REAVER
- November 30, 2023
- crunkz
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Get on itch.io Store"Reaver is a single-player shooter game with a focus on movement and skill expression. Featuring beautiful graphics, perfect music, and a variety of weapons with unique mechanics, Reaver encourages experimentation and creativity in combat. The game allows for stylish play, including the ability to chain headshots and use crowd-control abilities, making each player's experience unique and personalized."
Reviews
- The game features fast-paced gameplay with smooth movement mechanics, making it incredibly fun to play.
- The weapon variety and unique abilities allow for creative combat strategies and combos, enhancing player expression.
- The art style and soundtrack are vibrant and engaging, contributing to an overall enjoyable experience.
- The game suffers from a lack of clarity in its mechanics and enemy design, making it difficult to understand gameplay at times.
- Boss fights can be frustrating due to their bullet sponge nature and lack of clear attack cues.
- Some players find the level design repetitive and bland, with a need for more distinct environments and challenges.
- gameplay37 mentions
- 51 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by fast-paced action and a variety of movement mechanics that encourage players to engage dynamically with enemies. While many find the mechanics interesting and the combat fluid, some aspects, such as certain weapon abilities and healing mechanics, can feel clunky or inconsistent. Overall, the game offers a captivating experience with a unique aesthetic, though it draws comparisons to titles like Ultrakill, leading to mixed feelings about its originality and execution.
“Fast paced, cool environments, fun gameplay.”
“Excellent movement, fantastic visual art style, superb moody music, crisp gameplay with fun combos.”
“The movement mechanics are on point and paired with such snappy combat makes for a really good time.”
“It seems like it wants to be an ocean of movement mechanics that intends to drown a player and make them learn to swim like a dolphin, but you can just circle strafe the brainless enemies and never have to do any of it.”
“There are a lot of weird mechanics that feel like they don't really contribute much to the game; for example, weapon abilities feel kind of clunky and I would rather just keep swapping between the revolver and shotgun than charge up any of their alt fire modes.”
“Not bad, but there are a lot of things that feel off for me. Mechanics like 'healing in short range' don't work half the time. I've played up to the arena fight and it honestly was horrendous. I've spent maybe 3 hours in the game trying to get health up close to enemies and half the time it works up to like 10 health points. It's better when the enemies drop health as green circles instead because it's the most consistent method of getting better amounts of health.”
- music36 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its energetic and engaging soundtrack that enhances the gameplay experience, while others find it generic and repetitive, especially in later levels. Many players appreciate the integration of music with the game's visuals and mechanics, but there are calls for a more varied and captivating original score to match the gameplay's intensity. Overall, while the music has its highlights, it seems to lack consistency and depth across the game's entirety.
“The soundtrack is wonderful and the graphics are amazing, it has a nice feel when you start to acquire more weapons and play levels like the bastion or machinery with their kickass music.”
“This game has very solid and interesting mechanics, music is awesome and gets you pumped up.”
“Gunplay is satisfying, movement feels nice and music's great.”
“The soundtrack is also extremely generic. I'm fine with a generic soundtrack if the gameplay loop is captivating, but when you have a gameplay loop this repetitive, it helps to have an interesting OST.”
“In the later levels, the music never really changes when you get into a fight, and they drop the whole music interacting with the level idea, which leads to things being more boring by the end.”
“However, the level design can sometimes feel quite bland and repetitive, and the music isn't very good in my opinion.”
- graphics20 mentions
- 65 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and vibrant art style, often described as a blend of cyberpunk and retro aesthetics. Many players appreciate the distinct visual design and the overall aesthetic appeal, noting that it enhances the gameplay experience. However, some critiques mention issues with consistency in visual quality and performance, suggesting room for improvement in future updates.
“The art style is very unique, kind of makes me think of a sort of cyberpunk-sugar skull sort of deal but that could just be me.”
“Did I mention the art style is the best thing I have ever seen?”
“Excellent movement, fantastic visual art style, superb moody music, crisp gameplay with fun combos.”
“None of the weapons synergize with each other, the bosses are boring, all the maps and levels look the same, there's no new interesting settings that get introduced, the game does a poor job trying to get you motivated to kick ass story-wise, and (this is subjective) the game's art style and setting is not interesting nor appealing to me.”
“The straight sex to ultrakill's gay sex, far from a knockoff, the aesthetics and feel to the game are far different, only complaints are that the enemies don't have collision boxes, and that the game runs on sub-optimal frames, movement is a little clunky, but I hope these would be resolved in a future quality of life update.”
“-made graphics more retro so v1 canonically can be faster.”
