LineVox 2: Forward to the Past is yet another construction kit template copy+paste from serial shovelware pushers, Piece Of Voxel. These guys do nothing but copy premade game templates and game tutorials, fill out a few things/stamp out basic levels using the construction kit templates, slap on an asset flipped set of sprites/assets, 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.
This time it's a 3D rendered ripoff of Blockade (copyright Gremlin, 1976) but with what look like spaceships generated by some Unreal spaceship generator tool. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole game was asset flipped given the developers prior rap sheet for offenses against gamers.
Piece Of Voxel have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab. Here's some examples so you can see for yourself:
[list]
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1587940]DuelVox Max Quality[/url]" = [url=https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/western-desert-town]Western Desert Town[/url] developed by KK Design
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1660460]Hoples[/url]" = [url=https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/characters/pixel-adventure-1-155360]Pixel Adventure 1[/url] developed by Pixel Frog
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1655880]Kings and Pigs[/url]" = [url=https://pixelfrog-assets.itch.io/kings-and-pigs]Kings and Pigs[/url] developed by Pixel Frog
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1787640]Kings and Pigs Prequel[/url]" = [url=https://pixelfrog-assets.itch.io/kings-and-pigs]Kings and Pigs[/url] developed by Pixel Frog
[*] "[url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/1547820]Top Truck Driver[/url]" = [url=https://marketplace.yoyogames.com/assets/5820/hill-racing-template-gms1-2]Hill Racing Template[/url] developed by Janko Knez
[/list]
Taking this shovelware seriously as if it was a genuine attempt to make a game, you'll find some very basic Snake/Blockade/Tron lightcycle gameplay where the only notable addon is the ability to "jump" over other light trails, but this adds very little to tired and overdone arcade formula that's long since left the limelight as more advanced computing power gave rise to much deeper and more involved games.
It also doesn't meet basic minimum requirements that most PC gamers expect as standard.
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 game features lazy low-polygon voxel "Minecraft"-like "art", making this look like a barely functional 3D game from the 1990s. A lot of amateur developers see Minecraft's success and assume it's because it looks bad, not because it had unique and appealing game mechanics, and they try to emulate the success without understanding it. It also happens to be easy, and doesn't need any proper talent in terms of game development/graphic artists etc. That's why reviewers are faced with so many of these terrible games with confrontingly bad graphics. Developers must learn that Minecraft succeeded despite the bad graphics, not because of them.
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.
These technical defects push this game below acceptable standards for any modern PC game.
LineVox 2: Forward to the Past didn't appeal much to the people who own a copy of the game, either. It has achievements, and they show us a very clear picture that the game didn't really capture any interest from gamers. The most commonly and easily attained achievement is for winning a single game, and only around 12 percent of players bothered to get that far before uninstalling the game. Hardly a success story, gamers just weren't all that interested in the game.
The poor quality of this game is reflected in the general public reception. At the time of this review, SteamDB shows the game all-time peak player count was only ONE player. That's right, only one person ever played this at a time. When I played this for the purposes of reviewing it, I equalled the peak player count for the game. OUCH. 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 the game is to be expected. Gamers just didn't take this low quality game seriously, and for good reason.
It's also important to note the "developer" here has connections to a number of shady Russian asset flippers (Crooked Road, Amfich etc) 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.
LineVox 2: Forward to the Past has the ridiculous price of $10 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games, let alone the sheer number of free games available on Steam. 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.
