He posted one today for Silent Debuggers.
Desmond, you've been on fire with your reviews lately! I haven't been able to keep up.
Yeah, I agree with his opinion on Silent Debugger. So much lost potential.
As for me I been looking to improve some older reviews for the new channel.
This started out as a short post, but I kept adding more (and it's not directed at Desmond, but the YouTube review from "SaturnIsCool"
) so now I present...
IN DEFENSE OF SILENT DEBUGGERS Well, it clearly is a matter of taste, but I like Silent Debuggers for what it is: a mysterious game that allows you to SLOWLY figure things out as events unfold. Exploring, learning how to navigate the confusing corridors, figuring out your objectives, learning how to be efficient with time, BEING PENALIZED BUT STILL ABLE TO PLAY THE GAME (one of the best features, IMHO, because I love how this adds to the "realism" and, because you can lose a variety of things, you have to adopt/ experiment with different strategies depending on your situation, etc etc.
All of the things that the reviewer criticized the game for are, actually, what makes it such a unique experience and REVEALS HOW THE GAME GRADUALLY ADDS LAYER UPON LAYER UPON LAYER OF STRESS (don't forget about the Doomsday Countdown clock).
BOTTOM LINE: This sort of game is meant to be played, replayed, contemplated. It's the very nature of it. It's a sci-fi "dungeon crawler" of sorts (with a FPS moments to keep you on your toes, but you don't get bored because aliens don't spawn endlessly). If you fail to grasp how you are meant to approach the game, you certainly will be frustrated. It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but
the PACING is one of its strengths (adding save states, the ability to fix disabled cells, a "counter" of remaining enemies—all of these things destroy the very purpose of the game, which is to create an increasingly stressful, claustrophobic, xenophobic (ha!) experience). The tension builds, the paranoia builds...and, as a result, the satisfaction of solving/surviving everything becomes even sweeter... I honestly believe that folks are far too coddled by things (I.e. automapping, all the things listed a moment ago) and this hand-holding actively destroys certain experiences (I.e. using pacing to create atmosphere, tension, rewarding experiences).
Too often, folks clamor for INSTANT GRATIFICATION. Go play some generic game, I say. Silent Debuggers provides a gratifying experience for those willing to give it a chance.