Games Review: World of Goo (Like Playing With Old Aunties)

Blogging, like the facts of life, is an attribute of a person that grows with the person as the person grows up, though facts of life are much less embarrassing to discover as your interviewee did more research on your background on the internet. Especially after your promising interview with said company.

Not that I have any horror interview stories to share (an interesting blog topic nonetheless) but a fact of my life that I’ve discovered while -trying to- growing up is being acquainted with a gaggle of old geese (to put it lightly) which I have mentioned around the blog messages as the Surau Aunties.

For multicultural readers, a surau is a religious Muslim building too small to be a registered centre, too exclusive to include large memberships and too unofficial to pay taxes to the government. Kind of like private banks in United States, only without the current economic recession and the CEOs don’t disappear in private jets (surau members fly AirAsia, which is far easier to track them down as AirAsia’s flights aren’t that timely anyway).

Surau Aunties don’t exist back in the pre-2008 Aidilfitri mainly because the said Surau (capital-S) I’m affiliated with wasn’t big enough to contain all their hot air, risking explosion. Now that the Surau had installed air-conditioning, every lady with pre- or pretend-menopause within a 30 kilometer radius flocked into the crescent-topped white cube to enjoy its climate control and exchange recipes, gossip and recipes for gossip.

So before we deviate from the blog title, what does Surau Aunties have anything to do with the game I’m writing about? A lot of similarities.

Oh God (pun intended), a whole lot of similarities.

World of Goo.

This simulation game was a smash hit when it came out sometime ago due to its simplicity of interface and yet the complexity of the gameplay, both adding up to a funny storyline into a whole lot of fun. Now if you know me, as I’ve yet to figure that out who is myself yet, I’m more of an rpg-fantasy-reader with dungeons and dragons around every corner, the 3D the better, especially when you beat a monster to crap.

Naturally, I didn’t thought of reviewing said game, especially since I couldn’t find the *ahem* full version to download. But LM, the youngest intern in where I work, took a short break from his Devil May Cry 4 to play something less devil, more squeaking than crying and a whole lot of numbers multiplied by 4.

So when the screams of death were suddenly replaced by sounds effects that can only be defined as ‘cute’, I had to check and see if LM had fallen sick and was playing a girly game. Far from the truth, World of Goo is a very tasking operation.


Playing with their balls.


Launch them gooey balls.

Designers from 2D Boy games had come up with a unique and refreshing game that brings in a lot of physics into play. The goal is straight-forward enough; link a chain of balls from a limited number of goo to become a stable structure and get close enough to the suction pipe for the rest of the goo balls to disappear to.

Infected with its cuteness, I downloaded a demo version to give it a try. Soon enough, I was building massive structures of web-linked goos, all trying to go against gravity in pursuing the elusive suction pipe on the other end.


All goos are naturally attracted to the tunnel at the end of the light.


If your structure is weak, it’ll collapse into pieces.

Here are no fight quests or boss monsters; your greatest enemy is gravity and wayward goos. There’s more to it than just building towers. There are also bridges across ravines and getting out of tight spots inside tumbling boxes and chambers. Every goo counts as most of the goos can’t be detached once they become the structure, only that good calculating (and occasionally, good timing!) can get the rest of the goos up toward the suction pipe.

And just like designing a building, the taller you get, the stronger the winds, making your goo tower sway and rock, ever risking massive deconstruction damage. I often had to click Retry or use up a lot of Time-Bugs (to reverse a move) even after only 3 minutes into the game due to bad calculations.


Why some goo balls are detachable.


Extra goo balls receive new benefits.

Hilarious. It is important that every goo ball’s mission is to serve the World of Goo Corporation for the advancements of goo balls everywhere. So innuendos and expressions and even references to real world irony are present in every chapter, like offshore resources, cosmetic surgery, politics and caffeinated beverages (in no particular order).

Again, reminds us all how very cute human nature can be as lumps of goo. (hehehehehehe!).

Which brings us back to how much playing World of Goo drew similarities between me being with my Surau Aunties and playing with an ever-moving force of miniature proportions poking fun in the form of jumping, squeaky, squiggly, yipping goo, that in all heart, each trying to fit itself into a purpose for something bigger and sturdier.

Like a mass of goo, all my Surau Aunties look alike and I can never tell then apart.
Like a mass of goo, all my Surau Aunties squeak in high-pitched sound effects that I don’t understand but smile anyway.
Like a mass of goo, all my Surau Aunties think they’re more delicious than the other.
Like a mass of goo, all my Surau Aunties are hard to detach once they stick to you or got stuck to another Surau Auntie.
And like a mass of goo I’ve been playing with, all my Surau Aunties are best at picking up when you’re down.


