Steam and Metal

This shooter is more hits than misses with some nice boss battles and a narrative to add some character. However, it should be noted that the game is over in just over an hour with only 3 difficulty settings and leaderboards as an incentive to keep playing. The game opens up with a brief introduction to its universe complete with a motive and an exaggerated do-gooder protagonist. Steam and Metal is not afraid to be silly (steampunk jokes and all) and its lofty writing is smirk inducing. The hand drawn slides area nice touch to give the game some character. The in game graphics and sound are pretty average, but the game certainly tries to leave an impression with its story. The gameplay mechanics are standard but tight. You have a health bar and limited lives. Running out of lives will send you back to restart the level, however your score/pick ups will carry over to the next level so there is a strong incentive to stay alive. Pick ups include the usual suspects: health, extra missiles, extra lives, and bonus scores, but your firepower is based on picking up gears or bullets with each tier adding another stream of bullets. Some of the level designs are well made with death riddled mazes and telegraphed danger. The boss fights feel demanding at times and keep the player on their toes. However, this game will not appeal to everyone. Compared to other shooters Steam and Metal felt a bit sluggish at times. The weapons are also very average: you fire a single stream of bullets at first, then as you collect gears you can add up to two more streams of bullets to total at three. Your missiles require you to hold down your button for a short amount of time before they can be released (they can be held while firing), which does force you to choose your targets carefully. Given the lack of weapon variety, and little strategy (in other games you have to juggle a shield or your speed increases when not firing, only one standard single player campaign etc.) this game is on the lighter side, especially when coupled with the brief campaign length. Steam and Metal really is a score driven top down shooter. Your ship can take a limited number of hits (depending on difficulty), but you can receive a bonus for not being hit at all. Accuracy, enemies killed, missles used, etc. all factor into your final score. Given that there are only 6 levels and 3 difficulty levels, the realy meat of the game will probably come through multiple plays in order to carve your name on the leader boards. Clocking in at a little more than an hour (with most of the achievements thrown in) this is a top down shoot 'em up that is overall enjoyable. This game is lacking in a few areas (like variety and depth), so those that are already knee deep in shoot 'em ups and bullet hells may want to look elsewhere for their fix. However this is a neat experience for those who are in the market for a streamlined and brief experience. This game boasts dynamic boss battles, solid game play, a short campaign, and a neat little narrative mixed in the middle of all the bullets, but I would recommend waiting for a sale/bundle.

I had a hard time figuring out what direction to take this review in. As a game, Steam & Metal is a typical, one might even say derivative bullet hell shooter, but as a larger whole I can’t quite decide where it falls on the line between shallow replication and intentional self parody. Set in a 19th century world on the brink of a steam-powered renaissance, you take up the mantle of your late grandfather, genius inventor and creator of a machine of unstoppable power for which the blueprints have been stolen. All that was left behind is your flying machine and mechanically inclined mind, which are all that stands between you and the dastardly scoundrels who intend to turn your grandfather’s work against the world. Its writing is so representative of a base starting point of steampunk as a genre that I wasn’t sure if I was intended to laugh at the cliche ridden dialogue and premise, or cringe at the excessively articulated speeches of its characters and their tendency to jump between societal commentary and poking fun at the meaninglessness of the plot they’d been stuck in. But that in itself begins to disrupt the idea that Steam & Metal is anything but a poorly told retreading of every tired element of steampunk literature. Its attempts at self awareness only make it harder to swallow, pouring out line after line in such painful earnestly that I wanted to tell the game to stop shut up for its own sake. But when it decides to stop talking its soulless gameplay left me lost as to even know where to begin to describe it. It’s a bullet hell shooter, only with few projectiles and more room to maneuver than usual. The screen quickly fills with the chaotic frenzy of your enemies, but it all feels pointless and existing without reason. There was no satisfaction in destroying enemy ships, no excitement from nimbly dodging through an onslaught of cannonfire, no pleasure to be found surpassing a difficult stage or defeating a tricky boss. If I felt anything playing Steam & Metal it was that there was nothing especially wrong with the game, it just had nothing to offer me over almost any other bullet hell shooter out there. It’s a model of acceptable mediocrity; a project that seems proud of itself, but never find a way to project its enthusiasm outward. Instead it goes on, fully convinced it’s the coolest thing ever no matter how disinterested the player becomes. I guess that’s better than nothing. [b]You can read more of my writing on [url=http://kritiqal.com/2015/03/02/steam-metal-review/]Kritiqal[/url].[/b]

Surprisingly interesting storyline -for a shump- with striking art style ala steampunk aestetic. A great way to get some bullet-hell angst out against those evil corporate overlords plotting to use the steamengine for war instead of peace. Happy to have supported this one through Greenlight via Lazy Guys. This one is cool.

