Doctor Zed

Doctor Zed

7/10

So as the story goes, apparently you left a virus under a volatile substance and this substance turns your little virus into a nasty bug that goes and infects a bunch of levels. The game starts out pretty easy, but later levels get pretty tedious. The basic premise is to run around blasting the virii with medical-themed Tic-Tacs. What’s the lesson of this game? That’s right, drugs can fix any mistake; you just have to throw enough at the problem.

First things first, the instructions for the controls on Kongregate suck. So much so that the author had to create a YouTube video on how to play his game. That doesn’t bode well for ready acceptance of this title. Let me see if we can’t break this down a bit. You can move your character around with the WSAD or arrow keys. Pressing “P” or clicking outside of the game field will pause the game for you and pressing the green arrow will bring you back to the game. You have a radar you can activate with “R” and you can push enemies away with the “F” key when your force field is fully charged. The “Q” and “E” keys or 1-5 changes your weapon to various colors and you need to use the same color of pill on the enemy you are fighting. Lastly, you can do a rocket jump by jumping up, aiming down, then firing at the ground. Don’t worry, there’s no splash damage with these pills. Oh yes, aim and fire with the mouse for maximum effectiveness. Two other things you’ll notice is that there’s a lot of recoil when you shoot and you travel very slowly. You can counter the recoil by crouching and you can travel faster by jumping and shooting opposite the direction you’re moving. That will give you a nice shove forward.

You can mute in the pause section, which is a good thing because the music between the levels is really annoying. The music during gameplay is pretty good and mellow though, perfectly themed for a game that takes place in space. There isn’t much to speak of in terms of sound effects, but there’s enough to get you by.

There is some pretty good animation and some very nice art, especially in the background. The face of Doctor Zed is customizable on the level select screen so you can individualize your gaming experience to a degree. You may experience a little bit of vertigo with the frequent spinning and zooming, so if you get motion sickness easily then you may want to stay away from this game.

8/10. Nice graphics and animations. Customizable character, too.

7/10. The amount of recoil can get really annoying.

7/10. Music is irritating and repetitive, but there’s a mute so it’s all good.

9/10. Interesting idea for a game.

6/10. The explanation for the controls…well, it sucks. Needs a tutorial.

I like this game enough that I want to play it through to the end. Very enjoyable. 7/10

Friday Feature - Interview with Scotti

The aim of these interviews is to allow people that don’t frequent other chat rooms to get to know mods in other areas of Kongregate and perhaps switch up their hangouts a bit. If you have any questions that you would like us to include go ahead and contact us or leave a comment.

Thalarion: So Scotti, you mentioned you’re a consummate geek. Are you in the biz? What does a typical day involve for you?

Scotti: I’m a network administrator for a medium sized non-profit, so my day mostly consists of sitting in front of a computer, making sure everyone can access the data they need to do their jobs.
Unfortunately, we have 11 different sites, so I’m not always at the same location day to day. That’s why I’m usually ALWAYS logged in somewhere, but also usually AFK.

Valkyrie: Ah.. that explains a lot of things.
So congrats on your newborn Scott. How does it feel to be a father again?

Scotti: This is my second kid, but the first one we had while I was working overseas. I was home for the birth (and the conception, of course), but spent the first year and a half of his life running around Southwest Asia.
This one I’ve been here the whole time… and I can honestly say I miss Kuwait…
Ok.. maybe not MISS Kuwait.
Anyway, I’m a very proud dad. My wife is amazing (she’d have to be put up with me AND my offspring), and my 4.5 yr old is going to be a great big brother ( so he keeps telling me… can’t get him to touch a dirty diaper)

Thalarion: Oh the joys of infants and bigger brothers All right, in regards to Kongregate what do you feel is the biggest draw for you?

Scotti: Without a doubt, the community that is developing! I’ve met some really interesting people, ranging from the administration to regular users. I also really like that it feels like it’s still in the planning stages
Oh, and there’s some games to play, I hear!

Valkyrie: The Admins, Moderators, and the majority of the users seem to be very passionate and dedicated to Kongregate. Would you agree? And if so what brings about such deep feelings about Kongregate?

Scotti: Again I’d have to say it’s the sense of community that makes people feel so strongly about protecting it… or in some cases tearing it down. For many of the Kommunity (did I just coin a new word?), it’s more than just a random group of people on a website. Most everyone has a room that they enjoy the feel of…
and/or a group of regulars that they like to room-hop with.