During festive holidays, Surau Aunties come in storms.

PS: Downloads for this demo can be found at 2D Boy's World of Goo Site.
PPS: Coincidently, if you can’t enjoy the full version of the game, you can still enjoy the play-by-play YouTube commentary by Gamer Shini1984 about the full version of the World of Goo (warning, use of excessive language. I mean, duuuuuh~...).

Games Review: Astro Avenger 2 by Sahmon Games

If there’s anything I love more than RPG genre games, it’s flying shooter arcades. In fact, it’s the very earliest game arcade game I’ve ever played.

Remember when Windows was still in 95 and there wasn’t any Pinball game, there was this sci-fi jet-fighter game. I totally forgot its name (it was so damn long time ago, bleh!) but some of my fondest memories of visiting my grandmother in Tangjung Malim was playing on my uncle’s PC and shooting the crap out of midget enemy ships on pixelated visual.

After dearest NekWan passed on, I still hadn’t changed. Still love flying shooter arcade.

This gem I found is from Sahmon Games production. Yes, I haven’t heard of the gamehouse, but apparently this game is a sequel from the first one by Divo Games. Yes, I haven’t played that game either, but the reviews of the first games sounded pretty good.

And from the online buzz, second game sounded to be better.

Astro Avenger 2 by Sahmon Games


Rocket-pigs eats your ‘dirty strings.’

The story is short and sweet, little to no characterization, which, despite my stance support for in-depth storyline in games reviews, I really don’t mind it all that much in shooters.

Must be the adrendaline. Gameplay people, it’s the gaaaaaaameplay!!

After the first wave, a new order had risen and human are actively colonizing the distant planets again. Then comes a whole host of alien ships with bigger and badder asses marauding and taking over the human colonies, raping the field and burning the women.

Boy, that is evil.


Awww, look at my babies. They take care of mommy-ship very well.


F**kf**kf**kf**kf**kf**kf**kf**kf**k...!

Storyline:
Short and sweet, not much interesting to me. Other than a background story, there’s no special characters, no dialogue, not even an angry supervisor with a volatile temper, a bad comb-over and spitting half-chewed cigar in a Russian accent. Just your ship, a secret weapon and an alien population of 60 trillion and reducing.

Oooo, really fast reduction, me likes.

Gameplay:
Now here’s where it gets interesting. What I usually do with space shooter is keep holding down the left mouse button, stay to bottom of the screen and watch out for the enemies’ laser and the rockets (mostly the rockets).

I call it the ‘drunk flying’ strategy since you flying all over the place. I still do that but with great restraint now.

Your ship is included with the laser’s battery packs that recharge themselves. Continuous firing makes it go really low and that’s really shit when you get in a tight spot with these blue alienships with mean guided missles (I call them Rocket-pigs).

Your currency is plasma, which you use for repairs, upgrades, your own set of rockets and having little baby droids watch your all-360 degress. I can get stronger lasers but I still prefer laser no. 3 aka dirty strings, because it’s so effective.

Visual:
Awesome. I liked the damage look on the ship as your life stat goes low. The animations’ aren’t superific but they they’re all pretty sexy hot. I buy each rocket class just to see how it blows up (stay away when your nuclear misslles blows though; can cause collateral damage).

The best part is that the screens isn’t slow or choppy and I use a piece of crap that’s only pretending to be a PC. *hehehe!*

Music and Sound:
Nothing superific but I can definitely say that it does not suck. I usually turn off the sounds but I liked how certain little aliens occasionally give this digitize little ‘oww’ after I killed them.



Using the Immortality shield, I turn myself into a hamsterball-cum-wrecking-ball. Too bad it doesn’t last very long.


Big Boss Crap. I knew I shouldn’t have used up the immortality shield so quickly.

My own helpful tips for playing Astro Avenger 2:

- Adjust mouse sentitivity to suit your hand-eye coordination.

- Be mindful of your battery packs. Your laser gun slows down when it gets too low and that’ll be a b***h against the Rocket-pigs.

- Keep upgrading your first and second laser weapon to full potential. Once you get at least new ship No. 3, then use money to upgrade new laser weapons, preferably new laser weapon no. 3. Having new ships before new laser weapons means that your upgraded battery packs won’t run dry too quickly by your shiny new gun.

- Once ship upgraded, keep holding left mouse button while flying at all times. I managed to get best ship inside World 3.

- Forget having babies in the earlier levels. Upgrade your ship past puberty first.

