Farmville 2: Mini review

So, Farmville 2 got released today.

Upon initial inspection, this game looks pretty good. The graphics are pretty and smooth and there is quite a lot of detail in the game. Having played it for a while, there is also a pretty good tutorial system that takes you through the basics: planting, watering, harvesting, selling, making feed, feeding animals, expanding, buying - you name it. Frequent goals and objectives will keep players occupied and learning the game mechanics, as well as it being needed to expand into some areas. As an added bonus, when you level up all your crops and animals become harvest able , and all your resources like water replenish.

There are various facilities added in Farmville 2 that give the game more scope, for example the kitchen. Here, instead of selling what you harvest, you can create items like apple pie, lemonade, and the sub components that make them. These can then be sold for a lot more money. An excellent addition for the crafting community.

The interface is a LOT less cluttered than in previous games. There is a friends bar, and then 3 buttons:  Tools that contains things like screen rotate options. Shop where you can buy resources and equipment, and inventory where you can view what items you have collected or farmed. This greatly simplifies the gameplay experience and I can see it hitting out at everyone who was a fan of Farmville, and possibly some of those that were not.

Another nice added bonus is that there is no irritating music (Well, there is a burst when you start but I would not say it;s that bad), just the chorus of birds... Sitting with headphones in its almost like sitting outside in the countryside relaxing :D Save the periodic pop and scrunch as resources replenish and crops grow.

From a free to play perspective, it is as it has always been; no need to spend money but it makes things smoother. sitting in game you spend a lot of time waiting for water to refill and crops to grow. If you are an infrequent gamer you wont have this wait time but chances are you will run out of resources like water when planting your field, so it is all a little bit more restricted than if you were willing to spend cash.

As always however, Zynga comes running at the in game purchase side of things with a flick-knife and a lecherous smile... the in game cash is about the same price, but they have added a significant amount of purchase options, most of which will seem quite appealing. If it works it works, but the price tag is a bit high for my liking. I have always been a believer that there should be a balance in these games, and set a price tag that I would be willing to pay for a game as a budget for in game spends. This is another blink and lose £20 jobs I think.

That's it for now, I may edit in more later as I play and learn! Thanks for reading. If you have not tried the game, I recommend at least taking a look - if nothing else, the Farm Expansion animation is So Cyoooot!

:D

-V

Dragon City - Another Velk Review

Dragon City is another freemium game that is available to play on Facebook. It came out in May, and at the time of writing has just under 11 Million players. That is more than World Of Warcraft!

At its core it is a city/pet management game, with a hint of Pokemon/Final Fantasy in its collectibles and combat system.
You build 'Habitats' to house dragons and generate Gold, and you make farms for food. There are a variety of other buildings that can be made that provide functionality and boosts that help you do more, including the Hatchery where you hatch eggs you buy or breed, and a Breeding mountain where you can breed the dragons.

My city

In order to get new dragons, you initially need to buy or be gifted elemental dragon eggs (earth, fire, wind, air, ice, etc.) which you can then cross breed with other dragons to create hybrid dragons which will have multiple abilities, and then further down the line, the rare hybrids, legendary or pure dragons. It is very Pokemon-esque and incites quite a 'gotta catch em all' mentality. A full list of the eggs and dragons can be found here: >Linky< - be warned - you may find youself returning time and time again to see what type of dragon you managed to breed, and to take your new pets for a spin in the arena to find out what works best for you and kick some dragon-rumps.

A Platiunum and Legendary dragon duel

There is a ranked battle system (PVP and PVE, but they are all against AI - the PVP system is against the dragons that other people have selected to be their fight-team) in the game where you take the dragons you have bred and trained into combat against other dragons groups. Each dragon has a number of abilities and they can affect other dragons to varying degrees, e.g using a water spell from a water dragon on a fire dragon would do a critical hit and likely kill it in one shot, whereas using a meteor attack from an earth dragon on a fire dragon might result in a 'weak' or 'innefecctive' hit that does little or no damage. The system has many intricacies, at least up until your touting an army of legendary dragons that need to be understood to have success in these arena battles.

PVP arena (You play against the teams, not actual players.)

I found this game to be quite addictive, and indeed at the time of writing I am around level 28 and my main battle trio is 3 different legendary dragons (Which admittedly feels cheap.) and I am trying to breed Pure dragons.

