Panthelon Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Zeno Clash Platform: PC Exclusive Publisher: Independent We don’t want to offend anyone here, but something we’ve long been aware of is that you can sometimes tell where a game was developed long before you’re aware of the fact. Some games just feel inspired by or representative of their cultures. Pathologic and Men of War just feel Russian. Lemmings feels British. GTA feels American. The Last Remnant; Japanese. Zeno Clash feels French somehow, which is something that’s worth expressing regardless of the fact that it was developed in Chile. If games aren’t only geographically evocative for us then us saying that Zeno Clash feels like it was ripped from a surrealist French graphic novel will tell you a lot about the game. If, on the other hand, we’re talking gibberish and you’ve never picked up on that idea then you’ll just have to assume we’ve spent far too long wallowing in the caricatured and utterly bizarre world of the Corwids; Zeno Clash’s anarchistic sect of madmen. Fiercely independent and governed by no law, the Corwids are deliberately representative of the whole of Zeno Clash – a game that delights in the lack of context and familiarity that the player has. Enemies and allies are weird, wonderful things and your weapons are crude, crazy and unconventional. Hell, the entire game is unconventional! One moment you might be banishing shadow-zombies with a magic sceptre, the next you’re fist-fighting with an anthropomorphised elephant. To capitalise on this, the game never really reveals the overall aim and motive for any of the characters until the absolute last moment. At the start of Zeno Clash you’re quickly told that you’re a murderer and must go on the run, but the story is mostly told through gradual, playable flashbacks. Full Review Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarketTantrik Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 ^^ WTF?? There has to be some sort of mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panthelon Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 ?? whaddayamean?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarketTantrik Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Did you read the review? The story seems really MAD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panthelon Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 The story yes...it's f**king crazy...but the combat seems fun..All in all a good achievement for an Indie developer.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panthelon Posted April 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 Planning to get it through steam, will post impressions as and when I get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hahaman Posted April 25, 2009 Report Share Posted April 25, 2009 guys just tell me first...does indie developer mean an independent developer or something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SchizoidFreud Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 yup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffMonkey Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 yea i was checking this out as well on steam. will prolly buy it soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindoctor Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 guys i would recommend trying this game out before buying it. the developers have stated that a demo is coming soon. i got the game (for free) on steam and after playing it for a while, i don't think i would have been happy if i had bought it for full price. the game has some wild artwork and a decent implementation of melee fighting but apart from that there isn't much to it. the entire game is consists of a series of duels with opponents in confined areas interspersed with a story (which isn't great so far) presented through cutscenes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffMonkey Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 how did u get it for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindoctor Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 i won it in a contest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarketTantrik Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 ^^ Thanks for the feedback. I'll avoid it. If I want FPS melee combat, I'll play Riddick and Condemned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindoctor Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 ^^ Thanks for the feedback. I'll avoid it. If I want FPS melee combat, I'll play Riddick and Condemned. to be fair, melee is done pretty well in the game. as well as you can expect from a first person game really. all i suggested was that one should wait for the demo to see it for themselves before buying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arun360 Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 ^^ Thanks for the feedback. I'll avoid it. If I want FPS melee combat, I'll play Riddick and Condemned. Er, I wouldn't dismiss it off like that. the game has some wild artwork and a decent implementation of melee fighting but apart from that there isn't much to it. the entire game is consists of a series of duels with opponents in confined areas interspersed with a story (which isn't great so far) presented through cutscenes. Wild is an understatement. The game is a visual essay of what I did during my bizarre acid trip. Seriously, I too want what the devs were smoking while they designed the setpieces and characters. Cutscenes are nicely done. Above average voice acting and aforementioned sets/chars. There's more to it than close quarter melee, guns exist too with slick reload animation to boot. Overall, feels adequately polished and I'm sure it would look brilliant on a good GFX card with HDR and bloom effects enabled. The story is kinda lynchesque and I liked what I saw in the hour of gameplay before my laptop slowed to a crawl and gave up. If you can't wait for the demo take the 24hr delete route. If you got the time, do check this out. I recommends, with reservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindoctor Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 Wild is an understatement. The game is a visual essay of what I did during my bizarre acid trip. Seriously, I too want what the devs were smoking while they designed the setpieces and characters.Cutscenes are nicely done. Above average voice acting and aforementioned sets/chars. There's more to it than close quarter melee, guns exist too with slick reload animation to boot. Overall, feels adequately polished and I'm sure it would look brilliant on a good GFX card with HDR and bloom effects enabled. The story is kinda lynchesque and I liked what I saw in the hour of gameplay before my laptop slowed to a crawl and gave up. If you can't wait for the demo take the 24hr delete route. If you got the time, do check this out. I recommends, with reservation. the voice acting is probably the worst aspect of the game. and that's not just my opinion... it's the number one complaint from gamers on boards all over the web. heck, the tutorial guy is virtually impossible to understand. it's not hard to see the good points of the game. the source engine is pushed to it's limits graphically and with some stunning and bizarre artwork to complement it. the bad parts aren't so immediately apparent... the entire game consists of melee fistfights in small, enclosed areas. that's all there is really... every single level repeats the same thing. it's like playing single player unreal tournament with the map size being 2 rooms and not so clever ai. it's entertaining, sure, but is it really worth the money? a lot of people are giving this game a pass because it's fairly well polished, and the flaws are attributed to it being an indie, first time development so expectations are lowered accordingly. however, those flaws do still exist and it isn't anywhere close to being as polished as say braid or aquaria or world of goo etc. it's definitely a try before you buy game in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hahaman Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 awesome original feeling of a game......but i still gotta buy it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeezNah Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 however, those flaws do still exist and it isn't anywhere close to being as polished as say braid or aquaria or world of goo etc. granted, but keep in mind, those games are very different by themselves and aren't even in a full 3D environment for a person to walk around in. i'd love to give this game a try. i just need a decent system, and I'm too embarrassed to play this at work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spindoctor Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 granted, but keep in mind, those games are very different by themselves and aren't even in a full 3D environment for a person to walk around in. the level of polish a game has is not a technical achievement. look at blizzard games... they have the most polish without ever being the most technologically advanced. the fact that this game is 3D and those aren't doesn't really matter when it comes down to discussing production values. it's all about the details... story, atmosphere, music, voice overs, balance in the gameplay systems, artwork... the zeno clash devs are slightly below the mark on at least half of these things. let me put it another way... if you had no knowledge of world of goo or braid, you would not be able to tell it was an indie game while playing it. the developers have worked very hard to polish their game and they've done it quite well. the same cannot be said of zeno clash. on the bright side, the devs have been hard at work since release. i think 2 or 3 patches are out for the game and some new, fan requested functionality has been added (which should have been there all along). and there's a demo out on steam too so one can now try out the game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeezNah Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 my point is that games like world of goo and aquaria (can't say for braid, though) can be more focused towards being much more playable than something like zeno clash given the technical leaps between them, because arguably, the work load isn't as nearly as much (how much voice work do these games have over zeno clash anyhow?). this isn't obviously the case with EVERY game, especially with 2D games that are rendered with high-definition sprites (see: guilty gear) but i think my point is still valid. i also tend to clump things like "polish" with stuff that just aren't there for window-dressing, but i can see why my earlier point sounded awkward. anyway, can't wait to try the demo! =D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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