Preview: Neon Valley Revenge (PC) ~ Let’s Go Shooting in Tron?

Official website

Recently, I came across a game on the world wide web called Neon Valley Revenge. This game is so interesting, I wish that there was already a demo I could play. So, let me tell you when I’m so interested in this game. I also got in contact with the developers and the CEO told me that a demo might come in the future. In any case, let’s take a look at Neon Valley Revenge. As usual, feel free to leave a comment in the comment section down below with your opinion on the content of the article and/or the game.

Let’s Go Shooting in Tron

I chose the title of this article for a reason. This game is going to be a shooter set in a sort of Tron-ish looking world. It’s going to be an online shooter too.

From the currently released material on their website, I’m not sure if this game is going to have a single player campaign.

I think there is no need to talk about the visuals in depth since the screenshots in the article will do the trick I think. A picture can say more than a thousand words after all. But, if you want to see the game in action, you can look at this teaser trailer where the developers show off some combat mechanics. You can find more information about it in their article about the video.

Something that gets me interested in the game is the fact that the wall jumping. This opens up the map in so many different directions and I can’t wait to see how hectic matches can be online. Also, I like that there seems to be a 1^st and 3^rd person mode in the game. Personally, I like to play my shooters in 1^st person, but if there is going to be an option, this will please both parties.

Also, if the music from the video is going to be any indication of the soundtrack that this game will have in store, I’m getting even more hyped for the game. I think that the music really fits the presentation they are going to this game. There are some hidden hints placed in an article about the music that might possibly get into the game.

In another blog post, the developers confirmed the wall jumping amongst other forms of movement. Two other things that are pretty interesting is the air control and the dashing. It’s quite clear that this game is going for a futuristic vibe. I like the execution in this game since it really fits the theme visually. So, the artist did a great job in design everything.

Speaking about the artist, the main developer Jonathan D. and David Belli made the animations. Now, do you want to hear something even more impressive? Besides those two, there are three other people working on this game. The team is presented in this blog post.

So, the developers also revealed a bit how it’s going to work in the gameplay department. For this, I point you to a page talking about one of the maps. There will be commands to easily and quickly do things like vote and kicking players.

There are other various bits of information on that same page. You can find the control scheme and some information on how high scores and weapon load outs will work. Currently, the controls won’t be customizable, but the keyword is “currently”. I personally hope that the developer knows that “QWERTY” isn’t the only keyboard layout. I know, I know; it’s a pet peeve of mine, but I hate it when I play a game using my “AZERTY” keyboard and I have to place my fingers in a weird position to play the game.

So, I’m going to keep an eye on this game. When the demo is ready, I’ll surely give it a shot with my friends who are into shooters. From just seeing the already released (press) material, I can’t wait to see this game become a finished product. There is, even more, to discover on their website when it comes to art and screenshots.

Now I would like to thank you for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed reading the article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article on my blog but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care. And before I finish this article, I want to share the press kit for this game with you. So here it is! It’s written by the CEO of the developers Daydream Productions, Jonathan D.

Press kit

Daydream Productions presents

Neon Valley: Revenge is an online shooter with Neo 80s design influence. Full of retro neon-infused graphics and hardcore gameplay features, join the digital frontier of Neon Valley and claim your place at the top!

Features

• Health shield system inspired by Halo: Combat Evolved
• Agility focused movement for freedom of control. Wall jumping, dashing and air control
• Assortment of weapons and gadgets with unconventional mechanics
• Skill and style based points scoring system
• Online multiplayer
• Arcade style high score leaderboards
• Neo 80s design and synthwave music

History

I have been dabbling in game development since the tender age of 14. Mostly working with pixel art and some basic programming using the program Beyond. And after my education, I worked on several projects with friends or freelance based. However, after many of them fell through, I felt like I had to just go for it and push through whatever challenges lie ahead. To develop my own game, a project I could use to broaden my skillset and begin as a professional game developer. I aimed for a game design within my reach… Something which did not go so well.

Neon Valley is a project I have worked on the last 2-3 years. Mostly in my free time and a lot of the time which should have been my sleep. As I am originally an artist and designer I had to learn programming, so I could begin developing my own ideas. This project was for that purpose but as it developed I wanted to take the extra step. So I took it to the next level, revamped a lot of the art and turned it into a somewhat full-fledged game. Or at least direct my goals towards that. Neon Valley transformed from a small prototype shooter to an online multiplayer shooter.

I had to learn not only C# programming in Unity but also pick up how to program networking. And beyond that VFX, designing game mechanics, Lighting, bla bla bla oh my god. So it has been a rough couple years for this little artist, something very out of my comfort zone. It was not the straightforward copy paste of my 14yr old projects. But I love it none the less and am very excited to present my figurative but-also-kind-of-literal blood sweat and tears.

Goals

I wish to tailor-make a competitive online shooter that allows a diverse variety of gameplay styles. Currently, there is only a handful of items in the game. However, over the next few months, I will be designing more characters, weapons, and gadgets, testing them one by one with the players. Experimenting with the gameplay feel and a variety of gameplay mechanics at the player’s disposal. I hope to over time develop Neon Valley into a place where players can develop their own gameplay styles without feeling forced into specific “Meta” gameplay.

 

Advertisement

First Impression: Across The Moment (PC) ~ Let’s Go On A Journey!

