Machine Hell Review
Installation:
The zipped file is 9.79Mb in size and installs to 19.4Mb. Installation is simple, with a combined activation and set up module. Once installed and booted up you get the choice of setting screen resolutions up to 1280 x 1024 32 bit. (There are loads of choices). Once that’s done you are taken to the main menu
Introduction & Game info:
Today’s game was given away back in March 2007, and received 84% of 197 positive votes. I reviewed the game back then so will just repeat that review with a few additions. You can read the previous comments from this giveaway by following the link below. I really have no need to expand on today’s excellent review by Alexander. (see comment # 12 by Alexander - http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/hell-machine )
Previous comments:
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/machinehell/#comments
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/hell-machine/#comments
The options menu allows you to change the usual parameters such as music and sound. You can use either keyboard or mouse to control your ship and it's load of missiles and bombs, the controls are detailed on the information page. There’s no story line as in some games like this, but that doesn’t detract from the game. Some people find the interruption to the game play annoying any way (not me though). Once you’ve set the game up, starting the game brings you to the levels selection screen of which there are 15. This is all you get with this game. When starting the game from the beginning all but the first level are locked. As you progress through the levels, by beating a boss (which are easy), you can return to any level that you’ve unlocked. One word of warning though, be sure to knock out the gun turrets that surround the landing area as if you don't you're ship will be destroyed, definitely if you're on the insane level, but if you've managed to get through the level with minimal damage, or picked up plenty of health packs, you should survive the onslaught when playing on the easier levels. When moving on to the next level your health will be returned to full, but all the missiles and bombs you earned in the previous level will be lost, so make sure you use them during the level you are playing at the time. I found each of the first four bosses easy enough to kill without missiles or bombs (simply because I'd forgotten I had them) There isn’t a save function, so when you end a game you’re score is set on the statistics table (high scores) and you have to start with a score of zero when you next start up the game, though those levels you’ve played before will be unlocked. There are four difficulty levels which you can access at the beginning of a game from the top of the levels selection board. These are Easy, Medium, Hard and Insane. The difference between each level is the strength of the enemies’ weapons. Each hit does more damage the harder the level is. Otherwise there’s no other difference. I did find it harder to get through any level when playing it on hard. I don't platy these types of games often though so I would expect seasoned players of this genre would find even the insane level easy; that said, for the average player, there is plenty of challenge to be found in this short game. There are no more enemies and you get the same number of lives in each of the difficulty settings. Provided you are good at dodging the lasers and rockets of the enemy the game is really easy, and over remarkably quick. I played four levels in around 10 minutes.
The music is okay for this type of game, though if you don’t like it you can go into the music folder located within the games folder and exchange the files there, one intro file and two in game files for ones you like. You’ll need to convert the music you want to .ogg files by using an audio converter, (see the freeware section under audio were you’ll find some converters) then rename them to the ones you find in the music folder. Back up the original ones though just in case you run into problems. If you remove one of these files the game will appear not to work, as you get a black screen; all you need to do is press the Esc key and the Nuclear Hell intro screen will appear. If you’re not sure just leave the music. :)
Screen Captures:
All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Machine%20Hell
As a Slideshow:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Machine%20Hell/?albumview=slideshow
System Requirements:
Platform--------------Win 98/ME/2000/XP
CPU-------------------500MHz or higher
Graphics -------------3D video card with 32 MB RAM,
Memory----------------128 Mb RAM
3D emulation----------DirectX v.8.0 or better
Conclusion:
The game is a solid production with decent graphics, excellent eye candy with respect to the weapons fire, and explosions, and for the average player it's got reasonable game play. If you want something a little more challenging then I would suggest buying Jet's and Guns which in my opinion is the best of this genre. You can buy two versions, the standard and gold versions. The gold version costs just under $30, but it's well worth it, unless you've already bought the original, though then you get a discount because the Gold edition contains all the levels from the first game plus loads more.
The number of enemie types are fairly restricted, especially when comparing it to many other shooters of this type, but each level has been made in such a way that this isn’t really important (IMO), The only down side to this game is the limited number of levels. It’s a pity there isn’t a levels editor as I’m sure there would be hundreds of fan made ones available by now.
If you were thinking of purchasing this I’d think twice though for the following reasons:
• partly because for the shortness of the game play (although very enjoyable)
• partly because there are very similar games that are better in my opinion that can be found for free on the internet
• and the most important, you can actually find this one (although with a different name) for free as well.
Similar Games that you can get free:
This is a reasonable action game, similar to the old favorite Machine Nation, but much better graphics. The eye candy is okay, but not as good as Jets and Guns (IMO) a previous giveaway and a similar arcade game that has a lot more levels and some great game play. It received over 90% both times it was given away previously:
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/guns-n-jets/#comments
http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/jetsnguns/#comments
(not that I'm saying the gameplay for Machine Hell 'isn’t' enjoyable. :) Comparing the two I’d rate Machine Hell 6 out of 10, as opposed to 8 out of 10 for Jets and Guns; (maybe I should be giving that a 9 at least as it is the best of the bunch) mainly because there are only 15 levels to the full version game of Machine Nation. Each level isn’t very long and you cannot carry forwards the missiles and bombs you earn in each level. And for that reason I think it’s not worth the price tag (in my opinion), considering the number of levels is so limited. (okay we are getting it free today) , and as noted by Alexander (see below) you can actually get it free all the time now) Also you can get two very similar games called Air Attack and Air Attack II for free , with far better graphics, better action, better power ups and bonuses as well as different choppers to choose from and more levels from the following addresses: I’d rate these 7.5 out of 10 (I’d previously given them a 8 but then they aren’t as good as Jet’s & Guns, which I also gave 8.
http://www.gametop.com/download_free_shooting/games_air_assault.html
http://www.gametop.com/download_free_shooting/games_air_assault2.html
Although you do get a screen on closing down the game that takes you to the homepage; however this isn’t so bad because it informs you of any new games that they have acquired. There are no other problems. I’ve been downloaded games from this site for a few years now and have never had any problems with virus’s or other malware. You’ll find quite a lot of commercial games being given away free, available from most genres, including several larger first person/third person shooters and others that have been made freeware. (eg Grand Theft Auto 1 & 2) You can see all the games that are available at:
http://www.gametop.com/index_us.html
Also Zodiac comment #26 found a totally free version of this game with a slight name change calling it Machine World instead. You can download it any time from the following address (provided by Zodiac ). It has the same problem that you get with the Gametop games:
http://freegamepick.com/en/games_machineworld.html
It’s basically the same distributors that run Gametop that you can get Air Assault from, they even have both of the air assault games I’ve linked to above, but they have changed the names to Air Shark and Air shark II. You even get ta similar window opening when you close the game. I checked all the games I downloaded and found nothing untoward. Both distributors common link apart from similar games is Forex a financial company. Personally I think the games are worth downloading even with th browser opening on shutting the game down. If you transfer the game to a computer that’s not connected to the internet it still works. :)