Welcome to This Is Not A Review. In these articles we discuss general impressions, ideas and thoughts on any given game, but as the title implies, it’s not a review. Instead, it’s an exercise in offering a quick recommendation (or dismissal) after spending enough time to grasp the ideas and gameplay of a thing without necessarily playing it from A to Z.
The subject of this installment: the procedurally generated, action platformer Unfair Rampage: Knightfall, by indie developer Imphenzia. The game currently has a demo available on Steam, but no official release date yet.
Unfair Rampage requires players to take control of a futuristic knight who is sent back in time. The past is falling apart, literally, and the heroes of the past need to die an honorable death. It is then the player’s mission to kill the knights of the past using firearms or close melee attacks. I didn’t find much more to the story, but even without extended lore I dig this humorous sci-fi take.
Levels in Unfair Rampage are procedurally generated — the main terrain consists of randomly-stacked blocks meant to be traversed, leapt, and destroyed. Players must do so quickly, as the landscape slowly crumbles behind them. Besides the decaying terrain, players must also contend with the knights of the past, huge buzzsaws, bottomless pits, and other various hazards to avoid.
This is all presented in a cartoon style, with well-designed graphics. Imphenzia is a one-person development team, so it’s impressive what a single designer can create. Not an easy feat.
However, I can’t say much more about Unfair Rampage, because I was not able to progress very far. There are checkpoints throughout the campaign, but I couldn’t even reach the first one. While the game is designed to be a challenge, the issue wasn’t difficulty, but rather the controls.
Controls for this type of 2D play need to tight and precise, which is not what I have experienced. The knight drifts after releasing the control stick, which might be manageable if not for the imprecise jumping. In a fast-paced, crumbling world of this type, jumps need to be immediate and exact. In Unfair Rampage, my character jumps almost an entire second after I press the controller button. It was such a noticeable problem that I thought perhaps it was my wired controller having issues, but the same problems were present while utilizing the keyboard. After a dozen or so attempts, I gave up.
For me, controls are the most important part of a videogame. In Unfair Rampage: Knightfall, the controls in their current state are prohibitive to advancing in and enjoying the content. I Hope that the controls will be fine-tuned before release — if not, those digital knights of the past will miss out on dying an honorable death.
When he does find time to play, Brian’s preferred games of choice are platformers, beat-‘em-ups, or a good adventure game.He still enjoys the retro gaming scene, could talk about the Nintendo 64 more than he might like to admit, and misses playing in actual arcades. Brian also gets to pass on his love of gaming, as his oldest son is just now starting to join the fun.
As for that GameBoy - it’s sitting in Brian’s nightstand, waiting patiently for four AA batteries.
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