Under A Star Long Cold

Alright. [i]Under A Star Long Cold[/i] is done and dusted? Notice I framed that as a question? I am not entirely certain it is actually possible to beat the game, technically. It is possible however to run out the timer and it's possible to die. But to actually accomplish the game's main goal? I don't believe it's possible and I'm not sure that's really even the goal to begin with. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3404879786 The story is that you, whoever you are, are 50k gold pieces in debt. In order to keep the people to whom you owe money from killing you, you need to get that cash and get it quick. To that end, you are dropped off on a planet that is about to die, and you have thirty minutes to find enough cash and then GTFO before the planet gets wiped out. In order to accomplish this, you will run around the map stealing as much gold from the locals as possible while trying to avoid them killing you as a result, lol. The core gameplay is similar to [i]It Comes In Waves[/i], also developed by Antonio Freyre. Except in that game, there is more than one gun and what you need to collect is different. And in this one, there is stealth. But the shooting and exploration are more or less identical even if your goals are different. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3404879739 So, why can't you finish this game? Well. I don't believe there is even 50k gold on the map. There are static treasuries that seem to have about 5k in gold each and there are randomly generated little objects also worth a chunk. Beyond that, gold placement is RNG, and each pile of gold is only worth like 100 pieces. You can kill guards and they will drop a small amount of gold as well. Or, you can sneak up on them and either stealth kill them or hold them up, and that seems to give you about 300 gold per. But...you only have 30 minutes before the planet is destroyed, and stealth burns a lot of clock despite actually being a perfectly functional gameplay mechanic. And, I think even if you are 100% efficient in raiding the treasury areas and stealthing all the guards, you still would need the RNG gold and item drops to happen perfectly along your path. And if every single thing lines up exactly as you need, I still don't know that there is actually 50k gold on the map. However, if somebody actually has gathered 50k and seen the ending, I'd love for them to share that experience in the comment section. All that said, as mentioned, I'm not even sure getting 50k gold is the true goal of the game. I think to some extent, it's simply about trying to acquire as much as you can in a run and trying to beat your best runs. And I also think to some extent, this is about kind of experimenting with the gamers themselves. Seeing how many runs they're willing to playthrough, and how successful they are in perfecting the map. And just seeing overall what gamers are willing to tolerate in pursuit of an unreachable goal. And I think that's all kind of interesting and cool. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3404879699 Visually, I've noticed this dev prefers a Star Wars aesthetic with random set pieces such as a giant skeleton, for example, to spruce up the map a bit. It's pretty cool despite being a reasonably small sandbox. The audio didn't really stand out to me here, but it is present in the form of some background stuff as well as the sounds of the guards and combat in general. IDK. To me, this was a fun little experience, and it is currently on sale for $1.49 at the time of this writing, which is the ideal price for this game. It's worth a look, but with the understanding that actually beating the game does not seem to be possible. [code]If you found this review helpful and would be interested in supporting my Curator group, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32549618/]Robilar's Reviews[/url], it would be appreciated. Cheers.[/code] [code]Also follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]IndieGems[/url] for more reviews like this one.[/code]

once you get the suppressed gun the game is simple, honestly the vibe is cool but I just don't think it's a well designed game, it's a vast wasteland with only 1 ending, there is nothing you can do to avoid it, there is one enemy type, this is not a repayable game, once you get 10k once and see you can't do anything beyond that (i got it in my first try) it has no replay value, there is nothing to bring you back, just seems like a wasted opportunity with the atmosphere and character movement, could have been a great little roguelike.

I really wanted to like the game because the concept, price and graphics made it very appealing. However, the game is extremely short, you play it for 30 minutes (the time limit for a run) and then there is nothing left for you to do. The point of the game is to make 50k in 30 minutes, the problem is that to get money you have to totally ignore the stealth mechanic which is the main selling point of the game and rush to specific areas of the map that have a lot of money on the ground. The map is not randomly generated so every run is the same but the good thing is that you have no reason to do more than one run because 30 minutes gives you enough time to see basically the entire map. However it does not give you NEARLY enough time to collect 50k making the game unbeatable (I bet even with infinite time you can't get enough) which renders optimizing runs (which would be the only fun thing to do in the game) useless because you know that whatever you do, you won't win. It's a really cool one time experience and if you know that's what you're getting yourself into, then enjoy while you can.

I didn't really get this one. The world/level feels pretty barren and slapped together, and since the objective is to collect a big pile of money, it feels like the whole game is just running between landmarks. You can easily win the gunfights, so there's not much point doing the stealth, and indeed you're on a time limit, so you may as well sprint risky and fix mistakes with your gun. I did get the message, but I thought it was pretty on the nose, and since the gameplay wasn't very involving I just sort of gave a 'yeah alright' and moved on. I do recommend the bundle with It Comes In Waves, The Chameleon, and No Sun To Worship tho, so you may as well pick it up in that.

Oh, I like this. Extremely simple, though VERY enjoyable. Enrapturing environment, music, and character designs. Love the roguish elements. I wish Freyre's works were longer and had more context, they would be bangers.

This game is simple and refined. It doesn't quite feel like a full game, but instead a peek at the kind of things the team has in store. For $3 you're definitely getting your money's worth. It's clear to me that the best is yet to come.

I've recently starting playing Antonio's games and while this one feels the most polished out of the ones I've played. The map feels too empty, I feel like this taking place inside a closed space or someplace where the running around becomes less tedious would be great. Otherwise, all of his games are great experience and are strangely beautiful to look at with its cryptic futuristic settings.

premise and visuals are cool but it's just not fun to play, feels like an ok gamejam game

Run around on an open map and collect as much money as you can before the world ends. Simple MGS-like that is basically all vibes, but said vibes are good, and it's fun to explore the one map. Worth a few bucks for sure.

Honestly, For the price I suppose it is ok. Especially if you can get it on a sale. The game is kinda atmospheric and fun, but far too bare bones. The biggest downsides is that it is mostly a bunch of empty with far too few money to actually reach the goal. Not to mention the keybinds are odd and make it even more frustrating to play without the ability to change them... x to sprint for example. AI as bare bones as it can get, instant turns, forever aggro ed spam shooting and all types of junk. The concept could have made for an amazing rogue like, but this is at most a half baked tech demo that was given up on just as it started to look like an actually game. Was actually looking forward to it, but a bit disappointed...