigger spiders, than smaller spiders will come out of them and try to attack you as a collective. This is actually kind of cool to watch. It is however important to keep in mind, that the Spiders function in exactly the same way as Zombies in any Zombie Horde based game. You fight increasing amounts of them every wave and can purchase better weapons or health items inbetween rounds.

Recursive Hate is a Third-Person Shooter and uses a simple base Unreal game engine without any noticeable adjustments, which reminded me a lot of games like Fractal Fury. Movement and gunplay therefore feel very similar (both okay, but nothing impressive). It even comes with the same issues, like the unchangeable sound settings.

The main game mode is Spider Hell, in which you fight the waves of Spiders. You can either fight a set amount of waves (5, 10 etc) or take the unlimited approach. There are only two maps, from which one is a small town and the other is just grey platforms in the sky. The first one fits the game well, the second one is very lackluster. A PVP mode was planned, but doesn't seem to be releasing anymore. A Coop mode would have also been nice, but nothing seems to be planned in that direction. There is only a Bonus mode available in the form of Bunny Massacre. Playmates are running around in this mode and the player can either kill them or order spiders to attack and eat them. Bunny Massacre is good for a few laughs, but it isn't much more than a Meme and therefore lacks any kind of longevity.

 

Result:

If you ever wanted to kill large amounts of Spiders, than Recursive Hate is going to be the game for you. Apart from the Spider Twist however it doesn't really has anything to offer. It is fun to try out for a while, even if you hate spiders, or maybe especially than, but don't expect to be entertained for longer than an hour.

 

5/10

Veneficium: A Witch's Tale (PC) Review

 

Veneficium is a 3D Platformer with some Action-Adventure Elements. You incorporate a little Witch, that is searching for all the grown-up witches, that went missing and the evil witch, who seems to terrorize them all.

The game is around 1-2 Hours long on your first playthrough. Exploration in the three levels is a very important aspect and additional playthroughs should therefore take maybe around half of it, since you already know where to go next. I was a bit disappointed, that the game ended so abruptly without any real warning or you ever encountering the actual antagonist of Veneficium's story. The story and dialogues in the game are nonetheless alright, even though clearly aimed at children as an audience.

The Platforming and Exploration gets some variety by the magic spells in the game. There are 3 of them in total. Fire burns objects (obviously), ice freezes objects and wind can transport you to higher places. Magic is exclusively being used on objects, there are no enemies or real fights in this game (sometimes you will get attacked by a cloud or a floating target). These spells and their implementation are kind of cool and help the game to stand out, but they do get used a bit too often in the same ways. After the 20th frozen tree for example you get a bit bored of the concept.

The two big problems of the game are imprecise controls and the armada of Bugs and Glitches in Veneficium. Movement and Jumping always feel really clunky and stiff. I have often gotten stuck on the environment or slipped off a platform due to the controls. You can get better used to it after some time, but platforming never gets truly comfortable and that is kind of a dealbreaker in a Platformer game. And than there is the unavoidable selection of Bugs in this game. I experienced more of them than I can count. Some of the worst were glitching through the ground, getting stuck in a platform or getting stuck in a wall, which meant I had to restart an entire level from scratch, since all the objectives disappeared and progress got impossible... Veneficium clearly lacks a lot of polish, which would have made the experience far more pleasant.

The Visuals of Veneficium are very simple in design (probably reminiscent of some N64/PS1 games), but don't necessarily hurt the eyes either. The only exception are the grotesque faces of all characters. All persons have no eyes or mouths in Veneficium, which is actually quite creepy. The soundtrack on the other hand is pretty decent. Every level has its own music and they all fit the mood of the game.   

 

Pro:

- Levels encourage exploration

- Magic spells create variety

- Decent Soundtrack

 

Contra:

- Very imprecise movement controls

- Legions of Bugs and Glitches

- Simple Visuals

- Creepy Character Faces

 

Result:

Veneficium: A Witch's Tale desperately lacks polish. The magic system within a Platformer is kind of cool, but the many Glitches and the uncomfortable movement controls sadly take a lot of the enjoyment away. If the game was longer, had a real ending, a bit more variety, smoother movement and a lot more polish, than I would definitely recommend this game. At the moment however I can only recommend this game to fans of Witches and 3D Platformer enthusiasts with a high tolerance for frustration.

 

5/10

Cave Crawler (PC) Review

 

Cave Crawler is a 2D Side-Scrolling Platformer. It is a very classic platformer with jumping controls similar to Super Mario Bros 1, which means slightly floaty movement (which isn't necessarily a negative thing), and a shooting ability similar to the Mega Man games. There is however a much bigger emphasize on platforming than on shooting in Cave Crawler. The game is also noticeably easier than the Mega Man games. Funnily enough I have read people both complaining about too low as well as too high difficulty. Cave Crawler consists of 7 levels, including a Tutorial and a Bonus stage. If anything I would rate the game as a bit too forgiving with its four lives, that allow you to make a couple of mistakes. The game is unfortunately also way too short. Your first playthrough shouldn't take you longer than 15-20 mins. This is a bit brief. A higher replay value through additional difficulty settings, scoreboards or speedrun possibilities would therefore have been appreciated. More levels would have also been nice. The game sadly also lacks any real kind of a story or lore. You are just a guy, who explores caves for reasons only known to him.

Nonetheless, what is there is actually quite good. The levels progressively implement new gameplay elements and enemy types (within the limited scope) and there is even a boss fight in the fifth level. The enemy AI is serviceable, but certainly not the best and you will sometimes see them simply walking off platforms into the abyss. I nevertheless enjoyed the platforming quite a bit. The game recognizes short and long jumps and even allows you to slightly correct your jumps. It therefore reminded me indeed a lot of older NES games, like the early Mario games.

Cave Crawler is also through its visual style and sound effects very reminiscent of these good old 8 Bit videogames. Something that my not be to everybody's taste, but was certainly appreciated by me.

 

Pro:

- Enjoyable Platforming Gameplay

- Fitting Retro Visuals and Soundeffects

 

Contra:

- Super short (15-20 mins) and not much replay value

 

Result:

Cave Crawler is definitely worth a look for fans of 2D Platformers and manages to create a fitting atmosphere. The lack of content or replay value unfortunately holds it back a lot, but I still really enjoyed my time with the game.

 

6.5/10