Thalarion: Kommunity…nice. So how many Star Trek jokes regarding your name do you hear on average?

Scotti: Surprisingly few, especially from the regulars. The TRUE Trekkies know that the beloved engineer on the original show was named “Scotty”, and most everyone else doesn’t make the connection. I still get the occasional “beam me up, Scotti!! LOL”, but the joke usually dies right there.

Valkyrie: Montgomery Scott was quite a capable engineer. And you seem to have his Jeans. :P. Has Kongregate in any way changed you?

Scotti: Hmm, that’s an interesting question. I don’t really think it has, to be honest. I probably spend a little more time than is healthy working on the latest badges, or chatting with people in Sanctuary, but for the most part, I’m still the same person. Those that know me IRL can attest that I really can be just as grumpy…

Thalarion: Sanity’s over-rated. I’m curious about what brought you to Kong in the first place.

Scotti: I was afraid you’d ask me something like that. I have no clear recollection of when I initially created an account, or why. I just looked at my favorite games, and one of the first ones was Desktop Tower Defense, which I’m pretty sure was the first game I played here.

Valkyrie: Scotti, tell us about your moderating style.

Scotti: I’ve been dealing with online communities for quite a while; forums, chat rooms, online games, etc. I have very low tolerance for people that I recognize as having an agenda that focuses on ruining other people’s enjoyment.
I give a warning to people that are in the “questionable” or “newbie” category, but when an account that was created that day starts spamming or trolling immediately, I’ll ban them right away.
Usually for the minimum one hour, but longer for repeat offenders, or ban evasions.

Thalarion: Yeah, I tend to come down pretty hard on ban dodgers myself. Okay, how about the perennial favorite; what advice do you have to offer aspiring mods?

Scotti: Aspire higher.
No, no, no… ok, I was asked to be a moderator about 6 months before I finally accepted. I just didn’t want the headache that came with it. But as Kongregate gets more and more popular, inevitably it’s going to need to be moderated.
Those that are foolish enough to want to help shape the community should be as active and helpful as possible both in the chat rooms and the forums, and start building their reputation as a solid member.
Repeatedly asking to be a moderator pretty much assures that you won’t.

Valkyrie: yeah.. Not a good way to gun for Greg’s Chair if you are aspiring. One last question Scotti. As a parent, what do you think of Kongregate and the relevance and influence it has on children today?

Scotti: In the past few months I’ve been a moderator, I’ve had the opportunity to see how “children” interact with the “Kommunity”, and it hasn’t been a great experience, in my opinion. In this context I’m referring to those “children” that are not of the legally required age (13), yet create accounts here anyway. Quite simply, they don’t have the social skills to interact here, and almost always wind up becoming an issue.
Scotti: Now, as they mature emotionally and intellectually, I’ve seen and had some GREAT discussions with kids 13-16 years old, and think that experience is very positive, both for them and for Kongregate.

Valkyrie: Thanks for the insight Scotti.
We appreciate you taking the time.

Thalarion: Definitely. Thanks for the time and we’ll see you around

Scotti: No problem, thanks for deeming me interesting enough to interview!
Scotti normally hangs out in Sanctuary and, as mentioned, he can be found throughout the day.

Bowja the Ninja 2

Bowja the Ninja 2

6/10

Okay, so we have a point and click. Seems kinda promising. You’re a ninja that makes strange squeaky sounds that remind you of a baby pig squealing, using your bow to shoot rubber arrows at people. This game is child friendly; nobody dies!

Anyway, your goal is to…well, it doesn’t tell you. But Point-and-Clicks rarely do. Basically, you must utilise the world of clickable items to get into a compound and get out. Scattered around the place are a few easy puzzles (although I think one of them isn’t working correctly…).
Bowja 2 resembles a side-scroller, your character is always visible on the screen, similar to The Visitor. There isn’t much to say about the game itself that you wouldn’t already assume from a Point and Click; it’s just the same old stuff, really.

You’re timed for how long it takes you to beat it (which shouldn’t be too long; it’s rather short) but there’s no stopping the timer if you need to do something else.
Graphics are extremely well done, and animations are very smooth. Sound isn’t without background music and annoying human noises, however there’s no mute.

