MalTheDestroyer's game Reviews on Newgrounds

[Osiris II]

Not Bad.

Everything about this game is above average, but there are things that could definitely be improved upon (hence, the 7s):

-The engine. Pretty cool, especially given the level editing capabilities. The scrolling is nifty too, though it's annoying when the character falls faster than the camera follows and she ends up off the screen until the camera catches up. Also: the controls feel very sluggish. I have a new computer with 2 GB of RAM and a Core 2 Duo processor. Starcraft FA 5 runs at 93% on my rig. So it ain't because I need to set it at low quality--there's something up with the code itself.

-The graphics. Good, particularly in terms of the environmental detail, but as others have pointed out, the main character moves stiffly and looks quite unnatural.

-The sound. The sound effects are serviceable, but not much beyond that. The main theme music is very good; I wasn't too crazy about the music in the Temple of Bast, though. It was a little too "in your face" without actually energizing me.

-The combat. Annoying. The default weapon is awful, and you can't really do much running and dodging because you just end up rolling straight into traps.

-The puzzles. Very simplistic. Not even as complex as the "find the key card for this door" puzzles in old shooter games.

There are many areas here where there is room for improvement, but on the whole you've done a good job with this release. Keep working on it! :-)

ChromeShark responds:

Thanks, that's a really helpful review.

The slow falling was pretty hard to get around, any faster and she sometimes fell through platforms. This'll need a rethink for chapter III.

Not sure what causes the sluggish gameplay, I've played it fine on some PCs. I'll have a play about with it.

If you play the first chapter you can see that the main character movement is much better than before, but I'll admit there is still room for improvement. Jumping and falling in particular I think are quite robotic-looking.

I'd have liked to have had the atmospheric music throughout but it was pretty hard finding enough that fitted, so I went for heavier tracks on the boss levels.

I'm not to thrilled with the combat either, although it's improved since the first chapter, for chapter III I'm tempted to try something very different (hint - no mouse, no guns).

Although I will try and vary the puzzles up next time, I don't want to make anything that people might get stuck on, because that can be really irritating.

Thanks again, I'll certainly use this review to help when I get round to making chapter III (got another game planned before that one though).