I've been massively impressed with my time spent in Smith and Winston, which just made its way onto Steam for some Early Access fun.
Note: Key provided by the developer.
I've seen before in our comments how some are tired of "voxel" stuff but honestly Smith and Winston is one of those that really do it justice. The world looks absolutely beautiful and it's especially fun when you totally smash it all to pieces since it's largely destructible. Just don't fall out the world and lose one of your precious hearts, it's easy to do when you're on a destruction spree, it's just too fun.
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While it is a twin-stick shooter, it's not simply a button masher. That's a fair amount of "kill all the things" but the exploration side to it is lovely too (one I hope they expand some more!).
Absolutely worth a look right now, I've loved what it has to offer so far and I'm genuinely excited to follow it along in development. Although, it won't be for long as they're estimating a full release in February this year. It is still missing a fair bit of planned features though like the campaign mode, split-screen co-op and so on which they will roll out over the next couple of months.
Just a note for those with gamepads, it wouldn't detect my Steam Controller at all until I went into the settings and manually changed it to "Xinput Controller" and then restarted the game. This might act differently in the Steam version, I have it on itch.
Find it now on Steam and itch.io.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I'm not normally a friend of twin-stick gameplay, but with the exploration aspect it might actually be interesting for me :)
4 Likes, Who?
I tried it a few times, and sure it's cute, but so far it's also very empty, and with almost zero replayability. You have 3 lives, you die, you start from scratch. Because you have to jump a lot from tiny island to small plateform, you may die from falling quite often before you manage to actually success the exploration phase. So, maybe several hours of actual gameplay, but if you count the numerous "learn and retry". Not a bad thing by itself, many games from NES or Sega was like this. But not sure if it will be enough as of today's expectation.
1 Likes, Who?
I tried it a few times, and sure it's cute, but so far it's also very empty, and with almost zero replayability. You have 3 lives, you die, you start from scratch. Because you have to jump a lot from tiny island to small plateform, you may die from falling quite often before you manage to actually success the exploration phase. So, maybe several hours of actual gameplay, but if you count the numerous "learn and retry". Not a bad thing by itself, many games from NES or Sega was like this. But not sure if it will be enough as of today's expectation.
Thanks for giving it a go. We are improving the game with every release. There is a lot more to find hidden in the world now. Where there isn't any combat it's often because we want you to have a dig about looking for secrets. Steam achievements add to replayability as well.
It is a blend of old and new school gameplay so it might not be to everyones tastes.
4 Likes, Who?
no_information_here 9 Jan 2019
some are tired of "voxel" stuffI don't understand this. I don't care how the game is made, I care if it is fun. There are great games that are pixel, voxel, 2D, 3D, low-poly, HD, etc, etc. They can all be great if they are artistically done and the game is fun to play.
You have 3 lives, you die, you start from scratch.Ah. This may not be for me, then. That severely limits exploration of a game world, which is high on my list for any game.
1 Likes, Who?
some are tired of "voxel" stuffI don't understand this. I don't care how the game is made, I care if it is fun. There are great games that are pixel, voxel, 2D, 3D, low-poly, HD, etc, etc. They can all be great if they are artistically done and the game is fun to play.
You have 3 lives, you die, you start from scratch.Ah. This may not be for me, then. That severely limits exploration of a game world, which is high on my list for any game.
You're correct, 3 lives and you start again is harsh. So in the final game there will be a mode called "Story Mode" where when you lose your last life you restart at the beginning of the level you died on with 3 new lives but your score is reset to zero.
So the current mode, Arcade Mode, is all about who can get the highest score. Story Mode is there for people who want to explore, take a few more chances and have an "easier" more fun experience.
We also are 100% commited to the idea that if you buy a game you should get to see ALL of the game you paid for so we are trying to balance that as well.
Hope that helps.
4 Likes, Who?
Thanks for the clarifications.
The game is cute and fun, only unfinished, obviously, and i'm curious to see the "final" result.
Cheers
The game is cute and fun, only unfinished, obviously, and i'm curious to see the "final" result.
Cheers
0 Likes
Luke_Nukem 9 Jan 2019
Stallman Damn! Now I neeeed to jam this in an arcade cab.
0 Likes
Thanks for the clarifications.
The game is cute and fun, only unfinished, obviously, and i'm curious to see the "final" result.
Cheers
Thanks for the clarifications.
The game is cute and fun, only unfinished, obviously, and i'm curious to see the "final" result.
Cheers
Oh yeah, it's very much not finished yet. You're right to be cautious. Hopefully you'll like it when it's done, we'll do our best, that's all we can do.
0 Likes
Stallman Damn! Now I neeeed to jam this in an arcade cab.
We started out making a straight Ikari Warriors clone because I stupidly started making an Arcade Cabinet, installed MAME, played Ikari Warriors and never finished the cab... it's still sitting in my office, unpainted, wires hanging out all over the place :)
With a rotary stick like the original Ikari Warriors it would be amazing.
0 Likes
Luke_Nukem 9 Jan 2019
Stallman Damn! Now I neeeed to jam this in an arcade cab.
We started out making a straight Ikari Warriors clone because I stupidly started making an Arcade Cabinet, installed MAME, played Ikari Warriors and never finished the cab... it's still sitting in my office, unpainted, wires hanging out all over the place :)
With a rotary stick like the original Ikari Warriors it would be amazing.
Lol! Know how it is. I've got half a dozen cabs. Was building them for a hobby/job for a while - not those big fugly every-signle-stick-and-button mame cabs, but sleek units with a specific purpose. Fighters only, two player 3 button only, 4-way stick only, trackball + stick etc. Or a small subset like 8-way + 4-way + 3 buttons each + trackball.
Bloody good fun!
I ended up creating a USB run Arch that loads all front-end + roms and configs off USB too.
1 Likes, Who?
I'm buying this just because the developer is participating here in the comments. And maybe the music.
1 Likes, Who?
This blogpost is yet another reason to support them: How I support Windows, Mac and Linux
While I totally dig arcade games, I also think a game must have a very streamlined story mode to be really successfull these days. Preferably not only with the ability to restart at the start of a level (like a continue in the 90s), but with well placed checkpoints throughout the stages and infinite lifes.
There's a reason most games have picked up that system - it really reduces frustrations.
Anyway, game looks awesome. Will buy :)
While I totally dig arcade games, I also think a game must have a very streamlined story mode to be really successfull these days. Preferably not only with the ability to restart at the start of a level (like a continue in the 90s), but with well placed checkpoints throughout the stages and infinite lifes.
There's a reason most games have picked up that system - it really reduces frustrations.
Anyway, game looks awesome. Will buy :)
2 Likes, Who?
The trailer looked cool and fun to me, but Tchey's comments worried me. But then metaldazza revealed more to come, and now I'm interested again. :)
1 Likes, Who?
no_information_here 11 Jan 2019
You're correct, 3 lives and you start again is harsh. So in the final game there will be a mode called "Story Mode" where when you lose your last life you restart at the beginning of the level you died on with 3 new lives but your score is reset to zero.Thanks for the clarification. I hope the rest of the game dev process goes smooth for you!
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