Well, it was bound to happen. The Russian asset flipper scammers have evolved. This fake game from known asset flippers doesn't contain stolen assets... instead, they're using AI Generated images/sprites slapped on a stolen game engine. This is my first encounter with this new kind of fake game scam, but rest assured, the quality here is indistinguishable from a traditional Russian asset flip made from stolen/plagiarised game assets.
Obviously there's no game here. This is a garbage 5 lane endless runner/arcade game where you just move between the 5 lanes and collect the treble clefs and avoid the whatever objects you're supposed to avoid. Less engagement than a free Flash game, but this is just another fake game scam, from the ridiculous price to the fake reviews. The only difference is the Dall-E generated game assets.
And the stolen game engine, see, the Russian "developer" did something new here and stole 3D GameStudio and renamed it to "FalcoEngine". Unfortunately he forgot to hide a few of the 3D GameStudio code and other identifiers. Oops.
Gamesforgames have a known history of trying to scam people into paying them money for someone else's work, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts. An example of Gamesforgames doing this is [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1284510]In a search of a new home[/url], which is really "[url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/characters/pixel-adventure-1-155360]Pixel Adventure 1[/url]", written by the actual developers, Pixel Frog. Also, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/2474180]Save The Settlers[/url], which is really "[url=https://1up-indie2.itch.io/free-tower-defence-project-gamemaker]Free Tower Defence Project[/url]", developed by 1UP Indie2.
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 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.
Some of the defects in the game can be attributed to the choice of using the video game construction kit/toolset, 3D GameStudio. This is a very poor quality toolset sometimes used by amateur/unskilled developers as it doesn't require advanced game development skills, but unfortunately has very limited capabilities. 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.
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. This is a remarkably low number, and 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.
[b][quote][url=https://mmofallout.com/valve-bans-titles-for-review-manipulation/]Warning: Review Manipulation![/url][/quote][/b]
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 almost immediately 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 review manipulation.
So, should you buy this game? Is this one of the best of the 100,000+ games on Steam?
Falco Tunes has the almost comically optimistic (if it wasn't so sad) 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.
[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]