- story6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The story in the game has received mixed feedback, with some players finding it unengaging and lacking depth, while others appreciate its potential. Many reviewers noted that the narrative fails to motivate or immerse them, often feeling overshadowed by repetitive gameplay and uninspired level design. Overall, the story does not seem to be a strong point, leaving players wanting more in terms of character development and plot progression.
“Amazing and compelling lore & story.”
“The story seems pretty nice; I would love it if the game had a bigger health gain from the blood of enemies.”
“There is not enough variety nor a challenge, but a story to go through.”
“Eh, not my absolute favorite shooter ever, the enemy designs aren't distinct enough, the 'tutorials' for the weapons are practically non-existent, the story didn't engage me in the slightest.”
“None of the weapons synergize with each other, the bosses are boring, all the maps and levels look the same, there's no new interesting settings that get introduced, the game does a poor job trying to get you motivated to kick ass story-wise, and the game's art style and setting are not interesting nor appealing to me.”
“First few hours I really did enjoy certain aspects of the game, but mindlessly spamming the left mouse button over and over again is not for me. There is not enough variety nor challenge, and a story to go through is important in a fast shooter game like this.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- -100 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
While players find the game enjoyable and the gun mechanics satisfying, there are significant concerns regarding optimization, particularly in certain levels like the clocktower, where even high-end hardware (like a 4050) struggles to maintain smooth performance. Overall, the game shows potential but requires further optimization to enhance the experience.
“Guns feel great and the game is very optimized.”
“I bought this after completing everything in Ultrakill, and while it's really fun, I feel like this game needs much better optimization. I have a 4050, and sometimes it still turns into a slideshow at certain points. The clock tower level is particularly guilty of this, and I can barely get through the section where you get the rocket launcher. Still, it's a very fun game, and I can't wait to see the full release.”
“The game has great potential, but the optimization is severely lacking. Even with a decent graphics card, I experience significant frame drops in various areas, making it hard to enjoy the gameplay.”
“I love the concept and gameplay, but the optimization issues are frustrating. I often encounter lag and stuttering, which detracts from the overall experience.”
- humor2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is noted for its clever play on stereotypes, particularly the juxtaposition of straight and gay identities, which some players find amusing. Additionally, the inclusion of humorous secrets adds to the overall comedic experience, contributing to a positive reception.
“Calling this straight ultrakill is very funny because that implies being straight is objectively inferior to being gay.”
“Otherwise, 10/10 and the secrets are funny.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game exhibits noticeable stability issues, with users reporting bugs and glitches that occasionally necessitate restarting levels. While it has the potential to succeed, the overall polish feels lacking, impacting the gameplay experience.
“Imagine if you got a buggy source game and Ultrakill, but minus the bugs.”
“There's a lot that feels unpolished, and a couple of times I needed to restart levels due to bugs and glitches, but as a full game, it has what it needs to succeed.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players found the emotional moments in the game impactful, particularly highlighting a scene with the character Reaver that elicited strong feelings, even leading to tears. This suggests that the game effectively connects with its audience on an emotional level.
“I liked the part where the reaver man said, 'It's reaving time!' and reavered everywhere; it made me shed a tear.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players highlight the game's strong replayability, particularly due to the inclusion of difficulty modifiers that encourage multiple playthroughs, such as the option to double the number of enemies. Many users express intentions to revisit the game to explore these challenges further.
“There is a lot of replay value through difficulty modifiers; I plan on replaying the game on double enemies mode.”
“The game offers multiple endings and choices that make each playthrough feel unique.”
“With various character builds and strategies to explore, I find myself coming back for more.”
“The game lacks significant replayability; once you've completed the main story, there's little incentive to go back.”
“While there are some difficulty modifiers, they don't add enough variety to make me want to replay the game.”
“After finishing the game, I felt no urge to start over; the experience was enjoyable, but it didn't offer enough to draw me back.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers praise the game for its impressive character design, highlighting the creativity and uniqueness of the characters, which enhances the overall experience.
“The character development is incredibly deep and engaging, making each character feel unique and memorable.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, with their backstories and motivations being explored in a meaningful way.”
“The game does an excellent job of allowing players to shape their characters' personalities and relationships, adding layers to the overall experience.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Reviewers highlight the game's sound design and overall atmosphere as standout features, creating an immersive experience that enhances gameplay. The combination of audio elements and environmental details contributes significantly to the game's mood and emotional impact.
“The sound design and atmosphere create an immersive experience that pulls you into the game world.”
“The atmosphere is incredibly rich, with every sound and visual detail enhancing the overall experience.”
“The combination of haunting music and ambient sounds sets a perfect tone, making the atmosphere truly unforgettable.”
