S.P.A.T.
- August 27, 2021
- DeadGrass Games
- 3h median play time
S.P.A.T. is a thrilling action game that can be played solo or with up to two players in co-op or multiplayer modes. As part of a bad-ass ghost-busting squad, players will wield customizable weapons and gadgets to take down nightmarish creatures like Bigfoot, werewolves, wendigos, and witches. The game features chilling local legends, random scares, and naughty humor, providing an immersive and exciting gaming experience.
Reviews
- The game has a gorgeous visual style and atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
- The concept of hunting various cryptids with friends is engaging and has a lot of potential for fun gameplay.
- The developers are actively working on updates and listening to community feedback, which shows promise for future improvements.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs, glitches, and poor AI behavior, making it frustrating to play.
- Voice acting is subpar, often sounding robotic and lacking emotional depth, which detracts from immersion.
- Gameplay mechanics are clunky, with issues like unresponsive controls, poor hit detection, and a lack of meaningful content, leading to a repetitive experience.
- story23 mentions
- 9 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's story is criticized for its lack of depth and engaging narrative, with many players finding the mission build-ups underwhelming and the AI-generated voiceovers detracting from the experience. While the atmosphere is praised for its spooky ambiance, the gameplay often feels repetitive and lacks sufficient content, leading to a sense of monotony after completing a few missions. Overall, players express a desire for more varied maps and missions to enhance the storytelling aspect of the game.
“Atmosphere in the opening section of the randomly generated missions was outstanding; dark with a brownish fog hiding distant features and making you feel vulnerable out in the open.”
“The spooky ambience keeps you alert, always on the lookout; monsters, cryptids, and various entities can spring out from nowhere from time to time, which is quite fun.”
“The build-up for the first mission was a bit of a letdown, and the moans from the zombies always sound right next to you inside the building.”
“If you're going to have banter in these maps like a developing campaign story, I highly suggest using someone, literally anyone other than AI-generated voice work.”
“The voiceovers are most certainly done using a text-to-speech application, which sounds robotic and takes away from any type of story the devs are trying to create.”
- gameplay14 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players highlighting its interesting premise but criticizing its design and mechanics. Common complaints include glitchy performance, poor AI voice acting, and a lack of engaging combat mechanics, particularly in solo play. While the core gameplay is seen as promising, it requires significant fine-tuning, additional maps, and missions to enhance the overall experience, especially for multiplayer sessions.
“Fun game, it's meant to be played in multiplayer mode, really rough around the edges though but the core gameplay is fantastic !!”
“If there was some tracking mechanic it would add to the game, making the hunts less reliant on the UAV and luck fighting the creature.”
“Definitely only worth a buy if you are into very very early access titles and definitely have a group of friends to join in on it; solo just isn't that fun of a time as this was clearly made with more multiplayer gameplay in mind.”
“If you enjoy the world's worst motion blur, glitchy gameplay, and some of the worst AI voice acting ever, then still don't get this game.”
“Has an interesting niche premise of a game I like, but is held back by the design and mechanics of the game.”
“Needs a lot of fine tuning in terms of gameplay and hit detection in general.”
- graphics14 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the overall atmosphere and certain visual elements as appealing, while others criticize the quality of character models and performance issues, noting that some graphics settings do not function properly. Many users highlight the need for optimization and improvements to outdated visuals, particularly for monsters, as well as addressing glitches that detract from the experience. Overall, while the game has potential in its graphical design, significant enhancements are necessary for a more polished presentation.
“Graphically, the game atmosphere is grim and dark in the right places.”
“I like the concept and the graphics are quite appealing.”
“The overall graphics are pretty good, but some of the monster quality and visuals are outdated and need improvement.”
“I would wait until they have more maps added and fix some of the graphic glitches it has during gameplay.”
“- Graphics settings don't seem to work properly.”
“Controls are janky, graphics are questionable as some models look like total crap while other models look pretty good but also extremely generic, which leads me to think that they were simply taken from a site with free 3D game assets.”
- stability11 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and issues such as clipping through the map, ineffective weapon mechanics, and AI malfunctions. While players acknowledge the game's potential and find some aspects enjoyable, the overwhelming presence of technical problems detracts significantly from the overall experience, especially in its current early access state.
“Very buggy, easy to clip through the map, hard to feel like you're hitting an enemy at all, and overall just bad.”
“I really like the potential of this game but it is very buggy and extremely difficult at this time.”
“The game is honestly really buggy, which is understandable as it is early access, but expect bugs.”
- atmosphere6 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 17 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its creepy and ominous vibe, effectively enhancing quiet moments and creating a sense of vulnerability. The graphics contribute to a grim and dark ambiance, with elements like fog and lighting adding to the overall experience, despite some performance issues on lower-end hardware. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature that significantly enriches gameplay.
“Atmosphere in the opening section of the randomly generated missions was outstanding; dark with a brownish fog hiding distant features and making you feel vulnerable out in the open.”
“The atmosphere for the maps currently out is pretty good, trying to keep a creepy, ominous vibe which makes the quieter moments really shine.”
“Graphically, the game atmosphere is grim and dark in the right places.”
“The atmosphere in the opening section of the randomly generated missions was outstanding; dark with a brownish fog hiding distant features and making you feel vulnerable out in the open.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by absurd and slapstick moments, such as the juxtaposition of serious gameplay elements with ridiculous scenarios, like patching oneself up while being watched by a menacing character. Players find the AI-generated voice lines amusingly bad, adding to the overall comedic experience, and the quirky animations are noted as a highlight that enhances the game's humor. Overall, the humor is a significant draw, making the game entertaining and worth the price.
“There's something absurdly hilarious about patching yourself up while a glowing-eyed furry just stares at you the whole time, waiting to be delivered some payback via a full AK mag to the face.”
“Its only redeeming quality is the stupid AI-generated voice lines, and it's not even because they're good; it's because they're so stupidly funny to listen to.”
“I hope that they don’t fix the way they look when they run because it’s hilarious.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 100 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users have noted that while general bug fixes have improved the game's playability, certain audio inconsistencies, such as inappropriate sound effects, detract from the overall experience and may impact replayability.
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game shows promise but requires significant optimization improvements and the addition of a difficulty adjustment feature to enhance the overall experience.
“Good start but needs two things: a way to change the difficulty and some serious optimization.”
“The game runs smoothly after the latest patch, showcasing impressive optimization that enhances the overall experience.”
“I appreciate the developers' focus on optimization; it really makes a difference in gameplay performance.”
- monetization1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect is criticized for featuring basic ads and a reload animation, along with sound effects that could be improved for a better user experience.
“The monetization strategy feels overly aggressive, making it hard to enjoy the game without constant interruptions.”
“I find the in-game purchases to be overpriced and not worth the value they provide.”
“The reliance on ads for revenue detracts from the overall gaming experience, making it feel more like a cash grab.”