Recent reviews by Fox San

As someone who runs a private server for a few friends every once in a while (when we feel like playing), Altitude is an easy-to-play, easy-to-setup game that we can jump in and out of very quickly. It's very fun for brief stretches of time, and the server options are customizable to favor both the experienced and the new.

In a sense, Altitude's multiplayer reminds me of the feeling of old-school FPSes with the openness of maps and hectic gameplay. The flight and speed of the varying ships have a bit of a learning curve, but once you find that ship that's "just right" for you, you'll either feel like a aerial master or a bomber of death.

The levelling system with perks do lock away some interesting abilities, but for the most part, we haven't seen an issue where the perks themselves overpower players. Thankfully, the only real determining factor is a person's piloting skill. Learn to fly, and you can get into this game without a problem.

Keep gameplay short, as playing it for long stretches of time will wear you down.

4 out of 5 foxes.

Dustforce is a relentlessly unforgiving platformer, even moreso than Super Meat Boy. In most platformers, there are usually a few different ways to approach problems. In Dustforce, however, you are forced into a single kind of "perfect run" to progress normally through the game. You can complete stages without these perfect runs, but by doing so, you lock yourself out of so many stages. Perfection is demanded of you in this game.

I'm the kind of person that really enjoys a challenge, but the level of timing, reaction, knowledge, and control demanded of the player is so insane that I made it about 75% of the game before finally stopping to retain my sanity. When you can pull off what it demanded, it is an amazing feeling. But sometimes the game feels incredibly inconsistent, and I know that's only because the timing on everything in this game is on a hair-trigger.

I find it really hard to recommend this game except to anyone who is masochistic about challenging games. I did actually really enjoy it myself (I am one of those people), but I also know this is not the kind of game that almost anyone else would be able to enjoy the way I was able to.

3 out of 5 foxes.

Gemini Rue is a pretty standard point-and-click adventure with a fantastic plot. It appears to be a straight and to-the-point point-and-click adventure game telling a story in a no-nonsense dystopian future involving a detective searching for his brother imprisoned within a testing facility. But when you learn that the facility is for rehabilitating criminals by wiping their memories and starting them with a fresh slate, it begins to make you question what makes us who we really are.

Despite being fairly low-res, the game does look good. However, it does not cooperate well with multi-monitors, the Steam overlay, and alt-tabbing. Also, the save system stores saves in two separate locations depending on how you launch the game. The actual point-and-clicking is fairly standard, but there are a few points in the game involving some really sub-par combat that the game could have gone without. These broken systems all make the game's presentation feel a lot cheaper and incredibly fragile to run. I'd rate this game higher if it wasn't for these issues, but they were so prevalent that it bugged me every time I played. If you can overlook functional bugs, definitely see your way through this game for a fantastic finale.

3 out of 5 foxes.

Dungeon Defenders is a surprisingly deep multiplayer tower defense/action RPG. Take an action RPG with character progression, attach the loot system of Diablo (random equipment drops with stats), and then add objectives to defend with towers to help you defend, and you've got Dungeon Defenders. While it sounds like a crazy mashup of too many genres, it somehow all works beautifully.

This game truly shines when playing multiplayer. I have spent many hours playing this with various groups of friends. The character progression doesn't get in the way or lock others out because you can create additional characters with different abilities, letting you not only make a more fun game for everyone, but also enabling you to play a different way altogether.

Highly recommended as a semi-casual, play-at-your-own-pace group game.

5 out of 5 foxes.

Rayman Origins is an excellent side-scrolling 2D platformer. The animation and artwork is incredible, and you'll constantly be amazed at how well everything looks when in motion. The soundtrack is a bit crazy - the game uses a made-up babbling language for both its characters and the music, very reminiscent of LocoRoco's and still extremely catchy (though not nearly as mind-wormingly irritating long after playing). The platforming mechincs are extremely simple, and expand as you continue into the game. Environmental hazards, however, vary how you'll approach each stage, especially when you start attempting speed runs.

Speaking of speed runs, one unfortunate omission is a lack of Steam achievements. Though the game rewards certain tasks throughout the game, there are a lot of unique challenges missing from within the game that show up in the game's console counterpart. Regardless, the challenges are fun and the game as a whole does not hold back on difficulty.

5 out of 5 foxes.

Easiest game I have ever 100%ed.

5 out of 5 foxes.

Rocket Knight was a great game for the Sega Genesis, due to its fast-paced, almost arcadey, nature and the fun of what you got due to the limitations of games on consoles at the time. This game is pretty much exactly the same as the previous Rocket Knight game - the physics are similar and the gameplay mechanics are still entirely intact - but it doesn't quite do anything interesting. This could pretty much be Rocket Knight 2, released a year after the original game, if you ignore the 3D graphics. The gameplay is good but not great, the story is not told particularly well, and the platforming is a bit inconsistent at times.

Though I'm down on this game for not being inventive, it is still a good follow-up to the original Rocket Knight game. If you've ever wanted another Rocket Knight game, this is exactly that, for all the strengths and weaknesses that entails.

3 out of 5 foxes.

This is an okay first person platformer/puzzler. If you don't mind horrible, horrible puns and you're in the mood for interesting brain teasers Portal-style, this will keep you entertained for a little bit. The puzzles are mostly very simple - you're not going to find almost anything that will stump you, but from time to time you'll see an ingenious use of one or two physical mechanics related to your powers.

At $20, this game pretty much lived up to its expectations for the price, but didn't surpass them. The story that drives you forward is silly-dumb and will make you wish for a more interesting plot, but it's mostly ignorable.

Get this only if you miss FPS puzzle games and you don't want to play Portal again.

2 out of 5 foxes.

This was a pleasant surprise of a space sim, in which the focus is as much on the 2D top-down space combat as it is on resource collection, faction negotiation/manipulation, and technology collection. It has a very RPG feel - as you gain experience and level, you place points into the systems of your ship that you most rely on, forcing you to always evaluate your strategy as there are MANY different systems to put points into, and the ships that you receive all use them differently.

I did not expect to get sucked into this game, nor did I expect it to last as long as it did. Be careful with this one - it can get addictive very quickly. And once you get going, it's going to carry you a lot longer than you'll expect. It does get too repetitive towards the end of the game, and a lot of that time was spent grinding out materials.

3 out of 5 foxes.

When I started Grimrock, I was expecting a simple dungeon crawler with good graphics. This game ended up being so much more than that. This game has incredible puzzles requiring speed, wit, cunning, and an attention to detail. The battles are a constant struggle between life and death, and require fancy footwork to survive. The pacing and discovery are superb. The story is told through items, scrolls, and dreams, and immerses you in the mystery of Grimrock.

I never thought I'd be able to fall back in love with such an old-school concept as a 3D dungeon crawler, but Grimrock not only does everything right, but does it with so many surprises that you'll constantly enjoy your adventure into the unknown.

5 out of 5 foxes.