[h1]Context[/h1] [b]Steam and Metal[/b] is a shoot 'em up/bullet-hell game, set in a Steampunk universe, with a Grieg-inspired soundtrack! This is a very good example of an amateur, yet very solid game! I was happy to play it, and it doesn't have too much that's wrong with it, which is surprising, as many people tend to ignore crucial details. This game does not. However, it doesn't add anything to the genre, and while it's a solid game, it pains me how similar it is to Jamestown! Not just in setting and general vibe, but also in the way it fills the screen with little cogs, and some other details. In the credits, the developer says the game has been slowly "baked" in 4 years, and looking at his youtube channel, there were prototypes as far back as 2010, so it doesn't seem to me like a rip-off. Perhaps it's just bad luck, but it's impossible to recommend this over [b]Jamestown[/b], since that adds a lot more to the genre, and is generally much bigger in scale and options. Regardless of that fact, I enjoyed playing this, and I'll review it by its own merits. [h1]Presentation[/h1] The [b]visual[/b] style of this game reminds me a lot of an higher-res version of SNES games. The color-palette, especially, reminds of of A Link to the Past. It's colorful, but has a sort of [i]low contrast[/i], with more passive colors. Honestly, the game looks much better in motion that in the screenshots. The Boss visual design is also pretty cool. Won't blow your mind, but they're cool. There could be a bit more work into their details, but overall, I liked it. One problem people might have with it, is that it's very bare-bones. Levels have some motion to them, but not a lot. Not many details that I saw either. No particle or lighting effects or anything of the sort. It's very basic and somewhat static, but other than that, I think it looks really cool! Very [i]clean[/i] looking. Now, the [b]problems[/b] related to the visuals. First off, the bullets' colors are too varied. That's a bad thing, because it makes it harder to balance the backgrounds with the bullets, and you're very likely to get hit by something you didn't see. Related to this problem, is how the background has buildings which you never know if you'll get hit by or not. This makes dodging bullets a nightmare, and you're also trying to avoid everything. This is partially solved, with an option they introduced. You can "mute" and "darken" the backgrounds. This helps significantly with the backgrounds' distinction, but not a lot with the bullets. Especially when some bullets are very dark themselves. Also, [b]explosions hide bullets a lot[/b]. It's really annoying, in harder levels. Other than these problems (which aren't too major, and the developer tried to give us options to deal with them), the visuals are fine. A bit too basic for some people, but they're well done! Now, on to the [b]sound design[/b]! The sound-effects were a mixed bag. Some aspects I liked, others not so much. The positives outweigh the negatives, though. When you destroy enemies, they explode with a loud boom. A [i]satisfying[/i] boom, I should say! They chose the sound well -- the downside is, when you destroy many enemies at once (there's a specific point in the game where this happens, otherwise it's totally fine) where the sounds just play exactly at once, which seems to up the volume a lot. The sound then gets overly loud and distorted. It's a very minor thing, but it happens everytime, so I thought I should mention it. The other problem, is the gun sounds. It sounds like you're shooting rubber bullets. (There are some Bomb enemies that "pop" when they die, a very toy-like sound that does not, in any way, sound like a bomb) I really like when the weapons sound like freakin' cannons (War Thunder and Blue Flamingo had spot on sounds for this!), and shooting rubber bullets sound a bit underwhelming. I'm aware that bullet sound often sound annoying when repeatedly shooting, and this was certainly a measure to solve that problem, but I'm not too keen on this "solution". Still, it's not too important -- just a minor gripe I had with it! Moving on to the [b]music[/b]. As I said before, it was inspired by Grieg. You probably know [b]In the Hall of the Mountain King[/b], at least. Anyway, expect classical music! On the victory screens in sound almost like military march-music. I think it fits. And the music sounds good, certainly! Also some Final Fantasy touches here and there, although it's all [i]orchestrated[/i]. The only problem I've had with it, is that it sounds a bit thin, and not very majestic. Just the way it was mixed, probably. Can't expect a real orchestra in a 5$ game, hehe! Still, it's very good, and this "issue" I have is completely fine for the scale of this game. Well done nonetheless! [h1]General Structure & Mechanics[/h1] There are 3 difficulty modes, and 6 levels. Each level has a Boss-fight at the end. The difficulty affects the damage you deal, that you take, and also some enemies' shooting patterns. The levels don't change significantly (aside from the same enemies being more powerful), but it's not a matter of "more is harder!". Every difficulty is available from the start. The levels start locked, and you need to unlock them by beating the previous one. I think this was slightly bugged. When you start Hard mode, you're also locking the Easy and Normal levels, strangely enough. Not a big problem, but hey, it's there. The mechanics are very simple. Your ship has a primary fire, and a secondary, more powerful weapon, instead of a Bomb. Your [b]primary weapon[/b] has 3 states. It fires 1, 2 and then 3 bullets. You get cogs when you destroy enemies, which fills your weapon bar. I'm not sure if there are linear damage changes to the weapon, or whether it's a simple matter of being at different levels. The [b]secondary weapon[/b] is a torpedo "barrage" -- this is too powerful of a word, though. You need to hold a button to charge it, and then launch them, doing significant damage. This plays a big part in the game's tactic, I believe. Knowing when to use them (as they're limited), and which enemies drop them is important to succeed, especially if you're not a very skilled player (*discreetly whistling*). Other than that, if have a health-bar and lives. When your life-bar depletes, you lose a life. There are periods of invincibility. Each level has a different theme, both visually, and in regards to enemies and hazards. If you're not good, you'll need to learn the levels before doing being able to beat the game all in one go. [b]Enemy variety[/b] is surprisingly high! I wasn't expecting that at all. Usually, these indie games tend to make the most out of a few enemies and combinations. This game, however, introduces several enemies in each level, and they behave significantly different. It's quite impressive, honestly. The [b]Boss fights[/b] are also really cool. They're all multi-phased, with patterns you'll need to learn. You usually have to destroy their weapons before going for the "big kill". It's good! [h1]Shortcomings[/h1] There's only one ship. And it's a very basic one, without any interesting feature. It's unfortunate. In a game with such a rich enemy variety, one would expect more in terms of arsenal. As I've mentioned, there are some issues with the distinction between background and foreground -- it's dampenned, but not completely solved. And it caused me many deaths. The biggest thing of all, is that it doesn't bring anything new, really. It's a solid game, almost [i]by-the-book[/i]. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] The setting, music... it's too similar to one of the best of the genre, and it's unfortunate, since it pales in comparison. Unless you [i]want[/i] to play a more casual 'shmup, there isn't a big reason for you to try this. Otherwise, it's an [i]honest[/i] game, and a very solid one at that!

