Sooner or later it was supposed to happen. Difficult times have come – brilliant projects like Darwinia No one buys, publishers allocate money only for commercially successful projects, and, as a rule, only strong middle peasants become them. And heimdevelopers of all countries together went to bow to the publishers. Games based on films, books and historical events enjoy special love among creative and commercial symbiosis. The developers receive a ready -made game universe, marketers – the publishing house: an excellent news occasion. This cup and Russian offices did not pass. First, “Hame Casts” according to Lukyanenko’s works, now – the standard “Russian” quest from STEP Creative Group. This Moscow studio has long attracted me with its extraordinary approach to the “game of the Gameization” of literary works. The announced projects based on Win Diggers Casino the novels of the Strugatsky brothers are interested in a wide range of gamers – high -quality screenshots, albeit a little embellished, non -standard gameplay chips fascinated us. And having learned that an interesting quest will soon be released from Kira Bulychev, many were waiting for it. But, most likely, evil rock hangs over the license games – again and again we are “delighted” with an inappropriate graphics and a confusing plot.
For those who are not aware of events, I will explain: twenty years ago a wonderful animated cartoon was created according to the script of the strong Soviet science fiction writer Kira Bulychev. Subsequently, the films for children and pioneers were removed on the same cycle. Even a whole subculture arose – many remember the phrase “Alice, Melafon I have!“But this is already a deviation from the topic – the game is based only on the book and the cartoon. Familiar Install, start the game ..
The first thing that catches your eye is a very fast loading and high speed of work even on weak machines. I hasten to “please”: the game meets the system requirements – quite tolerable graphics for 128 RAM. In general, you understood … how such a visual squalor could let the guys from the company stabbing the hits of the company stabbingAkella“, I will not know the mind. Yes, the design of the game is strikingly resembles cinema, shots from the cartoon – but only. Round and insidious merry -melting is remotely similar to the hero of the beloved actor of my youth, Alice is generally the poet’s dream (and this is a minor girl?), the good-natured professor Seleznev sometimes gives out such grimaces that children can be frightened. In terms of brightness of colors, the game looks like gloomy dungeons – caves and crypts – Mordorovind, With their “game of light and shadow”. Lighting awaits you and here – clumsy shadows from characters, inexpressive backgrounds and an clumsy animation. We all remember the original trick, which the guys made from before our eyes Kheops Studio – created one skin of characters and focused on creating magnificent animation. No, I do not want all the developers to stamp the characters now, but at least a little creative thought could be attached when creating a game?! Gromozeca looks like aunt from Brazil, the same wild monkey, but not on himself. And the aforementioned Seleznev from the well -read “Botanik” turned into a man of indefinite age rumpled by life. Maybe he celebrated the New Year with the team STEP Creative Group? Only in a state of hangover syndrome, at the last stage of colortonism, one could distort the cute, loved by all the characters of our childhood. Slowly and honey, Swan passes Alisa Selezneva from a location to a location, no bonus animation options. They took off the first movement of the movement that came across to the tracing paper and applied to all the characters. Although no, the robots twitch even more terrible.
New superflowering IQ – Akella children!
The cover reports that the game is designed for "Children of primary and secondary school age". Young people, don’t believe! This project was designed primarily for uncle-player, about 15 years chopped 10 (ten!) hours in hardcore wargams and fascinated by non -standard in the bad sense of the word by logical tasks. Of course, mundane and essentially understandable puzzles significantly reduce the threshold for entering, but only.
There was such a quest-one-day “The white sun of the desert“. In the best Russian traditions – the setting, pleasant to the ears, pleasant names and names, “super -logical” plot. So this is what I was leading to: the BSP scenario fit into 3500 or 4000 signs. IN “Traveling Alice»There will be more clumsy words (and note, this is not a translation, but the language of the original-the game was made by Russians), incomprehensible tasks and trivial units. Pixel Hanting stubbornly took up-found the desired object, clicking on objects-something in the end turned out/happened. Jitted the script thread – looked at the tedious video. And in a completely unpredictable place where the result of the conversation (or action) is obvious, come across a “mine” – a complex task or an difficult quest. Usually, in such games, you first try to act according to plot conflicts, then you put yourself in the place of the hero, then imagine yourself as a screenwriter and scroll through all the possible options, then … after passing five to six such cycles, you find that the unraveling was very close, but it is not a matterIn logic, but in some other way. Maybe children have a completely different type of thinking, their own psychology, or they are generally a different race? Still a long time ago, people realized that work is what a person is obliged to do, and the game is what he is not obliged to do. So here we are obliged to perform only understandable actions to the screenwriter-to collect something, go somewhere. Names and objects are not remembered – with the total grayness of graphics, inconsistency and the stinginess of the plot no longer surprises.
Everything would be fine, but at that time that a person who seriously approached the game process will cross out of his life, managed to shove some more monotonous and fresh arcades. According to the metropolitan games, kids need to shoot meteorites, comets and other stellar trifles. And the most pleasant ahead (I will say only to you in secret)-the game is a training. He teaches to reboot the constantly hanging computer, get used to every minute and therefore quickly boring flights to Windows. The main thing is that patches will come out soon – here is the child and they will learn to put them. What, what, and patches have STEP Creative Group come out literally immediately after the release of the games. Only one thing is incomprehensible – but it was impossible to bring everything to mind at once, to test the extra day, for example? In general, the impudent profanity of the genre.
The most sick place of low -budget games was always the sound. In such cases, voice acting is instructed to make employees of the company-programmers, animators, designers, managers, janitors and office clerks, finally, but not professional actors. It will be strange if in such a game the character of an adult serious man will not broadcast a breakdown teenage basket, and the bird is smart for years – with a soft baritone. Although here our expectations met ourselves. But with music we have even more serious problems – a soft semi -children’s melody with a rhythm of a lullaby song is suddenly replaced by aggressive electronics without any connection with plot ups and downs. Then these two or three melodies begin to act negatively on the nerves-monotony is always annoying.
Final comments
It’s a shame when they kill a dream. Когда топчут ее труп ногами, пинают окованными равнодушием и жадностью сапогами. Boldly crossing out the watch spent by the game, I advise you not to follow my bad example. The amazing, in our way is good and in its own way beautiful cartoon and an excellent book of Bulychev respected by all-the buggy of domestic fantasy, falling into the hands of Igrodelov from STEP Creative Group, Received a non -viable offspring. In ancient Sparta, such a baby would be thrown into the abyss. And we will say this: the best friend of such a game is the Uninstall team.
Gameplay: a stingy plot, torn from a cartoon and a movie, diluted with arcades and abundantly watered with “dead water” under tracing paper – the patient cannot be reanimated.
Graphics: for weak machines of the end of the last century, it is acceptable, for modern monsters – a drop in the sea of magnificent design solutions. Drown animation and dull two -dimensional backdrops. In a word, limited.
Sound: even by reducing the budget, to do something worse with the quality of music and voice acting would be difficult to do.