Showing posts with label Space Giraffe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Space Giraffe. Show all posts

Wednesday, 3 October 2007

Not free but only a tenner

With so much information available about games it’s hard to know how good or bad a game is going to be. There is information and opinion everywhere and it’s difficult to know who to trust especially when publishers would have you believe that all their games are the best you’ll ever play.

Take Jeff Minter’s latest game Space Giraffe on XBLA. I’ve played Llamasoft games since the days of the Commodore 64 so I was already tempted but on the game’s release I read some hugely varied responses. One reviewer gave it 2/10, incidentally Jeff’s response was classic, where others were much more favourable. Gameov3r’s very own host, Lee, reviewed Space Giraffe and gave it a score of and, knowing that we tend to agree, more often than not, that was enough for me to make my decision and download the game. I’m happy to say that I still agree with his evaluation of the game.

Over a month ago now Lee recommended the 360 game Kameo to me. He also told me that Asda had it for a tenner on their website. Not only that but he said that if I didn’t like it he would personally send me a tenner out of his own piggy bank. Bargain! I thought to myself. I can’t lose! So I hastily placed my order.

Well Lee the wait is over. Last Thursday night was my first opportunity to play the game and you’ll be glad to hear that your tenner is safe. I thoroughly enjoyed the 2 and half hours I spent playing. I’ve now spent in excess of 6 hours playing and I’d recommend it to anyone that has enjoyed a RARE game in the past or anyone that enjoys huge games with epic storylines.

So that’s 2 games I’ve had recommended to me, in different ways, and both times the recommendation has been right. I make a lot of decisions based on what I read and what a few people tell me and it’s not often these days that I buy a stinker. I’m pleased to say that the Gameov3r forum has a lot of likeminded members, granted we have some strange members but they’re likeminded nonetheless, and all are passionate about video games and perhaps there is a reason in there somewhere why there’s always someone playing the same games as you. Perhaps unusually for a gamer forum we have an average age of around 30 and I think this is one reason why there is a lot of agreement on the games we play and discuss.

Of course, none of us agree all of the time and we still need as much information as we can get from reliable sources to help us to decide what to play next.

So who’re your trusted sources and where do you arm yourself with the information you need to make your next purchase? Tell us on the Gameov3r FORUM

Wednesday, 22 August 2007

Giraffetastic!


So Jeff Minters long awaited Space Giraffe finds its way to the XBLA today for the measly sum of 400 points and it has created quite a stir already but not all for the right reasons.

The Official Xbox Magazine review had this to say about it:
The Verdict 2/10 - BROKEN
Just really bad. Lacks a single redeeming quality, or it's busted to varying degrees in its own design, quality or basic functionality. No gamer of any stripe should bother.


Jeff didn't take this too well and launched into the following tirade:
"OK, I found him (the reviewer)on the Partnernet leaderboards. Come to think of it I remember having seen his entries before because they were a bit unusual. He's on as 'OXM Dan' and he has NO achievements at all for Space Giraffe. It's really pretty hard to play SG for any length of time and get no achievements whatsoever; there are a few that are given out fairly easily by way of encouragement. Genius-boy here has managed to get none at all... In short, the leaderboards show that OXM Dan was playing the game in about the most shit way possible, and being absolutely crap at it. The leaderboards also show a lot of other people playing the game rather well, so we know it's not the game at fault here. Basically he was just rubbish."Burn!"

So after taking all that on board I've given the demo a go. I'm not going to do a review here I'll just give you an idea of what it's about in one sentence. It's very Tempest, very trippy (did you expect anything else?) with the big difference being that rather than trying to stop enemies reaching the edge, in Space Giraffe you actually want to gather them there for execution in the most profitable manner. That one sentence is probably more help than the whole of the tutorial!

As much as Jeff Minter is revered as a legend I think this time he only has himself to blame for some of the low scores this has been getting. The biggest reason some people aren't 'getting it' is down to the awful tutorial. The clues in the word surely... 'tutor'! You're supposed to tell me what I'm doing and how to do it well, not just tell me to “stay in the power zone!”, what's the damn power zone and how exactly do I get into it?! Argggh!
I managed to extract a few more clues from the “How to play” section but not much. “Keep an eye on my Power Zone and do the right thing to keep it extended” it says... the only thing I can see extending at the moment is my middle finger towards the TV screen!

Sorry Jeff but if people aren't playing your game right it's because they have no clue how to and there's only one person to blame for that. Having learned one technique 'the bull move', I started enjoying myself even though I'm still not always sure when I'm aloud to perform it! It's a shame as I'm really starting to like this game and I will probably download the full version and find out how to play it 'properly' elsewhere. In fact for anyone that's still interested http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/games/space-giraffe-walkthrough is the place to visit for just that. Now why isn't all that help in the game itself Jeff?

Our Giraffe is in another castle indeed.

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