評論

• Frank Bigfoot

  Aug 22, 2023

  Steam only gives me the choices of "thumb up," or "thumb down." I wish I could give this game a "thumb sideways." TL;DR If you *REALLY* liked the base game, then you will enjoy this. If you only kinda' liked the base game, then I wouldn't recommend you buy this. You honestly won't be missing out on anything. I originally had an essay going for this review, but Steam only allows so many words, so I will try and keep this succinct. *MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD* OVERVIEW The Black Labyrinth's aesthetics and level design are just as good as Amid Evil's. However, several "insta-kill-gotcha!" moments sprinkled throughout the game, combined with somewhat mediocre enemies, and annoying Gauntlet gimmicks help bring down what would have otherwise been a very nice return to the Amid Evil universe. STORY Like AE, this is super light on story. You are a wandering good-guy. Evil is bad, and you want it gone. You hear about a powerful artifact-weapon sitting at the end of a series of trials called the "Black Labyrinth." You show up at the front door, the Watcher lets you in. Surprise, surprise, this is a prequel so you know that you successful best the Black Labyrinth. LEVEL DESIGN The levels are just as well made in BL as they were in AE. The path forward is usually obvious, the secrets are reasonably hidden (most of the time), and the sense of scale and wonder, along with several memorable set-pieces (like giants flinging huge "spears" at you that you must platform off of to progress), really establish the high-fantasy feel that the game is going for. However, there are several instances where it feels like the developers just flip the player the middle finger for no apparent reason. Like a giant Indiana-Jones-Stone-Ball that drops down at the top of a stair-case and insta-kills you if you hesitate for even a second (which you will, when you encounter it for the first time). Then there are the just-rare-enough-that-I-am-certain-they-are-deliberate use of spike traps which really throw me out of the experience, like when I ran over to grab an orange mana pick-up, only to discover too late that it was RIGHT next to an insta-death spike pit. Then, several levels are VERY darkly lit, making it very hard to see the ground and very easy to fall off the narrow walk-ways that have been placed within said dark areas. The Forges were considered some of the worst levels in AE, mostly for being dark and having so many narrow walk-ways. Why they included more of that in BL is beyond me. Then, there is a bunch of really passive-aggressive graffiti painted on the walls throughout the levels. Some of the messages honestly didn't feel like they were jokes/in good fun, but I will let you be the judge when you read them. ENEMIES Most of the enemies are fine. They offer their own challenges and have neat, unique character models. However, I want to mention three in particular: The archers fire projectiles like the Soleginaire in AE. The fire archers have arrows that burn on the ground and will damage you if you walk on them, and the captain archers have exploding arrows that bounce, wait for a second, and then explode. This requires you to keep track of the ground during frantic fire-fights so that you don't step on/near them and get hurt, which wavers between healthy challenge and downright annoying. The fact that they show up in groups and are often placed FAR away from the player only makes them more annoying. Again, I'm aware that the Soleginaire acted similarly in AE, but he showed up FAR less often than the archers do in BL. The Disciples are a copy-paste of the Apostles. This is just kind of disappointing, since the rest of the enemy roster is totally unique. Not the biggest deal, but still. The Knights of the Labyrinth are the worst of the bunch. They carry tower-shields which reflect your projectiles back at you. You either have to run round them and punch them to death, wait for them to attack and shoot their feat with pin-point accuracy, or target the ground behind them with a Celestial Claw shot and let the splash damage kill them. All three ways of destroying them are tedious. Thankfully, their attacks are easy to dodge and they move very slowly, so I just find myself running past them on my second play-through. The most disappointing thing of all about the new enemies, however, is that I didn't notice any special quirks or fun interactions with their attacks like I did with some of the enemies in AE. For example, in AE you have the Lunar Deacon. The Deacon carries a knock-off version of the Whisper's Edge. When he shoots at you, you can shoot back with the Whisper's Edge and if the two projectiles meet mid-air, they will cancel each other out. That stuff is fun! I was hoping to see more of it in BL, but I don't think there is anything like it. Not that I noticed, anyway. There are two new bosses in the game, that I will not spoil, though I will say that on harder difficulties their AI is either easy to exploit or infuriatingly difficult to work around. That is all I will say about them (they have nice character models and animations, though. They feel properly "epic"). WEAPONS BL features the Gauntlets as a replacement for the Axe, and the Void Splitter as a replacement for the Aeturnum. The Void Splitter feels fun. A very solid alternative to the Aeturnum. Where the Aeturnum was like a grenade launcher with a long wind-up for it's attack, the Splitter is an instantaneous projectile attack that deals massive damage. I feel like the way the Splitter selects targets is a bit... "off" sometimes, but otherwise I'm genuinely happy with it. The Gauntlets are a tremendous let-down. It functions IDENTICALLY to the Axe, except it has a button-gimmick attached to it. There are numerous purple buttons throughout the game which require you to equip the gauntlets and punch them in order to activate them. This creates some funny situations where you can, for instance, punch the stone block you are standing on across a room, but the novelty wears off rather quickly. Melee is still the worst way to fight enemies, and there is really no reason why I have to punch some buttons just to bounce myself up a cliff. I should really be able to just walk on top of many of these buttons like the regular blue buttons. When the Gauntlets were first previewed, I thought it was going to function differently in some way since it is a brand new weapon, but sadly that is not the case. CONCLUSION After 4 years I was expecting a bit more. Were it not for the various, niggling annoyances that jump up to bother you again and again I would honestly like this DLC a lot more. There really does seem to be a passive-aggressive tone to many of the design decisions, almost like they got sick of the player (but not the game) mid-way through development. I'm not sure. But, again, if you liked AE then for $12 you will probably like this.
• Spazzyphantasm

