august silence is, even though I have limited experience with the genre, the best Metroidvania style game iv’e ever played on or off Flowlab. Technically speaking, even coming from a more experienced developer like me, the game’s an absolute marvel and sets a new standard for the big-releases of Flowlab (Such as Sol or HAKK3R 2). Though this games “Scary” elements are more stylistic than anything, if you love 2D retro shooters, you will certainly love august silence!
+Great main menu (Despite being mostly blank)! Constant movement, good music. Well-done!
+From the minute to see “Unknown lifeform detected. Sending distre-” You know EXACTLY what this game is going to be straight from the get-go. Overall, good jo-
+The aiming system is intuitive, the gun pointing at the mouse is technically impressive and the crosshair looks great (Even if it is somewhat distracting), though having it be transparent or less in-your-face would be nice
+There are so many small details in this game that add up to make an incredibly immersive experience, such as shooting the ground and having the screen shake accordingly, blood splattering as you strike enemies or slashing water and having it actually splash based on range! I love it!
+This game is a master of Flowlab “Show don’t tell”. This game has 0 dialogue (After the intro) and yet it works! You’re just given your toolkit and the game pans out naturally from there. VERY well-done!
+An important thing to remember about this game is that it’s a horror game, and in that regard the game does a fantastic job at easing you into the gameplay. If I had to metaphorically describe it, I’d say while most Flowlab horror games just flood-gate every trick up their sleeve out after a certain point (Ex. The Facility), this game intelligently trickles horror at you as you play
+It’s very obvious this game takes inspiration from the greats of gaming horror, with the (Very necessary) inclusion of ‘Saferooms’, or the slow, ominous tick of the fuel going down for example
-The description for the game is unprofessional, to the say the least…
-Annnndddd after all that praise, we finally found an issue. There’s a room in the game that will suddenly start draining your health when you enter it and nothing you do will stop it. While it’s obvious that the room is there to teach you how dying and respawning works, I’d argue the player should learn that naturally by dying under normal circumstances since… You know, this is a horror game?
-Tiny nitpick, but the game probably should do a little more to explain to you that the water in the ‘Saferooms’ can regenerate your health, perhaps via a sign with a red cross on it?
-I had to stop playing because I got stuck in a room, for some reason phasing through platforms didn’t work for me (Assuming that’s what I was meant to do…)
*Since I never got to complete the game, can someone please explain to me why it’s called “august silence”?
Scores (Scale of 1/5)
Visuals - 5 (Does an incredible job at making the player feel claustrophobic, absolutely well-done!)
Sound - 4.5 (What can I say? Does a fantastic job at setting the tone and is overall well-done!)
Story - 3.5 (Vague, but on purpose)
Controls - 4.5 (Very intuitive!)
Difficulty - 3 (Overall a very relaxed game)
Stability - 4 (Buggy controls, but that’s all)
Final Score: 4.5/5
Incredibly well-made game with incredibly intuitive mechanics and a sexy learning curve. What’s not to love?.. The occasional bug, actually