The main area this game falls down in is gameplay. The game is very typical in terms of point-and-clicks; often you will be clicking somewhere just because you’ve seen this done before, like attacking a drainpipe so it falls and so on. The game is very slow to play. The animations, although well done sadly push up the tedium, as one wrong click causes a painful few seconds watching the ninja tug fruitlessly at a wheel or lever. The main thing that killed this game for me were the bosses. There are two bosses in the game and both of them like to roar at you, causing you to jump in fright or fall in water. Of course, this means you have to get back out of the water or stand back up. This happens every time they roar and they roar after every click you make or every 3 seconds. How very tedious. Completely unnecessary and another reason why you wouldn’t really want to play this again.

This game showed promise at the beginning of the play, however the amount of pointless animation, clichéd Point-and-click tactics and slow game play really brought it down.

10/10. Extremely well done. Animation works, backgrounds are pretty. Basically flawless.

3/10. Appalling. Easy to play, but lacking in all other sections.

6/10. It has sound, but no mute. Character sounds are very annoying.

5/10. Same old, same old.

8/10. You just need the mouse.

Promising game but needs revision.

The Key Master

The Key Master

7/10

I know what you’re thinking, didn’t we just review one of these? Yep, we most certainly did. No worries, this one is considerably more challenging than the last typing game we reviewed. For starters, you can have multiple enemies on the screen at once. You also have potions and keys you can pick up during gameplay. Keep at your typing, you can only improve your speed and spelling with repeated play and that’s not a bad thing. Now in terms of controls there just isn’t a lot going on. I mean, you need a fully-functional keyboard and you’ll need to use your mouse on one or two occasions, but mostly it’s about how quickly you can type.

Anyone that’s been reading here for a while knows that I usually have a problem with top-down perspectives on games. There isn’t enough detail and the graphics tend to be pretty lame. And animation? Forget it. Fortunately that’s not the case here as The Key Master is slightly off angle from the top. The graphics are really well done and there’s a lot of nice animation going on here. My one beef with the game is the choice of font. I saw a few words that weren’t readily distinguishable, such as the words sign and sigh and a different font with more spacing would have been really helpful.

The music for this game is pretty slick and you occasionally can hear the deaths of your enemies over the clacking of the keys. Beyond that there’s not a lot going on with the audio. Yeah, you can mute and play your own music if you like and you really won’t be missing out on anything.

8/10. Really detailed for an overhead game. Nice!

7/10. You’re a typing madman…or not.

8/10. Good music and sound effects.

6/10. Meh, it’s still a typing game.

8/10. Being a touch typist has never been so helpful.

While it may be another typing game it is definitely fun. 7/10

Bullets

Bullets

8/10

Asteroids+Firing your own obstacles+dodging=fun? You might say.

Here we have Bullets, a asteroid type game that has a few interesting ideas, first and foremost is the fact that you have to shoot out what you are to avoid. Think of “What goes around, comes around” as the motto for this game. THere are no asteroids or other ships, just what you have fired. The game doesn’t start until you have fired X amount of rounds. You have to avoid those shots for X amount of time. The ammo you use gets switched up every time you pass a stage, as do the time requirements.

Flaw time! The controls, alas, they are not great. Your little ship will slide across the map with a press of an arrow key, which subtracts from the experience considerably. Also is this: on the levels further on, the gameplay gets… crazy. Well, time for something of a metaphor. Take the song “Psychobilly freakout” and find a music visualizer, and have the visualizer play psychobilly freakout. Attempt to pay attention to Everything on screen at once. Did you find it hard to keep up with? That is the gameplay of Bullets when there is more than two things to avoid. Its sickening, turning the game from less of an avoider to more of a Slide-outta-there-and-then-pray-that-you-don’t-get-hit type game. Oh lookie, a big flaws paragraph. Woo hoo.

8/10. Nothing too special.

8/10. An avoider. Not too much else.

8/10. Some nice techno here and there. Mute included.

9/10. Shoot then avoid what you shot. Originality oozes from this game.

6/10. Sliding is for slides, not avoiding death.

Great concept, but a those two things harm gameplay boatloads. 8/10

Earth Defense

Earth Defense

7/10

The moon…bringer of tides, illuminator of nights, favorite action of college pranksters. And now it defends Earth as well. Take to the skies to prevent asteroids and satellites from slamming into Earth by slamming the moon into them first. Upgrade the speed and size of your moon, recover health for the planet, or decrease the speed of your “enemies” to make it easier to get to everything before you get damaged.

