Quick Look: Karmaflow: The Rock Opera Videogame

For those about to Quick Look, I salute you.

"Are they going to sing everything in this game?"

It would be a fairly poor opera if they didn't.

Lincoln Park makes an unexpected foray into video games.

INFUSE

INFUSE

INFUSE

Edit: I wish this was more Meatloaf and less Evanescence

I sort of like the idea behind this.

feels like dark serious spyro with a "rock" bent.

edit: of course dan had to throw out some more declarative statements. can you leave music alone dan. please? not all music has to be something that would be played in a bar

I'm not sure why they seem so down on this ... it seems really pretty and sort of interesting.

[edit:] geeze, if every artist followed Dan's advice music would be a whole lot more boring.

I'm guessing if you tried to explain to Dan that those songs about "space and demons" can have metaphors for personal experiences, he'd tell you that "you shouldn't need to do work to know what a song's about. Something something book report about an album."

This is actually a pretty fun game, but I didn't get into it until the end of the first level, where it just goes all out crazy - and actually starts to have some good music.

Pretty disappointed in this QL. I'd liked to have seen the results of beating that boss, but they were too involved in their music discussion to remember tutorial lessons from twenty minutes prior.

That being said, I feel that the developers should re-evaluate what they consider to be a rock opera; a few seconds of occasional singing what would otherwise be narrated doesn't really count.

EDIT: After reading further into the comment thread, and checking out linked videos of the game, it turns out the game does get much closer to it's subtitle than I originally thought. Maybe it was just on the other side of that first boss battle.

Eh, doesn't look very good to me.

I picked this up in a bundle someplace. Weird as fuck

Is this like most rock Operas where they get 1000000% better when on acid?

Alissa White-Gluz as that boss thing was...not great. I say this as someone who thought that Arch Enemy album was alright to good.

Might check this out on sale though just to see what other people are in there that I recognize.

I'm kind of surprised Dan doesn't like Pink Floyd

@2headedninja: Dans advice is that everything should sound like Skynyrd or similar 80'-90's Rock. I mean I loved Queen but you gotta evolve with the times and learn to enjoy new music.

Is this like Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure? Because that game is cute

Dan's thoughts on music make my brain hurt.

Drew had the puzzle all figured out on that boss, but was too busy talking with Dan to pay attention and finish it :(

Ouch, this game seems like some major wasted potential. The vocals are okay for what they are, but it's way too fake-Evanescence-y. (a band I could never stand after discovering Within Temptation and the like) And the Cookie Monster growls by the boss... woof. Sounded like a 16 year old. Also, singing tutorials should only be done for comedic effect. It's way too silly by nature to be taken seriously.

I like the art style, though.

Side note: I love Dan, but I could never talk music with him, haha. I enjoy classic rock as well, certainly, but I'd go nuts in a world where every band followed his "three pillars".

Newsflash - Bowie doesn't have different coloured eyes. He has a condition that causes unequal pupil sizes.

Dan needs to just stop having opinions. Disappointed this game doesn't look good at all too. :/

this seems stupid. the music sucks too. power/gothic/symphonic metal bullshit.

made me want to replay brutal legend, which has actual good metal like black sabbath and running wild and emperor in it tho

Here's what I imagine went down during this QL:

Drew tried to focus on the game but his mind was clouded by Dan's absurd views on music and Karma which, despite what he described not believing in, was exactly what he then said he believed in. Those contradictory views broke Drew's detail focused mind so badly that it caused him to purposefully mess up the boss fight at the end by taking energy away from where it was needed (to unlock the item bound in ice) and instead just fly around aimlessly until he needed a nap to recuperate.

Is it what really happened? I don't know, but it's a better story than this one: Dan didn't like the game, rambled about his views on rock and talked over the sections of the game that actually sang the music he was complaining about being absent to begin with. I rarely complain about a game getting a bad showing on this site but holy hell did this one not get a fair shot.

