[quote][b][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip]Warning: Asset Flip![/url][/b]
"Dense forest" is an asset flip, or what Valve calls a "Fake Game". The "developer" paid for/pirated someone else's example/template/tutorial game, changed the name/reskinned a couple of things, and submitted it to Valve as if it was their own game.[/quote]
The developer here is an alias/close business partner of the asset flipper and intellectual property thief, Atomic Fabrik, as Cristian used his GamesForGames account to publish asset flips like "Project First Contact" and other shovelware/fake games. Cristian uses a number of alt accounts such as this one, "My Way Games", "Succubella Games" and so forth, as he's co-published many asset flips with these alternative accounts of his.
Gamesforgames/Atomik Fabrik/My Way Games 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/1851640]Police Hot Pursuit[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/endless-car-chase-game-template-116027]Endless Car Chase Game Template[/url] developed by Puppeteer (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1531750]Highway Traffic Racer[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/highway-racer-50866]Highway Racer[/url] developed by BoneCracker Games (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1724020]Space Tower Defense[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/tower-defense-complete-game-144384]Tower Defense Complete Game[/url] developed by ADDPGAMES (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1863650]Van Van Up[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/zigzag-infinite-runner-game-100035]ZigZag Infinite Runner Game[/url] developed by Puppeteer (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2100710]Ambulance Chauffeur Simulator[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/city-emergency-ambulance-simulator/]City Emergency Ambulance Simulator[/url] developed by Zoobs Man (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1917720]Two Sedans Driving Simulator[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/dual-control-hypercasual-game/]Dual Control[/url] developed by Game Polygon (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2082730]Empire of Empires[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/empire-io-build-and-defend-your-empire/]Empire.io - Build and Defend Your Empire[/url] developed by FMGames Studio (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1968870]Fix Me Up - Hospital Edition[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/hospital-doctor-games/]Hospital Doctor Games[/url] developed by Webelinx (as Atomic Fabrik)
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2124670]The Pizza Courier[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/pizza-delivery-van-driver-game-2022]Pizza Delivery Van Driver Game[/url] developed by Zoobs Man (as Atomic Fabrik)
[/list]
This time, GamesForGames have stolen someone's GameMaker Studio Pac-Man tutorial and are trying to scam people out of money for it. Atomic Fabrik even went out of his way to buy some fake reviews for this one.
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.
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 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 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 3 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 50,000 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.
[b][quote][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][/quote][/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.
"Dense forest" has the almost scam-like price of $10 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 $10 asking price for this game could get you games like "7 Days to Die", "Stellaris" or "Project Zomboid". Quality, professionally made games like those are frequently on sale cheaper than this. There's also thousands of free, superior quality games on Steam.
[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]
