Paradigm Shift

About

Paradigm Shift You awake from a terrifying nightmare to discover that your home city of River Lake has been devastated by an explosion at a neuroscience laboratory.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Audience ScoreBased on 35 reviews

humor3 positive mentions

graphics4 negative mentions

The game can be fun if you take your time and pay attention to the clues in each scene.
Despite its flaws, some players find a certain charm in the game's low-budget aesthetic and jump scares.
The game offers a unique twist on the point-and-click genre by incorporating elements of trial and error gameplay.

The graphics are low resolution and poorly designed, making it difficult to find crucial items.
There is no save feature, leading to frustrating gameplay where players must restart after every death.
The puzzles are often nonsensical and the overall gameplay is considered tedious and lacking in depth.

graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
30%
40%
The graphics in the game have been widely criticized for their poor quality, with many users describing them as "awful" and "horrible." While some elements, like the photo-manipulation artwork, are noted to be decent, they are heavily filtered and contribute to a grainy, distressed aesthetic that hampers gameplay. Overall, the visuals fail to elevate the experience, leaving players disappointed.
- “The photo-manipulation artwork is decent to look at, although it is heavy with filters.”
- “Some of the visuals are really creepy though.”
- “The graphics are done in a 'grainy' or 'weathered' sort of style that seems designed to make finding anything a pixel hunt.”
- “The graphics are absolutely awful.”
- “Terrible graphics, awful puzzles, and just overall low quality make this game a waste.”
- “The artwork has a consistent, poor quality distressed filter over it.”
story
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
45%
33%
The story is criticized for being overly simplistic and generic, lacking engaging plot hooks and depth, with minimal narrative development conveyed through scattered notes. Many reviewers find it uninteresting and uninspired, particularly in the saturated zombie genre, though its low price point may appeal to some players.
- “None of this would be an especially huge minus if the story itself were interesting enough.”
- “The story is pretty bare bones; you do get notes scattered around, and they try to explain the story slightly, but not by much.”
- “The storyline is a dime-a-dozen in this day and age, as everything to do with zombies has been ground into the dirt; in this case, it's just extremely generic.”
- “Conclusion: lack of quality in assets, technical issues, suffocating puzzle design, unclear narrative without early plot hooks.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it obnoxious and repetitive, detracting from the overall experience. However, there are moments of tense music that enhance the atmosphere, and the end credits song is noted as a highlight. Overall, the audio design is seen as a weak point, overshadowed by the game's other flaws.
- “The only good thing I can come up with regarding the audio design is the end credits song that actually sounds pretty good.”
- “The soundtrack is just okay, but it complements the photo-manipulation artwork, which is decent to look at.”
- “The music is obnoxious and repetitive within under a minute of playing.”
- “The soundtrack is just okay.”
- “To the game's credit, there is tense music that adds something to a dirt cheap game.”
gameplay
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The gameplay is criticized for being trial and error-based with no checkpoint system, leading to frequent restarts and a frustrating experience. Players describe it as a simplistic point-and-click format with limited options, poor animations, and a lack of originality, making it feel outdated and unengaging.
- “The gameplay is compelling enough to warrant praise.”
- “The gameplay involves trial and error, providing a unique challenge.”
- “It's a point-and-click experience that keeps you engaged with its still screens.”
- “Gameplay is therefore trial and error based without a checkpoint system, so basically it's a frustrating point-and-click game where you die every minute and restart from the beginning.”
- “It's just still screens with point-and-click gameplay.”
- “Lack of options, no full-screen support, terrible animation scenes, and unoriginal gameplay.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is derived from the absurd design of enemies, which appear more comical than threatening due to their bizarre visuals and poor sound effects. Players find the developers' lack of understanding of zombie lore amusing, adding to the overall lighthearted tone of the game.
- “Enemies also look silly; they have these really weird Photoshop effects on them that make them look funny instead of scary.”
- “The sound effects are all terrible and actually quite hilarious, like the zombies attacking you.”
- “So, yeah... the developers didn't know much about zombies, but they decided to make a game about them... funny, isn't it?”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is significantly hindered by the restriction of playing in a windowed mode instead of full screen, which detracts from the overall immersive experience.
- “The real problem with the atmosphere is that it's all ruined when the game forces you to stay in a window rather than full screen.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game's stability is heavily criticized due to random deaths triggered by misclicks, the absence of checkpoints or a save system forcing players to restart from the beginning, and frustrating glitches, such as weapons disappearing during critical moments, leading to a poor overall experience.
- “Random deaths occur if you click the wrong part of the screen. With no checkpoint or save system, you have to start from the beginning if you die. Glitches, like your shotgun suddenly disappearing when facing the little zombie girl, will leave you rage quitting.”
- “The game crashes frequently, making it impossible to progress without losing hours of gameplay.”
- “I experienced constant frame drops and stuttering, which ruined the immersion and made it hard to enjoy the game.”

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