Music- Negatory or Hunkydory? Results!

You like the title of this post? I bet you do! :D

Along with our other poll, this was to find out about possible features to add to KCG. This time, it's a small music player at the bottom of the page. The majority of players voted "No" to this idea; "No" received 26/50 votes, which is 52% of everybody who voted. The "Yes" to this idea was rejected, with 24/50 votes- 48% of the voting population. A very close call indeed!- Now let's focus on the reasons on why each option is fine and dandy. (Each written as if a person who wanted that option was talking)

We should add music:
Who doesn't want free entertainment? I enjoy music, you enjoy music, we ALL enjoy music! And when reading guides on games?- It's a double whammy of epicness! A little music player, which you don't even HAVE to use can't hurt. I say we give it a shot.

We should NOT add music:
This is a game review and guide site for pete's sake! We shouldn't add the uneccesary to what's already good enough. "Don't try to fix something that's not broken." as my grandpa used to say. Do we really need some more lag and load time to the page? Besides, people can just play their own music rather than choose from a limited list. Focusing on other weekly features rather than music is more vital.

And to finish this poll, I'll remove the little music box at the bottom. It was a close call, but I honestly think we can make do without. That concludes this poll- and brings the birth of another!

Which feature do you think should be added?

There's a provided list to choose from as to which feature you want most. Here's a description of each option in case you don't understand them.

Staff Profile Section: Each member of out writing team will have a brief bio about them, as well as what they do on KCG.
"Hot New Games" Section: An exact copy of the hot games on Kongregate. It will be updated as it is on Kongregate.
A Donation Box: This will allow users to donate to KCG so that we can eventually purchase a domain and host it their, with far less boundaries.
More badges in the previous badges section.: Explains itself. We'll make it 50 previous badges instead of 25.

"Game of the Day" section: Each day a game uploaded that day will be featured here.

A place for fan-art.: If any fans send us fanart from Kongregate games, or about KCG, it'll be mentioned here.
None: If you don't like any of the options, choose this.

Please vote in that poll, and become a follower to KCG! Good night folks!

Ye Olde Protector III Review

Well. You've seen it, I've seen it, the noobs who troll the vast land of Kongregate have seen it. Any idea what I'm talking about? Well, it's a game obviously. Any clue yet? It's a new release, and a strategy one. Oh, and from a very promising series as well. Oh, aha, I see how some may be having trouble, what with all of the strategy games coming from great series being released lately. Go ahead and move over, Desktop DTD Pro and Sonny 2, there's a new great game in town.

Or is it really that great? Does Protector III live up to it's two predecessors and deserve the title "Protector"? Let's delve further into this promising title and dissect it piece by piece.

Let's start with the graphics. At first glance, you'll realize the graphics of Protector III, or any game in the protector series for that matter, are all their own. Using almost sprite-esque graphics, Protector delivers it's visuals with great appeal, albeit bland at (rare) times.

Next, the sound. Remember those annoying sounds from the first two protectors? And the music that just didn't fit the mood of a tower defence game? Yeah, that stuff is back for a third time. If you didn't like the sound in the first two games of this series, you more than likely won't like the third game's. I, personally, found myself muting the game constantly because I just couldn't stand to hear the grating sounds that this game produces.

Next up is the difficulty/gameplay, since I feel they blend together into one topic nicely. The core gameplay is just about the same as the original Protector's, but the rest of the game has evolved quite a bit since then. There was one thing in particular I was HUGELY dissapointed in after opening up Protector III: Remember the great leap between the first and second Protectors?

You know, how Protector 2 evolved the game into a whole new aspect of tower leveling, skill trees, and other things of the like? Lemme make a simile here, for my sake. From most Tower Defence games to Protector was like two huge steps forward. From Protector to the sequel was like three bounds forward.

However, with the third in the trilogy, it appears we aren't budging at all. With all the evolutions Protector 2 added to the series, Protector III doesn't really live up to the expected evolutions we, as fans of the series, wanted. We craved more depth. We craved more features. We craved more concepts. What did undefined give us? They took away the skill tree, added in some grinding, put in "achievements" (which are pretty much the Protector II skill tree, but you have to do things like 'hire X (element) mages/warriors"), and put in "entourage" units. Then, they slapped on the III and sent it off "to market". That will conclude my rant on this topic, thanks for attending. Oh, and about the difficulty, they included grinding. That should give you an idea.

