Weakless - PC Review

Weakless by developer Punk Notion and publisher Another Road—PC (Steam) review written by Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes 

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Weakless is a simple puzzle game that has players traverse through their home region to save the almighty tree of life. Each character played is an outcast of their society. One is deaf and the other is blind. Both must work together to reach the tree in order to save it from resin which seems to act more like molten lava. In fact, it is so disastrous that it has ravaged much of the Weavelings home region.

After finishing the game, I found myself enjoying the short experience, but it does have some minor points that I'll cover below.

Gameplay

Weakless has very little controls to work with, and even though I received a copy of the game on PC, I used a controller to play the entire game. Players first have to know that this is a puzzle game very similar in style to The Witness, where they can move, interact with certain objects, but cannot do much else. Depending on the object, the player can only interact with the objects using one of the characters. For example, certain puzzles require the blind one to move a pillar so that the deaf one can reach another location. (And before anyone makes the assumption, I am not calling either character the blind one and the deaf one to be heartless, I distinguish the characters this way because neither is given a name!) The blind one can also interact with various musical instruments that are strewn about the area. Another predominant feature that the blind character has, is the ability to echo-locate through use of its staff. The object not only serves as a walking stick, but as a way to solve music-based puzzles.

The character that is deaf can use his plant light orb to 'power' the plants so that they move out of the way of the blind one's path. Through the course of the game, this character often sits down to draw or paint. It is also capable of climbing onto planks. That said, if players climb up onto these planks, they cannot go back down.

My previous point leads to one of my issues with the Weakless. While it never explicitly tells players where to go or what to do, except in the guise of paintings on the walls, the story has only one direction. There is no way to kill your character by falling off an edge, nor does entering an area that you cannot go backwards mean you're stuck. Any side paths will either lead to an instrument for the blind character or a bench for the deaf character to draw. In fact, the game is so linear that it ends up being a short game because there is nothing else to do!

Now, there are side areas that I missed when playing through Weakless, I don't feel like it's worth going back for another playthrough to find the other musical instruments or painting areas since there isn't much purpose to their existence. Yes it does show that these two characters have some depth to them, but we are given little else after the first couple of instances. Sadly, those elements are placed in the game for achievement hunters and not for anything else, which is unfortunate really.

And on the topic of those musical instruments you can find, let's talk about music.

Music and Audio

When I think about the music, I find myself rather conflicted. On one hand, the music consists of drums and wind instruments, but no string which gives it a tribal feel - something that is also shown at the beginning of the game during the ceremony. On the other hand, I find that the music can be disjointed and doesn't mix well - even though tribal music doesn't always have the same elements as modern day music does.

So let's talk about tribal music a bit. When I think of that style, I think of music that unites a group of people together in a more cathartic way. In other words, I think back to times when slavery was still prevalent in society. And entertainment was sought in the form of music during the times when opposition came at a hefty cost. In Brazil, enslaved citizens learned a 'dance' known as Capoeira. This dance style was actually used as a way to mask the fact that it was a martial arts style. At the time, people would be deemed criminals if they practiced this 'dance' style. Not only is the Capoeira a style of martial arts but it hinged upon constant movement, unpredictability, and movement that flowed with the musical accompaniment. The music itself is played a huge role in this style of martial arts.

Anyways, today, the Capoeira is mostly a dance movement that focuses less on its martial arts component. The music in Capoeira is fluid and unpredictable but is composed in a way that works extremely well together which is why I'm using it as an example of when music works and when music doesn't. There are points during gameplay where I felt like Weakless' music, while it has moments of fluidity, sometimes has a disjointed accompaniment. However, oddly enough, the music only seemed to fail me when players used the musical instruments. The ambient music would set the tone of the game and the musical instruments would be thrown overtop with no rhyme or reason. And while it would make sense that the deaf character would not know the proper time to join in, the blind character most like would because it has heightened senses. I can't help but be bothered by the fact that the blind character didn't go a little crazy if its musical timing was off to the rest of the environments timing - but that is just the musician in me being picky.

Now, I know that it sounds like the music to the game is a hot mess, but it isn't. In fact, many of the ambient sounds and music used in the game fit extremely well. I quite liked the journey and found it interesting. On top of that, I think it's extremely awesome that the developers paid attention to the fact that hearing people and non-hearing people would perceive sound differently.

At several points during gameplay, I appreciated the musical puzzles, and the use of the staff to echo-locate the character's position. Overall, while music bothered me at certain times, I know that the composer talked a bit about the soundtrack in a developer blog post which can be found here.

