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        AW - Unsettling Theme by Rimudora
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none vs. Shadowiii
none Kid, I'm a mass murderer who drinks enemies blood. Are you with me, or are you against me?
Gryphon
Download: 1.01 MB
V.S.
Shadowiii
Play Time: 0 hours and 1-5 minutes
Review # 23 for Shadowiii Kid, I'm a mass murderer who drinks enemies blood. Are you with me, or are you against me?
Them's Fightin' Words
    First off, I'd like to comment on something. There are those who may get angry at me for reviewing this game when the author has specifically stated that this is only posted here so that others can see his work and possibly help him with it. Because if this, I am to assume it isn't nearly done at all. However, my excuse is that this game NEEDS to be reviewed BADLY because the author is doing something completely inexcusable and wrong, and he needs to be warned before someone meaner then me gets on his case.

This game is about Vlad the Imapler. Not the one you know and love who decapitated his enemies then feasted on their blood, this is the Vlad from the great game "Bob the Hamster." Remember him? Basically Bob, only grouchier and with weapons instead of spittle. Well, someone decided to make a game about him, which would be fine and good. Except for a few things. First off, the game blatantly rips from Wandering Hamster. Heck, upon opening the original RPG file (after unpasswording it with that evil little tool someone presented a while back), I found it WAS Wandering Hamster under a different filename. As you can guess, it was basically down hill from here. EVERYTHING was ripped, including the concept of a hamster Vlad. But enough intro, lets get into the real review.
Graphics
    As stated above, EVERYTHING is ripped, except the Title Screen, which is only semi-ripped. The title screen is really really bad zoomed in sprites of Bob's NPC in three directions with a background created solely to give you a headache and make you wonder if the author was colorblind. The in-game graphics are modified graphics from Wandering Hamster. Some are modified "better" then others. For example, the guards (whom are ripped from the guards from WH), have different helmets so you can see their faces. Bob-er...VLAD, is Bob's sprite looking angry. For what its worth, his altering isn't all that bad, but the concept of him stealing this stuff is just atrocious.

There is some original stuff, from what I saw. The tilemap. There were a few original grass and path tiles, and I think the outside of the castle was original, though I can't be sure. The font was stolen from somewhere else (clever disguse, no one will ever suspect its really wander.rpg if you change the font. Riiight), and the tilemap was ripped and then placed badly. By badly I mean the Castle is almost the same as Broste's opening hallway. Oh yeah, that'll throw them off.

The graphics are not ripped, they are stolen. Stolen then disguised, like my truck when I'm crossing the border. But you don't need to know that.
 
Storyline
    As stated in the intro (and by the author), the game has just started, so there really is no storyline. You are out to get some dudes to join Vlad in fighting the Turks. So you go into a villiage full of whiney butts who all say the same thing "Turks are gonna win!", except the guys in the houses, who all say "When I was young I wasn't afraid of fighting blah blah blah". You DO find this one kid who you can "recruit", but you have to ask his dad first and LO AND BEHOLD his dad isn't in the game yet. So basically you wander around wondering if the game is over, and it really has been for about the last 20 minutes, but you don't know this...ever. How dumb.  
Gameplay
    Oh no, don't even get me started. THis gameplay is the worst ever. Of course, I'm sure the game isn't nearly ready for someone to fight (let us all hope and pray it never gets that far), so if you enter a battle you probably are better off running.

A thing I'd like to not is how bloody bad the NPC's are. The guards all say the exact same things. So do the people wandering the viliage. So do the guys in the houses. Wee, how exciting. Did I mention the "inn" doesn't work, so you have NO WAY TO HEAL?! There aren't save points either. I want to crawl in a corner and cry now.
 
