Have we all settled down from Legally Distinct E3? Want to check out what we thought? What games there were? Then check out our article (here and here). But we have been playing plenty of other games that are already out. Are they worth it?
Also slight format change… let us know if you like it!
Mutant Football League 2
The first Mutant Football League was a wonderful game, that offered something wonderfully different to the usual drab affair of the Madden games. I personally felt that it was a bit of an underrated gem, so I was very happy to hear there would be a sequel.
Aside from a few teething issues running on Steam Deck, I found that the mix of real world football rules with the fantasy medieval violence of pitting various mutants against each other just made for a fun experience.
Whils the general ruleset is that of traditional football, the addition of weapons, booby traps and actual death make for a great time, especially with the fairly well written humour based commentary. It all adds to a package that is a definite step up from the original, while maintaining everything that made that a joy to play.
MFL2 is in early access right now, so there and numerous bugs that do need ironing out. You can still pick up the first game pretty cheaply on Steam if you want to wait for the final release. But those who might have already rinsed the original, there is plenty to like about MFL2.
As mentioned, I think there is a lot of work in some areas needed. I needed for example to set the grpahic options to the lowest to get it to run on Steam Deck, which I think is mainly an optimisation things and will hopefully improve through early access.
But if you do need your portable football fix, then this should very much be on your radar!
Autopsy Simulator
I picked up Autopsy Simulator because I fanciedc something a bit silly, that I could point to and show how we’ve really jumped the shark with ‘simulator’ games recently. What I was left with though was a game that left a totally different impression.
This is a game that is really in two parts. You have the simulation side, which ios the perfoming of actual autopsies and you have the story of someone coming to terms with a life falling apart, which touches on subjects such as the loss of a loved one.
The two parts of the game weave together pretty well and the narratrive driven approach really gets you involved in the game. But the autopsies themselves are where the game tries to nail its main selling point and it does to a degree.
You can’t expect a simulator game to be 100% faithful to what it being simulated, even the Flight Sims and Train Sims of this world take a couple of shortcuts to make them enjoyable. The same is very much true here. Yet the decision to go more ‘real’ than the comedic approach of a Surgeon Simulator is a great choice.
You need to perform all the steps and be meticulous in your apporach, by reading notes, doing observations, looking at various parts of the body, both internally and externally and then draft up your findings. The notes, finidings, etc is part automated, which is welcome, because actually having to learn terms, write real notes, etc would not actually be all that welcome.
There are also some issues I had where the pointer would sort of disappear, making it hard to see what was actually cutting. This is a minor annoyance and could be a Linux system based issue, as it never happened on Windows, so hopefully something fixed in a future Proton update, or by the devs themselves.
One thing I found was missing was being able to just perform an autopsy, as everything is linked to the narrative. However the developers have noted this and have promised an Autopsy Only Mode. Which I will happily dive into.
Certainly not a game for everyone, but if you have a bit of a morbid curiosity, then definitely worth checking out.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
We finish off this week with a bit of a preview of a meaty demo I tried recently on Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. A game that is really good, but unfortunately shows the importance of what you show in a demo.
I was sold on the premise of Flintlock after having a good time with developers A44 Games’ earlier title Ashen, with the concept of taking a souls-lite approach and adding some pizazz, mixing Gods and Guns (as the blurb says). Coupled with an interesting story and a nice dynamic between chanracters, this was a a game I couldn’t wait to play.
Here is the problem though. The demo was meaty enough that is left my thirst quenched and not eager to carry on the story. It didn’t finish at a point where I NEEDED to know what was next. The gameplay was satisfying and I enjoyed it, but playing this on the periphery of Steam Next Fest, it was somewhat lost among a lot of better paced demos (see for example The Operator, which I am gagging for to see what happens next).
I honestly feel if the demo of Flintlock was a good 45 minutes to an hour shorter, it could have had that same effect. Or takan a slice of the game from another area where the story wasn’t such a major part.
It’s a shame as for me this is one of the more approachable souls-like games, it doesn’t feel as grim or as meandering as others in the genre. The characters are all well fitting. The combat is really fluid and movement through the world is great. I even like how linear it feels compared to other games. Because it shows not everything needs to have vast open worlds for you to get lost in.
However, I am not chomping at the bit to play this right away. Which again leads me to the point of making sure you show only what is needed before getting players through the door. If you like souls games and want something that is honestly quite fresh feeling, then take my advice and ignore the demo and go in clean. It’s a good game that I hope does well, I might need a few more months before I am actually ready to go again.
