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Review: Prompt Critical
Author: Marko
Added: 10/10/2008
Overall:
Average:7/10

I've been using Click products for about 15 years now. I began with Klick and Play, then IMSI Multimedia Fusion and now i have progressed to MMF2. And i hate to say it but i'm going to anyway,

"Why do non-Klik games done well, much like this one, look so much better than Klik games?"

There, i've said it, and may God have mercy on us all! Seriously though, as much as a MMF-fanboy that i am i cannot help but feel jealous of games made so well as this one, whether it was made in Construct or, as in the case of Prompt Critical, FreeBasic. Whatever any game is made in, there is no way anyone can say that this game is not presented in anyway less than amazing. Oddly, the last game i reviewed (Friendly strike 3) was also presented exceptionally well. The menus in Critical are second to non on TDC and i feel ashamed to say this after viewing the beauty of FS3 just days before.

Clearly, 3D is the way to go then!

The game itself is something of a straight forward arcade shoot-em-up, similar in many ways to games like Colony Wars on the Playstation. Single player only, the mouse is used to control the cross-hairs as the player orbits a futuristic worm-hole. Enemies emerge from the centre of this interstellar phenomenon and the player must destroy both them and their missiles. The game is played in order to beat the highest score and players can publish their personal bests online. Though simple in design, the game soon becomes an adrenaline-fest as the enemies become more and more numbered and gun-fire appears all around; the first time you look above, below and around you and see dozens of missiles lingering around you and waiting to bring you closer to death is a marvel to behold!

Though the game plays like Colony Wars, it looks much more like Tempest - the enemies are as abstract as they come. If anything negative can be said about this game it is the lack of variety in the enemies and their missile attacks. Fortunately though, waking up to the sight of Nell McAndrew every morning is not bad thing and the monotomy of Prompt Critical's enemy design can be overlooked when they look so damn good. The bright lights and menacing red missiles are a menacing sight. Another plus is the great frame-rate; despite high numbers of enemies and special effects this never appears to fall at all - a technical marvel for non-commercial games.

Complimenting the fantastic graphics is a sublime musical score, immersing the player into a movie-like experience. Not since Tunnel B1 on the Playstation/Saturn has a sound track complimented a game and made the player feel like they are in a bonafide Hollywood blockbuster. Hats off to the production team.

Unfortunately, the one-sided gameplay and lack of visual variety takes it toll upon the player after just 10 minutes and the game can become stale fairly quickly. However the memories of those enemies, the high-quality graphics, the great menu and front screen and the superb soundtrack all draws you back for another quick blast every now and then. It has that "i'll have another go actually" factor to it and i think players will still give this a quick go in a years time. Though not exactly deep, this game will be around for longer than most.

All in all, a pretty good game. Fans of high-scoring games will welcome this with open-arms, however even the most hardened of shoot-em-up players will not play this for more than 20 minutes at a time and this makes the game very hard to score. A great achievement in coding only let down by a simple and seen-it-all-before style of game. Download; play; leave; come back in 12 months time.

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Download This Game

Posted by -Athan- 10th October, 2008

better games come out when u give much effort than in MMF unfortunately you cannot develop cool 3D in MMF. this will bring mmf down in the feature if Clickteam doesn't make something. this is only my opinion so don't tell me that it's wrong.

also, your review is good
 
Posted by Marko 10th October, 2008

Thanks for the feedback. And for the record, i agree with you about MMF needing 3D to compete with the competition. Though not necessary (and it probably won't always be used) it is a feature i really want to see in a future MMF.

are you reading this, ClickTeam??
 
Posted by Lachie Dazdarian 10th October, 2008

To be honest, I'm not looking forward to the prospect of MMF featuring 3D, despite not being personally a Click products user but a hobby game developer in FreeBASIC.

To me, MMF was/is one of the last bastions of 2D retro game design and I would hate seeing so many developers in MMF switching to 3D in not so far future. But I know many won't resist.

Luckily in the FreeBASIC community we are still resisting to this temptation. Hopefully syn9's Prompt Critical won't change that much.

BTW, this is a single man project.

Also, I think this game deserves 7/10.
 
Posted by Marko 10th October, 2008

according to the credits, there were four people involved with this game.
 
Posted by Lachie Dazdarian 10th October, 2008

Yes. I'm sure their contribution is appreciated, but it's minimal:

Programming - Daniel Kennedy (syn9)
Game Engine - syn9
3D Models - syn9
Music & Sound FX - syn9
Game Design - syn9
...
 

 



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