Recent reviews by tuxdelux

The soundtrack and story are great, but the gameplay is simply lousy. I restarted the game a half-dozen times because of lack of interest, but even when I pushed myself to see the story further, I found the fight mechanics and hacking gameplay increasingly annoying.

I played this game through an ubuntu linux desktop, with radeon mesa graphics. The keyboard-mouse controls were not effective, and many times i found the game controls unresponsive, even using gamepad controls.

The developers are still active in the forums helping people make sure this game works well. Back when this game was released and still today, the Running with Scissors team showed me all the best things about PC Gaming. These were indy developers working to make fun, quirky games for quirky gamers. It is hard to remember how this unflinching graphic violence was so cutting edge back then, when today games will show lifelike POV throatcutting. Tons of respect. This is one of the O.G.'s, and today's titles stand on these shoulders. Plus, the gameplay is still fairly fun, especially now with mouse support and gamepad controller support. This classic still stands up against modern twin-stick shooters.

Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS (64 bit): Game froze up. Unplayable.
A win32 game using WINE.
The graphics are locked at the lowest resolution, and it will NOT look like the Steam Store Screenshots.

A decent game. Better gameplay than other rpgs...
Bit of a stripped down experience, but as I play more and more games on Steam, this is what I am getting to like.
Linux gamers using mesa drivers should add launch options, like all games using the GM2 engine

Not sure that it still keeps the appeal, from when it was first released. A lot of nuanced bits of gameplay that probably felt good at the time, but now they feel fiddly and frustrating. Fighting fires is a regular occurrence, but should you not be micromanaging your workers exactly right then you will lose one - and effectively the game. Another regular occurrence is moving into a new sector and getting two choices that produce random effects, so effectively each choice is a spin of a wheel. It's not fun, when you have got to do the same choices over and over. Watch a video of the gameplay, if interested in the history of the roguelike genre, because there are not enough interesting parts here to make it worthwhile.

Not sure that I would recommend this game. I am finally getting around to playing with it, but with the wonky controls, lame jumping puzzles, and lack of story, it just is not the same as the original Half-Life (which you can play with the upgraded Source Engine). I have slogged through half of the campaign, and I lost any feeling of fun after the orientation. Just revisiting the Black Mesa complex, again. I just made it to the Xen areas, and it is so far all tunnel crawls and platform jumping. Annoying. I also got completely stuck in parts of the map, where I had to Load Game to retry the area. That never happened in the original. Well anyway, people will probably buy this on sale, in a bundle, so I doubt this review will even factor into anyone's consideration. *whistle*

Ever wanted to go back to playing those super hard NES console games? No? Neither did I.
But if someone did, then I would recommend Bot Vice. I remember trying to master the controls for these types of games, and I would spend hours and hours getting better and better, just so I could get a little farther. It was hard to keep the momentum going, because there was so little story. But, we only had a couple games, so onward we pressed in some vain effort trying to complete one more level. The alternative was network television, and that seriously sucked.
Bot Vice is quite a step up from those types of shooters (I am sure they have a name), with buttons to keep aimed while running, for example, but this is still a retro experience, nonetheless. It is quality work, with snazzy music, fun animations, and smooth gameplay. Have had a problem on Ubuntu Linux, that the xbox controller did not work. This game heavily recommends one. (Update: tried another xbox-type controller that did work.)
If this is your thing, then here you go. But I caution anyone on the fence to check some gameplay videos before purchasing.

Lots of fun. Good music. Good story. Perfect gnu-linux support. Not the same feeling as Steamworld Dig, that I liked a lot better. Not sure that I like the combat mid-game, but I keep trying to come back to it.

Whew... I held off writing a review for this game for a small while, even though I have actually spent a good amount of time playing the game. Tonight, I bought a game-pad controller, and I did find the gameplay much more pleasant. So, I am going to try writing my thoughts, because I have had some fun times. Would I recommend this game? I am going to say yes - but do your research first, simply because the game does a good job at what it says it is going to do. And it does it very well but not much more.

Folks, this is a what-you-see is-what-you-get type situation. The nes-zelda gameplay feels right out of nes-zelda, but that is all the gameplay you will see. In fact, there is not even any story. And are there items and skill upgrades? Yes, but they are stripped down to just numbers on the screen. Even me - who loves the minimalistic approach - is a bit taken back by the lack of flourish here. But if you want nes-zelda type gameplay, and you want to jump right in and have lots of control with your upgrades, then maybe you will be right at home here. I know that Legends of Pixelia will remain on my recently-played list, because it is just so easy to pickup and to get back into playing. I can see myself playing this years into the future, because the gameplay is - of course - timeless.

There is also a multi-player mode. I imagine that is a pretty good time, but I did not get to experience it. Might be another plus for you.

Works great on Ubuntu Linux. The game uses the Unity game engine, and it recommends a gamepad controller.

If I had just bought this game for the music, then I would have thought it was a terrific deal. This is the best album of futuristic electronic that I have ever heard. The soundtrack comes with the game, in a folder, so you can listen to it out of the game. I cannot get enough of it.

That said, there is also a game, too, which is pretty cool. This twin-stick shooter works great with ubuntu linux and supports game controllers. I found it somewhat difficult, but then I realized that the difficulty settings are meant to be adjusted, for experience point rewards, so there is a lot of reasons to redo missions. The in-game story is pretty good, although the actual cut scene animations -- well, the illustrations really do not match the game theme really but they are okay - not really necessary actually - I just skipped them.

All in all, I can see why there might be people who don't recommend the game play, but this is a game that you will need to have some patience. The tutorial does not explain everything, and there are a lot about upgrades that you need to figure out yourself. In the end, you might get turned off of this game, but I think it is totally worth trying for the price. I would recommend it to someone who liked twin-stick games with rpg-type skill upgrades and a cyberpunk theme... Or just someone who wanted a great electronic soundtrack.