SmirkyTrick's Review:
Infectionator 2,
X Redhorn,
& Super Beefjerks
So what do zombie hordes, air combat robots, and mutilating space cows have in common? There are games about them and I'm gonna review them.... Really, that's what they have in common.... I guess they're all also part of some nerd's fantasy but then the space cow part seems a bit out of place... WHATEVER! LET'S JUST GET ON WITH THE REVIEW!!!
Infectionator 2
Our first game is a infection game that's really addictive. This game is Infectionator 2. Sure zombies are not the most original concept, but I gotta admit, it's not often when a flash game makes media coverage on sites like Yahoo news and stuff. So I played to determine on whether it deserved to have been advertised at all. After I played it a couple of times, I found it to be really addicting. You'll see what I mean in this review.
Controls
The whole point of the game is to, as the title suggest, infect as many people and countries as possible. It's a really simple concept, you get your mouse and you start with the required zombie virus as your default, next you pick a city/level and then you can set loose the zombie virus to the unsuspecting people of that city. Each infection earns you cash which you can use to upgrade the virus of zombie hordes. Needless to say the mouse control works in this game. I found nothing wrong with the controls in this department.
Graphics
The game has this pixelated style. Everyone, with the exception of the hot news anchorwoman, is a cute little chibis. And I gotta say, it a good contrast with the gruesome zombie epidemic. In some of the levels you attack streets, in other levels you attack neighborhoods, and there are level that involve entire cities. I like how they scale the people with the the size of the levels. If the level is a street, the people are big, if the level is an entire city, the people will be the size of ants. I like that little detail there. I also noticed that in your zombie horde collection you have some interesting pop culture references. You have zombie Kim Jon-il, zombie Michael Jackson (complete with Thriller jacket), the Grinch, Freddy Krueger, Jigsaw, and even Ronald McDonald.
Difficulty
Each level has a certain objective, as well as bonus objectives that score you some extra cash. Each level has its own set numbered goal on how many people to infect or kill. Needless to say, the higher the goal, the more difficult it's going to be. However, whenever you fail a objective, you still get the cash to upgrade your zombie virus. The real goal the game is to infect the entire world in the fewest amount of days. Beating levels will unlock other levels etc. etc. There will be times where you fail your objectives, but as long as you killed or infect people, you can still progress with upgrades.
Overall, Infectionator 2 is a simple yet highly addictive game. The only flaws I found in the game was that it can be slow at time with the infection, and the fact that you are required to level up by grinding to collect the cash for upgrades. Still, if you're a casual gamer, then you're love this game and become addicted to it. Yeah, you will crave it... Like a zombie with a brain... You be a zombie to this game...woah...that's deep right there.
Overall, Infectionator 2 is a simple yet highly addictive game. The only flaws I found in the game was that it can be slow at time with the infection, and the fact that you are required to level up by grinding to collect the cash for upgrades. Still, if you're a casual gamer, then you're love this game and become addicted to it. Yeah, you will crave it... Like a zombie with a brain... You be a zombie to this game...woah...that's deep right there.
X Redhorn
For second game, it's X Redhorn. First off, this is not a shooter. This is actually an air combat game. A game that requires strategy rather than just shooting things...Ok sure they both involve just shooting things but X Redhorn still requires strategy! It's odd, back then there were many games that were in that air combat genre. But nowadays, it's a rather rare occurrence. That is however, I started playing this game called X Redhorn. Playing this game for the first time was like a breath of fresh air. I don't understand why there aren't that many air combat games today. There are some things that we just cannot explain. Things can die for no reason. But after playing the game it was a welcome sight that the genre still has some life or interest. So the question is: Does X Redhorn represent the air combat games well? Or is it one of the reasons why the genre is rarely seen?
Controls
The controls in this game are pretty smooth. You move with the WASD keys, aim with mouse, fire with the Left mouse button, and have your drones shoot with spacebar. This control scheme works well with this game. It allows you to freely move and aim while playing. However there are times where the pacing of you or your enemies may be a little to fast. but overall the controls work really well.
Graphics
Before I talk about the graphics, let me address one thing about this review, the images I used for this game look blurry and one even has a watermark. There weren't that many images of this game to be found, and these were the best that I could find. These blurry images don't really represent the game's graphic really well, but I had to make due with what I got. The actual game is actually much clearer then these images. As for the game itself, the graphics are pretty decent. There are times that they look a little jagged, and a little tough around the edges. But it's the little things that make the style work. For example, I thought it was a nice detail how they made that little radar in the corner. There are time however where there are those fast paced moments on whether you actually got hit or not. For example: you can shoot down the rockets, but they so fast that they explode right in front of you. This happened to me several times and I did't instantly know on whether I got hit or not. Luckily you have a health bar to help you with that. Overall, the graphics are pretty decent.