And I suppose I should briefly touch upon the controls as well...As you'll know if you played the first two Protectors, the controls (Mouse) are great.

So, as a final verdict, I'd say that the graphics are pretty good, the controls are great, and the core gameplay is great. However, it was a huge letdown from what you would have been expecting, and really just Protector 2 with one or two small new features. In a word, it's a letdown, and not what I've come to expect from undefined. (I didn't mention the numerous glitches in the game, did I? Yeah, several glitches are present.)

I'll leave you with one final quote, from MrRubix himself:

It’s like a golden rule, guys. Test before you release, research before you sponsor, play before you rate. When you jump the gun on these things, you’re going to run into wasted time, resources, and unplayable games.

And with that, I'll be off.

~PlatinumIce

Crush the Castle Walkthrough

Here are the last 4 levels in Crush the castle.



Video by Tasselfoot.

From the Doctor's Office: Crush The Castle

The rise of civilization is an interesting thing. Humans build castles to the skies and feel safe within their sacred halls. They shut out the rest of the world to live in 'peace'. Little do they know, that giant trebuchets usually get built up nearby castles. Trebuchets with rocks and bombs that smash and maim. Crush The Castle (By the fine folks at ArmorGames) dives right into this age old Trebuchet/Castle rivalry by giving the player command of a fine catapult. The object is simple: "Destroy all Humans, leave no trace!". Simply put, you get to smash and kill. Great fun for the stressed out working man, which I very much am. So let's take a look at the prides and pitfalls of this interesting game.

Gameplay: 4.5/5 What could be more fun than smashing a building with a medieval weapon? You'll get new ammo for your trebuchet as you progress through the game, which keeps things fresh. Though, you don't necessarily need to go back and use the older ammo, though. In most cases, three large boulders or bombs is all you'll need, once you get there. But as the levels go by, you'll be glad you're getting better ammo. Essentially, this game plays like the opposite of Perfect Balance; toppling instead of balancing. Once you get a good hit, the castle will crumble and crush its inhabitants. This makes for great replay value as well. Since shooting is as simple as two mouse clicks, you'll come back for more and more. Another thing I need to nod about is the games "Build your own castle" feature. Make irritating ones for your friends to struggle with. They'll love you for it. Sadly, though, this game didn't save my progress. I had started it before it got badges, so I had to start over.

Visual: 4/5 It's no Renaissance Fair, but it's pretty close. The Royalty look a little fuzzy, to be honest. But that's no big deal; they're soon to be worm food. Castle pieces look like real drift wood and mortar. The pride and joy of this game, however is the trebuchet itself. It looks amazing as it slowly slings boulders at the castle. The background of each castle cycles between different times of day. Sometimes you'll be flinging rocks at night, and other times in the mid morning. There's nothing wrong with how Crush The Castle looks, but everything can be improved upon. I guess it just didn't really seem 5/5 worthy. Can I make that claim or am I poor reviewer if I say that?

Audio: 4/5 Crush the Castle has no music in game. This is for a reason, trust me. You don't want anything masking the blood curtling screams of the people you're smashing. After you pass/fail a level, you get a small fanfare of horns, however. That's always great. This game has a mute feature, so you're free to not listen to the painful cries of the Royalty. Some panflute music would've really made this game shine though. Music sets the mood for any game, when it gets down to it.

Difficulty: 4/5 I had hardly any issues with beating this game. It had to have been one of the easier games I've played on Kong in a long while, really. Some levels can be passed with one good stone hit. Later on though, there are frustrating levels. The castle will fall and completely shroud a human from getting hit. So you'll have to start over again and try to hit the castle in a different way. And when it comes to difficulty of beating the game as a whole, I felt it was too short. I would absolutely love to see a player pack for this game. I'm sure Crush the Castle has lots of sadistic players. So lets see your castles. Bring it on! I'm up for a challenge!

Overall: 4.5/5 I have high standards, really. So when I say a game is good, It's GOOD. Crush the Castle is a great passtime for some points and a card. You'll love flinging boulders and afterward, you can go back and make your own. It's also really fun to play the first few levels with the cluster bomb. So in summation: Play Crush The Castle. Make your friends play Crush The Castle. Love Crush The Castle.

