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Thursday 6 March, 2008
Gamelog Entry #2
Gameplay:
After a second hour of gameplay, I still find myself attached to the characters. They have not lost any of their quirkeness and are still really entertaining to listen to. There was something missing though, because the gamer, like I said in my previous gamelog entry within the gameplay section, does not control an avatar, and that felt like something was missing. I was wrong, however, and discovered that I do feel an attachment, an attachment to all of the planes that one acquires during and throughout this game. I thought this is cool, because the player is attached to even more "characters" than any other game because he has such a selection to choose from.
Wingnuts still has an interesting story. We are still chasing down the Baron and trying to prevent the world from his chaotic manner, but I have gotten far along in the game to know that there is another motive for why we are chasing this maniac around. I'm not that far along to know the exact reason, but I am curious to find out, which keeps me interested as a gamer.
There is still no social interaction between human beings, which I am kind of bummed about, because I think that a multiplayer element in this game would have made it that much more better.
Design:
What I really like about this game is how the developer's tried to add a new element to level design in this SHMUP. The player has control of the plane in the X and Y coordinates and the camera is looking down on the plane from the top, but the developers gave the player a boxed area that they could move around in. It's a pretty cool design and I have not played another SHMUP that have designed levels in this way. The levels are also designed differently. Some levels are sunny and have a happy feel to them, while other levels it its snowing and the player gets that cold feeling by being in that level. All of the levels are the same size, which is kind of a down side, because I think some more elements could have been added to the game if the developers changed the dimensions of the level size throughout the game.
Another thing that I really, really like about this game was the reward and punishment system. After completing certain missions, the player gets access to more a couple more planes. But you have to be careful and not run out of fuel or lose all of your hit points, because you will lose your plane and never be able to use it in the game again! A really neat feature though is that if you upgrade a plane, that plane keeps all of its upgrade's throughout the rest of the game. If you crash it, for whatever reason, like I said before, that plane is lost forever. I also feel that this element plays a huge role in having players attached to the planes, because they can customize their planes and they strategize their gameplay so that they do not lose their planes, especially the ones that they have modified.
The different planes that the developers put in the game are really cool also. The planes are based off of real air planes, so this game is especially fun to play for a person who is really into planes, like, for example, myself. During my second hour of gameplay, I earned the A-10, which is an attack plane. I upgraded that plane as much as I could and was very careful not to lose it in battle. The planes themselves can also be upgraded a certain number of times, so that the player can not just modify one plane and defeat the game that way. Another cool feature about the planes is that the developers took the different attributes of the planes in real life and added it to the game. For example, the American P-51 Mustang is a WW 2 fighter, so its top speed is slower than that of the F-84 Thunderstreak, yet the P-51 does have a higher agility than the F-84. Another example would be that the F-84's air attack power is greater compared to that of the A-10's, but the A-10's bombing capabilities are superior to those of the F-84. This game incorporates all of this information and the player can feel it when they are playing the game.
The main downfall to this game is the fact that their is no multiplayer. I think it would be awesome for two players to work together over some sort of connection in order to chase the Baron down together. I think this would encourage social interaction while still incorporating the elements of fun that this game introduces to the general public.
Overall this game is very fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed both hours of gameplay. This game keeps me interested because I want to know the truth about why the Wingnuts are chasing the Baron. I also want to increase my quiver of planes so I can use them for suture missions. This game receives a 4 out of 5.
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