The Dink Network

Goblin Wars - Breaking Point

You can walk above this goblin encampment or traverse it on the ground. From the COTPATD project.
August 25th, 2011
v1.00
Score : 6.3 fair
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Skull
Peasant He/Him Finland bloop
A Disembodied Sod 
Castman brings us Goblin Wars - Breaking Point. I must say this D-Mod came out from the dark. Not many people were expecting it, so there weren't many expectations, which this D-Mod could either fill or disappoint in. I haven't played the newer version of the game, but apparently it fixed some bugs. However, I wouldn't know, so this review goes to the original version.

Story:
The storyline follows three main characters throughout the game, who during the famous Goblin War, taking place before the original game, are planning an attack to the Goblin camp, loacted east of the GoodHeart Castle. Through various small missions given to each of them, they manage to fulfill their mission, but an even larger scheme is revealed towards the end, giving an exciting cliffhanger while you wait for the next part.

I must say the story was quite good for such a small, non-hyped D-Mod. Not anything spectacular. The story was deep, but it didn't have an impact on me, but rather I laughed at the scenes which were supposed to be dramatic. For such a small D-Mod, I was also surprised that the D-Mod has a sequel coming out.

Gameplay:
You get to play as each three character, with each of them having different skills and a different task. The game begins sort of old-schoolish, giving a nostalgic feeling to an older Dinker, but to the newer generation it just seems crappy, which, it quite honestly, is. When you move on to the actual mission part of the gameplay, the game brings in several exciting and interesting puzzles. Quite simple, but rarely, if ever, seen in Dink's history before.

However, there are several bugs that give a dark side to this D-Mod. While the obstacles and puzzles you'll face in this D-Mod, there are several glitches to these puzzles, plus there are other glitches that overshadow the good side. There's especially one crucial point where you can go into the wrong place with one of the characters, leading the game to believe you are actually one of the other characters, and you'll end up skipping an entire part of the game.

Map:
The map was built over the original game's map, removing and adding several things. At first I thought it was gonna be "one of those games" when I found out you couldn't enter certain screens even though there was nothing stopping you from going there. It was another thing that gave it that old-schoolish feeling.

I found some of the map very boring, having removed certain things. I also found myself asking "What's the point of this?" while walking across the several screens you have to cross to get to the Goblin camp. Maybe it was to give sort of a view of how the map used to look before the original game, but to me it's just boring.
However, I liked the map when it had added some things. It was excellent in some parts, and really clever, with the different depths and all that.

Graphics:
There really was nothing new to this game when talking about its graphics. The aiming graphics for one of the characters were straight from Lyna's Story, and weren't necessarily bad. However, in the year 2011, having passed fourteen years from Dink's release, you would expect that when someone's aiming with a bow, it shows more than just a colorful arrow. It wasn't too bad, I guess, but I see it kind of a cheap way out. There were a few graphics added into, but nothing too important to mention.

Music:
Music was probably my favorite part of the entire game. Having the music fit into the scene, and also have it fit into the game, is a major accomplishment. Well, it seems to be. It may look easy, but half the D-Mods really don't manage to pull this off, so in my book, it's great to have one that manages to do so.

Good:
The music, the new interesting puzzles and gameplay elements. They are a really important part of this D-Mod, and overally I found them interesting. The story is great, although a little one-dimensional. The mapping is good when put some effort into it.

Bad:
The map was quite horrible when there was no effort put into it, and the gameplay had some serious bugs. Graphics really weren't that horrible but more effort could have been put into them.

Overall:
It was a nice little D-Mod. I am excited about the next one, because it may keep all the good elements of this game, but fix the bad stuff this one had. Overall, this D-Mod was pretty good compared to its sudden appearance without any hype or expectations. Some people may not like it, but I did enjoy it and it kept me interested. I give it 6.3.

Fit for:
This one has some cool new elements in it, and a good story and music on top of it. You may wanna check this out to increase your knowledge of what DinkC can do and to pass your time on a rainy day, all at the same time.