This game is great for you Sonny 2 players in need of a break. Take some time off of Sonny 2 to smack up some kings and queens. You'll love the change of pace.

I'm still needing to finish that game, but look for a review of it soon. It's the sequel to one of the finest games on Kong, so I'll be doing it justice.

~DoctorAutopsy

Kong Score: 4.01/5

Play Crush The Castle

Morningstar Video Walkthrough

Tasselfoot was kind enough to create a video walkthrough on Morningstar, a point-n'-click adventure game. Morningstar is available to play at Bubbblebox.

Guide Writer Positions are Available

With the recent lack of posts on KCG, and our poll results, I'm making 2 new jobs available- Guide writing positions. I updated the job listings on the site with some basic info about the job, but I'll elaborate more here.

Firstly, the guides must be for older games. Now, the term "Older Games" is very vague and can be interpreted in many ways. I define older games as "Games that have been given badges more than a year ago on Kongregate.", so that will be the determining factor as to whether a game is old or not.

The most important requirement is to be a good writer. I expect no less than the basic writing elements in your guides. More is appreciated, as long as it's not overly complicated for the readers or people following the guide.

A format is a definite helper when writing you guides. It's also required. If you look at some of our previously posted guides, you'll see that most (if not ALL) have bold headings and are well organized. Well, we expect something like that- neat and organized with headings and sub-headings.

The final major requirement is that you post a guide at least twice a week. Many people crave for a writers position, and we won't give you the privilege if you're not going to use it often. Sometime we'll let you slide with just one guide, but we'll still remind you that two is required.

As of right now, there are two open positions. I'll keep you all informed when they get taken and who got the jobs. Please apply, either by replying to this post or in this thread on Kongregate. A sample of your work will need to be present in order for your application to be accepted. Thanks for reading, and hopefully. applying.

"Should KCG create guides for older games?" Poll Results

Our recent poll asked if KCG should start created guides for older games, and the results are in! According to poll participants, 88% (145/163) want us to create the guides, and 12% (18/163) do not want us to. I'll discuss (What I think are) the reasons as to why you all picked what you did.

We Should Create Older Game Guides:
With the rise of gaming sites, including features exactly like or similar to those on KCG, the extra edge is needed to keep your site above the rest. Many sites have also been around longer than KCG, meaning that they have guides for older games- something we don't have. In order to fill in those holes, we should match our competition with equally as good or greater features that them. Creating guides for older games is the first step.

We Should NOT Create Older Game Guides:
KCG is already lacking with recent updates on the badges and challenges, so worrying about things from the past will only drag us even more. Most users already go to other sites for olders guides, and including them here will only take away from our posts on recent games. The best option is to focus on the present, and not worry about the past.

Which ever you felt was the stronger argument is your own buisness, but KCG will probably try to get an occasional older game guide out from time to time. I'll work on making jobs availuable for the position of creating guides for older games- in the mean time, vote in our poll "Should KCG have music?". Should KCG provide its users with modern day hit music- or should we remain in our state of silence, users relying on their own music? Express your opinion and be sure to vote, as that's a major poll.

Thanks for reading and voting in our polls!

Points Guide: Death Vegas

Within hours of posting my review of Death Vegas, I offered to write a points guide as well. Death Vegas has 80 points total, two of which are hard badges. I'll focus mainly on those, but I'll offer some tips and tricks to being an over-achiever for the medium and easy badges.

Hit Me! Badge: Score 21 hits in Target Practice Mode

Ah, now I get it. This badge is called "Hit Me!" becuase it's about Black Jack. And Vegas, and punching... You guys sure are clever.

Load up this training mode and play as someone who can dish out a lot of moves fast ( Westone, Zhong, or Joshua) and attack Helmut with the move that corresponds to the target on him. High for when it's on his head, mid for his gut, and low for the legs. He'll block everything else. Oddly enough, you can go into Hyper Mode if you'd like. You'll attack faster, but you'll have to blindly make a combo, hoping you'll hit. I'd advise against that.

C-C-C-Combo Breaker Badge: Successfully block 25 attacks in hyper defense training mode.

