No. of Reviews: 15
Review 1
Purchased!
I can only hope that the rest of the series (if it ever comes out) improves upon
this, because this is one helluva lacklustre P'n'C game.
Review 2
Purchased!
Bolt Riley, A Reggae Adventure is a rasta-themed throwback to 90's era
point-and-click adventures, with an intuitive interface, hand-drawn scenery, and
distinctive voice actors.
As an early access game, I was able to play through to the end with
SteamOS/Linux and a Steam Controller. The game is incredibly short with only
Chapter 1, and I can't tell if development is continuing or halted. Still, I'm
giving this a positive review because it's the kind of game I'd enjoy playing if
it ever reaches completion.
Review 3
Purchased!
In full disclosure, I'm a friend of the developer (or at least, I was until I
wrote this review ;) )
That said, I paid for my copy of the game, and pressed "Post review" before he
saw this.
So here's the thing.
Bolt Riley is a bit short, it's a bit rough around the edges, some of the
puzzles are very arbitrary in their solution, and the intro/tutorial is so
annoying it nearly made me quit.
BUT.....
When you get past all that, you encounter a game with a load of character, made
by someone who loves this underserved genre. There were some genuine "Monkey
Island" moments in there for me, albeit "diamond in the rough" moments. The art
style is really cool, and there are some really nice subtle lighting effects in
there.
Am I happy I bought it? Yes.
Would I change it? Yes, and here's how.
Mainly, I'd get lip-syncing in there. It's probably the single biggest
improvement that could be thrown at the game to lift the quality bar
significantly.
The UI could be reworked a bit, but it's not really a deal-breaker.
Some of the puzzles could do with a bit of polishing, and the art assets could
be imported at a higher resolution. But...it's Early Access, so what do you
expect.
I'd strip down the tutorial section, and stop the narrator breaking the fourth
wall.
Finally, I'd make the game longer. The end of the game as stands came way to
quickly, and the teaser trailer for the remainder shows promise of a full-blown
point-n-click adventure that could stand alongside the greats.
Would I recommend it? So this is a tricky one. On the whole, I'd say yes.
Yes, because it made me chuckle.
Yes, because the voice acting was really top notch.
Yes, because the Jamaican angle was really quite unique (and we need more
uniqueness in games).
And yes, because if you love point-n-click adventures, you need to support the
developers still trying to do point-n-click adventures!
But - it seems a bit expensive to me, even though I bought it on sale. I felt a
little......short-changed by the game, and the "Chapter 1" store listing
reinforces this unease. If this is all I get for my money (albeit a more
polished version), I'd say it's overpriced. If I've paid for the full game, and
there's more to come, I'd say it's a steal even at full price!
Should you buy it? Only you can answer that. I can tell you that I did, and I
don't regret it :)
Review 4
Purchased!
A indie point and click adventure about a chill dude in what I assume is 1980's
Jamaica.
I really want to like BR:AR but sadly with the amount of content in Chapter 1 it
is a bit of a strange place for the game to be as it is out paced by demos of it
much older games. It has promise, a wry sense of humour and tongue in cheek
references to the the games that inspired it but due a strange case of studio
issues/development hell the rest of the game is sadly yet to show up and follow
through.
One day I hope Bolt will actually get the chance to find his friends damn bike.
When it is actually finished or has more episodes if you enjoy the concept do
come back. I will. But sadly for the moment I would wait unless you really want
to support the developers.
Review 5
Purchased!
Bolt Riley shows the potential of being an interesting game. However, in its
current form, there is not much of it to play. While I understand the need to
“get to market’ and the pressures of meeting backer expectations, I am not sure
that Adventure Mob did themselves any favors by releasing such a short chapter
with so little content for gamers to purchase. Read my full review
[http://justadventure.com/2013-05-20-21-09-14/4137-bolt-riley-a-reggae-adventure-chapter-1]
at JustAdventure. Grade: C+
Review 6
Purchased!
MY PLAYTHROUGH
https://youtu.be/OveJ29XNTOQ
THE REVIEW
A short and incomplete game. Chapter 2 is never happening.
Review 7
Purchased!
The developer ghosted everyone and never finished the series. The save/load
feature doesn't work. The game couldn't even quit cleanly after I played all the
way through. Also, there are many lines of dialogue text without voice-overs.
Review 8
Purchased!
BOLT RILEY [store.steampowered.com/app/331210/Bolt_Riley_A_Reggae_Adventure/] IS
A WELL-INTENTIONED BUT UNIFORMLY MISGUIDED PROOF OF CONCEPT.
Presumably the developers naively underestimated the effort required to achieve
the level of quality best suited to their vision. Instead, they opted to release
an embarrassingly short and painfully butchered appetizer.
One should be easily inclined to forgive unrefined details in Early Access but
no update in over a year severely burdens the game's credibility.
The game largely plays like any classic 90's point and click adventure, except
for an interestingly unconventional "inspiration" mechanic that lets players
collect and use abstract items such as emotions. Big points here for a truly
original idea.
Very uneven art results in pixelated animations built from very low-resolution
sprites, poorly compressed, and sometimes out of focus or misaligned. Low
quality here is not an aesthetic choice and does not suggest easily replaceable
work in progress.
Item placement, puzzles and the world around them feel very inorganic and
contrived. You'll pick up any random thing without purpose or guidance,
including items never used in this brief chapter.
POSITIVE
* Likable main characters Bolt and Smokey
* Original theme and good general vibe
* Innovative "inspiration" mechanic
* Excellent reggae soundtrack
* Decent-looking environment art
NEGATIVE
* Useless and repetitive dialogues
* Heavy in clichés
* Overdrawn intro tutorial
* Only a handful of backdrops to explore
* Unfocused narrative direction: there is more story in the trailer than the
entire chapter
* Technically unstable with buggy saved games and crashes
* Clumsy-looking characters without lip sync
This game had a lot of potential but releasing it in this rushed state is an
insult to the player. For a much more rewarding experience in a game that shares
some similar vibes, I highly recommend the excellent The Journey Down
[steamcommunity.com/id/ElusiveOne/recommended/220090] series.
Review 9
Purchased!
Very expensive for a game with less than an hour of gameplay. Very promising,
but perhaps it will be worth the cost when there is more than one very short
chapter. I am dissapointed that I paid good money for what is little more than a
demo.
Review 10
Purchased!
I've only started playing but this game shows great promise. nice graphics and
storyline.
Review 11
Purchased!
Should have believed the bad ratings with this game. It is indeed horrible as
heck! Interface is clunky, voice acting is horrendous, subtitles don't mach the
acting, puzzles are stupidly easy, setting doesn't interest one bit and overall
feeling is very very amateurish. Shame for the graphics, 'cause they're in fact
rather nice.
Review 12
Purchased!
Nice game... hoping that chapter 2 will be released soon because chapter one was
quite short! ;)
Review 13
Purchased!
I desperately want to recommend it, but it's just too rough right now, and does
all the annoying things adventure games of old do. Characters and design are
great, but the game itself is just not ready for the spotlight, mon.
Review 14
Purchased!
not bad, it is amusing and has decent voice acting especially the narrator.
Review 15
Purchased!
First I need to say that it is a nice game and I'd love to reccommend it because
of that but - as already stated by lots of players - chapter one is much too
short (even for an episode). Sorry to say that it really has more of a demo
because of this. If you can grab it on sale with its shortness in mind or in
case it will be added to the second chapter I might change my review.
Sadly I don't believe in the late appearence of the second chapter anymore
because there's silence from the developers side.
Really sad, man!
Edit:
Btw. the achivements that are announced on the shopsite are not
included/activated - well, at least not for me!