Bad Bots
- May 17, 2013
- Point Five Projects
- 5h median play time
Get on Steam"Bad Bots" is a challenging 2D shooter game where you must survive waves of relentless robotic enemies. Utilize a variety of weapons and power-ups to strategically blast your way through numerous levels. With increasing difficulty and variety of bots, the game offers hours of engaging and fast-paced gameplay.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has a fun and engaging premise, reminiscent of classic side-scrolling shooters.
- Bright graphics and a retro art style provide a nostalgic feel that many players appreciate.
- The gameplay offers a variety of weapons and challenges, making it enjoyable for short play sessions.
- The game suffers from numerous bugs, including game-breaking issues that can prevent progress.
- Controls are often unresponsive and awkward, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.
- Repetitive level design and enemy encounters can make the game feel tedious and unoriginal.
- story53 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The story of the game is generally viewed as predictable and clichéd, often following familiar tropes of a robotic uprising and survival. While some players appreciate the comic-book style cutscenes and find the narrative engaging enough to support the gameplay, many criticize it for being shallow, repetitive, and lacking depth. Overall, the storytelling is seen as a means to progress through the game rather than a compelling element in its own right.
“Its atmosphere, graphics, and story are really engrossing.”
“The story of the game revolves around Sam McRae as he wakes up from his hypersleep while traveling on the Titan hauler.”
“With a plot right out of an Asimov novel, Sam McRae finds himself the only survivor of a robotic uprising incited by a malevolent AI; a story we are all familiar with, but maybe originality isn't what this game is going for.”
“The story is dumb and extremely predictable, which is also intentional, since it was made by the rules of anglosphere tropes 101; book 1; chapter 1.”
“The story is tiresome and overtold, the levels are generic and repetitive, and the gameplay is boring at best while irritating at worst.”
“Every monster is the same, the guns are dull, every room in the ship feels generic, the story might have been written in 40 minutes while watching a soap opera, and the controls are awkward.”
- gameplay37 mentions
- 22 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 24 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing its repetitiveness, simplistic mechanics, and poor combat design, leading to a lack of engagement. While some appreciate the retro aesthetic and find enjoyment in the basic mechanics, others highlight significant flaws such as control issues and a broken flow of gameplay. Overall, the experience is described as mediocre, with a few players noting moments of fun but ultimately feeling let down by the game's execution.
“This is quite possibly the best game I've ever played; superb writing paired with excellent gameplay and AI makes this a worthy purchase.”
“Amazing gameplay.”
“On the positive side, besides the pixely graphics and retro gameplay (which is entirely subjective), the feel of destroying enemies is quite good.”
“The gameplay and graphics are atrocious.”
“There is no reason you should subject yourself to this level of shoddy design and broken mechanics.”
“Its a mediocre 2D sidescrolling shooter with among the most repetitive gameplay I have come across in a shooter game ever and the game has really poor pacing since the game goes on forever and ever before the first thing happens...and then you are all of a sudden on the end boss.”
- graphics35 mentions
- 26 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the retro and pixel art style as nostalgic and visually appealing, while others criticize them as outdated and poorly executed. Many highlight the vibrant colors and unique artistic choices, but there are complaints about janky animations, lack of graphical options, and overall quality. Overall, the graphics seem to evoke a sense of nostalgia for some, while leaving others disappointed.
“Bright graphics that lifted my mood.”
“Its atmosphere, graphics, and story are really engrossing.”
“Never have I been so compelled to finish a level, because of the beautiful stunning 3D graphics I was fully captivated to learn more about the unique world, reading every bit of dialogue along the way.”
“The gameplay and graphics are atrocious.”
“The bosses are pretty jank, and the art style has way too many saturated colors.”
“Also, no graphics scaling or anything, so you get a face full of jaggies, or as the developer would probably call it, 'art'.”
- music26 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players noting a significant lack of background music throughout most of the gameplay, leading to an awkward atmosphere. While some praise the ambient synth tracks during specific moments, particularly boss battles, others criticize the overall soundtrack as repetitive and underwhelming. Overall, the game could have greatly benefited from a more robust and engaging musical score to enhance the experience.
“The music is also fantastic... I was expecting some generic metal/rock but instead it was ambient synth, (think the first Terminator movie).”
“Whoever did the music did a really good job, I think.”
“Very good combat and cool soundtrack.”
“The lack of sounds and theme music is noticeable; there should have been more effort put into the soundtrack for sure.”
“There's no music except in the title screen.”
“My only complaints are that there is no ambient music or basic soundtrack throughout the game.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -67 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game offers some replayability due to its easy controls and retro graphics, but its short length and limited content detract from its overall replay value, which users rate at 8/10.
“It has replayability too.”
“Replay value: 8/10”
“Easy controls and retro graphics, but the game is short and lacks replay value.”
“The game is enjoyable, but once you finish it, there's little incentive to play again.”
“While the gameplay is fun, the lack of different modes or challenges makes replaying it feel unnecessary.”
- humor3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is mixed; while some players find it amusing, particularly in its challenging gameplay, others feel it lacks the clever writing and engaging level design reminiscent of classic titles like Duke Nukem. Additionally, certain enemies and map obstacles do not contribute to the comedic experience.
“Funny game, a bit hard.”
- atmosphere2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for being engrossing, complemented by impressive graphics and a compelling story. Additionally, the music contributes positively to the overall ambiance, enhancing the immersive experience.
“Its atmosphere, graphics, and story are really engrossing.”
“But other than that, it's a good game, with good music and good atmosphere.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding in Bad Bots to be tedious and reflective of poor game design, leading to regret over time spent on the game. Achievements often require excessive grinding, such as dying multiple times, which may necessitate consulting guides to avoid replaying the game unnecessarily.
“Bad bots has some of the most tedious tropes of bad game design; you'll eventually regret any time spent with this game, regardless of whether or not you finish it.”
“If you are into achievements, you will find yourself grinding ("die 50 times") and probably reading a guide too, unless you want to play the game twice because of one achievement.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is criticized for unpredictable aim jumps, rough sampling despite analog controls, and glitches when the aiming cursor approaches screen edges, leading to a buggy overall experience. While the gameplay is enjoyable, these stability issues significantly detract from the experience.
“The aim sometimes jumps unpredictably and is very poorly sampled, even when using analog aiming. It glitches when the aiming cursor is near the edges of the screen.”
“The game is fun but extremely buggy.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant performance issues, leading to sluggish gameplay and noticeable performance leaks that detract from the overall experience.
“TL;DR: Massive performance leaks; the game plays extremely sluggishly.”
“The optimization is so poor that it feels like I'm playing in slow motion.”
“Frequent frame drops and long loading times make the game nearly unplayable.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized due to its repetitive gameplay, lack of engaging storytelling, and predictable plot twists, which detract from the overall experience. Additionally, technical issues like poor hit animations further diminish emotional immersion.
“It gets very repetitive, has no map despite a maze-like ship, has a terrible animation when you get hit that causes major problems later, and has a boring storyline whose sole twist you'll see coming from the start.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game is perceived negatively, with users noting that the game's title reflects its poor quality, suggesting that the advertising is straightforward but unappealing.
