Rad Review — Exciting Abilities With Random Frustrations
Rad is a rogue-like taking place in a world that has suffered two apocalypses thanks to mistakes made by The Ancients and additional follow-up mistakes by The Menders (who only made things worse). As a teenager growing up in the post-post-apocalypse, the burden falls on you to explore the procedurally generated wasteland and bring life back to the world. Sometimes it goes well, and you get all the best mutations to help you complete your mission. Sometimes you sprout useless wings, take damage from health items, you lose all your currency, and you wonder what you’re doing with your life.
Highs and lows like this are typical of the rogue-like genre, and in many ways Rad sticks close to the rogue script, but it does manage to set itself apart with its leveling mechanics. Combat takes place from an overhead perspective, with the action playing out as a cross between a melee action game and a twin-stick shooter. As you defeat enemies, you build up experience that eventually causes you to mutate. These Exo Mutations are all unique, and even after successful runs and plenty of hours, I still saw new ones. You might sprout a cobra head and be able to perform venomous long-distance strikes. You might gain a tail that lets you lay eggs that birth helpful spiders. The mutations change your appearance and your approach to combat, and you can earn three on a single playthrough, so the combinations go a long way in making each run feel different. I was always excited to see what mutation I was going to get, but some (like the wings mentioned above) are a sign that the current run is a lost cause, which is a bummer.
Along with the Exo Mutations, you also find Endo Mutations, which offer significant passive boosts like imperviousness to fire, faster running speed, or one that makes your long-distance mutations (like a boomerang arm) fly farther. You don’t know what they will be until you activate them and they’re automatically equipped. Coming across these Endo Mutations is also exciting, but sometimes it doesn’t seem to take your loadout into account. Gaining the ability to throw long-distance attacks farther is great, but if your random mutations are all close-range, it feels like a waste.
You can also come across negative Endo Mutations, which is an interesting idea, but they’re all so damning that I learned to avoid them at all costs, even with the chance of getting something good. One I came across turned my screen orange making it harder to distinguish items and enemies and just generally made everything look bad. That mutation was active the first time I made it to the final boss, so I didn’t even get to see what it really looked like until I got there again on another run. When the negative outweighs the positive so heavily, it discourages you from rolling the dice at all.
I like the look and sound of the world, but the layout can sometimes be frustrating, thanks to the procedural generation. Underground hallways filled with enemies sometimes turn into boring dead ends without rewards, and above ground, necessary switches might be difficult to find or reach. The later stages are particularly labyrinthian; I had one run where I killed every enemy and was just trying to find the exit while outrunning frequent lightning strikes, which eventually caught up with me and killed me. It just felt unfair. I never ran into game-breaking procedural generation, but the annoyances were enough to make me pine for hand-crafted levels.
One random element I enjoyed was the world-building. Occasionally, as you find new items or areas, a young woman’s voice narrates a random snippet describing what you found, giving you little factoids about what happened and who the various survivors you run into are. These little story moments are short and sweet and don’t interrupt gameplay, but they make the world of Rad feel like a real place with history.
The rogue-like is a difficult genre to nail as it relies on balancing challenging action and myriad random elements. The trick is making sure the frustration meter isn’t higher than the fun meter, and Rad generally walks that line well. I certainly had my attempts where I felt like the game was working against me, but when I had a good run with mutations that worked well with my playstyle, I enjoyed myself and was thoroughly proud of my accomplishments.
Review: RAD – Destructoid
RAD provides an alternate history where at some point in the mid-eighties, the world was annihilated in nuclear hellfire. Eventally, survivors managed to scrape together enough remnants of civilization to start rebuilding society. Culture froze in the wake of the apocalypse, and punk, acid-washed clothing and neon colors have been the height of fashion ever since the bombs fell. Over the following centuries, a group of restoration-minded survivors known as “Menders” managed to construct a vast underground network of machines intended to purify the air and purge the radioactive toxins that had soaked into the environment.
Then the world all blew up again. Sometimes you just can’t catch a break.
RAD (PC, PS4 [reviewed], Xbox One, Switch)
Developer: Double Fine
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Released: August 20, 2019
MSRP: $19. 99
I have a confession to make. I’m old, you guys.
