A Strange City is yet another asset flip/construction kit template copy+paste from serial Russian shovelware asset flippers, Dnovel/FreeAnimals_Software/Trinity Project/My Way Games. These guys (or just one guy flipping accounts to mislead gamers) do nothing but copy asset store assets and game tutorials, fill out a few things/stamp out basic levels using the construction kit templates, and dump them on Steam and into DailyIndieGame bundles as cash grabs. Trying to get paid for someone else's game templates, assets... at best, this is shovelware, at worst, it's a scam/cash grab.
Today's "effort" from these guys is A Strange City, and it's a garbage endless runner/platformer slapped together with the godawful Cocos2D game development engine. As a game, it's terrible, of course. Some of the worst graphics I've seen from this Russian asset flipper, worse gameplay as you run constantly to the right shooting obstacles and jumping over them as something chases you from the left side of the screen. Whatever, it's an asset flip, we all know this is just another cash grab from this guy.
For those reasons, this is below acceptable standards, and has no real merit or value as a genuine, sincerely made PC game.
Copying templates from construction kits doesn't need any talent or professional game development effort, and results in shallow, low quality shovelware like A Strange City. The status of this thing as nothing but an asset/template flip/cash grab is cemented by the "developers" prior history of asset flip/construction kit copy+paste jobs, the fake/compromised Steam accounts they used to write fake reviews (all with the same broken English), the laughable $10 USD USD price tag for this garbage, and they way they dumped it into DailyIndieGame bundles immediately at launch. There's no serious value, substance or merit here worthy of consideration from PC gamers. I can't recommend it to anyone.
Dnovel/My Way Games have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab. Here's some examples so you can see for yourself:
[list]
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/628580]Miniballist[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/endless-turns-63501]Endless Turns[/url] developed by SGLib Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1034160]Extreme Racing On Highway[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/highway-racer-50866]Highway Racer[/url] developed by BoneCracker Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/645360]CubeXL[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/switch-the-gravity-63196]Switch The Gravity[/url] developed by App Advisory
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1050810]The Hunt in the Forest[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/advanced-sniper-starter-kit-7593]Advanced Sniper Starter Kit[/url] developed by Hardworker Studio
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/628570]Trivia Night[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/trivia-quiz-game-template-45521]Trivia Quiz Game Template[/url] developed by Puppeteer
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/864010]Space Force[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/x-racer-35344]X-Racer[/url] developed by Deer Cat
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1058500]Muscle Car Robot[/url]" = [url=https://gamening.com/muscle-car-robot/]Muscle Car Robot[/url] developed by GameNing
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1054930]Mine the Gold[/url]" = [url=https://unityassets4free.com/goldmine/]Gold Miner Century[/url] developed by SplayGame Official
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1058930]Top Burger[/url]" = [url=https://unityfreaks.com/asset/4815]Top Burger Chef[/url] developed by KetchAp
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1058980]Dinosaur Bone Digging[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellanycode.com/item/515/dinosaur-bone-digging-games]Dinosaur Bone Digging Games[/url] developed by Ardian Kaltara
[/list]
Taking this asset flip seriously as a game, which nobody should, the game doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
A choice was made to use obsolete, decades old retro pixel "art" as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics. It's unclear if this is due to lack of budget or talent, regardless, the overall visual quality of the game is extremely low as a result.
There's no options to change the resolution for the game or customise the graphics settings. There's no way for gamers to ensure this is running at the native resolution of their displays... there's no guarantee this game will look right on any PC as a result of this hamfisted design decision. There's no way for gamers to try improve the low quality graphics.
The controls can't be customised, which will be an annoyance for many, but it can also render the game unplayable for differently-abled gamers.
Some of the defects in the game can be attributed to the choice of using the Cocos Creator/Cocos2D game engine/toolset. This is a very poor quality toolset sometimes used by amateur developers as it's free (so they don't have to pay for GameMaker Studio) and doesn't require advanced game development skills, but unfortunately has very limited capabilities (it's arguably worse than GameMaker Studio). Just as you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear, you can't make a great video game if you use a terrible engine.
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
It's also important to note the "developer" here has connections to a number of shady Russian asset flippers and review manipulators who show an organised pattern to scam and defraud gamers with fake reviews and asset flipping the work of others for profit. While reviews are about the games, gamers should be informed when developers act unethically. Whether these connections are the same developer using multiple accounts, or just working closely with other unethical developers, gamers should be warned about the harm to gamers by this developer and their associates. Buying games from unethical developers puts your money at risk.
[quote][url=https://mmofallout.com/valve-bans-titles-for-review-manipulation/]Warning: Review Manipulation![/url][/quote]
This game features a number of fake positive reviews from accounts known to be in the business of review manipulation/paid reviews. They're all written in either Russian or broken English, appear at almost exactly the same time, very shortly after the game launched on Steam, all have a direct Steam purchase of the game, and the accounts are used consistently to write fake reviews for asset flips and other cash grabs/scams. The "Positive" review score on this game should be disregarded due to this blatant, unethical review manipulation. This is done to deceive and scam gamers into paying for a bad product.
A Strange City has a laughable, eye watering cash grab price of $10 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games, let alone the sheer number of free games available on Steam. Given the defects and quality issues with the game, coupled with the unrealistic price, and the questionable ethical nature of the developer and/or their associates (as outlined above), this is impossible to recommend.
