Research

Killer Queen (arcade)- Research

It is very interesting to see a game that has a static field of view where everything that happens in the game occurs in this same space. This is made even more intriguing considering the fact that 10 players are engaged in the game all at once. Nevertheless, because of this, the game seems intimidatingly confusing to first time players and it would require repetitive practice to strategize and enjoy this game without flat out losing or doing nothing in the first play through. Indeed, there also appear to be numerous rules and events that can change the course of the game that are not apparently clear, such as the snail at the bottom of the screen that is constantly attacked by players or the changing colored winged gates that players seem to be going through. Perhaps these indicate territory that teams can hold at a given time. 

In terms of audio and sound effects, as well as the overall animations and artwork of the game, it strongly resembles classic 2D side scrollers such as Super Mario Bros. In fact, the game uses audio specifically inspired by that era of games and combines it with classic arcade games. This is an interesting and genre changing combination as what you would expect to see as a single player classic side scroller is presented here as a 5v5 arcade game with a static field of view. 

The overall jumping mechanic of the game, especially that of Drone type characters also strongly resembles the Mario games and functions like them, but with more of a lack of gravity feeling.

Upon further analysis, it is fascinating to see that there are three different ways to win this game: the Snail, Economic and Military victories. This is especially strange and alien to the arcade genre which usually has a singular strict way of achieving victory. As such, this game is very useful when it comes to considering different solutions for the same game, which allow more room for players to strategize and develop their own methods of achieving success. Again, a game such as this is virtually unheard of in the arcade genre, as most arcade games stick to one path of success. Mechanic and combat wise, this game continues to be complex in that collisions depend on which player is higher than the other. If a team player is higher than another (like in the case of the Queen type characters) then they automatically win the fight. This is quite difficult to grasp from the get go, especially considering the fact that so much is happening all at once and with the floaty jump mechanic of the game. This makes accidental defeat and killing very easy.

Furthermore, in terms of rules, this game does not make its mechanics apparent to the player right from the get go. For example, when a drone becomes a warrior, they are unable to pick up anymore berries and can also kill the enemy Queen. Upon playing for the first time, players are not really made aware of these rules. This makes playing the game numerous times in a trial and error sequence imperative to understanding how it works. This, however, can leave players feeling cheated or unfulfilled, especially in a genre such as arcade gaming where players have limited playability of the game due to the fact that arcade games require tokens or coins to operate while they are also open to the public.

In conclusion, the art style, animations and the audio of the game is very limited and simplistic. This is also true of the Super Mario games mentioned earlier, but what they lack in artwork complexity they make up for in the various levels and power ups available throughout the levels in the game, as well as in the level designs themselves. Killer Queen may be fun to play but it is lacking in these features.

Lovers in Dangerous Space Time- Research

Visually, Lovers is a very satisfying game to play and watch; the explosions of dead ships, projectiles, engine thrusts are all impeccably made and manage to capture a very smooth and satisfying feeling. Indeed, the way the particle systems of explosions or ship thrusters fade out and begin anew is almost like a trance and this helps to give the ship’s movement character also. In terms of the ship’s movement, it appears to be slowly and fluidly drifting in space but the boost from the thrusters from time to time gives it just the right proportion of extra movement to show the player that the ship is indeed moving faster. Indeed, the ship itself does not move sporadically at any point in the game, with an easing in velocity whenever it slows down or moves faster.

The overall design of the ship and its mechanics is one of the most interesting character designs I have seen so far in games. In fact, the ship itself looks like another game stuck within the actual Lovers game. It closely resembles 2D games like the original Donkey Kong where the players need to climb up and down vertical ladders to man and reach different parts of the ship. The designers could have simply designed a ship with two small stations where players could place themselves in and play but they certainly went the extra mile with making this game feel unique and more complex. 

The UI of the game (the minimap and health bar) also tie in perfectly with the overall feel of the game and its look. Indeed, most games tend to have a slight difference in UI versus how the actual game looks where the player can spot the distinction. Here, the way the UI is designed makes it work perfectly with the game and its world in general. 

The stations of the ship that allow players to man different parts of it are also interestingly made and feel well made. In turn, there are obviously 4 different turrets in each cardinal direction that the player can easily distinguish from all the other stations, due to the fact that there are also four turrets in those directions. Continuing the map station itself is designed so it is easy to spot and use. Using it also creates this smooth pause and transition from battling other ships and enemies in the game to watching the overall game world map.

In terms of gameplay and the enemies appearing among other things in each phase of the game, Lovers can be a little jarring and confusing to players once they start playing. This is because there are different things to do whilst also fighting enemies and all these things can appear on screen simultaneously. For example, a section can have lasers that the player needs to avoid, explosive mines, pickup items that the player needs to break to grab, other characters to rescue, and finally enemies firing at the ship at the same time. To deal with all this the players need to swap between manning the ship’s movement, where its shield is pointed at, and of course which turret will be firing which direction. Due to all of this, the game can be frustratingly confusing to play and seems like it can cause players who are not seasoned to make lots of mistakes before they can get comfortable with the game. Nonetheless, this is not necessarily a bad thing as the difficulty of the game can be a motivational feature for players looking for a challenge. After all, this is the entire premise of the Dark Souls series and why players love it so much. 

In terms of co-op AI it is interesting to see how you can directly control your partner and where they go on the ship by freezing time and then moving them to their designated station. This makes the game feel a lot better by giving the player direct control. Indeed, many games simply have your partner’s AI be in total control of itself which can be very frustrating if you need them to do something specific and the AI is not able to pick it up. The only downside is that the AI is not capable of piloting the ship, meaning that you need to pilot the ship at all times, which hinders you from doing other things that you want to do. Another thing about the AI is that due to the fact that its decisions are based on a more randomized algorithm, there is no guarantee that your partner will choose to block 30 incoming projectiles over 1 coming from a different side. This means that you can easily get killed by a ‘mistake’ that the AI made.