The game is controlled entirely by the mouse. Enemies will come in from all angles and at varying speeds, but you really need to worry most about the ones going fast and\or heading straight for Earth. The ones making a larger arc around the screen won’t get away, they’re just taking a different path to their goal. Once all of the enemies have been destroyed or have smashed into your planet you get a quick break to upgrade. I noticed that the size of your moon stops increasing about level 12 to 14, so don’t burn points on that as you only get one per level.

There are a few animations here, but nothing of real note. Earth rotates, so do the asteroids and satellites. Beyond that…well, it looks pretty! There’s also nice, atmospheric music. About the only sound you’re going to hear is the crunch when you slam into an asteroid or when one slams into Earth. Still, nobody’s going to hear you scream in space. Even if they could, they still can mute in the options menu so nyah.

8/10. Good graphics. The depiction of the Man in the Moon was surprisingly accurate.

7/10. Great fun trying to defend the earth from certain doom.

7/10. Good music and sound effects, just not a lot of either.

6/10. Defend your… Yeah we’ve seen this genre before, upgrades and all.

8/10. Mouse, mouse, baby.

Might as well learn about the inevitable apocalypse now rather than later. Next on my to do list, attack huge rockets to the moon. 7/10

Covert Front: Episode 1

Covert Front: Episode 1

8/10

First things first! The year is 1911 and you are a spy/girl/main character. You are to infiltrate the home of a big German scientist. This calls for, you guessed it, a point and click adventure/puzzler. There is no voice acting or sound effects, which is quite the bummer. The game itself is only about 10 minutes long, provided that your clicking skills are up to snuff.

Speaking of snuff and being up to it, this game is rather worthy of playing. The atmosphere of the game is dark. There are blood stains in one room of the house, suggesting the scientist has committed suicide recently. There is a sequel this game (And you thought the “episode: 1″ was just for show. ) , which I have yet to play. With that said, I will be playing it, because I want more of this game… The ending is a tad abrupt, but that shouldn’t bother too much.

9/10. Very appealing, with dark colors and good art design.

8/10. Not to much new here if you are a point and click gamer, but the puzzles are very reasonable.

7/10. Creeeeeeeeeeeeeepy, but a lack of even the most simple sound effects brings down the score.

8/10. Infiltrate the German officer’s house with your point and click abilities!

8/10. ::click::

R.O.B.O.T. Relatively Obedient Being of Thought

R.O.B.O.T. Relatively Obedient Being of Thought

8/10

R.O.B.O.T. is another game from the JIG Games Design Competition 5. As mentioned before, the theme of this competition was “Upgrade” and there’s definitely plenty of that in R.O.B.O.T. Destroy enemies, earn cores, then use the cores to upgrade various things like your speed, energy, weapon, shields, and so on. You can even drop a turret or fire off an EMP to disable your enemies for a short amount of time.

You can use the WASD or arrow keys to move around the level. Q and E drop turrets and EMPs respectively or you can use shift-click and ctrl-click. Be quick on your treads as every once in a while targets will appear around or underneath you. Move well away from these or you’re going to be in a world of hurt. One thing I found frustrating about this game is that you can’t pause during the levels. Nope, you’re going to have to fight until every enemy is dead, only then can you take a moment to catch your breath and improve your arsenal.

The graphics fit pretty well for this game. You’re dropped into a post-apocalyptic environment where you have to fight off hordes of enemy robots and the “arena” is suitably desolate. There are a few nice touches like the laser sight and the moving arms for when you move your cursor closer to or further away from your robot. The enemies don’t have a lot of animations but you don’t have a lot of time to notice this as you’re busy trying to not get killed.

The first thing I noticed when I loaded up the game was that it reminded me a great deal of Arcanum. The level music is considerably different from the intro/break music and…well, those are the only two songs you get. They’re pretty good songs, though and there’s always the mute button (yay) if you dislike either. The sound effects can be muted separately, but they’re also quite good so you’d be missing out. Take note that you can only mute when you’re between levels upgrading your R.O.B.O.T.

7/10. The graphics are good, but not great.

9/10. Upgrade, kill, upgrade, awesome.

8/10. Only two songs but the music and audio is excellent.

8/10. Reminds me of Defend Your Inglor, just with movement.

9/10. Alt controls for southpaws, woo hoo!

For a first flash game this is really an impressive effort. 8/10

Friday Feature - Interview with Alcibiades

The aim of these interviews is to allow people that don’t frequent other chat rooms to get to know mods in other areas of Kongregate and perhaps switch up their hangouts a bit. If you have any questions that you would like us to include go ahead and contact us or leave a comment.

