https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SwlKozwT1U
I briefly mentioned Luckslinger back in March, and now this odd mix is actually out on Linux, so what’s it really like?
About the game (Official)
In Luckslinger, luck is measurable, collectable and usable whenever you please.
On one half it’s inspired by the unrealistically fast gunslingers, the dark gritty humor and the greed driven anti-heroes of the spaghetti western classics.
On the other half it’s inspired by vinyl digging, graffiti spraying, rhyming and the slow drums and jazzy samples of hip hop culture and sound.
My thoughts
While I’m not the biggest fan of heavily pixelated graphics, Luckslinger does have a certain charm to it, especially as it’s paired up with some pretty nice tunes. The gameplay isn’t as charming as the music though, but it’s not totally one to miss.
Sadly, I have to say the graphics do let Luckslinger down quite a bit, everything is a bit too simple. It’s actually distracting me from the gameplay, as I keep thinking to myself how boring the landscapes are. I know graphics don’t make a game, but the gameplay overall isn’t that great either.
I’m not entirely sold on the luck-based mechanics of the game. Instead of doing some sort of trick jump using skill to make it to another platform, you would simply make your jump, and your luck metre would spawn a little platform for example. That’s only while you have the luck available though! So when you don’t have much luck available, it can make certain parts a little more tricky, which is actually interesting. The downside is that bad luck is fairly obvious, and it’s the same every time. If the bad luck events were randomised a bit, and there was a lot more of them for variation, the game would be a lot more interesting. I haven’t found a level yet where the luck mechanic surprised me, so considering that’s a big selling point of the game, it didn’t quite sell me.
When it comes to enemies, they are all a bit too easy too. Is something resembling an aardvark rolling at you? Well, just jump over it and let it roll off the cliff, done. Or you could shoot standing behind a cliff, and watch it just roll towards you—down it goes. Is someone shooting at you? Well you can jump over the bullets, you can roll under the bullets, or your luck might send the bullet off course. They have made it a bit too easy, especially when you have some luck available. I think bullets need a good drop-off on them, as I’ve been able to shoot from across the entire screen to kill enemies, and it’s annoyingly easy when I can do that.
The controls are bugging me right now, as one of the main ways to dodge bullets by rolling sometimes just doesn’t work, so you die, and you have to start the level again. This sucked out some of the fun for me, as I couldn’t figure out why. My character wasn’t doing anything else, he just refused to roll in the dirt like I told him to.
You will probably die a lot, that much is certain. Not due to the difficulty, but for mostly stupid reasons like slightly mistiming a jump, or trying to get new record discs floating above an abyss when you have no luck. Having to restart entire levels becomes a pain too.
Final thoughts: It’s a nice idea and I really wanted to like it, but sadly the gameplay and execution isn’t as good as it could have been.
You can find Luckslinger on Steam now. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I briefly mentioned Luckslinger back in March, and now this odd mix is actually out on Linux, so what’s it really like?
About the game (Official)
In Luckslinger, luck is measurable, collectable and usable whenever you please.
On one half it’s inspired by the unrealistically fast gunslingers, the dark gritty humor and the greed driven anti-heroes of the spaghetti western classics.
On the other half it’s inspired by vinyl digging, graffiti spraying, rhyming and the slow drums and jazzy samples of hip hop culture and sound.
My thoughts
While I’m not the biggest fan of heavily pixelated graphics, Luckslinger does have a certain charm to it, especially as it’s paired up with some pretty nice tunes. The gameplay isn’t as charming as the music though, but it’s not totally one to miss.
Sadly, I have to say the graphics do let Luckslinger down quite a bit, everything is a bit too simple. It’s actually distracting me from the gameplay, as I keep thinking to myself how boring the landscapes are. I know graphics don’t make a game, but the gameplay overall isn’t that great either.
I’m not entirely sold on the luck-based mechanics of the game. Instead of doing some sort of trick jump using skill to make it to another platform, you would simply make your jump, and your luck metre would spawn a little platform for example. That’s only while you have the luck available though! So when you don’t have much luck available, it can make certain parts a little more tricky, which is actually interesting. The downside is that bad luck is fairly obvious, and it’s the same every time. If the bad luck events were randomised a bit, and there was a lot more of them for variation, the game would be a lot more interesting. I haven’t found a level yet where the luck mechanic surprised me, so considering that’s a big selling point of the game, it didn’t quite sell me.
When it comes to enemies, they are all a bit too easy too. Is something resembling an aardvark rolling at you? Well, just jump over it and let it roll off the cliff, done. Or you could shoot standing behind a cliff, and watch it just roll towards you—down it goes. Is someone shooting at you? Well you can jump over the bullets, you can roll under the bullets, or your luck might send the bullet off course. They have made it a bit too easy, especially when you have some luck available. I think bullets need a good drop-off on them, as I’ve been able to shoot from across the entire screen to kill enemies, and it’s annoyingly easy when I can do that.
The controls are bugging me right now, as one of the main ways to dodge bullets by rolling sometimes just doesn’t work, so you die, and you have to start the level again. This sucked out some of the fun for me, as I couldn’t figure out why. My character wasn’t doing anything else, he just refused to roll in the dirt like I told him to.
You will probably die a lot, that much is certain. Not due to the difficulty, but for mostly stupid reasons like slightly mistiming a jump, or trying to get new record discs floating above an abyss when you have no luck. Having to restart entire levels becomes a pain too.
Final thoughts: It’s a nice idea and I really wanted to like it, but sadly the gameplay and execution isn’t as good as it could have been.
You can find Luckslinger on Steam now. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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3 comments
kellerkindt Jul 23, 2015
The link is kinda broken :P
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muntdefems Jul 23, 2015
Quoting: kellerkindtThe link is kinda broken :PFixed it. ^_^
I downloaded and played the demo when this game was on Kickstarter, but I can't quite remember how the luck mechanic works... How do you gain/lose luck? Does it get used up little by little every time a lucky event occurs?
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Quoting: muntdefemsQuoting: kellerkindtThe link is kinda broken :PFixed it. ^_^
I downloaded and played the demo when this game was on Kickstarter, but I can't quite remember how the luck mechanic works... How do you gain/lose luck? Does it get used up little by little every time a lucky event occurs?
You can get some by killing enemies, other than that I'm not sure.
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