Final Thoughts

I've read a number of reviews that said things like Weakless was too short or that it was too linear. There have been other people who expressed their dislike for the game because they didn't understand the point or perhaps didn't finish the story, but I think Weakless' experience was fantastic.

Since puzzle games that don't necessarily have a straight-forward story tend to be my bread and butter, I walked into Weakless with an open mind. The whole idea behind the characters was to understand the struggle, to put yourselves in the shoes of characters who did not start as friends. These two weavelings were strangers to each other and they bonded because they were both outcasts. They bonded out of the need of survival, and I believe that Weakless' purpose was to show that even with the characters differences or flaws that the weavelings can co-exist amicably. Players that took the time to make it to the end of the story saw that the two weavelings saved their tribes great tree of life - which to them is important and is perhaps seen as a deity. I also believe that this is the reason the developers chose to create a tribalesque sound for the game.

Players that jumped into Weakless for anything other than a slightly abstract story missed the comparison that the game makes to real life. Sure, the puzzles could be more complicated. But overall, the goal wasn't to make Weakless a tough puzzle game, it was to show how anyone can overcome their challenges if they work together. While the game could have stood for a lot more in the way of player to character connection, I believe the game was pretty well done.

Overall, while the story was quite linear and while I didn't always like the music combinations, I absolutely enjoyed the experience and the story. If I could make any real criticism about Weakless it would be that the sound and light puzzle at the end of the game wasn't a more prevalent feature shown earlier in the game. I also loved that if players made it to the end of the game, they were rewarded. As such, Weakless earns an 8.5 out of 10 for me.

 

Score: 8.25 / 10

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Corruption 2029 - PC Review

Corruption 2029 by developer and publisher The Bearded Ladies—PC (Epic) review written by Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

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The Bearded Ladies released their newest hybrid stealth and tactical turn-based strategy game a couple of weeks back and I became excited. After all, I do love a good strategy game that isn’t as frustrating as XCOM 2.

Corruption 2029, the spiritual successor of Mutant Year Zero, revolves around an American civil war between the United Peoples of America (UPA) and the New American Council (NAC). For the uninitiated, the UPA is the group that players belong to, while the NAC is the group that players must infiltrate and destroy. To achieve this, players embark on several missions that will merit various augments which helps them prevail against their enemies. Augments gained from these missions are necessary because your squad consists of only three members. With these three characters, Wolf, Tranter, and Briggs, players must succeed in their mission objectives or else they are doomed to restart from a previous save or start again.

Overall, it’s another post-apocalyptic world that could very much become a reality given the current state of affairs, but I find that the game itself falls a little short for me. In no way is the game not satisfying, it just has some issues that bug me.

Mission Choices and Upgrades

The first quest that players embark on is to find a weapon of mass destruction known as “Savior”, but players don’t know where it is found. Missions require the squad to get information about this weapon and secure it at any cost.

Quest lines are categorized in Files, which have several individual missions that players must complete to get closer to finding Savior. At the end of the first mission, players receive information necessary to complete their tasks. The second mission, of which there are two, give different enhancements that can be used for the units. However, each augment can only be used by one character, and once players enter a mission, these augments cannot be changed. At the beginning of the game, this is a non-issue, but if players make it to a multi-objective mission (where all the primary objectives must be satisfied in order to succeed), players might want to consider their augment choices more wisely.

Some of the augments that players can receive are kinetic barriers, weapon range boosts, a long jump, mindhack, and a movement booster. Now, keep in mind that some of the augments are passive while others are active augments. However, the most important element is to consider which three augments your units will use. This allows for some customizability where the rest of the game is void of it.

Gameplay and Combat

Combat in Corruption 2029 is turn-based, much like XCOM or its own predecessor Mutant Year Zero, but it has a mechanic that I was not familiar with prior to this game. Corruption contains a stealth element where players can stake out the area for medkits, remote detonators, or other useful items. When roaming the map, players have the ability to set themselves up advantageous to them, making combat much easier than something like XCOM 2 where there is less ability to do so. In some cases, maps will have a radio that can be used to distract nearby guards or lure them into the radius of a remotely detonated grenade. It is a mechanic that is perfect for players like me because I absolutely love stealth-based games. Doing so means that players can potentially take out smaller guards before dealing with the heavy hitters. Also, this allows the squad of three to fight on more even footing rather than being overwhelmed by reinforcement units. (cough cough XCOM 2)

Much like Corruption’s predecessor, this game has a healing mechanic that other turn-based strategy games lack. If a unit is taken down by an enemy agent, the player has three turns to reach their squadmate to revive or heal them. This is both very useful and irritating because it forces players to keep units close to each other yet far enough away to set themselves up against the enemy, which is difficult if you have to devote a squadmate to save another. Players aren't overwhelmed in this game as easily, but if one goes down, the results can be dire. I once had a squadmate get taken out on the way to reviving his squadmate!

