Yes, and that game would cost $60 and nobody on mobile would buy it. I like this game the way it is, it's my popcorn shooter. My Michael Bay summer blockbuster. It doesn't need a ton of substance, because it's just fun to play.
$60? Exaggerate much? A game like the one I listed would indeed come at a premium price, such as anywhere from 5.99 to $19.99 at most. If it were really good, however, people would gobble it up and the developer(s) would be laughing all the way to the bank. I can certainly appreciate the type of Michael Bay game you are describing. A certain amount of mindless action goes a long way to relieve the stresses of the day. But for me there is a difference between a good mindless action game and a mind numbing action game where the game consists mostly of doing the same thing and same level over and over again with the only difference being that each level is slightly harder than the previous one. I respect your opinion, however, to like what this game has to offer you. In fact, most people seem to really like it. My own opinion is that it is good example of a wasted opportunity. I realize that the qualities of a good game that I listed would be hard to achieve, although not impossible. A game wouldn't even need all the things I listed in order for it to be considered great. One day a game like this will be made and we can both watch it become a bestseller.
Well, I just bit the bullet, and bought their scifi bundle. Space Marshals has definitely impressed me, how cool is that game?? It is exactly what xenowerk has left me wanting. (SITUATION STATUS: not good! Hahahah) Regarding xenowerk, I think I found out what I appreciate so much in it. It's the fact that they manage to make a believable world, albeit repetitive, with lots of good humor, and that this game isn't trying oh-so-hard to be something it is not. It presents itself as an arcade, fun, double stick shooter, and that's exactly what you get. No shenanigans. No tricks. Just pure shooting delight Also, I didn't rate it 5 stars, I believe 4 is just right. Space Marshals, however, seems to be 5* material.
I second the request to put the center-camera button on the right. The right stick is for directing your view, so to me it makes sense to put the center-camera button on that side. (I'm fine with the map button on the left, both because you can't move while viewing the map, and because adding both buttons to the right would probably be a bit crowded. BTW, despite the repetitiveness, I'm loving this game. I've fully upgraded all weapons and armor (via in-game pickups), so now I'm just sweeping through the levels to get the last few three-symbol ratings. Easily worth the ridiculously low price given how many hours I've played it.
Achievements BTW, anyone having issues with achievements? I've unlocked all the special powers, and I've max upgraded all weapons, but I haven't earned either achievement. (And anyone figure out which level has 20 vending machines you can destroy? ;-) )
Space Marshals is a turn-based strategy game? First 3 posts all point into one conclusion, but i dont want to sound rude.
No, they really wouldn't. Not on mobile. I was a game developer for 22 years, I spent the last 5 in mobile. I had access to a host of analytics at some large publishers. There are certainly exceptions that prove the rule but the game you're describing would never make its dev costs back as a mobile exclusive in this market. That's the reality. Just for giggles, go make a free App Annie account and start looking up the total downloads of premium mobile games that are neither ports, nor are Monument Valley. Multiply by the price of the game and subtract 30% for Apple's cut. Almost no one is laughing to the bank, sir. That's why I got out.
There is more then enough content for the price, but it is still a bit repetitive. While I get the argument agaist IAP, it is also dispointing that there isn't a bigger market for higher priced games. Personally I like the idea of a free/cheap intro with just a tutorial/act 1. Then offer an IAP to unlock the rest of the game, maybe even a sepreate IAP per act. For me IAP is acceptable for content unlocks, but not for consumables. This means that the game can expand as time goes by since it still offers a revenue stream from existing players. One thing that these freemium game have got premium beaten on is regular updates. Premium have a bad habit of release and forget.
Why would you update something that is making you no money? Why would a developer keep putting effort and resources into something that has no return?
From the Dev piont of view, it makes sense to abandon an app after the initial sales have peaked. But, as a consumer, that paid for a game, it is a disappointing reality when "free" games get more long term development support. My point is that the Freemium model has shown that games can sustain long term profits. The questionis if they can in a way that is less objectionable to gamers (me in particular) then using IAP consumables. I would like to see more games go the direction of content unlocks. See the games by Mediocre as an example. Further, I would like to see content added to premium games as IAP over time to add to the experiance. I realize that this may not work since you have a diminishing pool of potential customers as each IAP is released.
I have the same problem with the special powers achievement, didn't unlock for me either. Still working on leveling up the weapons atm. Most vending machines I ever found in a level was around 16 (forgot which level though, somewhere in shaft 3).
There may be some technical issues regarding achievements of which we are investigating. Stay tuned for future updates including fixes for this.
Pretty solid game, but not without its flaws: 1. Highly repetitive. Very limited variety of enemies. I've cleared about 15 floors and so far I've only seen about 4 types of enemies. 2. Not sure why the "military base" looks identical to the "hospital"? I mean the tileset is absolutely identical, even down to layout. You finish all 10 floors of hospital then move onto next stage... Only to find you didn't really unlock any new content... Highly disappointing 3. No armor. You can only buy and upgrade guns 4. It's annoying that you need to have the right weapon equipped in order to get upgrade pieces for it. Say you wanna upgrade primary weapon, but you happened to be equipped with secondary atm, the upgrade pieces you pick up will be automatically used up to upgrade your secondary 5. Aiming system could use some work. Firing at same time as aiming is awkward. I liked the aiming system in Space Martial Overall nowhere near the same level of quality as Space Martial, but still better than most other twin stick shooters.
Just noticed you can upgrade armour, didn't even know you can tap on the character image. Well still, only 4 armour choices, and basically each one is better than the previous, not much depth compared to Space Marshal.
Half the price Less space requirement Is an extension of SM for people who wanted a high score chaser What's the issue? The game is what it is.
The "issue" is I expected more depth for a dev like Pixelbite. I'm assuming there's just one tileset in the entire game repeated on all 50 levels? What's even the point of separating them into 3 "stages" if they're all identical? This is the amount of content I'd expect from maybe the first ever game of an indie, or even a beta release of some game. Even all the free-to-play shooters I've played before at least have different stages so you feel like you're unlocking more content.