- Stay close to your babies. They tend to wander off. Better not have babies if your favourite strategy is ‘drunk flying’.

- While in earlier levels, sell all your rockets. This way, you get new pack when you kill the first wave of alien ships. However, remember to stock up with at least 15 rockets prior to big boss battle (laser does very little damage).

- When you see the Big Boss, preferably to use laser no. 3 or no. 4 (auto track-and-kill). Keep to sideways of screen. Best applied by getting behind Big Boss, giving you 3 seconds relapse before it literally turns over and upside-down, spitting its shit at you again.

- See Last Boss.
- Last Boss is hell to kill.
- Stock up on shiplives and plasma (money).
- Get lots of plasma; sell lesser rockets leftover.
- Secret Weapon needs Plasma; nothing else can kill Last Boss.
- Kill Last Boss.
- Die Last Boss, die.

PS: Downloads for this game can be found at Reflexive Arcade. If you want the cracked version, ask me nicely.

Games Review: Mystery Case Files, Madam Fate by Big Fish Games

Hehehehe, I can’t resist hidden objects games, can’t I?

Two reasons pertaining to yet another hidden objects genre game as a blog review is because firstly, I found that they really bring up blog traffic. Thanks to my 3 widgets (Feedjit, Nuffnang and MyBlogLog), the genre’s puzzles are some of the damn-est Help-Me-Google on the search count.

I get a hit on my game reviews at least twice a day. Got to love random strangers. They have a unique IP address for my Statcounter.

Well, let’s get started. Today’s blog entry is the review for the game I’ve cracked called Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate by one of the reigning lords of game developer and distributor, Big Fish Games.

The game, which we shall call MCFMF for short, is the fourth installment for an ever continuing tale of you, the player, solving literary messy cases on behalf of Merry Ol’ England.

From the previous MCF game, you left now-less-haunted-house of Ravenhearst to follow the call of help for Madame Fate’s, er, fate.

Mystery Case Files: Madam Fate


Yeah, sure-sure. Look, I only accept cash or credit card, not super-real-big-win-lottery numbers, okay?.

Madame Fate owns a crooked traveling carnival that looks to be on the brink of collapse but it’s her life, not her business, that’s bothering her to bother you. Her little shiny orb had just revealed that she’s going to die at the stroke of midnight!

Of course.

Well, some people just won’t die without a fight and fight sneakily she shall by using you to approach her suspects. As it turns out, from the mermaid to Fate’s fat son, all her employees are suspects to her foretold imminent death. Each has their own agenda to knock her lights out but it will be the All-Seeing Ball which will tell specifically the man with the smoking gun.


There are lots of fun rides in Fate’s carnival. Play at your own risk.


Your secret identity is safe, but you still have to play janitor.

Just like in every hidden objects game, you need to find various items, from as mundane as birds and bees to as bizarre as fixing up a few spots like turning on a green light or placing a feather in a hat.

That’s what made the MCF games so unique. Unlike other find-and-click-and-click-and-click-and-click-s’more techniques, this game requires you to complete a few non-repetitive tasks in other to get what the crystal ball is looking for.


You can also interrogate the members themselves too, but most as not as easy as this one.


Each carny member have their own agenda against Madame Fate.

Storyline:
Oh, I could have sand in my eyes and still see the ending coming in from a mile away. But MCFMF games wasn’t it! It was not until investigating the last two suspects that I was beginning to think Madame Fate’s fate correctly and thought, “Hey, that’s different.”

Still, it didn’t blow me away. Unlike The Vanishing Files, MCFMF’s storyline have no character development other than just watching TV-like of their midnight activities. However, like all previous MCF games, it all ends with a ‘To be continued...’

Gameplay:
Methinks, is the best form for this game. There are some really original puzzles never seen before, or a totally new upgrade from old puzzles. I liked best was the Medicine Man and the Tattooed Man puzzles. They’re all quite challenging and I had to confess nooby-ness and surf for walkthroughs. *hehehe!*

There are also other little bits and pieces in the game that have no function in solving or aiding puzzle completion but they’re quite fun to click and see animated.

Visuals:
It’s not as pretty as the Spirit of Wandering game or the Mystery in London game, but unlike some few others, MCFMF really do hide their stuff instead of just chucking photo cut-outs in colour coordinated sections.

Nothing special actually, only that it’s one of the really hardest games to find the stated objects. Not remarkable but pretty nice. It’s the puzzles gameplay that are much more impressive, thank you.

