Crtl+Tab: Coma

[Dragon_of_red]

Small review by The Cheezy One before he left for a while. Enjoy it.

Coma [http://www.kongregate.com/games/wittyhobos/coma]

Coma is what is usually categorised under "arty" 2D platformers. Your character generally has little capability beyond move and jump, and there is an ominous feel assisted by the remarkably off-putting child-like and innocent design. And while Coma hits all of these like a manic-psychotic with a check-list, it does so beautifully.
You begin in the standard creepy-as-hell house, with an entirely noir colour scheme. You play the standard amorphous blob character 'Pete', and learn the controls as they are written on the walls. There is the standard 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here' messages scrawled on walls, but you'll be drawn in so much you won't notice the cliches, and this is helped by the fact that they can be slightly unclear.
Once you leave the house, the world is remarkably colourful, and the slow guitar backing track helps the feel. You find a bird (Or bug. Or something that definitely looks like a fairy from Zelda) that serves as your floating inventory, and tells you your dad has... well, I'm not going to tell you, but though I went in to Coma expecting it to be ominous, I was surprised by this. Pete seems unfazed by the news, and continues right, in the bold tradition of all 2D platformers.
There is very little problem solving to be done in this game, mostly just ways of travelling right across the small world. There is one ingenious part where you need to work physics based platforms and left is right and right is left.
Overall, the game does so much beautifully. However, there are a few problems. One is its length, although at least it is short and sweet rather than long and drawn out. Another is the design, which I am sure will prove a problem with Limbo - there is no way of telling if something is a platform or just artwork, and no way of telling where the platform ends. This gets worse later on, when you need to hit black triangular switches in caves full of odd shapes. And finally, although the game does so much correctly, if you have played an "arty" 2D platformer before, you will find this one eerily similar.
But if you have a few minutes to burn, then you can do a lot worse.

 

[Da Joz]

This as a very interesting game that kinda reminded me of Limbo. Thank you for sharing!

 

[The Cheezy One]

sorry about the length, but i felt that over-explainging the game would spoil some of the enjoyment you get in 2d arty platformers

 

[Da_Vane]

Very much a game where exploration and learning the game is part of the game itself. It's a shame it is so short though.

I think the length of the review does it justice - quality, not quantity counts when reviewing.

 

[DeadpanLunatic]

I have removed my words from this site.

 

[The Cheezy One]

Spoiler

Okay, how do I start this?

Hi, I'm Joe and I disapprove of this series.

Normally I'm not one to voice my discontent when staying silent is an option, so I'm a bit rusty when it comes to bashing something. Please bear with me while I attempt to justify my aversion.

You're probably not aware of this fact (what with me never mentioning it), but I've been reading your reviews for a while now. Not from day one, but once I decided to do this, I went back and read them all so I'd know what I'm talking about. They're okay. The writing didn't floor me, but neither did it justify jumping right in there and giving it the old red pen treatment (Hence my long silence). There's the occasional misspelt word or grammatical mistake, but those are hardly worth mentioning. But there's a few other things that could stand a little improvement.

First off, I think your reviews are too short. I understand that there's a fundamental difference between reviewing flash games and reviewing "actual" games, since your audience is but one click away from checking the game out themselves, but surely you could get a little more out of your source material? I know I have [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.173805-Niche-Appeal-GemCraft#4871206], and I don't specialize in this. As it stands you cover most subjects minimalistically, with things like music, visuals or aesthetics finished off in one sentence. Depth is your friend, is what I usually say on such occasions.

But of course that's just my personal opinion on the subject, while yours seems to be heavily infuenced by the pointers you took from Alt Escape. But while you're pretty much evens-stevens with them when it comes to length, your grasp on their minimalistic style is still a bit loose. Of what little writing you give us, far too much is uninspired or beside the point, merely listing what the game offers or explaining the controls (not all installments are haunted equally by this). Then there's the usual problems with things like flow or tone.

If I seem to have trouble criticizing your work, then that's mainly because of how inconsistent it is. Some installments brandish perfect length, but read haphazardly while others flow nicely yet seem to to cover nothing at all.

Still, none of these things outright breaks your writing. I'm not a fan, but I'll admit that I have seen worse. Much worse. But if the series isn't actually half-bad, why am I currently writing an ignorant hate-speech?

The real problem I have with Ctrl Tab is just how out of place it feels in the "User Review" section. Subtle hints like the creation of your very own Ctrl Tab User Group make it very apparent that you'd like to do this professionally (Which, among other things, probably raised this unreasonable standards in me, not judging you on your own merits, but based on whether or not I think you're good enough to make this your job). And that's ok. Professionalism is a good thing, a prerequisite for quality writing. Many great reviewers here, like, let's say for sake of example, BlueInkAlchemist make no bones about the fact that they wouldn't exactly mind being payed to do this. But you know what? He also understands that this board isn't a stepping stone into the world of videogame journalism, but a community, and does just as great work with the latter as he does with his reviews: commenting, criticising and encouraging.