  Battle
    Unblanced, slow, and dull. Basically you fight enemies from the "Bob the Hamster" game set on the "Vlad" setting, but the game is horribly unblanced. FIrst, enemies drop no money, so you can never improve your weapons. They do give XP, but in such small amounts you'll be long dead before a level up. Vlad's timer is so slow, I had to wait perhaps 10-20 seconds before I could attack, and it took about 3 attacks to kill a WORM. There are no unique spells or anything, just beat the enemy. Oh, I'm sorry, "scratch" the enemy, that attack is actually originally drawn.  
  Map Design
    This is the worst map design I have seen in my entire life. I've seen better in Magnus. The town consists of thus: Four houses, one at each corner. You enter the top houses through the door, the bottom ones through the top. But only one house has something where someone says something DIFFERENT, all thre rest are old guys who say exactly the same thing.

Oh yeah, and if you step off the road, you'll enter a freakin' hard battle in about 4 steps or less, so you HAVE to take the skinny path to each area. The path, obviously, takes the longest way possible between houses, so you'll spend a lot of time walking and being angry at this game.
 
  Balance
    Balance sucks, as mentioned above. You'll die. Since you can't heal (no money for potions and no inn) and you can't save to try again, you basically just want to avoid battles in general. Heck, avoid this GAME in general, you'll save yourself the time.  
Music
    All taken from the original BAMs included in the OHR, but the creator of this game didn't even bother to import them (remember: he stole the RPG file). The music isn't placed badly, but considering it is almost placed exactly the same as Wandering Hamster (OMFG DER BATTLE THEME IS DIFFERENT THO!!!), I really can't say it is any good.  
Enjoyment
    Does it LOOK LIKE I HAD FUN?! DOES IT?! I'm playing a game that is pratically STOLEN under the AUTHOR'S NOSE, and to add INSULT TO INJURY it was made using the game engine that James made. This is so pathetic I can hardly stand it. The game didnt' even have anything redeeming or original to make me even CONSIDER playing it EVER AGAIN, even if it was completely redone. I hated every second, to be honest.  
Final Blows
    Note to the author: Look, I don't want to be a jerk, but you really brought this upon yourself. You STOLD James' work after he gave you the nice engine to use for free. Instead of just using the stuff in it to practice, you decide to STEAL it and MAKE YOUR OWN GAME and SAY IT IS YOUR OWN instead of just making crappy graphics and releasing it that way. You don't even come up with a very original story. I must say, my first impression of you is quite awful. I'm not goint to say to quit making games in general, I am going to say you must stop making THIS game NOW.

To Everyone Else: If you read this whole review, you are wasting your time, because I can tell you now it is me bashing this horrible game. Do not download it. The only reason I even considered reviewing this was because at the time of this review it had OVER 100 DOWNLOADS. That is more then many good OHR games get. STOP DOWNLOADING THIS. DONT SUPPORT STEALING. This game is a wreck, and should not be touched by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. Steer clear, as far as possible.

It is also my opinion that this game, though it may have a slim bit of quality to it, gives the community a worse name then games like Magnus. Stealing other's work is nothing but stealing, and then using it to make a game of crap is even worse. AT least Magnus didn't steal.
Hmm...I could swear I've seen something exactly like that before...huh...just can't put my finger on it...

Hmm...I could swear I've seen something exactly like that before...huh...just can't put my finger on it...
Final Scores
Graphics: 1/10.0
It is all ripped, save a few tilemaps, but since ripping from Wandering Hamster is probably the worst of all evils in my book, you don't get any points for your originals. They sucked anyway.
Storyline: 1.5/10.0
There was none. I suppose there was something, but it sure was very very little. And it sucked anyway.
Gameplay: 2/10.0
It is obviously just a start, but it is a lousy start. Why this game was posted up with such lousy gameplay is beyond me. Do people even bother to play their own games anymore?
Music: 3/10.0
I LIKE the Bams that come with the OHR. But I dislike you using them exactly the same as WH, so YOU LOSE.
Enjoyment: 1/10.0
This game flat out sucks. Just looking at it pisses me off. I hated every second, and I even hated it before I loaded it up. The author better start work on something original soon. Anything, as long as this thing is never updated again.
Overall Grade: F-
Final Thoughts
    DO NOT DOWNLOAD THIS GAME AT ANY COST. Not only is it a cruddy game in general, but doing so will support this author's shamless stealing of James Paige's work.  


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