I remember doing “Duck and Cover” drills unironically in my classroom in grade school. I didn’t understand it at the time, but I also recall reading news reports (and, uh, humor columns) about the MX Missile gap and the “window of vulnerability” through which evil Russians might attack at any moment. The threat of radioactive devastation wasn’t exactly the foremost thought in my mind back then, but I remember it being a vague concern. Less troubling than being caught stealing cookies, but more pressing than missing Saturday morning cartoons. That’s probably why Double Fine’s latest game resonates so strongly for me.
RAD is a clever triple entendre which encompasses all three of the game’s main features. It’s a short form of “radical,” a defunct slang term that served as a synonym for “excellent” when I was growing up and still evokes synthwave playlists and images of neon mohawks. The more traditional interpretation of radical (say, in the scientific community) refers to dramatic change, something you’ll see a lot of while playing the game. Finally, RAD is also a reference to the game’s main mechanic, which replaces a traditional role-playing game’s experience points with intentional exposure to radiation.
Your character is one of the last surviving humans in a relatively safe area of the wasteland, protected and sheltered by the Mender’s machines. Unfortunately, the machines’ energy is steadily declining, and the village Elder asks for a volunteer to explore the wastes and try to find a replacement water chip reach the Nuclear Throne get the power flowing again. Before you go, he performs a ritual (using a sweet keytar) which will allow your body to adapt to the nuclear remnants beyond the town’s gates. Instead of being harmed by radiation, you’ll now absorb it to enhance your physique. Radiation is difficult to control, however, and the changes it inflicts on you will be unpredictable. Learning to use these mutations and master them to reactivate the Mender’s machinery is the primary focus of the gameplay.
RAD is a single player, third-person action game which borrows some elements from the classic PC game Rogue and its progeny. Maps and enemy placements are randomized for each play session, as are the mutations you’ll experience as you destroy evil mutants and absorb their radioactive life force. Most mutations are beneficial and offer some sort of enhancement to your abilities or defenses, but a few are detrimental and will make fighting a little harder. Just like other Roguelite titles such as Spelunky or Dead Cells, you’ll never play the same game twice.
Most of the mutations are silly, but almost all of them are useful in their own way. I’m not a fan of the Toxic Dump ability which lets me leave a slime trail behind, but especially enjoy Death Roe (which lets me poop out unlimited deadly spiderbabies in what seems like a nod to Family Guy), or the Warhead mutation which launches my flaming skull at enemies (don’t worry, it grows back). You can have up to three “Exo” (attack) mutations active, each of which is bound to a different button and can be upgraded to add another function or increase their power. You can also have a seemingly unlimited number of “Endo” (passive) mutations, most of which will enhance your other abilities or provide immunity to certain types of damage. Some of these will make you weaker, however, and you can’t be sure if an Endo mutation will be good or bad until after you pick it up. No matter what mutations you have equipped, your character will always leave a trail of grass and flowers behind them which can help show where you’ve been and speeds up backtracking if necessary.
I found that RAD played best when I focused on careful exploration. There are several optional toggles which can be set before a run to make the game easier or harder, but even with all of the former activated RAD still provides a considerable challenge. Learning how to react to enemy behavior and use the environment to your best advantage will take several runs, and I was still discovering new techniques hours into my play session.
RAD can be quite difficult, but you’ll unlock several helpful features just by wandering the high plateaus of the Fallow lands. Your character will earn experience at the end of every run whether it was successful or not, and this will unlock passive benefits such as more items for sale in stores, or upgraded starter weapons. If you return to town between levels, you can bank the cassette tapes used as currency in this society. These can be accessed at handy ATMs scattered throughout the wastes, which can help if you’re a little short of cash for that upgrade or healing item you have your eye on. Banking enough tapes will eventually let you buy stuff on credit, albeit at a ruinous markup. Buying things at the shop in town will let the proprietress expand her inventory, offering more useful and powerful items over time. There’s also a couple of other people in town who will offer permanent benefits when their requests are fulfilled.
For those who want an extreme challenge, RAD lets players activate “quirks” which significantly increase the difficulty. One of these makes it so you can’t recover any lost health, while another prevents your character from mutating so that they have to rely exclusively on their melee weapon to defend themselves. For players who want to tip the scales in their favor, it’s possible to start with double the initial amount of health, begin with a ranged attack mutation already available, or increase the amount of damage dealt to enemies. These systems let players tweak the game’s difficulty until it’s just where they want it, which I appreciated.