Music and Sound Effects:
Often overlooked, Big Fish Games made this flaw as usual. I did like some of the special sound effects like that crazy laughter when you click certain characters during the puzzles, but overall, it didn’t affect me as a player and mostly I just turn it off.


See into the All-Seeing Ball... to fine more damn puzzles!


By solving the Ball’s riddles, you get to see the suspect’s final performance.

Duly recommend this game for all hidden object games out there. Just make sure you have a weekend to spare as because this is a timed game and you probably won’t be able to leave your PC or you might miss something! *hahaha!*

I’m definitely looking forward to the next MCF in the series but I think I can wait, no problem.

PS: A complete, step-by-step walkthrough for this game can be found at Gamezebo.com’s Tips and Tricks..

Downloads for this game can be found at Reflexive Arcade. If you want the cracked version, ask me nicely.

Games Review: Magic Match Adventures by Oberon Media

Hoooome Aloooooooooooone!!

At last! Gone! Whoosh! Sayonara! See ya!

This is me in a very empty semi-D house for the next 2 weeks. Junk food for dinner and 7-Eleven slurpee for breakfast. It’s like cuti-cuti kosong all over again. Too bad I have no bigger plans than play games, shop for jeans and read paperbacks.

Heh, I’ll let you know if I have anything new to report, but first I’ll like to blab about a really nice game I’ve been checking out during that Thurday’s day off.

Generally, when it comes to writing reviews, I choose games that are not too big on the gameplay and more emphasis on visuals and storyline. Which is a shame because gameplay puts the ‘game’ in the concept’s ‘play’.

Enough paragraph bladding, let’s get to the novel thing I tried out.

Magic Match Adventures by Oberon Media


Match 3 or more elements to accumulate enough items for the Red Spell.

I don’t always fall for the matching games, maybe because I’m kind of bad at it. The tool of the trade here is to be presented with a squarish board of various miscellaneous icons which the player must find the ones neighbouring each other in a set of 3 or more sequence.

If you’ve played games like Bejeweled 2, Cradle of Persia, Zuma or even Sushi Do, I betcha you get what I mean. Though I can fall for a pretty visual and a charming tale (ladies, beware), I can’t judge a game by those two only.


If you’ve suddenly turned careless, Evil must be afoot!


It’s up to you to save the Imp World because everybody’s too busy playing...

Magic Match Adventures is the third game in the series created by Oberon Media, one of the fanciest game-makers you can download online in the current market. This game is a story all by itself and you don’t have to seek out their previous installments to get immersed into the story.

You are welcomed into the Imp World with this ridiculous kiddie song that must have been a reject from the Wiggles TV series (I knew from that moment that Sound/Music is no biggie in this game’s development). The imps, who looked like a product union between chimpanzees and hobbits, are having a party in each of their homeland.

However, an invisible gremlin seemed to have jinxed all their preparations for the festival. Water pumps broken, row boats getting out of control, carts broken, merchandise malfunction and all other sort of absurdities of which nothing but a Red Spell can’t fix.

And yes, you’re the guy who’s going to save the fiesta.


Every imp community uses different elements in their Red Spell potion.


If you’re good at this, you get a trophy for certain milestones.

For an arcade-type game, the storyline is not bad at all. I liked watching the imps at work from my bird’s eye view and they’re as interesting in their antics in all levels on the Cute Factor. The gameplay, enhanced with potion grabbing, mana gathering, spell-casting and iced squares (that one bugs me the most) is definitely a new plus in the matching genre.

Ooo, not to mention that there’s 4 boss battles you’ll have to face too (match your stuff before your opponent does!).

Storyline, very nice; gameplay, very interesting, not bad at all. Visuals? The combination of 3D characters and 2D environment is a nice touch. But it’s the Sound/Music that severely irks me.

I think the music is supposed to make it look cute and one would have thought this is a children’s game. But it isn’t at all; gets damn difficult as you level. The sound effects is nothing grand; in fact the drum pounding indicating me running out of time just agitates me somemore.

I guess the producers know that majority of us rather play with the sound off anyway. Heh.


Yay, you saved the Water Imps. Now run! Go save the other before they make you eat their sun-dried sushi!


The trophy room, naturally, chronicles your achievements to date.

Overall, I like it enough to stick around for a complete finishing, a first for me considering it’s a matching game. In fact, it’s actually really addicting, refreshingly addicting, outrageously addicting.

Oooooo, addicting. What a dangerous thought.

At least my wardens are gone for 2 weeks! *hehehe!*

PS: Downloads for this game can be found at Reflexive Arcade. If you want the cracked version, ask me nicely.

