Catacombs of the Undercity

+++ easy, fast & cheap 100 % Steam Achievement (Guide) ++ 6 Trading Cards (5 would be perfect) + good for Indie Genre Fans Good for Achievement Hunters, Games & Card Collectors & who like this Kind / Type of casual Games https://store.steampowered.com/app/352440/Catacombs_of_the_Undercity/

Tin Man Games are responsible for the recent Fighting Fantasy gamebook adaptations which have been turning up on Steam, and unless I'm mistaken this is the fifth "book" in a series of their very own devising called...wait for it...Gamebook Adventures! And for better or for worse, there's no denying that they've succeeded deftly in their aim to "recapture" the spirit of those ye-olde Fighting Fantasy books...thereby inheriting both the good AND bad aspects thereof. Read on, brave adventurer... Thus far I've only played one other Tin Man game, and that is the classic FF book entitled "The Forest of Doom". The book in question, perhaps even more so than many of its kin, is infamous for the "oops, just happened to go left when I apparently should have gone right, now I don't have the object I need to complete my quest, THE END" syndrome. Add to this the expected "RNG" die-rolling antics - and combat almost entirely devoid of any tactics, and thereby suspense - and you do end up with a very random game in which your decision-making frequently seems arbitrary at best. These gamebooks are essentially designed in such a way that you're almost guaranteed to fail the first playthrough you attempt, and only through trial-and-error will one ultimately emerge triumphant (my own progress thus far, while not negligible, seems to have reached the point where I may as well start over again, as I seem perilously ill-equipped to deal with a certain half-shark, half-human hybrid I keep encountering)! Fortunately this particular game has been generous enough to give you a number of "bookmarks" to slightly circumnavigate this problem, but if there's one thing which ain't changed about this genre of gaming - be it in paper-bound or digital form - it's that it requires quite a bit of perseverance to complete. It's up to you whether or not you believe you are that kind of person. Me? Kinda, sorta...up to a point. And while this particular "gamebook" doesn't seem QUITE as reliant on the sheer dumb luck of its ancestors, it's still much the same thing. Patience will DEFINITELY be a virtue, should you choose to accept this quest. Oh, and unless I've somehow missed it - which is entirely possible - this game doesn't have, and could sorely use, a MAP. Sure, you can draw one of your own, but then again you could also turn your own pages, and roll your own dice, so while we're all trapped here together in the virtual realm...how about a map, please? Forest of Doom had one, wisely enough. Not quite sure why this one doesn't. Now, one regard in which I definitely prefer this to the likes of Forest of Doom - a book not QUITE as grim and/or spooky as it sounds - is the actual setting and scenario. I basically bought this one - rather than, say, the four which precede it! - because it looked like one of the more tonally "dark" gamebooks on offer, and sure enough it does live up to that promise. Dank sewers, grubby creatures, freakish cultists, and demon-summoning sorcerers abound. The "story", in other words, is pretty darn nice, if you're as morbidly-inclined as myself...and that's a pretty good thing when you consider that it's a text-based adventure, and thereby ALL ABOUT the story, really! Music and artwork are also very nice and atmospheric, and the text lovingly relishes the details of your each and every demise (and those of the creatures which you slay)...so no complaints from yours truly about any of that. Tin Man Games have certainly done their homework. Old-school FF-style antics, brought kicking and screaming into the modern age with a new-school interface. Who would I recommend this to? Certainly anyone who tolera...sorry, ENJOYED...the gamebooks of yore, and anyone curious enough to give it at least one go and see what those long-gone days were all about. How relevant is this kind of "gaming" in the modern age of ultra-immersion, in no less than the year that we are to be officially blessed with VIRTUAL-REALITY HEADSETS in the mainstream marketplace? Hmmm...I'm not quite sure. Myself, I actually LIKE a bit of "retro", at least from time to time. In my world, not everything has to be the latest, OR so-called "greatest". If you're definitely NOT that kind of person, and think that anything released more than a fortnight ago qualifies as "old hat", then give this a wide berth. But if you empathize with my own sentiments then, well...your fate is only a die roll away (well, okay, MANY die rolls away, but bear with me, trying my best to set some kind of a TONE here, damn it)... Verdict: 7.5/10. (PS Whatever you do, don't purchase it outside of a sale. It's definitely not worth ten bucks, unless you devour these kinds of things for breakfast.)

Das ist echt ein Spielbuch-Game. Find ich großartig. Spielbücher oder eben "Game Book" ist im Prinzip ein interaktiver Roman und vor allem in den guten alten 1980er sehr beliebt unter uns Pen&Paper-Zocker. Das Spiel gefällt mir auch sehr gut, schön erzählt. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25MDWQXVN9k

This was the first "gamebook" I've ever played, and I like it! It combines a virtual novel, a choose your own adventure, and D&D dice rolling based on your characters stats in order to determine the story you get, and this will certainly very every time you play it! This creates a huge replayability in the game, and it is also pretty well written to create a fun fantasy to imagine yourself in. Here's my "First Play on Launch day" video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1f_S-hhXUE

Its "Choose your own adventure" with skill checks and difficult to understand combat. I died on my first save. Pretty sure this game doesn't require skill, pure luck. GREAT WRITING, Gameplay, well, its lacking. Good thing I bought this with a coupon! Fun isn't the word to describe, more like, kills time :P IF ITS LESS THAN 5$, GO FOR IT, GET THE BADGES, ENJOY A BIT OF STORY, BEFORE YOU INEVITABLY, ALWAYS, DIE.