  Aug 21, 2023

  As someone who adored the main game, this dlc was so much of a let down. The Gauntlets and the Voidsplitter are not great replacements. The Melee option feels slightly worse to use and the game frequently forces you to switch to it to push special interactables and buttons. I understand the special interactables as punching a statue makes sense but the jump pads and buttons are just a bit of a chore. They break up the flow of normal exploration. The Voidsplitter on the other hand is mostly inoffensive. It is weaker than the original 7th slot weapon but it is visually interesting at least. I do feel that designing an enemy to mostly be dealt with using this weapon was a little much though. The big shield fellas have impeccable tracking to block your attacks so the game is very much encouraging you to use that purple mana. Which the game keeps you flushed with, killing the difficulty of most encounters as you can just hit the purple win button. I found myself avoiding the weapon so I could have a bit more fun actually doing the fights. The art design of the levels also left me quite puzzled. This Black Labyrinth was neither black or labyrinthine. Well snark aside I mean the levels in the pack seemed disconnected. There was very little theming that made me believe this was a singular realm or location. Many of the levels were visually dense, but I found myself not really finding the architecture interesting. There were 2 or 3 places in pack where I thought "Wow this place looks cool" in the main game that was the entire experience. The music even suffers from this. I never heard any stand out tracks. The music seemed to just be there as well, background noise. The encounter design also suffered quite a downgrade. Many of the fights were a hallway or bridge with enemies in front of you. These enemies were so far away they never really pose much of a threat either, as you can widdle down their numbers quickly and easily with how flushed with ammo you are. There was not a single fight where I could not just spam the Celestial Claw at a group of fodder enemies so I could then take care of the big guys. I took a year or more long break from this game and I jumped in on Hard to see if I could handle it. I did and it was trivial. Which bummed me out. They also included there favorite new trick in this dlc. Opening a door with enemies in your face that get a cheap shot in on you. A beginners trap you see. Something you do that get the player on the first play through of a level. This is frequent a bit of a annoyance but it not really that big of a deal. Just sloppy level design that I didn't expect. My last knock against this game it the attitude of the messages on the walls. They are a bit much. They are written with this air of general indifference towards the player. "Oh you're playing my game, ok whatever man."This is how it feels reading them. Two are pretty stand out. One is a so called hit for a puzzle "If you paid attention this puzzle will be easy". "The level is pretty dense with objects what should I be remembering" Is what I thought. I looked around for a bit and went into the puzzle room. Its a bunch of buttons all around you on the walls. They have the symbols on them. You have to push three that match the orientation of all the symbols you've see in the level. Perhaps instead they could have went with a hint like this. "In the room ahead a burning failure awaits those who do not know the Labyrinth's symbol" The final straw that left a bad taste in my mouth was a drawing on the wall in an out of the way area that if you approach it it say "Looks like a Dumbass' or something along that line. There were other meme messages on the walls as well and they just take you out of the game. I'm not playing as an alien warrior in a mystical realm. I'm a doofus in a memey map pack shooting grape flavored magic at pixel monsters. Also I didn't really like the final boss, it was pretty badly designed. 6.5/10 I don't recommend. Almost 3 years of waiting for a disappointment woooo. This is the first time New Blood made a bad experience in my eyes. I hope this is not the beginning of a trend.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 20, 2023