For all of the neat elements in Corruption 2029, the element of mystery, stealth mechanics, augmentation capabilities, etc…, it’s not without its flaws. For one thing, the AI is incredibly stupid. And by stupid, I mean really stupid. For example, I set my units to scope out the map for enemy locations, targets, and grenades or medkits. I was able to kill small groups of guards that were easy pickings. In each mission, I was left with the bigger, more challenging units, to take on. Here is the stupid part of the whole deal: not only was I able to take down units without alerting others, but I was also able to do so without hiding the bodies! On top of that, patrol units would walk right by a dead colleague of theirs without even noticing something was wrong! Oh wait, but there is more! In one mission, I was able to use the distraction radio multiple times without the enemy realizing that something was wrong. I expected them to pat around further or send another buddy over, instead of following the same path to the radio, allowing me to sneak on past.

Another flaw in Corruption’s design, in my opinion, is the fact that if a unit of yours goes down in combat, there is no penalty for the character once the objective has been completed! Let me explain. In an early mission, two of the three of my units were downed. As a result of this, I had nothing left to lose and so I sent the last guy to the computer terminal to hack it for the information. My hope was that I could complete the mission as well as see what the game does when losing units. The moment I completed the objective, my other two units just GOT BACK UP and had FOUR HEALTH BARS just given to them! In other words, unless players enter in massive combat missions where they don't stealth through the area, units going down is not worth the medkits.

In fact, on that note, there is no cybernetic repair cost, penalty to the mission, or anything to show that players had a rough mission. Players will either succeed or they will fail. That is all. And the fact that the AI is unintelligent, makes Corruption 2029 a much easier tactical strategy game.

Audio and UI

The UI in Corruption is fairly straight forward. Players use WASD to move around the map, they can use the spacebar to execute commands, and they can see most of the information needed on the screen. In the top right, is a small bar of icons that show how many medkits or grenades a player has available to use. Please note that players only have access to 3 of the medkits, grenades, and remote detonators. The way the UI is set up is extremely user-friendly.

Before starting any mission, players choose which task they will complete first (because sometimes there are a couple of options), then they pick their loadout. This is where players will add any augments they wish to have on the units during a mission. After these are chosen, players get to pick their dropzone. (Which, is useful if you want to stock up on supplies but know that if you complete an area and then go back to it, there will be more enemies and items will be in different locations. Just be warned. There isn't a free pass in Corruption.)

The only issue I had with the UI in this game was the camera pan. It’s incredibly awkward to hold down Q and rotate around the character to see nearby enemies. It's a feature this isn’t really grating, but it took a little getting used to. I wasn't a fan of the way players needed to camera pan, but we can't have everything…

My biggest issue with Corruption 2029 is the audio. While the gameplay and UI had its issues, and the AI annoyed the crap out of me, and the story wasn't fully thought out, the audio ruined the experience. I'll try and explain my issue with the audio. It wasn't the sound effects of the water when walking through puddles or the birds fluttering off, because all of those added to the atmosphere. But, when players are about to enter combat, the sound becomes a slow heartbeat and it intensifies for every step players make closer to an enemy unit. It's at that point when the music glitched out. Corruption’s combat music sounded a lot like it was being played in slow-motion, with a hint of background static. I’m not even sure how to explain it properly, except that the music only caused a problem right before combat situations. This was enough of a bother that it soured my experience of the game, where the rest of it was mildly satisfying. And what’s worse is that I have no idea if the issue was limited to my copy of the game or not. I've looked through other reviews and not one single other reviewer made mention of an audio issue. Furthermore, I assume the problem has to do with my copy of the game because I played it on a couple of different computers to end up with the same result.

Corrupted Final Thoughts

Overall, I enjoyed my experience with Corruption 2029. While it is not as difficult as other turn-based strategy games like XCOM 2 or BattleTech, it has its charm. I love the ability to stealth around before combat begins, and I love that players get to outfit their units with various augments to give them an advantage in missions. In fact, despite my issues with the game, none of them are game-breaking where I'd be forced out of playing it. I really do enjoy the fact that I can both stealth and employ tactics to complete missions.