why i buy this?

Приятная рисовка, но сама игра и её сложность оставляют вопросы, поэтому только на любителей этого жанра

还行吧。 Not Bad.

"Steam and Metal" ist ein vertikal scrollendes Shoot ´em up im comicartigen Steam Punk Stil. Es gibt eine Geschichte, die in Standbildern und Fließtext erzählt wird. Wir sind die Judith, die Tochter des Genies Albert Steiner, dessen geniale Neuerfindung ein ganz böser Terrorist gestohlen hat. Dummerweise hat er unseren Vater im Zuge dessen auch noch umgebracht, also besteigen wir ein experimentelles Flugzeug, schwören Rache und machen uns auf den Weg, den bösen Terroristen zu besiegen. Die Geschichte wirkt überambitioniert, gedrängt und hat im Endeffekt mit dem Spiel eigentlich kaum etwas zu tun. Man hätte sie auch ohne Probleme einfach weglassen können ohne irgendwas zu verlieren. Denn spätestens nach fünf Minuten haben wir die aufgesetzte Story eh vergessen. Aber zum eigentlichen Spiel. Wir fliegen also mit unserem Steampunk-Flugzeug aus der Draufsicht stehts nach oben durch eine Steampunk-Welt. Die ist durchaus ganz nett geraten Optisch und stilistisch ist das zwar einfach, aber treffend und durchaus schick. Die Sounds reihen sich in diesen Eindruck ein. Die insgesamt sechs Level sind überschaubar lang. Kommen wir sauber durch, hat das Spiel einen Umfang von nur einer halben Stunde. Allerdings zieht der Schwierigkeitsgrad ab dem zweiten Level deutlich an. Viele Bullet-Hell Passagen lassen sich nur durch Trial and Error und Auswendiglernen bestehen und einige Bossgegner sind auch recht knackig. Unter der schicken Steampunk Oberfläche findet sich nämlich ein recht profaner klassischer Standard-Shooter. Natürlich gibt es Raketen und natürlich gibt es auch Gesundheit einzusammeln. Auch der Schwierigkeitsgrad ist klassisch, nur durch Auswendiglernen voranzukommen, ist ein uraltes Konzept. Ein schicker, schnell schwer werdender, klassischer Shooter also ohne nennenswerte Besonderheiten. Wer das mag findet einen soliden Vertreter. Mehr aber auch nicht. [h1]Wertung:[/h1] 7/10 Atmosphäre 4/10 Story 7/10 Grafik 6/10 Sound 7/10 Spielmechanik 5/10 Balancing 6/10 Spielspass [h1]Fazit:[/h1] Schall und Rauch. [h1][b]6/10 Gesamtwertung

Reminds me of a more colourful and humourous Battle Garegga (if they bring that to steam I'll shít myself). Definitely one to try out if you have fond memories of Mame emulated shmups of yore, especially with the worldwide leaderboard to show you how much you suck/rule compared to everyone else.

[h1]魅力はないが、普通に遊べる[/h1] ＜昔買ってレビューを書いていなかった作品。通常のレビューより簡素＞ フリーゲームであるレベルの縦STG。 ゲームとしては成立しているが面白いかというと普通過ぎて印象に残らない。 まともに遊べないレベルの縦STGや学生の課題レベルの代物がSteamにはいくつも存在しているので、相対的に考えると「まともに遊べるだけマシ」とも言えるが、無料で遊べるレベルのもので金をとっているとも言えるので、サムズダウンかな…。