Naturally, as a freemium game there are elements to the game that introduce an in game currency, in this case, gems, but much akin to Tiny Tower - it is so easy to gather them through levelling and arena battles, that there is little need to spend unless you have the extra money to do so, or only have short play periods, as the majority of the gem spends are on time boosts (food, breeding, hatching, building and later on, island expansions, most of which take time, and if you want you can skip the wait at the cost of 1 gem per hour.) This game has actually proven to be one of the best facebook games for someone like myself who is too cheap to spend money on freemium games, as the balance of required currencty to available means that at most, I have to play a few days of arena matches to get a pile of gems for things I want to treat myself to. In any case, Facebook/google adverts are all screened and safe so if you are like me, just click on any adverts that interest you and give them some ad revenue ;-).

Verdict:

Graphics: 4/5 (tis good, but could be better)
Sound: 5/5 (The music is very relaxing and I would say is the best I have heard in a facebook game. 99% of the time I have the music off...)
Gameplay: 5/5 (Basic, but with an excellent element in addictive battles and breeding.)
Balance: 5/5 (You never need to spend a penny, nor a lot of time, but you don't feel ripped off if you do spend money, and you can actually sit in game for a long time playing around, replanning your city, etc etc.)

Overall: 5/5 - (about 95% to be more accurate)

If you have not played it, try it out!

-V

CSR Racing Review and thoughts.

My Tier 1 Ford Focus. 

CSR Racing is an iOS game that was released at the end of June. Since its inception, it has been a relatively big hit, and has also proven to be a huge cash cow for NaturalMotion Games.

I aim for this lengthly post to count as both a review and as a bit of a guide for new players of the game. I am by far an expert for the game, but by this point I have cleared the First Tier content, and am approximately half way through the second tier. All the waffle below is my opinon, but I will link in other sources where possible… Grab a cup of tea, sit back and relax… this is not going to be short…

So far, the game has proved to be very immersing, with excellent quality graphics and audio. It reminds me strongly of Need for Speed and Burnout, and is essentially a game where you customise and upgrade your car and take to the streets to compete in drag races which return coin which you reinvest in further upgrades or new vehicles to do better at the drag races. I find that you can take a great sense of pride and ownership of your vehicle… The game makes you want to pick a vehicle you like (in this case I picked a ford focus which is in the title image, as I drive the same car.) which you then customise the looks of (which also provides bonus $’s at the end of each race) and upgrade to make it the best drag racer it can be. Every vehicle also behaves differently, with different levels of traction, speed bands and gear ratios which mean you have to adapt to the car.

In each race you have the ‘start’ where you need to balance the rev limiter to get the perfect start without too much wheel spin or power loss, and then you control the timings of the Gear changes or NOs injections. It is a battle of timing and efficiency, and whilst it can be a bit samey, does not detract from the game play in the slightest.

At Tier 1 you can participate in the Regulation Races (Easy races which provide easy income, but only in small chunks), the Ladder system (progressively more difficult races with good rewards), Challenges (periodic challenges which can be tough, but give good rewards), Daily Races (drags where you are ‘loaned’ a vehicle and are given good rewards, that get progressively higher if you play daily. These are fairly easy races and a good way out of a cash bottleneck.) and the all important Crew Battles, where you take your car and compete against the local race circuit/gangs. Said gangs provide a lot of smack talk and generally succeed in making you want to crush their racers into the road, and it feels oh-so-good when you upgrade your vehicle enough and ace the race. When you defeat the gang leader, you can progress to the next tier. 

Each tier requires an equivalently Tiered car in order to race. This is where things can get tricky for the free player. You can try to win the Gang leaders car at the risk of the Gold Coins you win by defeating them, or you can go on the hunt for a new vehicle. I was sad at this point as I really liked the Ford Focus and had grown to love it, and was not going to be able to use it in Tier 2! Unfortunately I never re raced the gang leader for his car as I don’t like the new Mini, and did not want to risk the coin... so I continued to do the Ladder and Regulation races in Tier 1 until the assistant gal in the game turned up with a special deal for a half-price car, in this case a Chevrolet Camaro. 

My Tier 2 Camaro. (I know, not a great paint job but still!)

I thought that it looked decent, and had good stats but I was $2000 shy for it (I always seem to be a little short to take up one of these offers) so I forked out 15 of the 16 Gold Coins I had earned through races and leveling, and spent the $30,000 on upgrades, then took to tier 2. 