Games Review: Cate West - The Vanishing Files by Gamenaut

: Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in.
: I’m pretty sure that this game was downloaded from Reflexive Arcade, not dragged in by a cat.
: I’m not talking about the one without the feathers, you feather-brain.
: Oooo, who’s a grumpy devil this morning? Who is? Whooooo is?
: Smart-Alec.
: A grumpy devil and out of quips. Are you feeling alright?
: No, I’ve just spend 8 hours non-stop on a hidden-objects game I haven’t stopped yet.
: And before that was 8 hours of trying come up with a decent literature review report for your system. Time’s running out, Coffee-Fish.
: Coffee-Fish?
: It’s the way you drink Nescafe Mild coffee. You know, like a fish drink water.
: Look’s like I’m not the only one with brain-melty syndrome today.
: I guess we can banter till this blogger get a severe case of smiley-split personality-,
: -but pretty smileys!
: ... But, I’m sure readers would prefer what’s the game that’s been long over due since our, my, last review.

Cate West - The Vanishing Files


At the policestation: “Not yet, Cate. Oooo, look! Donuts!!”

: Hold it, why is the blogger letting us review this game? We’re just metaphorical entities of her fervent imaginings.
: Suppressed imaginings. This is her night hour window to make sure she won’t wake up a dried prune of clichés when she posts her blog.
: More like a dried prune of mindless puk-,
: Anyway, the storyline play with Cate West, an author in a middle of a book signing tour that suddenly got caught in a wave of crime spree against religious-themed events, locations and artefacts. Churches burned, temples desecrated and praying people terrorized.
: My kind of paradise.
: Volunteering to use her psychic ability to stop the crimes, Cate joins the investigative team of the city’s police force. She soon realized that the mastermind had a personal issue with her and the unsolved murder of her father years ago.
: All the trappings of a most unoriginal hidden objects plot. But what makes this game stand out is more than my personal bias towards point-and-click gameplay.


The typewriter holds may keys... and spiders, trinkets, veggies, baseballs, bowling trophys...


Even the CSI team gets baffled on this much of criminal evidence. You just got to look for the right ones

: Hidden objects is a game genre in which you look for the specific item, - based on a list - , within a jumbled-up scene messier than a cross between a recycling plant and my bedroom on weekends.
: Each of these miscellaneous objects, - ranging between a rare steak to the names of Jupiter’s moons - , carries a clue for Cate’s psychic ability to focus on the criminal’s whereabouts.
: Sounds like a very, very average hidden objects game to me. Based on these screenshots, I’d say the Mystery in London game is much better with its 360’degrees imagery.
: If we’re mostly leaning on visuals, the Nobel prize still goes to Dream Chronicles 2. But we’re not. And there’s some new twist in CWTVF I liked about.


The b-b-bookstore?! Okay, now it's personal!


You revist the crime scenes and match them in your testimony.

: The very detailed plotline?
: Yup!
: Detailed plotline says, - and I quote - , “about 75 levels of hidden objects, match-the-difference and puzzle-solving”.
: Most game folks don’t understand the benefits of a real story-based game. KingMania had nothing but potatoes in it.
: But thankfully, CWTVF had a really nice feel to it’s script design.
: They had to. Otherwise it’s just 75 level of pure repetitiveness.
: Add to that, based on your scoring, there are multiple endings to the game.
: Multiple endings, huh? What kind of ending did you get?
: I don’t know because I haven’t finished it yet! *hehehe*


Evidence never stays in one piece...


Cate sense the clues and match them to the correct ugly face.

: So what’s the final analysis on this game?
: Well, after the fit-criminal-to-description puzzle, I also liked the not-so-heavily-laden visual design of the gameplay. It’s easier to find the missing objects in here as compared to other similar games like Dream Day Wedding.
: Or maybe you just got better at finding objects.
: That goes too. So I’d say this is a good game for the veterans/jaded of this genre.
: And not bad for the newbies too.
: It’s not spectacular in anyway, but it’s a great game for a weekend afternoon.
: Your weekend afternoons are supposed to be for cleaning your room, not playing games.
: Don’t be a hypocrite. You enjoy hidden objects tremendously.
: Me? I’m the hypocrite?! You’re cleaning up small knick-knacks in a very messy picture... while playing in your own very messy room.
: Awww, who’s the Baddie conscience? Who is? Whooooo is?
: You’re going to keep playing until you find out your special ending, aren’t you?
: Correct! And the devil wins a cookie.

PS:Downloads for this game can be found in Reflexive Arcade. If you want the cracked version, ask my two little shoulder-mates nicely.