Bientôt l'été - The Irony is that You're Playing by Yourself

I love works of art and can appreciate art for art's sake. But as I watched the videos for this supposed game experience, a term that I use quite loosely, blurs the lines between that which we can call a game. Bientôt l'été translates to "soon the summer", which sounds appropriate because you start of on a beach. As the gameplay videos say, you choose your gender, then you go searching for your internet lover.

In the game description on Steam's page the first thing it says is: Bientôt l'été is a videogame for two players. Yet you will almost always be by yourself or waiting for another player. You will walk along the beach by yourself, save for a flock of seagulls adding background noise. You will then reach a house or some kind of indoor space where you will wait to play chess with another player, and wait, and wait.

For a game that's supposed to be about two players you're often alone. This is a truly single player experience that probably had higher expectations of it's goals. Truth is that if you're looking to experience this game with another player you'll be very disappointed. I've never seen a game that wants to be multiplayer but makes no effort to entice people to join. You're left with a bland experience thinking; thank goodness the real internet is chock full of people you can interact with every minute of the day from around the world. Or maybe go and take a walk on a real beach and see other people.

Unfortunately, this game takes relatively pleasant social moments, walking on the beach, playing a game of chess and strips away the very social aspect it wants players to feel. Where games like The Sims, Second Life and other multiplayer have set the standard for social interaction this game fails to deliver the basic of what it promises, a two player experience.

For good measure I played this game with both male and female avatars. As the male I was treated to a mansion like space to interact with in the distance. As I got closer to the mansion I noticed a red window. Naturally seeing a splash of color got me curious so I walked up against the wall hoping to interact with this mysterious red window. I closed my eyes, because that's what the down key does and decide to interact with a tree in the distance. When I finished looking at the tree it put me right back at the red window wall. Only this time I can't interact with anything. I also can't move backwards, can't turn because I'm up against a wall forcing me to quit this experience in frustration.

Perhaps Bientôt l'été would find more success in an art gallery where a smaller cluster of people can experience it together but for mainstream gaming there's just not many people who will get it or have the patience to wait for something that just never comes. Even the AI simulation of a stand in lover during the chess sequence seemed to lose interest and just kept rambling on about nothing long after I stopped talking. I wish I could have had a better experience with this game. I gave it a chance hoping that there would be something surreal going on but for a game of two players you're just playing by yourself.

Gameplay: (T__T) - I can't judge gameplay as there is no game. Why this is being sold on a video game website is beyond me.

Graphics: (-__-) -  Its nothing spectacular and you're mostly drowning in white when you're not staring at some obscure chessboard talking to the AI about nothing.

Controls: (>__<) - While this game does have controller support this suffers from poor design. Walking up to a wall and not being able to turn or walk backwards sounds like a bad design problem. One that should have been anticipated by developers as if the character is stuck you pretty much have to restart the game.

Overall: (ノ｀Д´ )ノ彡┻┻ (flipping over table) - I can't in good conscience post the link to the buy page. You should not buy this game. The only reason I played this game was because it was feature with 4 others in an Indie Royale game bundle. If I paid full price or even half I would have wanted my money back. Instead, go outside take a walk on a real beach. Find one of those homeless looking dudes who'll play chess with you for a dollar in the park. Head to Facebook or some internet forum of your choice and start an online relationship with an actual person. Those things would be more fun in real life than this game could ever make them.

Retro City Rampage - A Well Made Parody of all Things 80s

I really wasn't sure what to make of Retro City Rampage before I bought it. I knew it was definitely going to go for the "retro tribute" genre that we've seen pop up a lot these past few years with indie games. Which has started to get stale for me in these past few months just from watching a lot of the submissions on Steam Greenlight. From the outside this game will remind you of old Grand Theft Auto. Nothing's wrong with that but the last thing I'd want to play is an old GTA clone when Rockstar offers the original for almost free.

However, RCR embraces it's retro roots in a really unique way. Everything from the user interface to graphics and has chock full of movie references. But don't think this game sells itself short just because it's a parody (which it itself states at the beginning). It's a surprisingly well developed parody. You'll find unmistakable references to everything from TV, movies and games but the developers do get a little witty in their delivery as they also blatantly poke fun at the gaming, indie and pirating industry. All of which are casually integrated into the story.

As for the story, it's nothing deep. You play a criminal who's looking to make some cash in a city called Theftropolis and end up traveling back in time. The plot is pretty much ripped from several 80's (Back to the Future, Bill and Ted)  films and stitched together into a funny hybrid. You do some odd jobs, get to know a couple of the locals some of whom you'll recognize visually but have a slightly altered name (Dr. Von Buttnick for example looks like Sonic's Dr. Robotnik's evil buff twin) and go on a search for the missing parts to repair your time machine.

If you aren't much into the story that's okay as there's many things to do to waste time in Theftropolis City 20XX. There are kill spree mini-games littered throughout the city, an arcade to play several retro styled indie classics and the random open world sand box violence that games are known for. What I find myself doing often is playing Bit.Trip.Runner in the in-game arcade. It's a little more forgiving than the original but just as much fun.

Gameplay: (^__^) - I genuinely enjoyed my time in Theftroplois. Everything from running down people in cars to chilling out in the arcade. The story missions were also full of humor and irony. This game is a parody but the developer took it serious enough to be enjoyable for a couple hours more than most parody games.

Graphics: (-__-) - While I have no qualms about playing top down 8 bit games it's still an 8 bit game so what you see is what you get. But a nice touch was being able to play on different in-game monitors. I remember when you had to get up and turn a knob on the TV to change the channel. Crazy times.

Controls: (^__^) - Fully mappable controls make things a bit easier. Also controller support. So if you're a keyboard junkie or a gamepad kid you shouldn't have any trouble with the controls for this game. Tailor it to how you want to play.

Overall: (^__^) - I know when I hear the word "parody" I set the game bar low. However, this game isn't to be underestimated. You'll get a good full game well worth it's $15 price tag. There's enough variety that can keep even the most picky gamer occupied for quite some time.

Find Retro City Rampage on Steam, Direct DRM Free