Against All Odds REVIEW

http://www.playagainstallodds.ca/

Against all odds is a web based game (more specifically a educational game) surrounding the themes and struggles of refugees. It provides us with an insight and a deeper look into their lives. The run from their corrupt and chaotic governments and a society where even taking a wrong turn can mean the difference between freedom and felony.

The game is relatively straight forward allowing the player to go through the game "as themselves" before seeing the outcome. If the outcome is not one that the situation expects in the eyes of a refugee the game will prompt the player to retry.

Things I liked most in the game:

1. The art style of the game
2. The easy menu navigation
3. The instructions on what to do in each scene- easy to follow

Things I didn't like:

1. The controls in one of the scenes were more complicated than they needed to be. Why not just use the arrow keys?

Graphics = 8/10
Music = 5/10
Story = 10/10
Content = 9/10
Controls = 4/10

Overall I recommend this game as it is very educational and can help us as the audience gain more understanding of the world of refugees. It can be hard for us to see past what the media tells us and this game shows us more putting us the players in the shoes of a refugee. We need to be grateful for the peace in our lives, our lives could be way worse.

Paper Prototype

Game Treatment ~A collection of thoughts~

1. Title: Gone Under [temp name]


2. Characters: Protagonist, Spirit like villians/ enemies, a guiding light. 
   Location: A twisted reality, starting at the base of a tree. 
   Challenges: To maneuver around enemies and defeat them proceeding on.
   To motivate the player to carry on with the story, the story will be revealed as the player plays on starting from the scene of the crime/accident. 
   Genre: 2D Platformer
3. Urban kind of scenery, dull colors nothing too bright, potentially some reality defying things/scenery. 
4. The player will play through the levels, being rewarded with more story line and character background. The goal is to cure the protagonist and get medicine for them.
   
   
5. Heart rate of the player controlled characters could increase when nearing the enemies making him slow. Player suffers damage when touching an enemy, enemies are kill able. OR Heart monitor/health deteriorates over time - the player is forced to complete levels as fast as possible before all health runs out. 
   
   
6. Aim: Three levels for project: Game starts off with scene of crash - player needs to make character move along down the road to the next scene. 
   
7. Player will gain information from the guide (a guiding light) towards the start of the game. If full story- Player will be potentially be rewarded with memory fragments every 5 levels to reveal the background of the situation: (That the character is in a coma etc)

Pixel Art Character walk cycle - Gone Under (Game project)

Scene 1- Gone Under (Game project)