Having Valkyrie in on the last interview worked out so well that I invited her back for this one.

Valkyrie:  Our Special guest this evening is Alcibiades, Mod of repute and history buff.
Welcome Alcibiades.

Thalarion:  So this is a question you probably hear a lot, but I’m curious about the history of your username and just how you pronounce it.

Alcibiades:  Alcibiades is pronounced like “Al See Bye-uh-deez,” and is the name of an ancient Greek admiral and politician from the time of the Peloponnesian War.

Valkyrie:  I am glad you did not choose THIS IS SPARTA!

Alcibiades:  He’s one of my favorite historical figures, and is a colorful character who helped to lead the armies and navies of Athens (until he was accused of sacrilege), then Sparta (until his affair with the queen was discovered), then Persia (really!), then Athens again.  Well, you get the idea.  He didn’t end well.

Thalarion:  He got around, all right.  So I take it you’re a history buff?

Alcibiades:  Absolutely.  If I could go back in time, I’d have majored in history.  I never get bored of it, though I do tend to jump from era to era every few years.

Thalarion:  Well that ties nicely into the next question.  What did you study in college and how are you using that now?

Alcibiades:  I studied political science, with a focus on international security issues, and I don’t think it relates directly to my profession.  I am an attorney, and the type of “security” I deal with now is the paper kind that gets people rich . . . or into trouble.

Thalarion:  Ooooh, a lawyer.  And you still have time to play on Kong?  Lucky.  Speaking of spare time, how else do you spend that?

Valkyrie:  Hope you do not stick a bill for this interview.

Alcibiades:  No billing = no talking.  Sorry.
Kidding!

Thanks to some very fortunate timing and a handful of good contacts during the dot-com boom, I am semi-retired from the practice of law, so I have more time to game than I otherwise might.  I spend most of my time, though, helping the Alcibiawife to raise the Alcibiadaughter, who is just under a year old.

Alcibiades:  I used to spend a good deal of time on the Xbox, but Kong is my addiction, now.

Thalarion:  Congrats (belated) on the kid!  So how long have you been a moderator on Kongregate now?

Alcibiades:  Roughly three months.

Valkyrie:  Kongrats Alcibiades

Thalarion:  And what do you find rewarding about the job?

Alcibiades:  I love this community.  The chatroom I frequent, “The Bleachers,” didn’t have–or even see–a moderator in the time between when I joined and when I became a mod.  We largely self-moderated, but there was a lot of troll-stomping.  Which was kind of fun, though it could be frustrating.  I like being able to help keep things focused on games and getting to know one another.  Also, I get to meet so many interesting people–people I would never encounter in everyday life.  That’s rewarding, too.

Valkyrie:  Does your legal experience in handling situations help in dealing with trolls on Kongregate?

Alcibiades:  Hah!  Great question!  I think it does help–but it also leads me into temptation.  I cross-examine a lot of the trolls I encounter, and I am certain that many users would prefer that I simply ban them, and not get down into the muck.  I try to retain a veneer of respectfulness in my disdain for, say, racism or homophobia, but I end up muted sometimes because I try to talk people out of their offensive views.

Thalarion:  I have always been tempted to interview a troll but I just can’t justify giving them the attention.  So what sort of advice would you give to people looking to get into the legal field?

Alcibiades:  Reconsider it!  Well, maybe just, “think hard.”  A lot of people get into the law for the wrong reasons, or have misconceptions about what being an attorney is all about.  I would highly recommend interning or even just asking to be allowed to “shadow” a lawyer for a day or two.  The actual practice of law can be rewarding, but you have to go into it with eyes open.  Also, learn to write well.  That’s absolutely key.

Valkyrie:  That is great advice. Does Kongregate make any difference in your life? How?

Alcibiades:  I really think it does.  It allows me to connect with people who are very different from my offline friends.  On Kongregate, I have friends from all over the world, and have been surprised to find fellow game fans of all ages.  Sometimes I am able to give advice about real-life situations, and at other times I have been fortunate enough to receive good advice from others.  That surprises me, when I think about it.  For a Flash-based game site, it is quite remarkable.

Thalarion:  Yeah, the community is what makes it great.  So on that same vein, what do you feel users could do to help out the moderators and the community at large?