Tier 2 is somewhat similar but the cars you race against are better equipped, and Restriction Races are introduced. I have not really toyed about with these as my car is too light, and too fast to meet the restricted criteria…

Generally the player will play through races, earn cash, spend it on upgrade (and eventually vehicles) and win their way through each tier. I am not sure what happens when you reach the end of Tier 5 – but I get the feeling this is going to be a fairly long game, but so far after a week of play I am enjoying it! As there is a reasonable conversion rate of real money to gold coins players that are willing to spend real money on in-game purchases should not feel as ripped off as many other games. With a player base of around 2.5 Million at present, announcements of the huge revenue pulled from it can attest to how many players enjoy the game enough to valiate spending money. Plus, every spend is optional. For myself, the items I would be most willing to spend money on would be for a really nice car and some custom decals to make it look good. I am happy to wait for the delivery of more advanced parts and cars, but these can be sped up with gold coins too.

An aside on the Freemium system:

The Freemium system is a method of game delivery that allows players to get and play the game for free, and which usually includes purchasable in game content or advertising. Many people look upon the freemium system with distain, as many developers approach the freemium market with the mindset of milking players for as much money as possible. Whilst in many cases *cough Zynga cough* this is true, the costs of many in game items is prohibitive to all but the most avid and fat-pursed gamer. Many of these games have ‘choke points’ where the player is forced to spend their in-game credit to bypass, which in turn means spending money. Players can usually horde just enough of the in-game credit to get through these places, or are able to ‘beg it’ from their friends if they are determined not to pay anything, but it can be very slow. Some games are highly profitable without giving players the feeling that they are being ‘Nickel and dimed’ – a good example of a game that gets the balance right, or at least in favor of the customer being Tiny Tower (Android & iOS). 

In this game the user is given a range of sources of the in game currency ‘Bux’ and if they play regularly, are constantly being bombarded with it via tips from the occasional elevator passenger, or for helping locate ‘Bitizens’ within the tower. This may have dented the revenue stream for the company, but for a two man development team, a couple of million $ a year cannot be frowned upon, and best of all the game is perfectly playable for those that don’t want to spend the coin. In my opinion – freemium gaming is actually very good. If you would not have bought the game normally, you get to play it at no cost. In my case, if I would be willing to buy the game in a shop, then I would attribute a cash value to the game and use it as my limit for in game spends. The other upside is that with the software market the way it is today with piracy and the likes, it can prove a stable source of income for the developer meaning that they can continue to make good games. Without the freemium system I would not have played: DC Universe Online, Blacklight Retribution, CSR Racing, Lord Of The Rings online and more… all games I really enjoy(ed) playing.

In Conclusion:

The game is free. Try it! you wont be disappointed if you are in any way a fan of racing games, or car customisation games. It provides a quality experience, and is indeed a game that could have gone to market with a reasonable price tag. Try it, dont be afraid to spend a few bob for your own special ride, and enjoy! 

GFX: 9/10

Audio: 8/10

Addiction: 8.5/10

Value: 8/10

Fun: 9/10

Overall: 8.5/10

Zynga. What is going on?? Some thoughts and info.

Yoinked from Penny Arcade (credit: Dabe Alan)

So, more controversy has arisen regarding the activities of Zynga and their share price crashes as of late.

computerandvideogames.com have posted an article relating to an Investigation that is under way due to suspicious activity with share sales before the crash.

Kotaku seems to be the source post about this and has some interesting info.

Zynga have had a long string of successes in quick-fix-gaming using the Facebook social website as a delivery platform for these games. The games include the likes of Words with Friends, FarmVille, The Sims Social, Bubble Safari, the recent 'The Ville' and more. Their games have always been pretty big hits with the facebook community and I have played many of them over the last 3 years. I would gripe however, that their freemium pay model is highly flawed. I wonder if this is in fact something to do with their problems. Sure numbers are declining, but they still see in excess of 50 Million users every day across their games... There are companies with much smaller numbers that are flourishing.

And now I shall go into a rant about the Freemium system that Zynga implements...

One observation to make - look at the recently released Dragon City. It is a game that you can play with no pressure of spending money - it is addictive, fun, and for my wife and I, keeps us coming back for more. We have been tempted to get some in game currency, and for the cost of it, and its uses - it would not feel like a waste of money. Zynga's games however... You can spend a buttload of money for in game cash, which in turn gives very little return and is also inconsistent.