Even though Corruption 2029 is much more simplistic (in my opinion) than others in its genre, it doesn’t make it unworthy of play. In fact, I will go as far as to say that Corruption is an entry-level strategy game that doesn't force players into unfair fights which cause you to scream endlessly at your computer. If you want a challenge, play XCOM 2. If you want easy, play Corruption 2029. If you want something in the middle, well, I'm still looking…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQGZPbn39m4

In my opinion, if players are looking for a game that shows aggro radius, allows time to set up their positions, and very little penalty when losing squad members, then this is the game for you! It’s not as tactically challenging as others in its genre and I find that it is a great place to start. In short, while I had my issues with Corruption 2029, I think the overall game is worth a 7.5 out of 10.

 

Score: 7.5 / 10

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Surviving the Aftermath - PC Preview

Surviving the Aftermath by developer IceFlake Studios and publisher Paradox Interactive—PC (Steam) preview written by Susan N. with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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In late 2019, Paradox Interactive released another colony management game in the "Surviving" series titled Surviving the Aftermath. But make no mistake, it's not the same as Surviving Mars, which was more futuristic and cute. Surviving the Aftermath is gritty and meant to be tough because the world has been savaged and wrecked by pollution, raiders, and mother nature. The objective in this colony management game is to make sure you people survive in the harsh environment. Like Surviving Mars, players choose their difficulty level at the beginning and the level of challenge is determined by the players' decisions at this stage.

Beginning the game, I started off easy, choosing the best-case scenario for each section until I received a low percentage. I do this to get a sense of a game before taking on a more challenging map, which I ultimately did for a second playthrough. On the easiest difficulty map, my worst issues were nuclear waste patches poisoning my colonists and I had an abundance of resources which forced me to grab other survivors when they appeared at my gate. After surviving a heatwave, I had a decent handle on the game, leading me to play on a higher difficulty.

On the second playthrough where I added a bit of challenge, I was hit with a heatwave (which I was almost unprepared for) and a meteor strike that took out a number of my tents. And while both events weren't too challenging to deal with, I still feel like my decisions weren't enough.

I found that my games left me with some minor issues that would benefit the game like a way to upgrade buildings easily - which is a feature that many management games have. However, the biggest issue with the title is that the colonists don't move supplies! For example, as players accepts new colonists, they are given a specialist who can explore the surrounding area on the world map. These specialists can attack the bandits, retrieve supplies from abandoned structures, and can initiate trade deals with neighboring townships. That is all well and good but each specialist can only move so far per turn; a restriction that isn't a problem, but it is aggravating to manually deliver those supplies home. When they do arrive, supplies are not picked up by idling colonists to place in warehouses or stockpiles, they are left at the gate!

If players want to progress in Surviving the Aftermath, they will need to acquire research on the World Map. This forces the idea that players have to send out their specialists to find the research needed. Although, there are times where players can gain some research by fulfilling colonist's desires to experiment. Sometimes, colonists will end up injured or infected, where other times granting the expeditions earns the player supplies, research, or a happiness boost. My minor issue with the research is that when a specialist finds a building that has some, it takes several turns of moving them back onto the building to collect more than one batch.

From what I've gathered from the roadmap and friends owning the game before I had access to it, the tech tree was overhauled. It is now split into five categories: Food, Production, Colony, Security, and Exploration. Each category has its uses like being able to generate power through solar panels or wind turbines. Under Food, players can research the ability to farm basic crops, which is quite handy to have. In the Colony tech tree, players are able to research larger lodging for their colonists, which is particularly useful when groups of survivors show up at your gate in search of shelter. Regardless, each category has a number of upgrades that help the colony's survival, complete with a cost and the time it'll take to finish the research. Unlike other colony management games that have extensive tech trees, Surviving the Aftermath has a decent amount of research items without feeling overwhelming to the player. Although, I can see how easier modes would make it extremely easy to burn through each tree, especially since the costs don't increase drastically. I imagine this might be because finding the resources to use the new buildings or abilities are harder to find.

Before I realized there was an option to turn on auto-saving (as in, that isn't enabled right away), my game crashed once. I hadn't saved in several days and lost the buildings and research that I had completed before the crash. When I reloaded the game, a different set of circumstances were presented to me, meaning that Surviving the Aftermath has a lot of replayability.