There aren’t too many features other than the main campaign. A daily challenge which lets everyone explore the same seed and try to attack leaderboards seems a bit tacked-on, especially since there’s nothing preventing players from attempting the challenge repeatedly. Apart from this and the aforementioned balance modifications, RAD doesn’t offer anything other than the main game. Fortunately, that’s different enough to be worth replaying over and over, discovering new entries in the Tome of the Ancients and trying to earn every ending.
Double Fine’s games are known for their sense of humor, and RAD is no exception. Despite the dark subject matter there’s a sense of fun and playfulness throughout; from the item descriptions, to townspeople’s reactions to your ever-changing body, or the animations when you evolve crab legs or bat wings. A deep-voiced announcer punctuates item pickups and particularly creative kills, while a female voiceover explains plot points and describes some enemies the first time you see them.
The aesthetics evoke a more idealized version of the ’80s than I remember, but it’s always fun to explore the garish neon landscape as you slay hordes of many-eyed mutants. By default there’s a CRT filter overlaid on top of the game, complete with VHS tracking errors during loading screens. This can be turned off in the settings, which makes the game look cleaner but does take away a bit of the flavor. Publisher Namco got in on the fun, and you’ll hear classic sound clips from Dig-Dug and Pac-Man as you explore the main hub area.
The music is similarly influenced by the setting, heavy on synthesizers and wailing electric guitars. David Earl’s soundtrack doesn’t reach the same heights as fellow ’80s throwback Far Cry: Blood Dragon, but it gets the job done. I found myself tuning out after a while, but it’s not unpleasant and does help set the mood.
I did run into a few minor problems during my time with RAD. First and most noticeably, load times are quite significant whenever you enter a new area or teleport back to town. This wasn’t a big problem since once you’re in an area you don’t tend to leave it for a while, but I imagine this issue might be more pronounced on the Switch. The game is also fairly short, with only six areas between the start of your quest and the final boss fight. It looks like there are plenty of hidden secrets though, and I know for certain I haven’t yet seen everything RAD has to offer.
I started by playing the PC version, but my aging system wasn’t able to handle it and I had to swap to the PS4 to complete the review. It wasn’t unplayable on my PC, but the framerate wasn’t consistent and the game was a blurry mess. To be clear: this is probably due to the age of my computer and not the fault of the game, but if you do pick up the PC version it might be wise to purchase on Steam so you can request a refund if you run into the same issue I did.
Apart from that, there are all the same issues any Rogue-influenced game will fall prey to. The very randomness which is the genre’s hook means promising runs will frequently be shot to hell by unforeseeable unfavorable circumstances. If you don’t have the masochistic temperament shared by those who already enjoy Roguelikes, RAD isn’t going to change your mind.
I’ve had a lot of fun with RAD, even though I can tell I’ve really only scratched the surface. Trying to work with suboptimal body modifications is pretty funny in and of itself, and discovering new mutations and lore has been intriguing. I don’t think any studio other than Double Fine could have made the post-apocalypse this entertaining.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]
Public art installation «Cool game» (Russia, Moscow)
Project:
Public art installation «Cool game»
Nominated:
Best Public Open Art
About the project:
The Cool Game installation turns a 5-story school into a giant art object — a musical instrument that teachers and students play in the same rhythm. The artist was inspired to create an art project by the architectural rhythm of the facade of the building and the spirit of the Class Center, where teaching theater and music is organically combined with the school curriculum: children learn while playing and creativity is the leitmotif of learning. The piano keys refer to art and music, reflecting the close connection of the «Class Center» with the classics. At the same time, there are also computer buttons on the facade — a symbol of a modern approach to learning, digitalization. nine0013 On one of the large keys there is a plasma panel for multimedia broadcasting of the school life chronicle.
When creating the work, the facade was not reconstructed, the architecture of the building was preserved.
Materials: composite materials, metal. Key length: 3.7 meters. Height from ground to installation: 20 meters. Screen size: 3.5 x 2.2 m.
Location:
Russia, Moscow, st. Bolshaya Akademicheskaya, 11a
Project implementation year:
2020
Project website:
https://artmarin. ru/public-art/klassnaya-igra
Additional images or videos:
https://disk.yandex.ru/d/jwFv032t49SwbQ
Applicant and author of the project:
Marina Zvyagintseva is one of the founders of public art in Russia. She started doing public art in 2009 and has completed over 50 installations. The total footage of personal projects is more than 58,000 m², curatorial projects — more than 106,000 m². Seeks to reprogram space, switch people’s emotions. The most famous works: «Memory Card» in the Center for Contemporary Art «Factory», «Water Line» in the park «Zaryadye», ARTeriya in the Morozov Children’s Hospital, «Eternal Warmth» on the facade of the Public Library in Norilsk. nine0019
Oleg Yakovlev Cellular network or Wi-Fi is almost everywhere, this holiday weekend, many of us will want to take a break from social networks and turn on airplane mode on our iPhone. However, even so, the smartphone will still be useful: you can start the game at any time, but remember that not everyone will be available without an Internet connection. Cool 9 have been chosen especially for you0011 games that work without the Internet : there are games for children, with simpler and more complex graphics, old-school games and even those that do not require a subscription. Enjoy!