Official Steam Page

Today, I want to take you on a journey. The journey that the game “Across The Moment” tell you. Currently, the first episode is out. There will be 4 episodes in total. The three other episodes will come as an update in the future. To write this review, I got a review code from the developer. The developer also gave me full control in what I could write in my article. So, this is completely my opinion. In any case, enough introduction. Time to get reviewing this moment. Well, “Across The Moment”. As usual, feel free to leave a comment with your opinion on the game and/or the content of this article.

Note: While I have almost finished the first episode, I’m not going to make this a review since not all episodes are out.

Artstyle tells it all

When you look at the promotional screenshots of this game, one thing is quite clear. This game doesn’t look like your run of the mill adventure game. And it is, this game is trying to tell a grim story about somebody falling into a depression and doing something. I won’t talk about it since it would spoil the game a bit in my opinion. But believe me, this game talks about some heavy subject matter. It also has some social commentary that really made me think about how our lives currently work.

The story gets more power from the voice acting. While the voice acting didn’t click with me at first, after the story started to get more and more clear, I started to understand and appreciate the voice acting and the direction it got.  The only thing I shall say is, imagine it’s somebody telling his life story about he fell into a depression and how defeated he felt. It really comes through in the pacing and voice acting.

Apart from the dialogue, the story is also told by the journal. Whenever something happens, it gets written down in the journal. From story bits to observations of the world you are in. I really like how this game is written. It clearly shows a passion for the story that the creator wants to tell with his game.

Everything is documented from the game, so when you take a break from the game for a while or when you need a refresher on what happened in a certain place or world, you can look it up in the journal. It’s an extremely handy tool.

Thanks to the dark artstyle with bright colors, the story gets even more meaning. The only issue I have with the art style is that sometimes the game is a bit too dark and you barely see where a wall is.

Visually, the game succeeds in setting the required atmosphere. I really liked the world building and the story is told through symbolism. The animations are great too. The use of color really helps to guide the player to where to go next. If I may change one thing in terms of visuals is that more items you can pick up like the screwdriver or the belt are in a different color, even a different shade of grey. Since it’s not always clear if there is an important item you missed or not.

Let’s Go On A Journey

The first episode takes about 1 and half hours to complete if you really know what you are doing. If the other chapters are this long, I think you have a 12-hour game on your hands. But, let’s keep our focus on the current released episode.

This game is a 3D adventure game. It’s more of a walking simulator with a lot of puzzles and exploration. So, basically, it isn’t a walking simulator at all. In this game, you have to solve puzzles to be able to open doors and progress to the next area. Here is where some issues are with the game. My biggest complaint is the inventory. In my honest opinion, the inventory system is decent, apart from one thing. The system that is used to combine items is just annoying to use. Perhaps it’s a limitation of the Unreal 4 Engine being used, but it’s annoying to use. You must click on the ying-yang symbol, drag one item in the left box and the other item in the right box and click on the misaligned “yes” to try and combine them. You don’t even get any feedback if you can’t combine the items. It makes controlling the game annoying.

Which is a shame, since the controls for this game work fine for the most part. I wish that the controls were rebindable. Since, just like various other indie titles, they don’t know that “AZERTY” exists and now I must put my fingers weird again.

Just for you QWERTY-users, a reference. To move forward, I must use the Z key. And to move backward, the Q-key. The S & D-keys do their job fine. Anyways, let’s get back to reviewing this game.

There are two other things I want to point out about the controls. One is there is something odd you can do while you open your inventory. You can still duck, stand up and jump. Also, when you hold any of the movement keys, you hear the walking sound effect.

The second thing I want to talk about in terms on the controls is the jump. Besides having a great jump arc, the jumping is stiff in my opinion. I noticed that when you jump first and then press the move forward key, you don’t reach as far as you jump after you have moved forward a bit.

The jumping mechanic needs some polishing up. I found it frustrating and unreliable to use, especially in the platforming segments of the game. There was one segment in the game that took way too long to make. It would be great too if there were some checkpoints between the jumping segments. There is nothing more frustrating than being almost at the end of a jumping segment and falling all the way down for just one minor mistake.

Symbols

In terms of the music, the soundtrack is good. The style of the soundtrack isn’t 100% my thing, but I love how it adds to the atmosphere of the game. The sound design is decent. While I wish there were a bit more sound effects for when you jump or when you land, I think the sound design is like I said: decent.

The difficulty in this game really depends if you can see the solution or not. Sometimes, the solution isn’t that clear and you are overlooking one thing. Really experiment with your environment and your inventory if you are stuck. Try the “everything on anything and combine everything with everything” tactic if you are stuck.

This game is also available in Chinese and Russian. It’s still a mystery to me why this option isn’t in the options menu but in the main menu. I think it would be more helpful if you move this option in the options menu, to be honest.

I do have to say, this game is only 3€ on Steam. I think that you get more value for your money when you buy this game. If you are interested in this game, I think you should buy this game.

There are also Steam Achievements and trading cards for people who are interested in that. There are 4 card drops for 6 cards to create a badge. Good luck.

That’s everything I wanted to say about this game. I can’t wait to see the second episode of this game since I really want to know where the story goes next. Thank you so much to the developer for giving me a key to try out this game. I really enjoyed my time with this game. I hope you also enjoyed reading this article as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to be able to welcome you in another article but until then, have a great rest of your day and take care.