Cuphead
Cuphead is a throwback style run and gun adventure game designed and produced by StudioMDHR in 2017.
It’s been a while since I found myself whistling jazz tunes while attempting to scratch my eyes out and crying while rocking back and forth in the fetal position.
I love this game…I think.
Cuphead tells the tale of Cuphead (obviously) and his pal Mugman as they travel around the world collecting Soul Contracts for the Devil, to whom they owe their own souls for making a deal and losing a bet. Sounds familiar, right? Well, once you realize that the entire game is hand-drawn as if it were a 1930’s Fleischer Studios cartoon (see: rubber hose animation), you’ll be as sucked in as I was.
The detail in the characters and background art is painstakingly apparent as you run, jump, dash, and shoot your way through levels and boss fights. So. Many. Boss fights. Watching the game move at a cross between vintage 24 frames per second and a modest modern 60 frames can be a little jarring at first, but it’s easy to get used to as the action pulls you in.
However, I must caution those who are taking this experience with little to no preparation: this game is hard. Very hard. Frustratingly hard. Ridiculously, aggravatingly, hopelessly hard. Okay, I’ll stop now.
Needless to say, be prepared for a grind. Cuphead rests on its laurels of being a trial-by-fire trudge through forests, gardens, candy lands, and more. Enemies fly from all directions, some are invincible, some just take a lot of bullets. The best way to put it: it’s not unfair, but you’d better be ready to be beaten countless times for the simplest mistakes before you get a feel for things. Also, with no way to gain more health, you’ll be hard-pressed to avoid that last fatal hit before you reach your goal.
Cuphead is a powerful, yet docile creature. It may be fun and adorable, but it is also a force to be reckoned with. Have fun, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Dead Space
Ever wonder what it would be like to be drifting alone in space with no escape plan, slowly watching the ship whose air you’re quickly burning through come apart at the seams, all the while being chased by unimaginable horrors that won’t die after shooting them in the head?
You…you haven’t wondered that? Just me? Really? Come on, guys, it’s not that much of a scary scenario, is it? It is? Oh…
Well, anyway, moving on…
Dead Space tells the story of Isaac Clarke, an engineer sent with a small crew to the U.S.G. Ishimura, a planet-cracking ship that they lost contact with recently. What they find is a horrific alien entity bent on killing or assimilating them, and what began as a possible rescue mission becomes a lone man’s fight for survival inside a quite-literal box of death. In space.
While I might be a little biased in my assessment (I first played Dead Space on a full-wall projector with surround sound, and wept as I cowered before a human-sized Isaac taking down vile Necromorphs taller than him), this game scared the crap out of me. Beautifully gruesome visuals, terrifying sound design, and a wonderfully creepy score elevate the tension on the Ishimura, sometimes past the breaking point in certain areas. Movement can be a little clunky, but it’s only to be expected of an engineer with no combat training trying to survive; in other words it’s a perfect emulation.
Enemy types can get repetitive after a while, with their zombie apocalypse vibe, but the level design makes up for those shortcomings, especially in the vacuum stages. Story’s a bit convoluted, which is probably a deliberate design since it highlights the alienation you feel all alone, seemingly without a purpose beyond survival, in the depths of the void. The story opens up more if you play through the sequels as well, which you should really do if you can get past the first game. What could be worse?
Is it perfect? No. Is it groundbreaking? Nope. Is it scary? Oh, hell yes. Do I love it all the same? Absolutely.
They Are Billions: WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!
Numantian Games’ most recent publication, They Are Billions, has challenged, exhilarated, and frustrated thousands of gamers since its release with its careful blend of strategic management and maddening action.
If you asked me what one of my strengths was in strategy games when I was younger and dumber, I would have puffed out my chest, and proclaimed proudly, “Turtling!“, causing all of my gamer friends to grumble in well-deserved frustration at my “irritatingly cheap tactics”. I don’t blame them at all (it was an annoying play style), but turtling still works as a viable tactic, and it is one that I could proudly say was part of my arsenal and one of the best tools I had. I felt unstoppable
Then I played They Are Billions…there goes THAT hard-earned point of pride.
On paper, They Are Billions sounds like it should be easy: You upgrade your colony of human survivors with impressive steampunk technology to survive in the zombie apocalypse for a set number of days. Okay, maybe not easy, but still manageable and easily comprehended.
Then you notice that you have eight resources to worry about on a procedurally generated map with limited land resources, and of course a metric TON of zombies (up to 20,000 on screen at once, an impressive feat in and of itself) of different shapes, sizes, and health bar lengths all around you.
And then you cry. Because it’s hard…very hard.
I bought They Are Billions when it was early-access, so I cut my teeth on the Survival mode. Basic setup is: Command Center, four Rangers, and a Soldier, go. A fine start, excepting the fact that if you could see the entire map, you would just see a literal OCEAN of red with a tiny piece of green in the middle (A bit too daunting for me, I think).
It won’t take long to learn that balancing your resources is critical, and sadly there are a few moments of getting bad placements that can be frustrating to impatient players. However you can just start another round if you’re feeling cheated, so the random map generation is not as problematic as I thought it would be.
Numantian Games created something special. I really wish I was better at it. I still have no idea if the developers actually intended the game to be beatable, but the time-sink still feels worth it for an experience that few, if any, RTS games have ever delivered, and I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.