[quote][b][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip]Warning: Asset Flip![/url][/b]
Crash Forts 2 is a Digital Homicide style asset flip, or what Valve calls a "Fake Game". The "developer" paid for/pirated a few Unity asset store packs, dumped them all in a blender, and submitted it to Valve as if they're real game developers.[/quote]
Two notable criteria for what makes an asset flip instead of legitimate use of stock assets are whether those assets comprise the majority of the game, and whether the "developer" properly credited the people who created most of the assets in the game. This game fails both of those tests. The "developers" here didn't credit any of the artists and real, actual game developers who created the assets here, so this is plagiarism, as well as cash grab shovelware.
In this case, the asset flipper took a bunch of Layerlab and Synty low poly assets and dumped them onto their block destruction puzzle template (as seen in other asset flips like Forest Keeper and Forest Keeper 2). This time they added asset flipped tools and a first person brawler element as you have to manually smash the asset flipped blocks in this godawful block destruction "make the thing fall" mobile app tier puzzle game... it's an asset flip without any real value as a serious game for gamers, from a known, highly unethical Russian asset flipper. It has no value or merit as a real game.
Enoops have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. Here's some examples so you can see for yourself:
[list]
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1442380]Book of Shadows[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/historic/polygon-western-low-poly-3d-art-by-synty-112212]Polygon Western - Low Poly 3D Art Pack[/url] developed by Synty Studios
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1509000]Mighty Vikings[/url]" = [url=https://syntystore.com/products/polygon-vikings-pack]Polygon Vikings Pack[/url] developed by Synty Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599510]Deadly Threat[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/3d/environments/dungeons/polygon-dungeons-low-poly-3d-art-by-synty-102677]POLYGON Dungeons - Low Poly 3D Art by Synty[/url] developed by Synty Studios
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1599530]Little Adventure[/url]" = [url=https://marketplace.yoyogames.com/assets/10607/ab1-fantasy-platformer]AB1 - Fantasy Platformer bundle[/url] developed by Yoyogames
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1691290]Little Adventure 2[/url]" = [url=https://marketplace.yoyogames.com/assets/10607/ab1-fantasy-platformer]AB1 - Fantasy Platformer bundle[/url] developed by Yoyogames
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1499860]Fast Wings[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/systems/sky-flight-full-game-template-113460]Sky Flight Full Game Template[/url] developed by Puppeteer
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1801000]Traffic Racing[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/traffic-racing-complete-kit-62954]Traffic Racing complete kit[/url] developed by Codeer Studio
[/list]
Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, it doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks. There's no way to ensure this is running at the native resolution of your display. There's no guarantee this game will look right on any PC as a result of this hamfisted design decision.
The game features lazy low-polygon "retro" assets, making this look like a barely functional 3D game from the 1990s. It's unclear why the developers weren't able to arrange high quality, high polygon count contemporary assets for the game, and also irrelevant... what matters is that this looks bad as a result of their decisions, a compromise PC gamers shouldn't have to put up with.
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, left handed gamers or gamers using AZERTY or other international keyboard layouts.
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
The poor quality of this game is reflected by how many people spent time with it. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the all-time peak player number was only 2 players, and the worst part is these weren't genuine players, these were the Russian fake review accounts that the developer paid to make the fake reviews. Since the fake reviews are all done, now the only player activity occurs once or twice a month, presumably someone loading it up to see what it is then quickly uninstalling it. Considering there's over 120 million gamers on Steam and well over 100,000 games for gamers to choose from, the overwhelming lack of interest in this low quality game is to be expected.
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][b][url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2017/01/18/steam-takes-down-art-of-stealth-after-developer-posts-fake-reviews/?sh=750e13e12354]Warning: Review Manipulation![/url][/b]
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.[/quote]
So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam?
Crash Forts 2 has the gamer gouging price of $13 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games. 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. For comparison, the $13 asking price for this game could get you games like "Metro Exodus", "Final Fantasy XIV Online" or "Dishonored 2". Quality, professionally made games like those are frequently on sale cheaper than this.
[quote][b][url=https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/marketing/profile]Profile Features Limited![/url][/b]
Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures and low community acceptance for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not give you +1 to your Game Collector badge count, appear in profile achievements or any other Steam meta-accomplishments, nor can it be displayed in some profile showcases. If these factors are important to you, it may be worth holding off before buying this game.[/quote]
