[quote][b][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip]Warning: Asset Flip![/url][/b]
Falco Totem Destroyer is a Digital Homicide style asset flip, or what Valve calls a "Fake Game". The "developer" paid for/pirated a 3D GameStudio physics puzzle template, slapped stolen and AI generated assets on it, 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 3D GameStudio (the entire engine!) and changed the name of it to "FalcoEngine"... now, we often see asset flips from this Russian scammer, a serial nuisance, scammer and Steam polluter. But to steal someone else's entire game engine and try to mislead gamers into thinking it's his engine is just disgusting behaviour. But it gets worse. Along with stolen assets, this morally and intellectually bankrupt Russian scammer used GenAI to create the assets for the game. This is no better than his usual activity of stealing other people's assets... it's AI slop with no benefit or value to gamers. It looks bad. It has no value or merit as a real game.
Gamesforgames/Falco/Atomic Fabrik 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/2387820]Beach Gas Gas[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/highway-racer-traffic-car-race/]Highway Racer Traffic Car Race[/url] developed by Unity Boy
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2805640]Desert Special Forces[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/frontline-army-commando-war-battle-games/]Frontline Army Commando War[/url] developed by Deeko Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2474180]Save The Settlers[/url]" = [url=https://1up-indie2.itch.io/free-tower-defence-project-gamemaker]Free Tower Defence Project[/url] developed by 1UP Indie2
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2124660]Fix My Cat Doc[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/kitty-cat-doctor-pet-vet-doctor-game/]Kitty Cat Doctor Pet Vet Doctor Game[/url] developed by Fast Games
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2862060]Wild Animals Transporter[/url]" = [url=https://www.sellmyapp.com/downloads/wild-animal-transporter-truck-game-2021/]Wild Animal Transporter Truck Game 2021[/url] developed by Zoobs Man
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2833820]Fox Golf[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/templates/packs/golf-royale-104938]Golf Royale[/url] developed by Code Master 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 somewhat lazy, simplistic "retro" looking 2D graphics, of the type you normally expect to see in low effort Flash/browser games and mobile apps. Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.
The controls can't be customised because the game has such a dumbed down, simplified interface that it's just point and click stuff like a browser/Flash game. The fact that the interface is this dumbed down might be seen as a problem in itself, however... this is a fairly shallow experience if you're the kind of gamer that likes to play games with deep, rich control schemes and interaction. You'll get none of that here.
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.
[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]
This kind of asset flipping isn't harmless. It makes it harder for gamers to find genuinely made games from ethical developers. It makes it harder for genuine indie developers, who put hard work into trying to make real games, to find an audience for their products. It gives indie developers a bad name.
This asset flip has the comically over-optimistic price of $50 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.
Falco Totem Destroyer has the completely insane price of $50 USD, which is incredibly suspicious, higher than AAA pricing for an asset flip shovelware scam game. Why would the "developer" put such a high price tag on an asset flip with no true value as a game? There's no direct proof for this, but it's entirely possible this game is priced this way for money laundering or other criminal purposes. Higher prices allow more money to move with fewer transactions. Valve have previously banned developers for running money laundering scams. While there's no direct evidence in this case, it's highly suspicious and gamers should be wary. 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.
[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]
