Shale

[h3]RANKING:[/h3] [table] [tr] [td] [h3][strike]AVOID | LACKING | MAYBE[/strike] | [b]WORTHWHILE[/b] | [strike]COMPELLING | UNMISSABLE [/strike] [/h3] [/td] [/tr] [/table] [h3]SYNOPSIS:[/h3] [table] [tr] [th][b]ASSESSMENT:[/b][/th] [/tr] [tr] [td] Shale is a simple ARPG with a lean gameloop that makes for addictive, if repetitive gameplay. Played in a non-persistent world with only a hint of backstory, combat against a wonderful range of enemies is involving enough, even if mechanics are fewer than what would have been tactically ideal. Resulting in the feeling of playing the same core game over & over. A potentially great crafting system is purposely capped to avoid unbalancing the economy. While giving the choice of randomised skill point investments keeps grindy character development interesting. If only the customisation offered more than being cosmetic. Despite a few issues production is robust. So far a [b]WORTHWHILE[/b] experience. [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td][b]STATUS:[/b][/td] [td]Looks complete & is currently supported [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]APPEAL:[/b][/td] [td]Fans of simple ARPGs with an addictive quality & easy going pace, if repetitive content [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]VALUE:[/b][/td] [td]Full price is a little high. Better on a sale [/td] [/tr] [tr] [td][b]PLAY AGAIN:[/b][/td] [td]Very likely, until completed once [/td] [/tr] [/table] [quote=]Key provided by developer through [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/][b]INDIEGEMS[/b][/url] curator | Check out their vids on [url=https://www.youtube.com/@IndieGems2][b]YOUTUBE[/b][/url][/quote] [i]More info below....[/i] https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3766702787 [h3]KEY FEATURES:[/h3] 🟡 ⚫ ⚫ PLAYS like an straightforward ARPG with a lean gameloop that gives it repetitive & addictive qualities. Revolves around completing activities to gain XP for skill points & credits to spend on upgrading sole weapon & armour. Achieved by defeating enemies in combat, crafting more valuable items from scavenged loot & completing level objectives. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ CONTENT is limited to procedurally generated, non-persistent areas without a world map. Decent variety comes from layout & ever-changing composition that includes or omits: workbenches, NPCs, changing enemy factions, puzzles, loot containers, hazards & mini-boss encounters. 🟡 ⚫ ⚫ ATMOSPHERE is the recognisable bleak mood of a dystopian wasteland, generated by a convincing aesthetic. Graphic novel style visuals along with choice excepts of voice & reflective audio effects lend more than adequate support to this goal. The lack of soundtrack doesn't seem out of place either for the setting. Character & enemy animations flow smoothly. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ COMPLEXITY centres on a balance of health, carry capacity & dodge cooldown. Complimented by a small pool of combat modifiers split between damage types, capability & recharge. Along with x6 defensive resistances. Despite being inline with the uncomplicated nature of gameplay, there is little choice in stat preference apart from customising the gun behaviour with weapon parts & complete upgrades of the armour. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ COMBAT is fairly involving. A question of kiting encounters &/or attacking while dodging or popping in & out of line-of-sight to avoid reprisals. Apart from the configurable types & rates of fire, timing the dodging of attacks & using alt. fire mode well, there is not much more to it. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ CHALLENGE is at times too easy. At other times painful as encounter scaling starts smooth, but spikes at level milestones. Requiring tactical readjustment. AI is basic, but smart enough to keep enemies focused on the character once activated & overwhelming swarming around mid-game. Completing objectives is mostly straightforward, but can be aborted at the cost of losing XP rewards. Optional boss encounters can be foreboding without good skill point investment & weapon/armour upgrades as they are real damage sinks. Dying is forgiving, a simple 'goto A+B' resurrection process. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3766689723 [h3]SPECIFICS:[/h3] ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT is a grindy affair with x250 skill points to earn. Separate to levelling, x3 stat upgrade choices are generated per skill point, giving some leeway to shape the character as it grows, but not much. The randomly appearing special NPC with one-off choices of health/carry capacity upgrades, is a nice touch. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ CRAFTING is unfortunately weak; a means to create better items to sell for credits or a better armoured vest. It receives a little redemption as weapon components for the player's solitary firearm can tailor its fire-rate & alt. fire type as well as defining other stats. Its boring that recipes don't have to be found, but could have been much better if inventory was flushed out more. Even at the cost of bloating the gameloop a little. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ CUSTOMISATION to car & character appearance is appealing. Earned organically & done on the fly, there are plenty to choose from throughout a run. While purely cosmetic & shown only in cutscenes & level entry/exit points all they do is add a little more to the immersion. If only they would somehow contribute to character stats. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ CARRY CAPACITY is an annoying necessity that introduces logistic dilemma to gameplay. Causing the player to dump & ferry crafting ingredients in containers in order to collect those across the level. Since items left behind can be permanently lost, faster increase to carry cap. or the addition of car stash would be a really helpful addition. 🟡 ⚫ ⚫ ENEMIES come in surprisingly good variety & scale well across the hundred of areas that will have to be faced. Along with standard types are a wonderful range of variants such as smart suicide-bombers, burrowers & laser turrets. A varied range of attack types also force the player to adapt to changing attack patterns such as wave, sniper & mortar fire. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3764758237 [h3]ANCILIARY:[/h3] ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ ACCESSIBILITY requires the merest touch due to the game's simplicity. A welcome one that occurs organically as concepts are explained through collected notes. While tapes hint at the backstory. ⚫ ⚫ 🟤 UI really needs something to allow purposeful use of healing items during combat. Right now its too fiddly. Could be done quickly with the use of a sort function, a few quick-use slots or hotkeys. Fast action options when dealing with inventory & containers would stop this feature from being cumbersome. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ STAYING POWER depends on fatigue replaying the same core game. Longevity is tied to maxing out x250 skill points at 3-4 per area max. It may be possible to create different characters across save slots to increase this, as well a playing in coop. Replay value is aided by proc. gen & non-persistent nature of the gameworld, along with scaling of encounters by introducing new enemies & slight changes to area activities such as puzzles. ⚫ ⚪ ⚫ PRODUCTION is pretty robust & polished with a few non-critical bugs found during play. Already addressed. Apart from a few touches for a more efficient UI, it needs little QoL. After the last patch achievements do not seem to trigger. 🟡 ⚫ ⚫ PERFORMANCE is spot on with stability suffering no crashes or freezes. Just as optimisation showed no signs of lag or slowdown. At least until midgame. One issue is the resolution defaulting regularly back to 1600x900 for no obvious reason. [table] [tr] [td][b]REVIEWED WITH:[/b][/td] [td]Build EA to v1.01 @ 1600x900 fullscreen, EVO850 SSD [/td] [/tr] [/table] [table] [tr] [td]Click for:[/td] [td][b][h1][url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/nourl1/screenshots/?appid=2115340&sort=newestfirst&browsefilter=myfiles&view=grid]SCREENSHOTS[/url][/h1][/b][/td] [/tr] [/table] [quote=]Thank you for reading | Click to follow my curator[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/40556040-The-Irregular-Gamer/] THE IRREGULAR GAMER[/url][/quote]