Difficulty
This game can prove to be rather challenging. You'll breeze though the first level with no problem. But then you get to level 2. That's when you meet those enemies that fire rockets. That when things get more difficult. They can take a good chunk of your health away in just a hit or 2. Not only that, but later on you'll meet robots holding shields, robots that constantly move, and even robot that can do that DBZ kamehameha lazer thing, it's pretty epic. And if that wasn't difficult enough, there's the upgrades. The upgrade process itself isn't hard, it's actually relatively simple. The only thing about is getting the cash to pay for it. In order to get the money, you have to COMPLETE the levels, if you die you get NOTHING. And trust me the levels are HARD!!! But not impossible. They really make you earn those upgrades. And to do that, you have to plan out their movements, as if you in a dogfight. You can just upgrade just about everything, from your weapons to your armor, to those little drones that accompany you. Speaking of those little those little drones, they can really help you out from time to time. At first, I thought they would make the game too easy, but after meeting those powerful enemies, I now think that they evenly balance the game. I now use those drones whenever possible, AND I STILL DIE FROM TIME TO TIME!!! Which, again, really requires you to develop a strategy.
Overall, if you been craving a good dogfight game with a hardcore challenge, the X Redhorn is the game I would recommend for you. If you're a little pussy that hates games that are too difficult, then stay away and stick to something else. I can honestly say that I like this game. I respect it for brushing the dust of of a genre that I haven't seen in a while. It has it's fair share of flaws but overall, I call it great and an instant must try for any fan of the air combat genre.
Overall, if you been craving a good dogfight game with a hardcore challenge, the X Redhorn is the game I would recommend for you. If you're a little pussy that hates games that are too difficult, then stay away and stick to something else. I can honestly say that I like this game. I respect it for brushing the dust of of a genre that I haven't seen in a while. It has it's fair share of flaws but overall, I call it great and an instant must try for any fan of the air combat genre.
Super Beefjerks
For our third and final game in this review we have Super Beefjerks, a rather odd yet awesome arcade game. In this game you play as a ship, killing space cows that fall from the sky, collecting power-ups and scoring points.... Needless to say, PETA is not going to like this this game... Then again, they don't like bacon. And bacon is good. So does Super Beefjerks bring home the bacon? Or should it have been left to pasture?
Controls
The controls are pretty simple. All you do is go left and right and use spacebar to dive attack those space cows. It's pretty simple. Yet, it works well. It's not trying to perfect anything, not trying to outdo anything, just being simple and functional. Occasionally, if you collect enough cowbells you can this dash attack so that you don't have to use a dive attack all the time, but we'll get to that later.
Graphics
Now I just adore games that are fun and bizarre. I'm really digging the style here. It has that ARCADE style. You know, like an actual arcade game from the 90's. Even the music is paying an homage to the good old arcade days. God I love nostalgia. I also love how they made the cows look absolutely adorable, and yet kill in a bloody gory way. That's actually a pretty effective contrast if you ask me.
Difficulty
Like i said before, this is a really odd game. At my first play through, I thought that you were suppose to avoid the cows, the instructions were pretty brief in this game. Then I thought you were suppose to collect the cows, then I died. And then I finally realized that your were suppose dive attack and dash into the cows to get the points. At first I was getting the hang of it, but then I had avoid meteors, and those same meteors were carrying purple space cows that jump into you if given the opportunity.... I really can't make this stuff up here people. As I mentions before, if you collect enough cowbells, you can get all these power-ups that not only gives you a fiery dash attack, but also a point multiplier. Which really help out in a game like this. There will be moments where things will be hectic, where it is pouring meteors, where there are purple cow all over the place, and inevitably will fill the entire screen.
Overall, I enjoyed this bizarre arcade game. It's silly, but in the best way possible. If you're an arcade fanatic that loves bizzare scenarios that doesn't mind the cow gore, then this game is for you. If you're a member of PETA..... this will probably be on your complaint list that no one cares about.
Overall, I enjoyed this bizarre arcade game. It's silly, but in the best way possible. If you're an arcade fanatic that loves bizzare scenarios that doesn't mind the cow gore, then this game is for you. If you're a member of PETA..... this will probably be on your complaint list that no one cares about.