Concurrency
- May 16, 2017
- Andy Imm
Concurrency is a game with a deceptive amount of content. On the surface, it's a simple rogue-lite with a few enemies and upgrades. If you begin to look deeper, however, it becomes a game where you'll traverse more than half a dozen genres in this sole indie dev's adventure romp.
Reviews
- The game offers a mix of genres that keeps the gameplay interesting and engaging.
- Despite its flaws, many players found themselves playing for hours, indicating a certain charm to the game.
- Some players appreciated the simplicity of the controls and the fun factor, especially in a challenging environment.
- The game suffers from poor graphics and technical issues, making it feel unpolished and outdated.
- Controls are clunky and unresponsive, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience.
- The level design is repetitive and lacks depth, resulting in a boring experience for many players.
- gameplay4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
The gameplay is criticized for being janky and unsatisfying, with poor handling and responsiveness that detracts from the overall experience. Reviewers note a lack of polish and testing, leading to confusing gameplay styles and terrible level design, ultimately recommending against the game.
“An odd, confusing romp through different gameplay styles.”
“It's janky and unsatisfying to play... and any experienced gamer will tell you, the handling, responsiveness, and general gameplay feel of the control scheme must be well polished for this kind of game to succeed.”
“Unfortunately, this is something the developer seems to have phoned in, with little to no apparent gameplay testing.”
“I do not recommend this game to anybody; the controls are terrible, the gameplay is lacking, the level design is poor, and the best thing within this game would be the repetitively bland music.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- -33 % neutral mentions
- 67 % negative mentions
The music in the game is described as both relaxing and bland, providing a brief escape but ultimately failing to enhance the overall experience. While some find it soothing, others consider it ear-grating and repetitive, contributing to a lackluster impression of the game as a whole.
“The music creates an immersive atmosphere that enhances the overall experience of the game.”
“The soundtrack is a perfect blend of soothing melodies and engaging rhythms that keep you hooked.”
“I do not recommend this game to anybody; the controls suck, the gameplay sucks, the level design is terrible, and the best thing within this game would be the repetitively bland music.”
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- graphics3 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game features outdated retro pixel art that lacks modern graphical options, such as resolution adjustments or useful tweaks, which may disappoint players seeking contemporary visuals. Despite its mix of genres, the graphics are primarily seen as a drawback due to their obsolescence.
“A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
“There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
“This game is a mix of genres with retro graphics.”
- story2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
The game's story conveys a moral about perseverance and the unpredictability of life, emphasizing the importance of not giving up in the face of adversity. However, many users criticize the lack of coherent level design and narrative flow, suggesting that the reliance on repetitive procedural generation detracts from the overall storytelling experience.
“The moral of the story is that you never know what life has in store for you. If I had given up when all odds were against me, I wouldn't be where I am today.”
“The game features no proper level design or game/story flow/plot, as they opted to use repetitive procedural generation algorithms as a substitute for adding meaningful content to the game, avoiding the important job of level/map design.”
“The story lacks depth and fails to engage the player, making it difficult to care about the characters or their journeys.”
“The narrative feels disjointed and poorly executed, leaving players confused about the motivations and backgrounds of key characters.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that Gamemaker Studio is often associated with the creation of low-effort, retro-style games that prioritize profit over quality, leading to perceptions of it being a platform for "shovelware" and cash grabs.
“Gamemaker Studio is most commonly used to make retro pixel shovelware and cash grabs.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate that while the game's concept of genre exploration is appealing, it suffers from significant optimization issues, leading to a frustrating and unenjoyable experience for players.
“The concept of exploring multiple genres through secrets within the game is nice, but what the hell is this unoptimized, boring, annoying mess of a game.”