Recent reviews by Mooseman

https://youtu.be/BcL3zqN7Z2g

• Extremely accessible and easy to jump right into. Anyone who has played VR will instantly start having fun the moment they try the game without a tutorial.
  
• Songs are all player created, which results in notes being synced up with the rhythm much better than Audioshield.
  
• Creating songs is easy and requires no outside editor. Simply playing a song freeform will result in the songs notes being created from your punches.

• Very low skill ceiling, if you have ANY experience with rhythm games you will have no trouble acing even the hardest songs with only a tiny bit of practice.
  
• User created songs can be dull or outright bad if the author of the song doesn’t have rhythm or try to improvise dance moves.
  
• Reliance on YouTube for songs makes it difficult-impossible for those in countries that block YouTube videos (Germany) or people without consistent internet to play.

Soundboxing, in essence, is a hybrid of precision rhythm games like DDR, and dancing rhythm games like Dance Central. While you are still hitting a sequence of notes, you also feel like you are naturally dancing to the beat; more so than any other rhythm game I’ve played. Anyone can easily jump in and have a good time because at its base the game is insanely fun. That being said the game does lack a skill ceiling as even the hardest songs in the game are easily playable to anyone with any skill in rhythm games. While it’s not the most depth filled rhythm game, it definitely shines as a cheap, fun party game that easily belongs in everyone’s Vive repertoire.

https://youtu.be/ibsZ5Gh8Uqs

• Huge level of customization with 93 species, 15 government types, civilization ethics and civilization traits make for thousands of possible combinations of unique civilizations.
  
• Game does an excellent job combining the RTS mechanics with the 4X style of gameplay by keeping the maneuverability and control of an RTS while also the depth of a 4X game.
  
• Stellaris provides a massive amount of depth when it comes to potential diplomacy between players. Vassal states, alliances, federations all provide players with the building blocks to build up and break down each other’s empires.

• There is no tech tree rather you get 3 semi-random choices of technology which prevents a lot of long term strategy and planning from working.
  
• Game suffers from pacing issues as once all the stars are explored there is a lot of waiting around for stuff to finish with nothing to do during times of peace.
  
• Primary weapon and defense technologies are very generic, there are some cool weapons you can get from side quests but 75% of the part upgrades are the exact same thing but with slightly higher stats.

Stellaris is first and foremost a multiplayer game and my recommendation of Stellaris is only as a multiplayer game. As a single player experience the game is lackluster because there is only so much cooperation you can do with the AI and even then the game tends to stagnate once you have explored the entire region. That’s not to say that the AI is bad, but where the diplomatic and governmental systems shine brightest is when they are being used with and against real players. How much enjoyment you get out of the game will be directly based on if you can get your friends together, team up, and blowing each other out of the galaxy.

Game was provided by the developer solely for review purposes with no compensation or incentive to give a positive review. If you have any questions or concerns about my journalistic integrity please feel free to ask.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-uEsP1a1Nc

• Frankly some of the best music I’ve heard in an indie game. Each song is catchy, fun and makes the soundtrack alone worth the price of the game.
  
• A ton of hidden objectives and unlockables that make the game have a surprising amount of replayability. Additional game modes and developer commentary for each level just to name a few.
  
• Free demo of the entire composition mode available at: http://bitfinitygames.com/composition-mode-demo/

• Composition mode songs are shared through QR code which may make it virtually impossible for those without a webcam or smart phone to share songs in addition to being a general pain overall.
  
• You can only save up to custom 12 songs locally, meaning it is impossible to build up a big library of user created music.

Tadpole Treble is the epitome of what an aesthetic and music focused game should be; simple gameplay made fun by good game design and an outstanding soundtrack. Each world encompasses a completely different genre and theme that throws a new challenge at you keeping each level fresh even though the gameplay is simplistic. Backwards levels, giant turtles, angry piranhas; I’m hard pressed to find even a single level that is the same as another. But what really separates the levels is the music. Almost every song in the game is of some of the best written music I have seen in an indie game. Most of the songs are extremely memorable, so much so that I’ve actually downloaded a few of my favorites for personal listening. My only real issue is that the composition mode could be more user friendly, but gameplay wise for 10$ the game is definitely worth a play.

Game was provided by the developer solely for review purposes with no compensation or incentive to give a positive review. If you have any questions or concerns about my journalistic integrity please feel free to ask.

https://youtu.be/uUqXRnxDrZ4

• Great cinematics show off the beauty of the most important stages in the story with a powerful impact.
  
• The game does a good job of transitioning from one environment to an extremely different environment in a way that keeps the abstract dream feel of the game.
  
• Environments, especially large open ones, have a great feeling of awe and beauty.

• The lens flare in this game is so bright and overpowering that it completely ruins the aesthetic. There is no way to turn it down or off and will give you a guaranteed headache.
  
