Forums > Submission Feedback > Masters's The War of the Worlds review

Your closing paragraph really ties this together and explains how the stuff maligned up to that point (which doesn't sound terrible on the surface of things) can result in a miserable experience. I especially liked your initial admiration for Patrick Stewart and the way you made it so easy to imagine growing to hate what you once loved. Sweet review of a game that I will definitely avoid.

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." - John F. Kennedy on reality

"What if everything you see is more than what you see--the person next to you is a warrior and the space that appears empty is a secret door to another world? What if something appears that shouldn't? You either dismiss it, or you accept that there is much more to the world than you think. Perhaps it really is a doorway, and if you choose to go inside, you'll find many unexpected things." - Shigeru Miyamoto on secret doors to another world2

Thanks, Jason. The review is rather short, but I said just what it was I wanted to say. I was just remarking to Emp; this is something us writers often fail at, strangely enough.

I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

This is a good review, though I'm curious to know if the uneven difficulty has mostly to do with the fact that the controls are so bad or if there are other elements that make it worse. I got the impression that the hazards, such as the robots and the black smoke, make it so, but are there any enemies you actually have to fight or is it all just dodging things?

Anyway, I did enjoy this, and I'm quite disappointed that the game turned out so poorly.

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

Mostly dodging things, and everything is a one-hit kill, which is unforgiving as hell ESPECIALLY when the controls are shite.

I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

..Another World was, I remember, lambasted by some people for the exact same things when that came out. The controls were broken, the set pieces didn't hang together, the action was tacked on (etc, etc.).

I'm kind of wondering why you didn't mention the way the animation works as well. Or how you walk and have some degree of feeling that the guy is walking on the floor, that kind of thing..

If it's closer to Flashback (with the arm-waving as you run to an edge and stop, and the "delayed trigger" moves to string together the right animation, etc. Or if it's more like a Mario game where you hunt the edges of boxes to land on, and your momentum is more abstract and outside the game's physics and objects in a sense..

I... guess I'm wondering if you review the game as an arcade platformer, when it's really a narrative-driven puzzle/adventure.

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Another World was, I remember, lambasted by some people for the exact same things when that came out.

Really? 'Round these parts, Out of This World was widely praised for being awesome, but difficult.

I'm kind of wondering why you didn't mention the way the animation works as well.

Because it's irrelevant.

I... guess I'm wondering if you review the game as an arcade platformer, when it's really a narrative-driven puzzle/adventure.

It's like the games I compared it to.

Only it sucks.

I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

Because it's irrelevant.

..it's probably not irrelevant when you insist that the way the movement works is broken. And since it's a 2d platformer - the animation and how it relates to movement seems important.

But if it's not, then I wonder how you manage to combine "it's broken" with "it's irrelevant".

I mean, I haven't played the game yet, so I can't say if it "sucks" - but I don't understand where you're going with the review. In all fairness, if you wrote something like that for Another World, or any game, I'd be wondering the same thing.

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..it's probably not irrelevant when you insist that the way the movement works is broken. And since it's a 2d platformer - the animation and how it relates to movement seems important.

Leaping logic with a single bound.

But if it's not, then I wonder how you manage to combine "it's broken" with "it's irrelevant".

Did I do that? Whoops.

...but I don't understand where you're going with the review.

That's a shame. Perhaps it's best to leave it at that.

I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

This game actually looks really cool, so thanks for unveiling the cold, hard truth. You've definitely saved me some money.

You exist because we allow it. And you will end because we demand it.

Glad to hear it, Mike. I think you may have returned the favour with that Dark Souls game!

I don't have to prove I'm refined - that's what makes me refined!

That's a shame. Perhaps it's best to leave it at that.

..ok. Sorry for stepping on your privates.

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