Motte Island

sherlock holmes se queda pendejo

Motte Island is a game I wish I could recommend without reservations, but unfortunately there are many aspects that end up bringing down what could have been a much more enjoyable experience. Hence this review should be understood as a very guarded recommendation (and yet another borderline case that highlights the need for a "neutral" button for these reviews). An indie game through and through, the light shining through the cracks in Motte Island's surface reveals a bigger ambition that felt short of realization. The gameplay could be described as a crossbreed of Resident Evil with the top-down perspective and the combat sytem of a simplified Hotline Miami, while the familiar plot rehashes basically every Lovecraftian-esque horror adventure ever made. The story is paper-thin and predictable, stretching itself to allow for a number of fetch quests typical of the genre. Apart from some nice lighting effects, the graphics and animation are crude, and the sight of the main character just sliding through the screen makes for a jarring initial impression. So far it all sounds pretty dire. Why the positive rating then? What did I find enjoyable about the game? Well, quite a few things, actually. With the right state of mind and expectations in check (and let me stress how important this is when approaching any indie game in general) there's fun to be had here. There is a simple purity to this game that feels refreshing. Yes, the graphics are primitive, but the developer added some neat effects that really add to the horror experience. Watch those creepy corrupted flies invade your screen, or jump at the shadows darting in the corner. The plot may be overly familiar, but the setting is not: instead of the overused Cthulhu stuff we face a strange breed of moth-like demons. Meanwhile, the challenge is set at a very forgivable level and thankfully the bosses are not impossible, so the story can be experienced at a rather leisurely pace. There are also some static first-person sequences that break up the monotony of the top-down perspective (the lockpicking micro-game, however, felt unnecessary). Charm aside, the game does feel rough around the edges. The poor writing can be excused, but the typos and the bad grammar are unacceptable in this day and age, especially when you're creating a game that conveys its backstory mainly through books and documents. I encountered a couple of bugs that were thankfully solvable by quitting and restarting the game. The combat is barebones and unsatisfying. Disconcertingly, in my playthrough I wasn't able to find a gun (except for the mandatory one) despite bumping into ammunition at every corner, and while there are a variety of melee weapons available, they all felt pretty similar in terms of damage output. All things considered, my final verdict tilts slightly towards the positive, therefore this review. What we have here is a classic, short horror story which may have little in the way of surprises but that provides a modicum of entertainment. Approach the game with a casual mindset and you might find yourself enjoying it more than you probably should. I did.

Amazing? no Great? no Good? yes i'll say good game for this 2D Top Down game

This game is great! Although this is the 2D game, but this game has scared me a lot :v

How i should describe this game... Hmmm... Tragic? Its just unplayable. Atari games in early '90 were better.

Motte Island does enough to warrant a purchase from serious horror fans, but it has far too many problems for anybody on the fence or who isn’t a big fan of the genre. On one hand it’s atmospheric, creative, has some intelligent but simple (you choose if that last part is bad or not) game design, and did I mention the atmosphere? Seriously, there aren’t many 2-D games out there that can envelop you this well in a sense of actually existing within the game world. But on the other hand there are some incredibly amateurish or downright broken parts as well. The enemy AI is faulty sometimes failing to recognize you OR alternatively being Elder Scrolls levels of telepathic, the combat while really unforgiving at first becomes really simple once you figure out the trick, and perhaps the biggest issue I hold with the game is a terrible translation. I can get over the other two as the games sense of immersion wins out, but this last one flies in the face of that immersion and is by far the biggest flaw. Much of the smaller bits of text are bearable having minor grammatical issues, but when you come across a large document or something trying to convey deeper meaning it’s quite blatant the developer either used a half-working translator, or only have the passing minimum of English experience required for the project. They manage to get the point across but it detracts terribly from your suspension of disbelief. If the game was cheaper or even free I’d be willing to overlook this but at the price they’re asking at current ($5) it seems like they should have sprung for someone to translate it properly. Considering the game had many fans waiting for it that would have happily applied, or the prevalence of relatively cheap translation services available online I can’t really forgive this massive failing. Still the game manages to do more right than it does wrong, and if you’re a serious horror fan then the depth of the games atmosphere will likely win you over. But for everyone else you should definitely wait till it’s on sale.

I personally loved this game! Even though it was short...the music...the 2D texture just gave me the chills :D

tedious fetch-quest gameplay useless AI ugly no chance of immersion thanks to the technical shortcomings complete lack of logic/coherence in the writing maybe good for a laugh if you're in the mood / very drunk

I found this game really awesome :) Slow start but as soon it gets started its both scary, hectic and fun. Its a small and simple game, but i had fun playing it. Go try it out guys, its cheap too. Part 1 of my gameplay here: http://youtu.be/mbUKzwRf99k

Motte Island is a 2D top down retro pixel stealth/horror/shooting game where you control some guy going to spooky horror island and finding monsters. The graphics are terrible, the camera panning is really bad, which is in line with the low quality and lack of polish in the game. The bad camera panning also makes the game difficult, once more this is a game where the difficulty comes as much from bad game implementation as it does from actual gameplay. This is just another indy shovelware dump'n'run infesting Steam, can't recommend it.