Slybots: Frantic Zone

I got this hoping to play it at lan parties with my friends, but after playing bots a couple of times I don't think I will. The idea for the game is great, but the execution really doesn't live up to that promise. The visual design of the game is too busy, making it hard to see where you're shooting, where you're being shot from, and what's going on. Even with the lava pits, which ought to be clear, it's hard to see where you can go safely and where will kill you. I don't like the control mechanic either. It really needs the ability to shoot just by pointing with the right stick, without having to press RT as well. I tried it with a Steam Controller, which is abysmal, and with an XBox 360 controller, which is less bad but still pretty cumbersome. All of these factors mean you never really get to the point of using the stealth mechanics, which just makes the game feel simplistic and pointless. Overall, I'd say this is a great concept, but it feels more like a game jam game than a refined commercial product.

This is actually a rather great local multiplayer game! The AI is challenging, the gameplay is simple yet effective, the presentation is pretty top-notch. It's rather lacking in content, but it's pretty good as it is!

This gets stale super quickly, even to my group of friends who enjoy hectic and silly local-coop games. Maps and modes aren't super varied and are fun for the first few rounds, but grow tiresome rather quickly. Fixed spawn points mean spawn-camping is super easy. Could potentially be fun, just not for very long right now.

I really wanted to give this game a positive review, but I just can't. It's a fun game for a while, but it gets stale too quickly to justify it's price tag. I recommend only buying this game on sale.

- Both 2 of my Direct Input gamepads are not working. No response from tech support. Do you really expect all 4 players to have Xbox 360 gamepads? This is my main reason for thumb down. 4 player local games sholdn't have problems like this. - Matches are too quick for any hiding tactics, you will never use them. While you sit there like a vegetable "in an ambush" the other players will get one kill after another and you will lose the game. - Its easy to camp, should be fixed. It all happens because spawn points are fixed: even bots unintentionally camp you. You will respawn quickly so AI will be near you when you respawn, and it [i]will[/i] resume attacking you right away. Update: for local couch multiplayer fun - just get towerfall and Boomerang Fu. Or go check invisigun - this is a proper execution of stealth gameplay.

E-Z ACHIEVEMENTS, E-Z LIFE.