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Resistance vs. Shadowiii
Resistance Ach, mein eyes!
Mr B
Download: 97 KB
V.S.
Shadowiii
Play Time: 0 hours and 15 minutes
Review # 54 for Shadowiii Ach, mein eyes!
Them's Fightin' Words
    Ah, Resistance. I remember quite a few years ago when Mr. B first introducted me to the engine, and showed me his work-in-progress...Resistance. In fact, I still have the old web page devoted to it. At the time I played it, the game seems totally out of this world. It had an unique "tabs" system, a very sexy light script, npcs that moved their heads up and down (woo!), and a decently interesting story.

However, it really hasn't aged well.

Some of its flaws really shine through, even now. And yet again, some of its accomplishments also seem to stay on. Despite the fact that the game is old and outdated, Resistance still holds a special place in my heart (right next to The Crystal Globe :P)
Graphics
    Mr. B did a decent job, in my opinion. It was created around the same time as the first Wingedmene release, if I recall, so in truth they were about average. The maptiles were nice, the npcs were unique (though they all had tans), and the enemy graphics were decently good. There are, of course, major downsides. The hero graphics looked (and still look) pretty darn ugly, and the attack animations are...weird to say the least. However, it was the first game I'd seen that had the NPC heads-moving-bit, so I though it was amazing (I even stole the idea for the rug and used it in OHR-Date <_< >_>).

Overall, it looks outdated now, but really it wasn't all THAT bad (except those blasted hero graphics. Egads!)
 
Storyline
    Story:

I though it showed promise the first time I saw it. Mr. B often told me he was in debate about it, whether to make it a satire/parody of other RPGs (that is, start it all serious then go into complete insanity), or keep it a serious story. I voted for serious (though if he had finished it and made it outright "retarded", it probably would be some OHR cult classic by now), so he kept it serious. It takes place in Brussels during World War II, where a young boy wakes up to find his parents missing. What does he do? Grabs his best friend, goes through the obligatory "sewer" dungeon, and goes to a bar where...well, that's all it's got. Overall, I thought (and still think) it was a unique idea, expecially because the game would work completly without magic. However, it was unfinished and a bit rough around the edges, so there really isn't much. Concept-wise it was neat. Other then that, it needed more.

Dialogue:

I'm a bit impartial to the dialogue. On one side of the coin, one could argue that the dialogue has too much yelling and is unstable. On the other, it is very down-to-earth. I would definatly freak out of my parents disappeared during World War II. Also, the scene between Jasper and his parents is quite good. Unfortunatly, after the first few scenes, there really isn't much left. I liked it, yet some parts of it I disliked. There really wasn't much to base this grade on.
 
Gameplay
    Had its ups and downs, but there were quite a few downs. First off, Mr. B introduced a system called the "Tab" system, which basically meant you could use tabs to either equip and power up, or use in battle for quick stat bonuses. After battles you got "tab points", which leveled up your tabs. It was all very confusing to me at the time I played it (and still now, I'll admit :P), but in theory it was basically an armor-leveling-up system. It did provide a foundation for lots of other ideas that Mr. B later devised (and sent to me in various emails), but by itself it really needed more.

Another interesting thing was that this was the first released OHR game with a light script (Pitch Black, Project C, and Pitch Black 2 were soon to follow), and it really works out nicely. The light bends around corners, giving you a limited view of the sewers you are exploring. I rather liked it, actually.

Overall, the new ideas were nice and decently executed. I still get goosebumps over that light script. But, unfortunatly, it needed a lot more polishing, and Mr. B's computer ate the source script a long while back.
 
  Battle
    Kinda reminded me of Stop's battles, in that they can be either really hard or really easy depending on the style that you play, or your current mood. It had some neat stuff (a "summons" of a dog that would fight with you, etc.), but ultimatly it was pretty badly unbalanced. Tabs didn't influence stat points enough, so you really were fighting traditional OHR battles. There also weren't very many skills, so you pretty much held the spacebar and prayed. Granted, it WAS only a first dungeon, but I'd have liked to have seen more abilities and what-not.
 
  Map Design
    The ghetto is nice. The sewer is a beast. It is a huge maze, in the dark. It doesn't have any landmarks or ways to determine where you have been (besides your position relative to the light you entered from), so it got tedious pretty fast. I remember even having problems with the pre-light script maze! Overall, it needed to be a bit easier.
 
  Balance
    As stated in Battle, balance needed some work. I basically pressed the space bar (or summoned that dog thing) through all the battles, and prayed a giant rat wouldn't come up and consume me.
 
Music
    There is none. Back before we heard of RPeG audio (or the POWER OF GOOGLE), we had pretty much zero midis to work with, so I guess Mr. B didn't put any in. Also, it was expected to have an update soon which I guessed would have music, but that never seemed to happen. The game really needed music, even filler music, but at least B didn't go the way of Final Fantasy.
 
Enjoyment
    First time I played it, I was blown away. The NPC animations, the lighting script, a unique (if buggy) item/battle system. It was very cool. Even now, I am impressed by the lighting script. Now-a-days, however, NPC emotions are becoming pretty much common-place in good OHR games, so one might fail to realize this was one of the first few games that did that. After playing it recently, I found lots of stuff I didn't like. However, I am greatly biased thanks to what the men in little white coats who live with me call the "emo nostolga" factor, so I still enjoy playing it even today.
 
Final Blows
    In my opinion, it introduced a lot. I am suprised it took Mr. B so long to release it, though. If I recall, it was pretty much this far along way before he actually posted it up on OP:OHR. It really had a lot of neat scripting stuff, which eventually lead Mr. B into the scripter he is today. It also inspired me to work on my game (The Crystal Globe at the time), so generally it is an old piece of history.

Unfortunatly, it's rusted and rotted quite a bit over time, so I really can't recommend it unless you played the Pitch Blacks and want to see Mr. B's first light script. :P

Also: My OHR is being fritzy, so I had to "borrow" screenshots from other reviews.
One of my favorite scenes in the game, and in OHR games in general.

One of my favorite scenes in the game, and in OHR games in general.
Final Scores
Graphics: 4.5/10.0
Average now, the NPC animations were incredible when it was originally conceived. The hero graphics, however, still hurt me in more ways then one. (I told you this, Mr. B, even before it was released! Gah! :P)
Storyline: 7/10.0
I liked it. I liked the idea, and I enjoyed a majority of the dialogue. We really haven't seen a serious war OHR game that didn't involve magic or sorceresses or whatever, so this was a great breather. Too bad there isn't much here... Story: 4.0 Dialogue: 3.0
Gameplay: 2.5/10.0
I still love that lighting script, but it is in a very tedious dungeon with very tedious battles. It needed more abilities and polishing, but it is pretty much water under the bridge now...
Music: 1/10.0
There is none. Ouch.
Enjoyment: 6.5/10.0
Warning: This is skewed because I played the various betas many years back. I like it, actually. It is worth the opening scene and just toying around with the light script in the maze. Unfortunatly, you have to BEAT the maze to get to my favorite scene in the game, but whether YOU choose to do that or not is up to you. I still enjoy portions of this game, and I get all nostolgic whenever I play it.
Overall Grade: D+
Final Thoughts
    A decent piece of history, but outdated none-the-less.  


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