This game is not disappointing. It's utter garbage. I've played every conceivable RPG for 35 years and I've never, ever played anything so poorly constructed. It's so bad that it asks you for a character name, then doesn't use it - it calls you The Tin Man for no reason given. Oh it pretends that there are options for you to choose from, but they are all false. There is only one real path. The others all kill you immediately. This is truly trash.

I'm avid reader of Gamebooks, and tried other stories by this author, but this one didn't click for me. The combat system is still a mysterious mess, where you can slay with ease a humanoid opponent and be beaten to death by two measly ratlings. Sure, the old systems (like in Fighting Fantasy) were flawed and made many fights pointless if you had a high enough Skill score, but here, it appears random at times. Plus combats in such a setting are not as lively as in "classic" videogames, and this basically being a dungeon crawler in Gamebook format, the sheer number of fights is a pit of frustration and unfairness. Admiteddly I didn't get very far, but when you are easily killed even with perfect stats, one is not enticed to try again and again. I would have persevered, but the storyline is not very attractive : you're thrown into a nasty underworld and have, of course, to make your escape. It's not worth 5€, buy on sale if you really want to try- or try out An Assassin in Orlandes. It's also quite unfaire at times, but with a stronger narrative.

Not much different to most Tin Man versions of Fighting Fantasy books. If you've read and played the books, this game will be nothing surprising. However, there's not enough game here to warrant paying more than $5 really. A 60/100 effort. [u]The good[/u] Sticks to the book faithfully Lots of gruesome ways to die Fun for a few hours Easy to get all achievements, if that's your thing [u]The bad[/u] Dice rolls would fail most probability tests. There's a RNG at work here Minimal replay value Not worth full price

its a fun little game with awsome writing but wait for it to go on sale like it is when i post this for $6 its a good game better than some of the crap on steam

První elektronická knihra, se kterou jsem měl tu čest. Pokud tohle čtete a s knihrami máte zkušenosti, nejspíš vám některá negativa přijdou samozřejmá, knihrám vlastní a tudíž nestojící za zmínku. No, já bych je radši zmínil. Jen tak pro jistotu... Průchod knihrou je ovlivňován jednak vašimi rozhodnutími (na rozcestích a křižovatkách), pak nahodilými hody kostkou a konečně souboji. Přičemž souboje se odehrávají skrz hody kostkou. Na začátku příběhu jste coby beznadějný smolař vhozeni do katakomb. Beze zbraně, bez brnění, bez vybavení. Je skoro jisté, že při prvním pokusu nedojdete ani do půlky příběhu, než vás něco sežere. A nakonec proč ne, tak to ve hrách bývá. Začnete znovu. A jejda, ono to tentokrát nevyšlo hned ve druhé zatáčce. Postupně se učíte trasy, které zajišťují aspoň jakousi šanci na přežití a úzkostlivě sledujete klesající ukazatel vitality. [Upřímně, pokud jste si na začátku knihy nehodili aspoň 40 bodů vitality a 11 (budu skromný, ale ideálně samozřejmě 12) bodů kondice, kašlete na to a restartujte.] V herním návodu je pěkně popsáno, jak používat léčivé lektvary, jenže... ono jich ve hře moc není. (Já narazil na jeden.) Brzy zjistíte, že jakékoli zranění na začátku znamená stoprocentně odepsaný závěr. Takže restart - nebo se vám chce listovat dalších padesát stránek, když víte, že to nemůže dopadnout dobře? Když už se vám náhodou podaří naházet ve všech soubojích vysoká čísla a přežít první polovinu hry, v té druhé vás dostanou na kolena naskriptovaná zranění, kterým se prostě vyhnout nelze. A když se nějakou NEUVĚŘITELNOU náhodou doploužíte až do finále, zjistíte, že jste někde něco neudělali. Ale nevíte, kde a co. Takže další restart. Kolikátý už? Desátý? Dejme tomu. Chybami se člověk učí. Lze si vytvořit schéma, jak projít katakombami tak, aby se riziko snížilo, ale kostky jsou kostky. V jednom souboji porazíte žraločího boha v prvním kole čistým KO, a hned za rohem vás, ještě jásající, užmoulá jeskynní slimák, protože hodil na útok pětku a dvě šestky. Ano, máte záložky, ale jejich umístění se dost blbě odhaduje a prostor mezi nimi je stále vyplněn spoustou hodů kostkou... Vracet se v knihře není povoleno. Jste v ulicích města, ráno jste se najedli v krčmě, ale na oběd už tam nemůžete, přestože pořád chodíte tímtéž městem a dokonce jste mezitím nějak schrastili peníze. Sehnali jste láhev vína, která by se vám byla hodila o dvacet stran zpátky? Teď už je to jedno, potáhnete ji s sebou až do hořkého konce. Na tržišti můžete koupit zbraně i brnění, ale z neznámých důvodů nemůžete prodat ty, které už se vám nehodí - a pokud máte za sebou už aspoň pět průchodů, v tuhle chvíli už poznáte, jestli máte, nebo nemáte šanci utáhnout závěr. Zpravidla nemáte. Další restart. Klady Katakomb jsou v grafice (ta je povedená, správně knižní) a příběhu jako takovém - je dobře napsaný, bez hrubek a gramatických chyb, má hloubku i pocit širších souvislostí... je opravdu dobrý. Zápory jsem zmínil výše. Přidám k nim ještě hudbu, která se nedá dlouhodobě snést. Asi jako celá tahle frustrující hra.