Most indie gamers and developers have heard and played Matt Thorson’s games before, which consist of difficult reflex action and jumping to avoid hitting the spikes. Time’s newest project, a Flash game titled Quietus, is here to rival some of Mr. Thorson’s best works. With 18 levels at this time, and many, many enemies to avoid (spikes, lava, worms, ghosts, demons, stompers, etc), this game is made to challenge even those who consider themselves hardcore reflex gamers.
The graphics are a stunning retro – not too much, but at the same time enough to show off some cool style. The effects (when the flying red creatures splash; when the worm jumps) are nicely done and show off a polished touch that most developers fail to think of creating, or even succeed in adding. The little details that are visible in each and every wall block, displaying interesting runes, added some depth and uniqueness to the game. The rustic feel of actually being where you’re character is trying to survive is undeniable.
One thing that some may argue about, but I believe to be the best part of the entire game: the gameplay difficulty. There aren’t enough games on the internet at this quality that also requires this level of precise timing. There are some levels, a couple of them being levels 6 and 9, that required such precision it’s crazy that Time could even calculate that all in. In level 6 you need to hop down quick, bounce off the green blob, avoid the little worms, wait for the spike to go by, and then run before the other spike comes around and the flying red demons jump and trap you. In level 9, which, being farther along in the game is much harder, has an even longer portion where you need to constantly be aware. You can’t just focus on bits of the level, you have to examine the entire thing so when you get passed a hard part to another part, you don’t just die and go “What happened?!”. Although the level order (according to difficulty) is still a little bit wacked, the game itself delivers and not too many people should care right now about the organization, since the game isn’t completed yet.
The sound effects are decent enough; definitely retro, but with no music at this time there isn’t much to say about the audio this game has to offer the player. However, I doubt the player will be thinking about sound effects much when they get trapped once again by a couple spikes.
One of the things Quietus has done exceedingly well is tell its story. The story obviously hasn’t been finished being created yet, but already just by seeing the graphic at the beginning and the short animation of the character falling you know the eerie story behind the game.
Overall, Quietus will definitely leave a lasting impression on anyone who plays it. If you haven’t beaten the game, there’s that urge to beat it because … well, just so you can say you beat the game. The difficulty could be raised a bit, as well as the level order moved around, but generally Quietus did what it was made to do – entertain. The gameplay at this point could take an intermediate reflex platform gamer about 45 minutes or so to beat, with the less experienced taking much longer. If Time can succeed in adding some more features—which I’m sure he will—and a lot more levels, this game will reach new heights.
-turboRambleThanks for the review and I will definitely be referring to this as a way of finding more methods to improve the game from here on out!
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