Go All Out! (Post-Anniversary Update)
***I would like to give special thanks to my brother yet again for enduring the proofing of these reviews. Much love to you as always.
***Changes made preceding and during the Anniversary Update released early April 2019 are outlined below each individual topic. The title is still in Early Access, but significant updates have drastically altered this title to meld it into a capable release.
Go All Out! (GAO!) is an Early Access two-dimensional fighting game developed by Blue Sunset Games. As with the Early Access model, GAO! currently features a limited selection of game modes, characters, and unlockable assets such as skins and costumes. This review will be updated periodically to reflect the ongoing critique of the product. I should also note that I received this title from Steam Curator Connect, but have no personal or business ties to the parent company or product.
Here are a few reasons to go all in in GAO!:
Characters - There are three in-game personalities which the player can select at this time of writing: Graphite the stone golem, Erica the staff-wielder, and Vaako the kobold-esque projectile launcher. Each has their own general, charged, and special attacks, as well as varying statistical values pertaining to health, damage, and blocking. Vaako and Graphite are playable from the outset, but Erica can be unlocked by utilizing in-game points obtained through continued play. The player may also ‘level-up’ these individual characters, unlocking multiple skins with continued use. I commend the Blue Sunset Games team for reaching out to the community for character ideas as I, myself, have given idea contributions with almost immediate response from the developers.
/// Anniversary Update - Since its inception, the roster for GAO! has more than doubled, including the magical incarnation duo of Paco and Cool, special operative Cole Black from Get Even, the staple dinosaur from Raptors Online, the brutal mauler in Breakbone from Polish comic series Kayko and Kokosh, and most recently in the original assassin character Yakshi. The initial release characters have since been balanced alongside the newcomers, relaying a satisfaction when controlling each individual. I have confidence that the prospected personas to come will retain the former playability and equity found in their established colleagues. Computer-controlled enemies have also become much more competent in battle, and additional effects such as explosions have been expanded to further increase the visual impact of various attacks. Animations are much crisper and defined as well, further accentuating the title’s battle flow.
Game Modes - As with similar titles, Go All Out! currently possesses a Training mode in which players may practice the fighters’ maneuvers and styles against a static opponent.
/// Metal is tested against computer-controlled or player adversaries in Versus mode. Up to four participants can be added to each match, split into teams or contending in free-for-all brawls. Options may be adjusted for the clashes, including lives stock, time limit, item inclusion, and damage modifiers.
/// In Arcade mode, you select a combatant and engage in six successive battles-each more difficult than the last; the final battle culminates into a three-on-one struggle, with the threat of loss resulting in restarting the campaign. Upon completion, you receive a large number of points which may be utilized to purchased items listed in the segment below.
/// Anniversary Update - The team at Blue Sunset Games has greatly expanded on its content, creating a final boss in Calamity for Arcade Mode as well as a more resilient variation in the Go All Out linear fight mode via Primordial Calamity; both adversaries pose a significant challenge that I found to be gratifying upon their vanquishing. Ball Mayhem was introduced as a mini-game feature, and Survival confirms the player’s skills by opposing them to subsequent fights with meager health regeneration. Eight players may now contend in a single match within the aptly-named Eight-Player Battle mode, which emits frantic energy with each play. Visual staggering has also been greatly reduced to increase performance on devices, which is something I am personally attentive to considering accessibility tends to be secondary to display for some developers.
Unlockables - Featured within this game is additional content that can be secured by utilizing GAO Points-currently earned exclusively through playing matches and clearing Arcade mode. There is one fighter, a single battle stage, and three color patterns per character that may be purchased. Upcoming content appears to include Finishers, Taunts, Costumes, Win Poses, and Lose Poses, according to the “Game Store” option on the main menu.
/// Anniversary Update - With the introduction of new characters breeds the inception of inspired stages as well as the visual alteration of equipment for said entities, what are termed ‘in-game emoticons,’ and a plethora of updates to the previously mentioned features. The current allotment of characters have been unlocked for utilization, barring the need to spend GAO Points on them and focusing instead on accessing additional cosmetic options; this promotes intrigue rather than limitation on gameplay.