Which links me to you. I'm obviously can't claim to notice everything that happens in this board, but I read most threads, or at least skim through them. And I don't think I have seen you commenting on somebody else's review even once. I err one the side of caution, but at the very least you're not exactly doing it on a regular basis. Come to think of it, I don't recognise your regular readers either. Unintentional or not, you have pretty much created a sheltered garden inside the "User Review" section, popping into this board once every week, drawing along a parade of strangers. If it weren't for you being out of touch with this community, would you even need a User Group of your own? You do understand that there's already one for User Reviewers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/The-Review-Revue], right?

I'm sure you mean no harm and all that, but don't you see what this must look like to us "User Review" regulars? Here's a guy who doesn't show the slightest bit of interest in this board, doesn't join our community, doesn't interact with us, doesn't participate in our events [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.205058-Escapist-Community-User-Review-Index-Video-Games] nor shows up at our parties [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.171903-Indie-Game-Review-Tournament], stringing along a group of strangers that normally wouldn't touch this board with a stick, and thus need a a specific User Group to link them directly into the reviews they are looking for (because actually having to enter these parts to find what you're looking for is oh so dreadful). Now obviously, this vision is melodramatically exaggerated, but still. I just so happen to carry a bit of a grudge against people who use these parts as a stage and nothing else. The word egocentric pops up in my head no matter how often I push it back down.

Anyway, such is my opinion on your little column. Feel free to dismiss it.

apologies for the late reply. i am addressing what i consider to be the most important issues first. i also apologise for the lack of grammar and spelling, im pushed for time.

the length is something i have also pondered myself. while a short review will lack professionalism, some flash games are so short, its hard to write a full review without unnecessary padding, which i feel insults the reader. another reason for the short length, is that this series of reviews is supposed to be filler for alt+esc, which have always been incredibly short, not just aping it for the sake of lack of imagination.

another thing - much of what i am doing here is by advice given by people reading the reviews - see the first comment on Higher [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.203481-Ctrl-Tab-Higher]. as for not commenting on other reviews, i actually have a problem with people that read and comment on everything that comes up regardless of whether they have an opinion on it. i generally dont mention this, because it doesnt hurt me, but it lowers the quality of comments from people that know what they are talking about. for this reason, i will only read a review if i am interested in it, and rarely comment on it.

Overall, i try not to disregard peoples opinions. thank you for yours, but if you have a problem with my writing, feel free to try to get me to stop or just ignore my reviews. they arent hurting you.

Thanks again

 

[DeadpanLunatic]

I have removed my words from this site.

 

[The Cheezy One]

I can see that the concise format is simply your thing, hence why I actually expressed that feeling in the previous post. That's cool. Not what I believe in, but I can't legitemately claim that I am "right" and you are "wrong" on this subject. The complaints about being occasionally uninspired or beside the point are still up, but again it's not altogether too bad.

As for the whole personal user group, it's something I find quite aggravating, and I'm not sure exactly why that is. I shouldn't be one to cast stones, what with the fact that I also have a list of my reviews published in a user group [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/Obscure-Games-Group] (though it is helped by the fact that there's more to said group than just my reviews). I can definetely see the appeal of organising you're fanbase and giving them a means to find your work more easily, but on the other hand it simply strikes me as separatism. Your release schedule isn't exactly hard to figure out and the "User Review" section isn't normally so fast paced that you'd need help finding what you're looking for. I've attacked you for the fact that neither you nor your followers seem to be involved in the reviewer community much, but then again it's hardly your fault none of what I'd, with a mock accent, call the "User review regulars" have ventured into you're reviews and helped you out. Hell, all you got was some condescending ponce giving a hate speech out of nowhere. What a prick.

I, just as well, have a problem with the likes who comment nay but a "Good review, keep up". That doesn't mean it needs to stop you. Surely you have opinions you could voice? Or are you unfamiliar with everything that's being talked about here.

Before I end this largely lopsided affair and drop the issue, just allow me a final statement. Conversely stopping you is the exact opposite of what I had in mind here. I don't dislike you, nor your reviews. I just think your column could be improved if it was actually implemented into the community. I'll do my part and try and pay more attention to it. Maybe you could try getting involved, too?

i will now officially apologise for my previous harsh reply. your comments hit a sore spot with me like a kick to the balls, and as with all kicks to the balls, i replied irrationally. i appreciate now that it would have been just as easy to say "FAIL u sux cox" and leave at that, but you made a well reasoned (and grammatically high quality) response. i would like my user group to have more of an impact, but i think i have attracted vampires, who shun the daylight of wider forums and sit in a back alley bar with grimey windows, sipping shots.
so im going to ask a serious question here - how can i get my column more implemented into the community?

 

[DeadpanLunatic]

I have removed my words from this site.