Even though players are able to switch between the colony and the world map, I feel like there isn't quite enough to keep players invested for extended periods of time. While it does have an interesting premise, and a fairly extensive roadmap, Surviving the Aftermath still needs some love. Though, I'm excited to see the additions, because I feel as though it has a ton of potential and could be a solid colony management game!

Score: N/A

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Darksburg - PC Preview

Darksburg by developer and publisher Shiro Games—PC (Steam) preview written by Pierre-Yves with a copy provided by the publisher.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Having just launched onto Steam through Early Access, ShiroGames’ DarksBurg is a top-down team based four player coop / versus that sees a group of adventurer’s needing to band together in order to survive the undead hordes chasing after them. With several levels already available and four different characters to fight the hordes with, there’s already plenty of gameplay available either on your own with three other players or AI controlled substitutes if players aren’t available.

Now upfront, while Darksburg is a lot of fun to play, and while it doesn’t introduce anything new per say, it doesn’t need to. Blending elements from both the four player first person shooter survivors like Left 4 Dead and Warhammer Vermintide and the top down controls and abilities of a MOBAs like DotA and League of Legends, Darksburg is something new in this regard it handles very, very well.

Starting up for the first time you’ll have your choice of characters, as long as others haven’t already locked in, which each have three normal abilities and a fourth ultimate one that takes a good deal of time in order to charge up to be used. Possible character choices are ranged, healer, tank and something somewhere in the middle as your cleric wields a giant crucifix as she basically nails her enemies into the ground. Once you’ve chosen your character and are ready to go, that character will earn experience in order to level up in your account as experience is only granted at the end of a stage regardless of if you’ve succeeded or failed at the objectives.

As you level up your characters, there are benchmarks in which you unlock perks and slots in order to give yourself a bigger edge within each mission. Perks range from anything like gaining temporary health by biting enemies as the Wolfman Varag, or have increased damage and speed if you’re injured because your health has dropped too low. While I would personally say that sticking with one character is a good idea, I know that it isn’t always possible so you should always have a back up!

Now before actually going into a session, you have several choices. The first is pure survival where you and three others go through stages with a list of objectives that you need to complete in order to survive. The second is about the same thing, but, another four players can join up in order to control the special characters from the undead horde against the four heroes. Finally, you can choose whether the game is open to the public, open to your friends, or by invite only.

Once you’ve jumped into the gameplay, you and three others have to charge through the hordes on the way to the exit. Normal enemies while not overly powerful can still get in the way and give you enough of a hard time once a horde charges in. Standard zombies will only claw at you but it won’t take long before spearmen, suicide bombers and special units come into your path. Exploding units if you can maneuver them well enough can only be an advantage for you but the special units? Those you’ll want to take out and fast as they can do some serious damage.

As heroes, other than making it to the end your goal, the in between goals are often simple enough in premise but a bit harder to complete in actuality. The main reason is that often your goals will require you to pick something up and slowly move it to where it needs to be. While you’re carrying a cannon ball or a bale of hay you are to the mercy of the undead and the availability of your teammates. Not exactly being the easiest, AI controlled characters don’t make it easy as they’ll either be following you, or another player character and only ever hitting the closest monsters. Sadly, they don’t get their hands dirty so you’ll at least want one or two actual extra sets of hands.

Finally in terms of neat features, you can buy items, buffs, or possible end level bonuses at the beginning of every stage. Well, you can after your very first run because you’ll need some gold for it. Items range from healing salves and bandages over to a bag of bombs, while buffs can increase your movement speed or make it impossible to be slowed down by running through mud for example. Finally in the level buffs, you’ll need to get a hold of candy which can only as far as my brother and I could see by capturing a chicken if you can see it. Capture the chicken, get candy when the level finishes but only anyone who’s touched the chicken can get candy. Don’t touch it, you’re out of luck and then you don’t get to buy level bonuses like 50% extra gold at the end of a stage as long as you make it there. It doesn’t count if you and your team fail.

So overall, even if it’s fairly early in its launch, Darksburg was a lot of fun and it shows a fair amount of promise. The characters are fun to use, the environments have their own challenges and that’s even before the undead hordes, and if you want to take to being a special undead unit to mess with the heroes instead of being messed with? Go for it! The only thing is, right now there are only five stages with a six coming and if Darksburg wants to keep being in the game for the long run, it’s going to need more content to keep players coming back.

 

Score: N/A

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