Monday, April 28, 2014

Bundle Stars – Conquest Bundle


There are quite a few gaming bundle sites out there, with probably the most well-known being Humble Bundle. Bundle Stars doesn’t have the “donate to charity” angle, but they do have quite a few more gaming bundles on tap, and the bundles usually run for four weeks instead of one or two weeks. Last week Bundle Stars announced the Conquest Bundle, and there are still 22 days remaining. $4.99 will get you Steam codes for the following twelve games. I’ve taken the liberty of linking to the Metacritic pages for all of these, though there are a few titles that are basically “unreviewed”. The titles are listed below in order of release date (most recent first):
What you’ll notice with Bundle Stars is that frequently they have a lot of older titles scattered in with a few newer releases, and most of the time the games are all rated “okay” at best – though one man’s “okay” can be another’s “great” in some cases. Given the plethora of older games available at bargain prices, I have difficulty finding the time or inclination to check out titles from more than five years back, which basically eliminates half of the Conquest Bundle from consideration.

While I haven’t played most of the games, I did give 99 Levels to Hell a shot – what can I say, I’m a sucker for Rogue-likes! This one is more like a platformer than a true rogue-like game, as it has you running and jumping while using the mouse to aim and shoot your gun. You need to find the key to each level and then move on, though there are special items that will let you skip levels (I admit to not knowing what some things do – like the elevator seems to randomly teleport you up/down a few levels?). Each level has a timer of sorts, and when the time is up you get four indestructible ghosts at the corners that slowly try to corner you. There are also shops to buy certain upgrades. It’s a bit like Binding of Isaac but without the poop jokes or poking so much fun at religion – which makes it a generally more entertaining game in my book, but YMMV. Overall, it’s a fun little distraction in short bursts.

The other game I tried is the basically unreviewed Hyper Fighters, which is a couple years old now (and a port of a Wii game that didn’t receive much in the way of reviews either). The game play is a “modern rail shooter”, which means it resembles an updated take on After Burn or even Space Harrier (though without the “monsters”), if you’re old enough to remember those. I was never very good at this sort of game, and playing with a keyboard and mouse doesn’t make me any better. The graphics are certainly a step up from the 2D games, but better graphics don’t necessarily make for a better game – and limiting the graphics to one resolution is pretty weak.

You have very limited control of an “advanced jet fighter” that can take an amazing amount of punishment. You progress through each level until you reach the huge end boss, which is probably the highlight in terms of graphics, but the bosses don’t really add anything other than a lot more bullets/missiles coming at you. Does that sound fun? Well, it’s not. As you’re on rails, you basically get a 3-10 second pass at the boss, and then spend another 5-10 seconds looking at the water/ground as you circle back for another strafing run. Later, rinse, repeat until either you or the boss are dead. The real problem is that your jet takes up a huge chunk of the screen, so dodging bullets/missiles is often impossible. I beat three levels/bosses on easy, and I think I’m done playing this game – how’s that for a resounding non-recommendation?

If you don’t mind playing an older game, the most promising title in the pack is probably Call of Juarez. I remember when this came out, and it received some “okay” reviews. So are you going to go play a seven year old game that was merely “okay” for $5? I doubt it. The Cossacks games (and the similar American Conquest) were also decently reviewed back in the day, but they’re now 9 and 13 years old. I’d suggest giving them to younger gamers to occupy their time, but they’re not exactly easy games (strategy/wargame material), so that’s out as well. I actually think 99 Levels to Hell is a better value, simply because at least it’s new and you can play it for 15-30 minutes and leave, having at least had a bit of fun.

The one saving grace is that if you see even one title in the above list that catches your eye (Ballpoint Universe, King Arthur II, or A Game of Dwarves?) the price is lower than what you would normally pay for any single game. This is in essence the blessing and curse of gaming bundles: you get a lot of games for your dollar, but many of them aren’t all that good. Another benefit is that most of these games are pretty light on system requirements, so even if you’re using a laptop that only has integrated graphics, many of the games will run “fast enough” to be playable. Ultimately, though, you’re basically looking at the equivalent of buying the cheapest fast food you can find as opposed to getting a more expensive but much nicer tasting meal at a sit-down restaurant.
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