Hazard. A love letter to Berzerk with just a dash of Tron. This is my second proof-of-concept project/game that I would like to remake in Unity.
Hazard: a maze exploring FPS with striking visuals.
If you want to experience a new take on maze FPS, do give this a try.
What it does right:
The music is exciting and keeps the flow in the action.
You want to keep running and shooting.
Graphics are striking and the background structures are a fresh take on the tron / tech theme. While still remaining original. I especially like the part that looks like a movie theater.
Weapon icons and models are bold and fit the net-tech theme very well.
Enemy / ammo balance - do not waste shots as you have just enough to get through - most enemies shoot and are not easy to take down with the laser sword.
Was not stoked about:
Not much indication what parts of a path are teleports. Maybe there was a texture I didnt notice?
There are blocked paths that will teleport you until you use the disk at the terminal. But then there are other little path chunks that do the same thing - this can be a game saver or just irritating.
There is one on data sorting before the enemy that fires the tracking missile.
That is a great place to have one if you dont know how to avoid those missiles. But I had to discover it by accident.
I'm not sure what would improve this.
What was cool:
When I realized the intermission screen WAS an overview of the actual map.
I didnt see it until I got to data sorting.
The city reminded me of a monochrome mainframe (from Reboot.)
The health bars above your enemies heads.
Reminds me of berzerk.
What would I like to see:
More puzzles than just find disk and open ports.
The data sorting train puzzle was a great way to add something new.
I hope this continues with other more complex elements.
The next two are really about design choice. They may not fit the style of the game.
Perhaps interact with the background structure a bit more.
Like you see a structure in the distance on one map, then later you get there and proceed into the structure. Basically I wanted to go in the part that looked like a movie theater.
Elements besides guns, ammo, enemies, disks, terminals, etc.
Yes, I'm talking about visual fluff that doesnt enhance essential game play.
This isnt part of the game critique, its just one of my preferences.
Maybe a digital version of a fern, mushroom or some growing plant - with a growth cycle. Or stainless steel rats! There are 2 games that have really impressed me in this respect - Half Life 2 and Unreal.
And there are two views on this: "Anything not essential takes away from game play" and "that extra little detail makes the game more exciting."
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Note: this review was revised after some issues running under linux were fixed.
For linux do this:
drop the latest linux darkplaces into the Hazard folder (where you see the Clu sub-folder) and run with:
darkplaces-glx -game Clu