Castle Paradox :: Game Review

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Night of 10,000 Bullets vs. Gizmog1

	Night of 10,000 Bullets
	TwinHamster
	Download: 651 KB
V.S.
	Gizmog1
	Play Time: hours and 12 minutes
	Review # 8 for Gizmog1	Hey! I'm down here! Don't shoot back there, I just painted that wall!

Them's Fightin' Words
		Halloween: A time for ghosts, goblins, and ghouls... or so the white man wants us to think! Fortunately, rather than some old jive rap about passing out candy, or dressin' up in costumes, TwinHamster reminds us that Halloween in the hood is no different than any other day: It's all about shootin' up in the streets!
Graphics
		The graphics are actually pretty impressive here. The opening cutscene (Which we'll talk more about later) is nicely done, with a comic type style that works well. The villains are suitably hideous, and would be at home in any horror rpg. Enemies rise up out of the ground with a great spawn animation, and die just as impressively in reverse. The cursor's kind of small, but it's readable against the maptiles. Speaking of maptiles, those are pretty good too, though you'll probably be too busy shooting to pay much attention to 'em.
Storyline
		Three ghouls in the local haunted house are sad that no one ever comes trick or treating, and decide to advertise. Unfortunately, the monsters they release into town to spread the word around have little or no PR experience, and the only gunslinger in town has to stop them. Neat story, right? Too bad the unskippable opening cutscene makes every subsequent playthrough more annoying.
Gameplay
		The gameplay is sadisticly simple. Shoot all the enemies before they can run away to safety at the bottom of the screen. Let 3 get away, and your conscience just won't let you do anything but stick the gun in your mouth and try not to scream.
	Battle
		There's three kinds of enemy: Pumpkins, who're slow and harmless, ghosts who are spooky and fast, and skeletons who are fastest of all, and are the only enemy who can come around corners. Guess they really must've boned up at enemy school!
	Map Design
		A means to an end. I don't even remember looking at the map that much, just the enemies.
	Balance
		Pretty well balanced. You won't have too much trouble with any of the battles being unfair, although the last boss is glitched, and if you bother trying to defend yourself (His shots can't damage you...hee!) you'll probably run out of bullets, and watch his shot bounce harmlessly back and forth, forever.
Music
		Technobeatzzz!!
Enjoyment
		Very enjoyable. The opening cutscene reminded me of the late, great RMSephy's Legally Dead Man comics, and the bullet curving mechanic added a fun challenge in ammo convervation.
Final Blows
		Really a great effort, if not a bit short. Fun to play a few times, but I can't imagine myself opening it up too many times in the future. I'm also not sure how well the concept would've held up over more levels. The final boss laments that you stole his "super shooter" which is presumably a concept to be picked up upon in the sequel: a sequel I eagerly await.

Don't be fooled: the ending could be a terrible shock to a sensitive system.

Final Scores

Graphics: 8.5/10.0

It would've been easy to just do a generic "poof" graphic upon enemy death, but TwinHamster went all out and gave each enemy it's own death animation. That kind of extra credit effort shines all around.

Storyline: 5/10.0

It is what it is: An excuse to shoot stuff up.

Gameplay: 7/10.0

See storyline.

But, there's a good deal of fun to be had here, and the download isn't that big. Had the final boss worked right, this really could've been something special.

Music: 10/10.0

Technobeatzzz!

Enjoyment: 9/10.0

The story's fun, the gameplay tight, and the graphics wonderful. What's not to enjoy?

Overall Grade: A-

Final Thoughts
		I love the review system here. I've just drawn a conclusion, and now I get to add my "final thoughts". I, for one, hope my final thoughts are "Who are these women, why are they naked, and wait is that a chainsa...."