GabeN: The Final Decision
- September 16, 2015
- Alex Zhang
Get on SteamIn "GabeN: The Final Decision," play as Gabe Newell investigating the sabotage of Valve's Triple Steam Summer Sale games: Half-Life 3, Portal 3, and Team Fortress 3. Uncover a shocking story, confront Robin Walker, and make a critical decision. This narrative-driven adventure explores the fate of long-awaited Valve titles.
Reviews
- The game offers a surprisingly engaging experience, with a brutal ending that leaves a lasting impact.
- It successfully combines humor and nostalgia, appealing to fans of Valve and its characters.
- Despite its flaws, the game provides moments of joy and entertainment, especially for those who appreciate meme culture.
- The game suffers from significant technical issues, including crashes related to achievements that render it nearly unplayable.
- Many players find the gameplay repetitive and lacking depth, with a high encounter rate that can be frustrating.
- The overall execution feels rushed and poorly designed, with a lack of coherent story and character development.
- story16 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating its humorous and meme-driven narrative, while others criticize it for lacking depth and coherence, often feeling like a parody. While some find the dialogue and character development engaging, many agree that the plot is weak and relies on clichés, such as the use of the "illuminati" as a villain. Overall, expectations for the story should be tempered, as it varies significantly in quality and engagement.
“Amazing game, awesome storyline.”
“It started off good, story was simple yet interesting.”
“The story is exactly what you'd expect from a sequel to Half-Life 2, full of great dialogue and extremely well thought-out character and plot development.”
“The story is quite bad, but I've seen worse in other games.”
“If you are going to buy this game, do not expect much at all in terms of story or gameplay.”
“The plot is nonexistent - something something illuminati and Valve characters make an appearance for no logical reason.”
- humor13 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is largely hit-or-miss, with some players finding it amusing due to its meme-centric content, while others criticize it as unoriginal and lacking in genuine comedic value. Many reviews highlight that the attempts at humor often fall flat, with jokes feeling dated or overly serious for a game marketed as funny. However, a few moments do elicit laughter, particularly from those familiar with the references, suggesting that appreciation for the humor may depend on the player's background knowledge.
“Funny little meme game about Gaben and Valve Co.”
“But you are paying for two things: the humor (and if you know who these people are, it's actually pretty funny at moments).”
“I also cannot stop laughing at the copy/pasted pic of Gaben in this game... so funny.”
- gameplay11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many users criticizing it as tedious, simplistic, and lacking depth, often comparing it to typical RPG Maker titles. While some appreciate its straightforward mechanics and potential for enjoyment, others find it boring and unbalanced, leading to a generally negative perception of the gameplay experience.
“The gameplay is simple, use arrow keys to move, enter is your action button and combat functions like a Pokémon game in a simplistic turn-based fashion.”
“I can see myself spending hundreds of hours of great quality gameplay time with this wonderful title in the future.”
“Gameplay & mechanics: 9/10”
“If you are going to buy this game, do not expect much at all in terms of story or gameplay.”
“Writing is lazy, fighting is your typical RPG Maker style, gameplay is plainly boring.”
“The gameplay consists of mostly tapping enter if you have the right gear.”
- graphics4 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game receive mixed reviews, with some users criticizing them as low-quality, stock RPG Maker assets or poorly executed artwork, while others praise them as outstanding, even rating them as high as 11/10. Overall, the visual presentation appears to be inconsistent, ranging from humorous to impressive.
“Last but certainly not least, the graphics are amazing.”
“The graphics are either completely stock RPG Maker assets or poorly done paint jobs.”
“The artwork is pretty much just Google Images put into the game, so you can imagine it's all pretty bad yet mildly humorous.”
- music3 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The music in the game is highly praised for its quality, with users noting that the royalty-free tracks are enjoyable and contribute to a relaxing experience. Additionally, the soundtrack and sound effects are described as incredibly realistic, enhancing immersion to the point of causing confusion with real-world sounds.
“The royalty-free music is pretty good.”
“The soundtrack and sound effects are amazing and so realistic that I first thought someone was shooting outside my apartment.”
“I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, often describing it as generic filler that detracts from the overall experience due to its incoherent and unbalanced gameplay.
“After that, there's a generic elemental dungeon which is nothing but tedious and annoying filler.”
“The gameplay is tedious, incoherent, and unbalanced.”
- character development2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Reviews indicate a significant criticism of character development, particularly regarding the villain, who is perceived as a shallow representation of the 'illuminati' trope. This reliance on clichéd elements suggests a lack of depth and growth in character arcs, leading to a less engaging narrative overall.
“Oh and don't even get me started on the villain, the developer had to resort to the 'Illuminati' as an easy way of making a villain without any actual character development. Since when did character development ever make a story interesting in the first place?!”
“The characters feel one-dimensional and lack any real growth throughout the game, making it hard to care about their journeys.”
“I was really disappointed with how the main character's backstory was handled; it felt rushed and didn't add any depth to their motivations.”
