Reviews/Vivid Conceptions

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This review was originally found in issue 1 of MarkUp Magazine, and was originally written by Eyas Sharaiha

Mr.Chubigans and his Vertigo Games are probably well known throughout the GMC for the high quality and excellent creations that are being released. Vivid Conceptions is one of these games, a platform game like never seen before, it has excellent effects, sounds, music, game play, and most of all: a great storyline.

The game itself showcases the qualities of Mr.Chubigans as an excellent programmer, great writer, and a very imaginative person. It is something the members of the GMC never saw before, a game where the player is a micro-organism fighting for its survival! This micro-organism can reproduce (asexually), have dreams that affect its actual lives, and as always: fight and jump, but beware from the ants which have penetrated the earth’s crust and destroyed most of this species by its ignorance.

Contents 1 Music 2 Graphics 3 Graphic Effects 4 Storyline 5 Game Play (Controls) 6 Game Play (Difficulty) 7 Overall

[edit] Music

This time I will start by actually reviewing the music of the game, which I think is spectacular. The music is so excellent, professional, and obviously well composed. The quality of this music is so high that it sounds exactly like an orchestra performing right in front of you.

The pace and theme of the music suites the game’s own theme and atmosphere, it gives you the feeling of sadness yet calmness, defeat yet determination, destruction yet power – in one word: it’s amazing! I’ve listened to the music for a while and found it completely flawless, it is also calming and helps the player concentrate on the game without getting too nervous edgy.

The one thing that I would recommend the most in this game to others is its music! Even those who do not like this sort of calming music will find it well-suited with the game. The music is well coordinated with the graphics, effects, storyline, and in general: game-play, so I’d definitely give its music a 10. Well done!

[edit] Graphics

The graphics of this game were very good looking indeed. I liked their amount of detail a lot, and it looked like they served their purpose in the game. Unlike most platform games, its platforms were not just flat horizontal lines, but rather a mixture between normal smooth terrain, rough rocks and grounds. The graphics were very dark, this have emphasized the theme that the music was meant to do: create this atmosphere of defeat and sadness.

Though I did like the graphics to some extent, I must say I have expected more, edges of graphics were very sharp and did not blend easily with the background. Also, I didn’t really like the player’s sprite that much. To the spriter’s (Him) credit, the animations were excellent, the player’s walking and climbing was very smooth as if it was real. I give the game 7.5 out of 10 in graphics. That’s really excellent, and would’ve been better if the sprites blended better with the backgrounds and had smoother edges.

[edit] Graphic Effects

I had to create this new category for graphical effects separate from the graphics category, because it would’ve been unfair for the game to ignore its excellent effects. The game uses GearGOD’s Luminaire engine, a spectacular lighting and lighting effects engine. Mr.Chubigans has clearly taken full advantage of this engine by using lots of different effects in most parts of the game. The blending effects of the game are awesome. This exceptional use of the graphic effects in the game has greatly highlighted the game’s outstanding theme and atmosphere. These graphical effects however are very demanding when it comes to processing and computer resources, which means that you need a powerful machine to play the game with its graphic effects enabled. (Nonetheless, there is a version available that does not include the effects.) I give the graphical effects of the game a 9, that’s great!

[edit] Storyline

The story of the game obviously reflects the high level of intellectuality and brilliance of the creator. The story itself is so creative and imaginative; it takes place probably billions of years ago when the ancient Bantam species is almost extinct after ants have found their way through the earth’s crust where they destroyed the complete civilization of this highly intelligent species by the ants’ ignorance and foolishness. Now, one of the few survivors of the Bantam species must travel its way to someplace near the earth’s center in search for the last refuge for this species on the earth. The problem is that that the ants and the Bantam will actually cross pathways, and that’s when you must show you’re true skills as a player, to help your Bantam survive against the ants, and therefore allow it species to live for a billion more years – if not till forever! I give this spectacular piece of artwork 9.5 out of 10.

[edit] Game Play (Controls)

The controls of the game were very good; you had the ability to easily and fully control your player by moving around with the conventional arrow keys, and jump with the “A” key, with the addition of some other keys that you could use a form of attack only when acquiring an upgrade for the bantam. The only problem that I have faced with the controls was a very minor one: I always kept doing mistakes between the keys of the upgrades. I give the game 8.5 in Game Play and Controls.

[edit] Game Play (Difficulty)

Personally, I would classify this game under “difficult” games, not because of its hard levels, but because you may need to get used to the games and learn its tricks. The game, like many other platform games is based on the “one hit defeat” idea, which may seem harsh but is a normal thing in platform games. Another excellent feature of the game would be its unique checkpoints system that does work according to the seeds collected and not according to pre-specified checkpoint areas. The game gets a 9 in the category: Game Play and Difficulty. That is very good. Game Design The game is obviously well-designed and well coordinated. The atmosphere of the game is great, the way everything is consistent is great, the choice of effects and music is great, and the “level design” itself is great. Every object in the game is well-positioned and studied well. The game has been tested by many and it has been made sure that all areas and levels are accessible, some easily, and some with difficulty. I can’t stop saying “the game is excellent”, because it really is. I give the game design 9 out of 10, excellent.

[edit] Overall

The game gets a score of 8.93 out of 10. This is a very excellent score. The game is great and I definitely recommend it to everyone!