ColtoM

This is an exquisite arcade experience coupled with brilliant narrative. There's an impressive amount of intrinsic rewards and, although technically repetitive, I never felt like I got the slightest bored. The game kept me active and engaged throughout the entire game including the cut-scenes. The voice acting is fantastic and entertaining throughout the entire campaign. The characters feel believable and fit right into the world of the wild west. The world constantly changes and adapts to the story and makes for highly engaging storytelling. You feel like you're both living and being told the story at the same time. It's something I've never experienced in a game before. Controls is something the developers have absolutely aced. They are responsive, sleek and they never get in your way. They are so good that not only aren't they in the way, they also make you significantly more engaged in what you're doing. The AI is basic yet sufficient for the task at hand. The game isn't trying to be a hardcore experience but still manages to deliver an AI good enough to, occasionally, present you with notable challenges. Textures, style and general visuals are something that the developers seem to have had a problem with. Although it looks good and performs fantastically it still feel it's lacking in personal style. However, the gameplay compensates for this by great measure.

A surprisingly difficult and interesting Free-To-Play game with an interesting take on multiplayer action. That's how I'd describe RoTMG. What sets this game apart from the rest of the MMO genre is the fact that it's a bullet hell shooter with permanent death. It's very unforgiving and if you make a fatal mistake your character will be permanently dead and you're going to have to start all over again. However, the good news are that your equipment doesn't matter as much as your twitch-based skills. It doesn't matter if you've got top-of-the-line equipment if you don't know the enemies' movement- and attack-patterns. It's a refreshing concept should definitely be derived from by more developers. Because equipment doesn't directly ensure your survival, the new developers and publishers of the game have taken a turn for the worse. They have added the ability to, using real-life currency, buy equipment straight from the micro-transaction store. This drastic paradigm shift in the game's payment model caused a larger number of old regulars to quit. The combat is excellent in every way. It's by far the best combat I've experienced and I'd even go as far as stating I find it better than Vindictus'. Bullet hell shooters are known for their mind-bendingly fast pace and RoTMG most certainly delivers in this aspect. The pace is nothing short of great. End-game is definitely of the repetitive sort. In its essence it consists of endlessly farming for better equipment and an item type called "Stat Potions". Said potions grant your character one additional point in one of the game's eight character-attributes. If you can look past the glaring micro-transaction issues and the inevitably repetitive end-game, it's a great game.

The game's incredibly fast-paced gameplay is what really gets me to rate it a perfect 10. There's a timer in the game and when it reaches zero you'll be chased by an instant-killing wall-ignoring ghost that's faster than you. This feature effectively forces you to constantly move and look for time-resetting pickups. SHoDN's developers have certainly not succumbed to the horrors of most modern games' difficulty mechanics. Every single attack and projectile kills you instantly. All that differs from the three available difficulty levels is how many lives you have at your disposal. The controls are smooth and unusually responsive. Unlike the large majority of modern games it actually feels like you're in control of your character. There are no gimmicks that get in the way of your control. The awesome pace and the great difficulty combined with the perfect animations, art style and responsive controls make for an overall fantastic and unforgettable experience.