Found gorgeous games for you, which work on an iPhone without the Internet
, look even more interesting articles in our pulse Mail.ru
Content
- 1 GameStart Pixel Battle — Cool Retroine for iPhone
- 2 OHM — A AHM — A Virtual Science Center
- 3 Cytoid: A Community Rhythm Game
- 4 PewPew — a geometric shooter
- 5 PBS KIDS Games — a collection of games for kids
GameStart Pixel Battle — a cool retro game for iPhone -game
GameStart Pixel Battle . With its help, you will turn your smartphone into an old-school 16-bit console and return to childhood: in this platform game you have to control a girl named Alice and go through different levels, defeating enemies in parallel. The further you go, the more difficult they are — a classic. nine0019
The game allows you to open characters that resemble real gamers, each with their own unique abilities and superpowers. In addition to the pleasant gameplay, GameStart Pixel Battle also has cool midi soundtracks that obviously should not be turned off! The game is free and does not contain ads and does not consume a lot of resources — you can even download it on an old iPhone or iPad with iOS 8!
Retro Game Collection
OHM — A Virtual Science Center
It’s never too late to learn, especially if knowledge can be obtained through the game. OHM is a educational puzzle game with beautiful graphics that talks about electricity and how it works, and at the same time invites you to solve puzzles. All the facts are explained in a clear and interactive way, so the game is suitable to keep the kids busy during the holidays.
OHM will tell you a lot of interesting facts about electricity and energy
Basically, the tasks are simple, but as the story progresses, they become more complicated, so not everyone can cope. nine0011 OHM — A Virtual Science Center is ad-free and offline, but more fun to play on iPad. So, if you are going to nature or to the country, take the tablet with you!
Download puzzle for iPhone
4 types of files that are often found in iOS. Why are they needed in the iPhone and can they be deleted
0012 . This is a cool rhythm game in which you have to click on the circles that appear to the music and score as many points as possible. The pace changes over time, so you need to keep up and try not to miss.
In Cytoid, you need to have time to click on the circles and get into the rhythm while scoring points!
The idea, of course, is taken from Guitar Hero , but complicated due to a broken rhythm: either electro, or breakbeat, or techno plays in the background. After completing the level, the task will become more difficult — at the next stage you need to be even more careful and have time to make clicks. It works without the Internet, there are no ads inside — this is rare in our time! nine0019
Download Cytoid
PewPew — geometric shooter
If you’re fed up with classic shooters like PUBG, Call of Duty and so on, try switching to something a little more abstract. For example, on PewPew : This is a free game where you have to kill enemies while collecting power-ups. There are several game modes, each of which is good and interesting in its own way: for example, fight waves of enemies or shoot only those that have a different ship color from yours. nine0019
PewPew — a simple shooter with interesting graphics
The game is addictive not only due to the gameplay, but also the ability to unlock other spaceships and simple controls. Also, do not forget to look at the leaderboard to compare your achievements. Neither network connection nor subscription payment is required .
Download PewPew
5 cool sports games for your iPhone
PBS KIDS Games — a collection of games for kids
Found another cool iPhone game to keep the kids busy. In fact, they don’t watch YouTube all the holidays? Download PBS KIDS Games — a collection of educational applications with different characters that help you learn a lot of new things from mathematics, science and foreign languages.
A collection of games to help your children learn a lot of new things
The application includes various puzzles, mosaics, puzzles, mazes, coloring — everything that is suitable for children aged 2 to 8 years. Parents can be calm about their money: PBS KIDS Games does not have pop-ups for payment and advertising, so the child will not spend a single ruble from the account. It is doubly pleasant that it works without the Internet — you can use it even in the country, where there is no network signal!
Games for kids
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Don’t forget to update Telegram on iPhone : New Year’s update of the messenger includes the function of hiding media files, an improved photo editor and many other nice features that you will definitely like.