One example that shows this inconsistency is the game: Bubble Safari. One cash costs 10-15p depending on how much you buy, and you can spend as much as £70.00 in a single transaction. (seriously, thats twice the price of a newly released game!) This cash is then spent on boosts and power ups. The player can also buy gold (at about 10p for 100G) Gold is easy to earn in game, and cash comes in in dribs and drabs, or can be pried through friend-share, but takes time. So what now. We start a game! You are offered a selection of powerups for gold coin (cash equivalent for 6 extra bubbles? £2!! - and those bubbles are unlikely to push you to clearing the board or having enough bubbles left to get your score into the 1* region if you are struggling...) Next, as you are playng you can buy 5 bubbles for 2 cash. k... so lets do that... oh wait, I dont have enough cash, I need to pay real money. £1.48. What?! Thats the same price as nearly 15 cash... So... you fail the level and get to buy 10 bubbles to continue. this costs 4 cash, or again, £1.48. Completely inconsistent. I understand that it is a good point to try to milk the user of money - especially if they can see the end is in sight - but at the point you can buy 5 bubbles, you can also click 'buy cash' and bypass the charge window and use 20p worth of cash. I cant help but wonder if there is even a designer or tester on board for this :/

Its these levels of extortion that personally have stopped me playing their games. I wish I had access to the analytics info for the company. There are people out there with the disposable income to pay for these boosts at these levels, and if they have fun and dont mind paying, then why not? The value of money is only what we apply to it.

Perhaps I get a bit hot under the collar as I work for a company that looks up to Zynga as a role model and I want to develop a better freemium system, that does not suck the fun for a game, or forces the designers to create the game around eventually forcing the player to pay to continue - it should be that the players with the expendible income can use that disposable cash to improve the quality of their game. The normal user can struggle a bit, and invest time to advance instead.

Just my 2c. I think this is a huge factor in their collapse. They will get back on their feet, Im sure of it. The games are still being played, the money is still coming in - they just need to sell off assets or cut their outgoings (Which unfortunately means MORE job losses)

Feel free to add your own in the comments :-)

-V

Blacklight Retribution

Blacklight: Retribution is a freemium team FPS game that is available on steam. (By freemium I mean it is free to download and play, but to get access to the good upgrades, you need to be willing to part with a few bucks, but that said - you still have pretty much unlimited play time and access to the game.)

For a free to play game, I admit. I am impressed. It is akin to counterstrike, but with various objectives and the purchase screen is accessed between missions or before you connect to a server.

There are 3 types of currency. CPs, GPs and Zen.

CP's are Championship(?) Points. These are earned through the course of a battle and can be spent at the various terminals scattered about the map to buy some upgrades, or even the Hard Suit which makes you akin to a 40k dreadnought, and night on unkillable except by other dreadnoughts, flamethrowers, or really really brave troops who use the VR helmet to spot the weak armour plate and get stuck in. (I know, I outmaneuvered one last night and killed it with a pistol!!)

GP's are experience points that can be spent to buy more lasting upgrades. Between missions or when you are not connected to a server you can view your equipment layout and buy new items such as armour, weapons or even part-upgrades for stuff you have. The upgrades tend to be temporary, for example - I bought an assault rifle for 200gp (about 1 good match worth of GP) and I own it for 24 hours. If I wanted it for a week it would be about 1000gp, and permanent it would be 5000gp.

Zen is bought currency. I think it can be used in place of other currency (e.g. buy the Assault Rifle for 24 hours for 20 Zen), but it is also used to buy specialist items. Good upgrades tend to use this, or at least require a chunk of their cost to be paid in Zen restricting them to paying players. An example of this is buying a 'loadout option' - which is basically a quick access weapons loadout which you can change to with the F keys between missions or at terminals (I think)

Anyway, the game plays very smooth, looks awesome and contrary to most FPS games I have seen out there, it seems to be relatively free of Ass Hattery. (Joys of Steam maybe?) Saying that, you find yourself cursing at the screen on many an occasion as Bobby the Bawbag with his Uber gun rounds a corner and takes off your head again... but that's what strategy is for, no? :p

I think one of the greatest appeals to me about this game aside from the online team play aspect (I spent near a decade playing counter strike! I still love it, just cant be bothered installing it!) is the roleplay aspect. You are essentially earning XP (Oh, you also have actual XP and combat levels that unlock weaponry) and using it to buy upgrades to enhance your gaming experience. Do yourself a favour and if you start playing, endure a couple of matches then get rid of the crappy starter SMG! At the very least you should be looting a replacement through as the map progresses ^.^

I spent some time last night attempting to create a Let's Play of the game that records me first entering the game, doing the tutorial and then taking to the field, but bugs with the windowing meant I had naught but a static image and audio. After about 90 minutes of play I came out and resolved this, so here is a couple of matches I played last night :-) >>Linky<< (Note... I had an awesome few rounds - none are caught on cam :p partially cos when I video it forces me into full-screen-windowed mode at the same resolution as before which means the image is distorted to me... but it is still fun :D )

-V