Rember that game Simon? Where you'd have to memorize the orders in which the colours flashed else the game would mock you with its loud buzzer? That's what were doing here for 15 points. Let personal preference dictate which character you choose; They all block equally well. Personally, I chose Westone, because it's fun to watch him fight himself. Memorize his combos, and block as best you can. Each time you block, however, Westone will get a bonus star, allowing more hits per combo. This is not a good thing. If you can pull off a perfect block, enter Hyper Mode with him. This may defeat the purpose of training, but you'll be able to get revenge (With a reward of him losing one star). Do NOT kill Westone though. It will end the training. If his combos get too long, fight back just once. It's a great tip that makes this badge a cinch.

High-Roller Badge: Deal 30 damage in Three-Hit Training mode.

This is, by far, Death Vegas's hardest badge. Clearing the story is really more an endurance feat. I mentioned in my review to use a character with a counterattack. Duff, Westone, and Lourdes are the characters with counterattacks, but if you feel comfortable with your favourite character, use them if you'd like. Joshua is your opponent, so you won't have to worry about his specials hurting you. Just focus on blocking first and foremost. His running attack is a mid attack, so you'll be holding down your left key a lot. After you block his attacks for a bit, you'll earn stars. When you have max, enter hyper mode and let him have it. Joshua plays like a level 10 difficulty; your combo will only hit with the last attack usually and he'll try and hit you the second it's over. Be quick on dashing backwards after your combo, and you'll be fine. When Joshua enters hyper mode, don't try to take him on. Just block his combo, and you'll have more stars for your own combo afterward. Use counterattacks to your advantage. Duff's is mid, Westone's is low, and Lourdes' is high.

Another quick note: If you're playing as a character with a slow, high damagaing move (Helmut's Haymaker, Westone's Tazer, or Onward's Pistol Whip), back away from Joshua to use it. More often than not, he'll try taunting you, which only takes away one star. If you can land a big hit, go for it. This is probably why I think Westone is the best choice for this. Use his counter attack for some extra damage. You'll have Joshua saying "Don't Taze me, Bro" in no time.

Full House Badge: Complete all 8 Story Chapters

Honestly, this is very simple Hard badge. Since the game offers a difficulty setting, you can put the computer level on 0 and breeze right through the story, earning a cool 30 points. I, however, slapped the difficulty on 8 and gutted my way through each chapter. So, instead of going over each painstaking moment, I'll give you a few tricks about each character so as to help. Otherwise, 0 difficulty will get you there without thinking.

Joshua: Taunting is there for a reason. Use it. Back away from your opponent and yell "Come on!" for a bonus star. Then let em have it when it comes to combo time. Use your running attack often. It does the most damage.

Buck: Lassooing opponents can be fun, but more often than not, you'll be open for an attack as soon as they get free. Use it more to stop Helmut's Haymaker attack. Be careful when fighting Lourdes. Her counterattack is an upper, and so is your running attack.

Duff: Duff has two great specials: A middle counterattack, and the quick, humiliating Tea Bag. This will be your first match against Onward, so be sure to use both these specials to your advantage. Get good with Duff, and anyone you play against will hate you.

Helmut: Slow, but powerful, Helmut has one of the best specials in the game: Drink. Back off after your opponent is hit, and take a swig. You can instantly block out of it too, so if you're in trouble, press out to block. Try to get a good haymaker hit in too. Especially against Onward. It does the most damage in the whole game. Ich Bin Ein Victor!

Zhong: Zip is worthless except for when Helmut backs off to drink. Stick with your basic moves, but that quick lower attack isn't bad. Careful against Westone as he'll try to counter it.

Westone: Probably the best story line in the game. You'll be able to fight well as Westone by now, most likey if you used him for the other badges. He moves a bit faster than other characters, so use that to your advantage. Back off for a good taser hit if you can.

Lourdes: Double slap is great. Two quick hits is better than one, so I found myself using it a lot. If you can, counter Onward's Pistol Whip attack. That'll really hurt him.

Onward/Dante: Possibly the two most fun characters in the game. It'll be a breeze to beat this chapter, since they have Pistol Whip/Cane Thrust. The Rib Breaker move is awesome if you can get it in. Just be careful when you do. You'll be an easy target if they block.

Hopefullly, that should help you out on getting those 80 points. Game reviewing will always be my forte, but keep an eye out for any more points guides I do. Good luck, and remember... *Sigh*

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

~DoctorAutopsy