  Worth the price, it's pretty much more Amid Evil with new enemies, 9 beautiful well-sized levels, 2 new satisfying weapons, and an awesome feeling final encounter.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 20, 2023

  absolute heat
• Sulbolso

  Aug 22, 2023

  Punching evil monsters can cure your anger issues
• vifon

  Aug 20, 2023

  More of the same, in the best way possible. The new maps are easily the best Amid Evil has to offer, and to put it into perspective, the base game maps were already amazing. I can see why it took so long to finish: the maps are just so detailed and polished I cannot immediately think of another game with comparable ones. "The Wall", "The Hole" and "The Chamber" are one of the best maps I have ever seen. The uneasy eldritch atmosphere was at times reaching the Vomitoreum levels (another great game) and it is one of the best recommendations I can give in terms of the atmosphere. The music is obviously great, as usual with Andrew Hulshult being involved. I have loved every minute of the expansion. It took me only about 5 hours to finish, but it was so intense I don't mind it being relatively short. I'm sure I'll replay it a plenty of times too. If you have even remotely enjoyed the base Amid Evil game, The Black Labyrinth is a must-buy.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 23, 2023

  Four years after the main game of Amid Evil came out, the promised prequel has finally been released into the atmosphere and it's pretty damm good. The art style, the weapons, the structures, the level design, the music, everything. Everything feels consistent with the main game and on the same level of quality but new, fresh and exciting. There are only three bossfights this time (one is secret), but the final boss fight caught me by surprise. To say it was a spectacle and something to behold would be an understatement. I really enjoyed my time with this dlc and the final boss was a great cherry on top. However, there is a question lingering in the back of my mind. Is the dlc really that good that it justifies being so short and at the same time being this close to the main game price-wise? I am going to be honest and say this: If you really liked the main game, this dlc is just more and just as good, it's a no-brainer and therefore you should get it. If however you felt like the main game was just okay or a bit... meh, maybe wait for a sale or skip on this one. It is not mandatory and even though it's a prequel, the main game doesn't suffer as a result of you not playing the dlc.
• Evogdala

  Aug 21, 2023

  + The levels looks amazing. There are many of them and they are quite long. The music is really awesome. Andrew Hulshult did a great job. I wish there were more games with heroic music like this, because i'm tired of doom-like hell metal in boomer-shooters. Slightly harder than original game, which lacks of challenge. +/- The gauntlets and the scythe are cool, don't get me wrong, i'd prefer the scythe over the bfg ribbon thing and meaty punches impact over the axe slash BUT i think there is no need in 7th weapon at all, they are too powerful and just gauntlets is not enough. I would like to see more unique weapons like a throwable shield or something. - About shields. The shield enemies are meh, their shield is big and covers them and you can damage only their bodies but they have shit-ass tracking so you need to dance with them, or just use broken 7th weapon slot. The secret boss. I probably didn't get the meme, but the arena and fight itself are terrible, which is shame because the level opening is coolest. In general I received very positive emotions. I hope there will be Amid Evil 2.
• gamedeal user

  Aug 21, 2023

  If Amid Evil's main campaign is a perfectly grilled med-rare New York strip steak, then Black Labyrinth is the neat pour of Laphroaig 10 year scotch that you should be enjoying with it. It's perfection.
• Landmine

  Aug 23, 2023

  I missed this game, it's probably one of my, if not my favorite shooter in my whole library as of currently. I am still in the process of playing the DLC but it's already more stunning visuals, more enemy variety and a tad more gimmicks on an already solid game. The best thing that this DLC brought is how much harder it is over the base game, evil difficulty now feels actually evil and with less mana overall it really puts you on edge more often than the base campaign, and allows more instances of ammo (or well, mana) managment and how to approach your objective.... if you don't save every 5 seconds which i highly recommend that you don't and instead lower the difficulty a bit, cuz this DLC will kick your a**.