Discussion One man's descent into insanity: sponsored by Audio Atrocities

[Routa]

People who have been following the review thread might notice I have been playing some very weird games recently. Notoriously bad games, or very obscure stuff. After Tart Toter 9k suggested Escape from Bug Island (which I also recommend to anyone here), we fell into the rabbit hole of an old site I remember from my a while back. AudioAtrocities.com.

Audio Atrocities (TM)

A museum for the study of terrible video game acting from the days of the first CD games on the Turbografx until the present time.

www.audioatrocities.com

Since then, I've decided to go through and actually play some of these games Why? I really have no clue - but here we are! My goal is to play as many of these as I can, but probably skip the really infamous stuff- like the CD-i Zelda games as everyone is aware of their foulness, so I find playing through those to be less interesting. There must be some decent gems here, as ZoE2 is listed on that site and I love that game. I'll also probably veer into any other notorious games that are not listed on the site, like Escape from Bug Island. Based on my experiences so far, I am expecting more aggravation.

However, after recently finishing Blue Stinger, I need some palate cleansers.

Here are the links to games I've currently beaten and my thoughts:
Michigan: Report from Hell
Blue Stinger
Escape from Bug Island - Suggested by Tart Toter 9k
Battle Arena Toshinden Remix
Daemon Summoner

Games beaten but needs write up:
Vampire Night (Ps2)
Castle Shikigami 2 (Ps2)
Extermination (PS2)

More to come! Also, anyone is welcome to join me if you dare

 

[Valdien]

I'll join you!

Spoiler

By watching you suffer from afar.

Btw, you should play: Armed & Delirious - Wikipedia
Can't guarantee you'll have any sanity left by the end of it.

 

[Cacher]

Bad voice-acting you say? Obligatory:

 

[Valdien]

One of my favs.

 

[Wereverine]

 

[Routa]

According to HLTB, only one person played this and clocked in a time of 70 hours...oh no.

Finished the Story Mode of Battle Arena Toshinden Remix with two of the characters which was enough for me. Story mode will probably take you about 30 minutes.

Being more familiar with modern fighting games such as BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, Soul Caliber, etc. this feels like it did not age well. According to reviews, this was a decent fighting game in it's day but now it seems so quaint and the controls feel sluggish. Anyway, the characters seem to be walking stereotypes - like of course the Russian character is a former KGB spy - and then you have the voice acting. Some clips from my gameplay session provided below:

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I have no words, especially for the Scottish guy going "Euyaaaagh" - he even does that after he wins! The sound effects of the guy getting slapped too, I was crying . Yeah, not much to say about this one, just an old fighting game.

Next I'll probably finish writing about Extermination, which I absolutely loathed.

 

[Routa]

Daemon Summoner (2006)

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I was using HowLongToBeat and sorted by popularity to see if I could discover any obscure PS2 games, especially with a horror element given that it is currently October. The above cover art immediately caught my attention because of the shlocky aesthetic, big demon with red eyes and a dude in a trench coat...perfect. Daemon Summoner released for the PS2/PC in 2006 and only in Europe for what I can see. By the time this game released, the 360 was already out and the PS3 was months away. Was this an obscure PS2 classic releasing at the end of the consoles lifecycle? Nope!

My first gripe with the game, the name. The protagonist is a lame Van-Hellsing ripoff who runs around shooting ghouls, vampires and werewolves. One demon shows up in the last level that is "summoned" - so I guess the title is accurate - but I was immediately letdown to see the game began and it was an awful FPS. I was pining for some demon summoning!

As I said, this an an FPS - and it barely functions as one. I have never seen a game with such borked hit detection on the enemy models. You stab or shoot through them constantly, it seems like any shot that is not dead center of the enemy's chest or head will result in a miss. Also, if enemies are too close to you, bullets will go through them making this entire game an exercise in frustration as ALL the enemies are capable of, is rushing towards you. Seriously...that is it. If you just walk backwards, nothing will ever hit you. But it makes shooting them a pain in the ass.

If your shots or melee hits do manage to land, good luck figuring out how much health things have. Rockin' Ranger EAPidgeon Dangerous Zombie , watched me play through parts of the game and can testify to what I'm about to say. Sometimes enemies died in one crossbow hit, or maybe one melee stab, sometimes I would shoot something twenty times with the gun and it would not die, sometimes it would take five crossbow shots, or ten melee stabs. Dumbfounded, that's all I can think about of how I felt. I gave up on attempting to understand how any of this functioned and was at the whim of what the game decided.

The game begins in London, with a terrible voiceover you can barely hear because of the audio mixing - as the rain and ambient sound effects overpower the narration. You then run around a pretty straight forward level, you go into the sewers - follow the lighted areas - come outside - kill two vampires and onto the next level. This is where you begin to hate this game.

The second level starts you with a gun, which you can not even use, because it is a stealth level! This is the masterpiece of the worst and tacked on stealth levels. Once you get seen, its automatic game over and you have to restart the whole level. I only beat this level by save-stating my way through it, otherwise I would have given up here. The enemies field of view is nonsensical. I would get seen from below, or if you were to close to an enemy's back. Yes, they could see you from behind if you got to close.

If you have the patience to get through Level 2. The next two levels are a nightmarish maze of corridors that look the same, and no guidance on where to go. As I mentioned before, the sewers in Level 1 could also be considered a maze, but there is a rhyme to it as only the path with lights will lead you to the exit. Past that, it's check everywhere and get lost, because everything looks the same! Around Level 4, you encounter the worst enemy in this game. It's a little imp thing. If you do not shoot these before they close in, you are going to be driven insane. The character can barely look down, so the only way to kill these is to run backwards, aim down as far as you can, and for about one second the Imp will stop for a second giving you a chance to shoot it before it starts rushing at you again. I loathed these, PLUS, they also make the most obnoxious sound in the game.

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Oh, I have to say, this game only has 7 levels, and you can probably beat it in roughly 2 hours. Levels 5 and 6 are backtracking levels. I am noticing this to be a staple in a ton of "bad" games I've played. Is your game too short? Just have the player do the same level over again with minor differences! At the end, you have a boss fight with two vampires, where all they do is run at you - and then the famously titled "Daemon" who gets summoned, but sucks and dies. You then get the terrible end theme, and that's the end of the game.

Um, ya...do not play this.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

PLUS, they also make the most obnoxious sound in the game.

lmao my speakers volume were high so the stupid sound surprised me

 

[Rockin' Ranger]

PLUS, they also make the most obnoxious sound in the game.

The best sound effect is for stabbing an enemy which is clearly a rock being dropped into a bucket of water.