Alcibiades:  As in all areas of life, a little bit of thought and empathy goes a long way.  Just putting yourself in the other person’s shoes.  Most moderators don’t enjoy banning people, and there are few things worse than having your judgment called into question.  But I think there are many users here who already embrace this ethic.  They make the lives of moderators easier by helping rooms to self-moderate, and the best of them do it with a light touch.  With a joke, rather than a threat.  With an appeal, rather than an order.  I respect that, and I always appreciate it.
I should just add, though, that moderators are here to help users, rather than the reverse.  So those users who behave the way I just described really are going above-and-beyond.

Valkyrie:  That is true. what do you think of the present system through which moderators are selected?

Alcibiades:  I know that there is some frustration because it is slow, and because many users would like to see more moderators in more chatrooms.  Having seen the selection process from the inside, though, I am very impressed with how seriously and carefully the decisions are made.  I am also surprised to have been asked to serve as a moderator, given some of my more “spirited” conversations with trolls.  The system is working, in that I see a high level of dedication and professionalism in other moderators.  But the Kongregate staff understands that there is a need to adapt to the site’s growth, and I am excited to see how they–as a group of bright, creative people–deal with that challenge.

Thalarion:  I can’t imagine what they have to go sift through to find the mods, even after having seen the process first-hand.  All right, any other words of wisdom before we let you go?

Alcibiades:  Just this: Kongregate is a special place, and I would urge users to be patient with one another.  When I think about the fact that we have a lot of users who are in their early-to-mid teens, I feel that it is important to be understanding when someone asks a question that seems silly, or makes a comment that isn’t appropriate.  There can be a “pack” mentality when a new user arrives, and I think it is a mistake to be anything other than welcoming.  Adolescence, from what I vaguely remember, is a tough time, and Kongregate should be a place where people can escape from their real-life stresses and find a friendly community that expands their social group.
Also, check the “Help” tab.  99% of your questions, including “how do I become a mod,” are answered there!

Thalarion:  Nice…  Thank you very much for taking time to interview with us and I’ll see you online

Alcibiades:  It’s been a pleasure.  I am a big fan of ACKK, ever since DoctorMarmalade linked me to it!

Valkyrie:  Thank you Counselor. It was a pleasure to talk to you. Thank you for the bill!!

Woo-hoo, we’re always glad to have fans :)  You can find Alcibiades on throughout the day in The Bleachers or other rooms.

Aliens Must Die: The Jupiter Wars

Aliens Must Die: The Jupiter Wars

8/10

Aliens Must Die is a Kongregate-Exclusive game that pits you, a solo pilot, against hordes of aliens that resemble asteroids, jellyfish, and other oddities. Your co-pilot Annie is there to advise you, pester you, and warn you that you’re taking a beating. Do your best to dodge the enemy, but that won’t be an easy task… Fly around the levels to earn multipliers and weapon, health, and shield upgrades. Every few levels a new enemy gets introduced and you’ll have to learn a new style of gameplay to combat this foe.  As a note, you gather debris (the circles compose of triangles) to release gears that allow you to upgrade your weaponry.  This gets to be pretty important so keep gathering that debris as often as possible

The movement reminds me of a spasmodic person trying to bust some funky moves on the dance floor while hopped up on pixie sticks and Red Bull. In case you couldn’t tell, I’m not too fond of the controls. You zoom around the level at the slightest touch of the button and considering the sheer number of enemies you’re facing by level 5 this can cause some serious complications. Sitting still won’t work either as there are enemies that shoot at you and others that just try to ram you. Besides that, you won’t be able to pick up the powerups as they end up getting scattered all over the screen. The control issue has been fixed and now you glide around the screen and can turn and stop on a dime.  This makes for a considerably better playing experience and I was able to get a lot further in the game that I ever could before.  Kudos to the devs for fixing this rather critical issue.   Another redeeming thing about this is if you press “P” you can go into the options menu and turn on autofire so all you have to do is aim.

The ships, background, animations…well, pretty much everything visual with this game is just plain awesome. There’s tons of detail and enemies galore. Even the bullets are multi-toned; how cool is that? The background is static but there are two layers so it gives the impression of some animations going on back there. Now as to the music, there’s some very nice music involved though it does have a “Doctor Who” quality to it. The sound effects are nicely suited to the game and nothing really sticks out as not fitting in with the style.

10/10. Really nice and shiny graphics.

7/10. Lots of repetition.

8/10. Excellent audio options provided.

6/10. Well, it’s definitely a defense game.

8/10. Flail=fail. MUCH smoother controls now.  This game is considerably more enjoyable thanks to the change.

Yeah, it’s another defense game. Still pretty fun despite that. 8/10