Diego: Mission Red Tomato is yet another asset flip/construction kit template copy+paste from serial Russian shovelware asset flippers, Dnovel/FreeAnimals_Software/Trinity Project. These guys 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.
A strong argument can be made that simple learner toolsets and construction kits like Cocos2D should never be used to make games for profit, as the "developer", Dnovel has done here. These construction kits are intended to teach people some of the basic principles of game development, and to make small demos to pass around with friends. They're not intended to replace to actual work of real, professional game developers. So it's inappropriate when amateurs try to use these for profit, without any actual, real game development effort taking place. This doesn't result in products that have any real meaningful value for gamers.
Today's "effort" from these guys is Diego: Mission Red Tomato, and it's a garbage 2D top down retro pixel shooter slapped together with the godawful Cocos2D game development engine. As a game, it's terrible, of course.
Asset flipped tiles, pointless obsolete gameplay, clunky controls, bugs, it's just a train wreck. Like all shovelware from the Russians at Dnovel/FreeAnimals/Trinity Project/whatever other accounts this guy uses, there's no value here for gamers. It's trash.
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 Diego: Mission Red Tomato. 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 $1 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.
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 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.
[quote][url=https://mmofallout.com/valve-bans-titles-for-review-manipulation/]Warning: Review Manipulation![/url][/quote]
This game features a large 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.
Diego: Mission Red Tomato is relatively cheap at $1 USD, but it's not worth it. 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.
[b]Note:[/b] Valve have marked this game as "Profile Features Limited" at the time of this review. This is usually caused by poor sales figures for the game (to date). Until this status changes, this game will not count towards your Game Collector counts, 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.
