[b]Old Adventure[/b] is a minimalist platformer where each level seems to be designed by someone else. While somewhat challenging, Old Adventure is not very long, nor does it offer anything besides platforming (no story for example). The store page describes it as a puzzle-platformer, but honestly, I don’t find it to be worthy of a puzzle label.
[h1][u]Positive:[/u][/h1]
[list]
[*]I enjoy the minimalistic look. It’s especially cool that the background colour changes every time you die. Since the game is practically monotone, the change in colour is very welcome.
[*]There was one gimmick that I had never seen before and really enjoyed. The game window becomes a small square that follows your character as you platform (you can see it in the game trailer). As such, your view is limited, but it’s very cool to see a small window move across your screen as you progress. It’s a shame that this gimmick was only used once (and the character seems to rip off Super Meat Boy?).
[/list]
[h1][u]Negative:[/u][/h1]
[list]
[*]Here are a few things that I think would improve the game if they are fixed:
[olist]
[*]The English text can be vastly improved. Just to give a small example: “Press x to Shot”. I would be glad to help fix the text.
[*]Options don’t work. At the very least there you should be able to adjust the volume, screen resolution and windowed/full screen.
[*]When you start a new level sometimes two music tracks overlap. I usually just exit the level and start again to fix this, but I think this should be addressed by the developer.
[*]I find it unfair that turrets can shoot you from a different screen, especially because you can’t see it coming.
[*]I found that it’s not always clear when you collect the jump reset balls. I think the addition of a small audio cue would be very helpful here.
[*]For the final boss, it becomes exponentially easier once you kill one of the heads. There are two heads on either side of the screen that spew fire at you. Once you kill one head, you can simply spam your gun to kill the other without being worried about the other head because its attack can’t reach you. I think this should be altered (maybe change the attack patterns after one head dies?).
[/olist]
[*]It’s not always clear what can or can’t hurt you. I especially find hitbox of the “thorns” difficult to assess. Additionally, vines are very prominent, especially as decoration. However, all vines look the same but some hurt you, some are solid, and some you can jump through. I wish this was clearer.
[*]There are two occasions where the game expects you to perform certain tasks without informing you in any way. In level 4, they introduce a new concept (shooting a button to deactivate traps) without mentioning it at all. I ended up spending 20 minutes trying to jump through a near impossible jump only to notice a block poking out of the wall (the button). Only after shooting it did the “near impossible jump” become the easy jump. Something similar happens in level 6, where you are expected to kill all the robots to progress, but there is no indication that you must do so anywhere.
[*]There are crevices in the walls/platforms that you can jump to. Being curious, I tend to try jumping into them to see if I can find a secret. There is a secret level in the game, but I have yet to find it. For the most case, these crevices don’t seem to have any purpose besides aesthetics.
[/list]
[h1][u]Conclusion:[/u][/h1]
[h1]★★✬☆☆ You decide[/h1]
Old Adventure is a fairly short (2 hours-ish) semi-challenging platformer. The game isn’t bad, but didn’t leave much of an impression on me either. I only really liked the small window gimmick, and was disappointed that it was not used more creatively. There were also several moments that frustrated me because (1)some jumps are extremely precise; (2)checkpoint placement isn’t always so generous; (3)and how to progress isn’t always clear. However, with a little patience you will manage to complete each level. Take this as a neutral recommendation. Maybe pick this game up if you’re looking for a decent platformer.
[table]
[tr]
[th]If you enjoyed this review please follow me on my [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/26827738-%27b-Reviews/?appid=241930]curator page[/url] and [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/breviews]group[/url]. Your time and support is greatly appreciated![/th]
[/tr]
[/table]
[quote]This review was submitted for [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/gaming_until_end ]Gaming Until End[/url], through the generous contribution of [url=http://steamcommunity.com/id/HellCowON]HellCow.[/url] [/quote]