• Puzzles are laughably simple, all but maybe 1 or 2 of them take seconds to figure out completely.
  
• Story is predictable and short (game is less than 2 hours at a medium pace). It will still provoke some emotion but it’s more of a visual short story than a visual novel.
  
• Outside of the cinematics the game’s technical graphics are lackluster. Object pop-in and immersion breaking visual bugs are constant, no anti-aliasing of any kind, and amateurish visual effects especially in the water.

N.E.R.O. is a game that, if flawlessly executed, would still only appeal to a small handful of people who enjoy walking-simulator style games with very little gameplay. But N.E.R.O. is not flawless; rather it is full of bad graphical decisions, a mediocre-at-best story, and boring, uninspired puzzles. Outside of maybe 1 or 2 puzzles, each puzzle in the game has you looking at the environment to find a hint and then pressing a set of buttons in the right order with almost zero thought required. My CONS section contains a lot of negatives regarding visuals and rightfully so because at its core this game is a visual novel and each time my partner walked through a solid metal gate, or half a building popped in it took me out of the immersion of the story. The only extremely solid visuals in this game are the cinematics which show off a beautiful world that I wish I would have experienced in the game.

If you don’t want to watch the whole video review just make SURE you at least watch some gameplay to see how bad the lens flare gets while moving; I am not just being picky there is a reason the only official steam store video is a cinematic. Game key provided by publisher for review purposes.

https://youtu.be/jal2Ttv-T2A

• Ship combat is easy, accessible, and stresses fun over realism but still keeps the realistic feel alive. Combat is fast paced and rewards daring maneuvers.
  
• Extremely unique ships with crazy weapons such as drills, catapults and boat rams makes each time you fight a new ship a new experience. Higher end ships are NOT just stronger copies of the smaller ships.
  
• Warhammer universe inherently gives the game a lot of potential lore to work off of.
  
• Easy to understand trade system takes the pain out trading while still allowing more advanced players the option to profit greatly if they are smart about which city needs what resource.

• Only Orcs and Humans are currently in the game as well as the map being limited to the first few cities resulting in only a few hours of content being currently available.
  
• Sailing is long and boring, even with a 2x time speed up it takes a bit too long to get anywhere especially when you have to run back and forth during quests.
  
• There is severe graphical hitching when loading in new ships or cities. Framerate also is very inconsistent even on my GTX 970.
  
• Quests need balancing, as many of the longer quests give you extremely low amounts of gold in relation to how much work you do.

As someone who hated Naval Action for having long drawn out boring battles Man O’ War really hits the spot for me by providing fast paced, fun ship vs ship combat. Ship combat and control is simplified with you only needing to worry about the range of your shots and the direction of the wind, giving the game a more casual (but still deep) gameplay feel. The biggest problem with the game is that there is only a tiny bit of content available; you are restricted to only exploring around 1/10th of the map and interacting with only 4 factions which you will quickly run out of things to do with. While I don’t think this game is currently worth the price tag, I do think it is a game that will eventually grow into one of the best naval combat games available as it progresses through early access. Game key aquired from developer for free for review purposes.

https://youtu.be/u57e_xSp-2Y

• Chicku makes me want to throw my controller at the wall constantly…but in a good way. Gameplay is silly and challenging to appeal to both hardcore platformer fans and those just looking for a laugh.
  
• Entire game is 4-player local co-op compatible, making it an outstanding party game. Anyone can instantly drop in and out of the game without interrupting gameplay.
  
• 240 levels is plenty of content to keep you satisfied.

• Some levels have a bit too much randomness thrown in, resulting in scenarios where you need to get lucky to win.
  
• Chicken controls are a bit tough to get used to.
  
• Pretty much required to have a controller to play the game as the precision of movement necessary to beat some of the harder levels is nearly impossible on keyboard.

Chicku is the love child between Super Meat Boy and Flappybird creating a game that is a well-designed and unique take on the platforming genre. Your goal is to fly your chicken through the maze avoiding grinders, grills, and other obstacles dangerous to chickens. There are 120 unique levels in the game and an additional 120 nightmare levels. The nightmare levels are the same layout as the original levels but with a TON more obstacles and traps. Best of all you can play the entire game with your friends, as every level in the game can be played local co-op. While the game can be frustrating at times overall it’s a silly, rewarding experience that has more than enough content to be worth the $13 price tag.

https://youtu.be/0WAHtQsAglY

• Satisfying twin-stick gameplay that improves upon the mechanics from the original FORCED.
  
• Hearthstone-style card system creates a whole new hybrid style balancing deck building skill and RNG effectively.
  
• Great looking aesthetic and amazing art direction accentuates the “game show” feel.
  
• Daily events give the game more replayability by allowing you to compete on leaderboards in monthly tournaments.

• Game has some problems with low replayability if you do not enjoy the daily events as there are only 3 campaigns.
  