Or maybe Drew didn't like it either, which he said at about 13:30 in. Also, this music is closer to something like Evanescence than "rock opera", so the game fails in that department for me.

Also, "karma" is a lot more than just "if you do good things good things will happen to you", especially in Buddhism.

Sounds to my like Dan is a big T. Swizzle fan ;)

I've never really been interested in the lyrics of a song, I'm there for the music part.

That said, this seems more like bad symphonic metal than rock to me. The idea behind this doesn't seem so bad, but this particular game doesn't do a good job of showcasing it. A lot of it looks bland, and what doesn't look bland looks poorly designed. That bit at the end where Drew was wandering around, figuring out where to jump? Yeah, that looked like it required a little too much aggravating precision for something so early in the game.

Also, yeah, Dan, come on. There's a lot going for singing about something that's simple and down to Earth, but it would be pretty boring if every song were like that. I mean, what if every video game tried to anchor itself in reality as much as possible? We wouldn't have games like FFX or Mass Effect.

I listened to Hollywood Nights way too many times in GTA V and now every time someone mentions it, the song just starts playing in my head. Now I've gotta go listen to it.

I am aware of that. Him saying that doesn't change how negative everything was now does it?

Karma coma...

@neozeon: What do you mean?

Man, they seem far too down on this given they never even get past the tutorial. Also Drew seems pretty bad at picking up on basic video game cues,

I now this game sucks and all but please put 2 things in the horn.. you had it

@amyggen: I just mean that it seemed like an all-around dismissive quick look. Not saying they're wrong for not loving it immediately or something, but that was like a train wreck to watch. Honestly seemed like they couldn't care less about what they were showing and just went on talking about anything besides the game itself.

Not trying to be all combative, sorry, just felt like a very harsh QL to me.

I don't think I can handle a QL where Dan may be talking about music the whole time. Maybe I'll watch it with the sound off.

Dan has a fairly boring taste in music .

@neozeon: Ah, I see. Yeah, didn't seem like it grabbed them at all. I can't comment on the gameplay, but the music seemed disappointing to me. Might get better later in the game, but what's presented here isn't close to being rock opera, at least by my definition.

The game doesn't look like my kind of thing at all, interesting though to watch Drew completely ignore what the game was telling him when trying to defeat that boss.

dan likes thin lizzy tho, who are good.

@amyggen: No doubt about that. I doubt most rock operas lack music for the first half! Seemed like it had potential though. Maybe add it my wishlist anyway see where a sale takes me

Skynyrd's plane crash was in 1977. Most of my music is from the 60s or 70s.

It kills me when you guys do quick looks before you doing your homework on the game. It feels like gross misrepresentation to me.

@neozeon: I understand what you're saying, but the game does itself no favors by starting out with this mellow first level that instantly puts everyone off. Look at the above video, THAT is how you start a rock opera.

Goddamn it Dan

That has always been like over 50% of QLs! QLs pretty much started as a way to do both first impressions and more informed looks of games, and have been that way ever since.

@shinboy630: You can have a look on http://karmaflowgame.com/cast.html!

Whether the game is worth it though...

The game just does a very poor job of what needs to be done to advance to the next zone. And it doesn't help when everything is draped in a purple fog that camouflages what needs to be filled with karma. And going for a minimal UI can help immersion, but that limits how much information the player can get.

There's just not a lot to like about this game beyond the concept.

@pudge: I know what you mean, but I was expecting a slow build for some reason and it delivered that. I will agree though that calling it a rock opera and then doing slow tutorials at the beginning didn't do them many favors.

@gaff: UI seemed fine to me honestly. It showed what energy you had available and flashed a number to show what was needed to activate what you were near. I think the concept itself just endeared itself to me I guess. I will say that Drew just kind of seemed to be jumping for the hell of it at points though, whether the light was on nearby to help or not.

Epica (the 'Evanescence rip-off') is far better than this game gives them credit for. That lady can sing purty.

So apparently the entire Dutch metal scene has contributed to this game. Weird.