• A bit buggy at times, ESPECIALLY if you play Ravager there are some strange interactions with his dash.
  
• Only 4 characters feels a bit lacking.
  
• NO multiplayer, which is odd considering one of the selling points of the original FORCED was the co-op.

FORCED SHOWDOWN is a twin-stick shooter that introduces a unique card system into the traditional formula. Instead of relying on traditional itemization your upgrades are based on the cards that you put in your deck. What this does is allow you to customize how you want to play your champion while still keeping some of the random nature of a rogue-lite style game. While I don’t think the card system is going to be redefining any genres, it works well and the game represents one of the most polished twin stick shooters in recent times. The solid gameplay and well developed aesthetic gives the game a feeling of quality, much more so than the original FORCED. The game is good, very good but it’s also a game that I believe needs additional content in the future to keep players around. So far following this game I’ve come to trust the developers are planning on supporting this game to a great degree, and hopefully more campaigns and characters help flesh out an already great addition to the twin-stick genre.

https://youtu.be/AikH3fqRNpM

• Combines twin-stick and rogue-like/lite elements perfectly to provide satisfying combat with strategic choices.
  
• All abilities feel useful. While some combos obviously work better each ability has individual strengths that give it a unique role.
  
• Skill always trumps luck. RNG will fight you but never kill you unfairly.
  
• Extremely high replay value, 50-100+ hours of gameplay if you enjoy the game and want more.

• Spirit level takes a long time to level up. Don’t expect to have access to all abilities/weapons/races for a long time.
  
• Sprites are reused a bit too frequently with very little variation. Even most bosses are just resized and recolored normal enemies.

Flamebreak takes the Binding of Isaac formula to the next level by combining it with the rogue-like/lite elements of FTL. This combination creates a game that not only requires mechanical skill but also good strategic planning as well. Each time you play the abilities of your character will be randomized in addition to the map being randomized resulting in each playthrough being a completely different experience. It is impossible to overstate how much replayability this game has, even the main game mode will take you quite a while to beat (still working on it myself) and even after that there are challenges and more difficulty modes to keep you interested well into 100+ hours. If you enjoy the twin-stick genre and are looking for a challenge then Flamebreak is definitely worth a buy.

https://youtu.be/1ElRz4_jrT8

• Easy to understand where problems are and what buildings require what simply by looking at indicator lights on buildings.
  
• Large canvas to build with, 4 layers of building space.

• Lack of any meaningful progression system. All science upgrades are just stat boosts/different buildings that do the same thing.
  
• No reason to expand or build. Only requirement is to survive 50 years, nothing to find or explore even in the deep levels of the underground.
  
• Requirements for survival are barebones, nothing outside of food is required. Everything else (including lack of Oxygen) just slows your workers down.
  
• Bad AI prioritization when it comes to tasks
  
• Generic, uninspired fallout shelter theme. No story or missions beyond the tutorial.

Life in Bunker is crippled by its bad AI and lack of any meaningful progression. As you spend time trying to survive underground you quickly begin to realize that the best strategy to reaching the 50 cycle mark and escaping the bunker is to simply sustain your population. The game does nothing to reward expansion; in fact the only way you will probably ever lose is by expanding too much and watching the AI struggle to build things any distance away from the start point. While most games in this genre don’t have a central goal, they reward and naturally push players to expand their cities, and this being absent in Life in Bunker shows a critical misunderstanding of the genre by the developers. Tack on a generic fallout shelter theme and you have a recipe a for a mediocre and boring management game.

https://youtu.be/zrz0WV7XVXk

• Game is only limited by your ability. Never need to spend time waiting for your economy to grow because all your resources are based on how well you design your production factories.
  
• High depth and complexity but still a great learning curve that naturally progresses you to more advanced technologies.
  
• Makes great use of the isometric visuals in both gameplay and aesthetics.
  
• Free demo available with a few of the campaign missions for you to play.

• Currently lacks sufficient end game content.
  
• Laying train track is annoying to do.
  
• Only 4 campaign missions currently available.
  
• No steam integration (need to add mods and join multiplayer games manually).

If you are looking at this game and are thinking that it looks too difficult I implore you to think again. Factorio is a resource management and building game that perfectly balances challenge and accessibility by making the factory systems easy to understand but with enough depth that it will take you weeks to master. Your goal is to survive on an alien planet and to do so you will have to make use of conveyor systems to transport resources around your base. Each time you play you will end up adjusting your building strategies to create better and better factories, but not because you have to but because you want to. Factorio naturally paces itself with your level of play, teaching you everything you need to know through the campaign and allowing you to set the difficulty of the game extensively in sandbox mode. In terms of early access games, this one is up there with Kerbal Space Program as one of the best, and I highly recommend you at least check out the demo if you aren’t sold on buying the full game. (Review represents 30 hours presteam game time)