TL:DR – I must stress again that this review and subsequent title are in Early Access on Steam, and therefore have their fair share of bugs that need to be patched out such as a thrown attack item being tossed behind the opponent if they stand too close to the lobber; gameplay smoothing is also require and expected. The only downside I see to the gameplay at this current time is that attacks do feel a bit glidey, and damage relation is really only seen by the depletion of the enemy’s health meter-there is not much knock-back or other indication of attacks connecting. Content is fairly bare at this moment when it comes to selection, but the premise is quite desirable and promising from my perspective. I cannot say that I endorse this game, but optimistically look forward to additional content for Go All Out! such as characters, game modes, and customization options.
/// Anniversary Update - Go All Out!-and the respective team behind it-has advanced impressively over this past year, meriting not only the initial review but this updated retrospective. I personally see much in store for this title, as it has already emerged from a fairly vacant shell into a competent two-dimensional fighting game with much more promise I am confident will be backed. Thanks for reading.
Do you feel this review helped in any way? Feel free to visit my Curator Page at Spearpoint Reviews.
Originally posted on April 10, 2019
***Changes made preceding and during the Anniversary Update released early April 2019 are outlined below each individual topic. The title is still in Early Access, but significant updates have drastically altered this title to meld it into a capable release.
Go All Out! (GAO!) is an Early Access two-dimensional fighting game developed by Blue Sunset Games. As with the Early Access model, GAO! currently features a limited selection of game modes, characters, and unlockable assets such as skins and costumes. This review will be updated periodically to reflect the ongoing critique of the product. I should also note that I received this title from Steam Curator Connect, but have no personal or business ties to the parent company or product.
Here are a few reasons to go all in in GAO!:
Characters - There are three in-game personalities which the player can select at this time of writing: Graphite the stone golem, Erica the staff-wielder, and Vaako the kobold-esque projectile launcher. Each has their own general, charged, and special attacks, as well as varying statistical values pertaining to health, damage, and blocking. Vaako and Graphite are playable from the outset, but Erica can be unlocked by utilizing in-game points obtained through continued play. The player may also ‘level-up’ these individual characters, unlocking multiple skins with continued use. I commend the Blue Sunset Games team for reaching out to the community for character ideas as I, myself, have given idea contributions with almost immediate response from the developers.
/// Anniversary Update - Since its inception, the roster for GAO! has more than doubled, including the magical incarnation duo of Paco and Cool, special operative Cole Black from Get Even, the staple dinosaur from Raptors Online, the brutal mauler in Breakbone from Polish comic series Kayko and Kokosh, and most recently in the original assassin character Yakshi. The initial release characters have since been balanced alongside the newcomers, relaying a satisfaction when controlling each individual. I have confidence that the prospected personas to come will retain the former playability and equity found in their established colleagues. Computer-controlled enemies have also become much more competent in battle, and additional effects such as explosions have been expanded to further increase the visual impact of various attacks. Animations are much crisper and defined as well, further accentuating the title’s battle flow.
Game Modes - As with similar titles, Go All Out! currently possesses a Training mode in which players may practice the fighters’ maneuvers and styles against a static opponent.
/// Metal is tested against computer-controlled or player adversaries in Versus mode. Up to four participants can be added to each match, split into teams or contending in free-for-all brawls. Options may be adjusted for the clashes, including lives stock, time limit, item inclusion, and damage modifiers.
/// In Arcade mode, you select a combatant and engage in six successive battles-each more difficult than the last; the final battle culminates into a three-on-one struggle, with the threat of loss resulting in restarting the campaign. Upon completion, you receive a large number of points which may be utilized to purchased items listed in the segment below.
/// Anniversary Update - The team at Blue Sunset Games has greatly expanded on its content, creating a final boss in Calamity for Arcade Mode as well as a more resilient variation in the Go All Out linear fight mode via Primordial Calamity; both adversaries pose a significant challenge that I found to be gratifying upon their vanquishing. Ball Mayhem was introduced as a mini-game feature, and Survival confirms the player’s skills by opposing them to subsequent fights with meager health regeneration. Eight players may now contend in a single match within the aptly-named Eight-Player Battle mode, which emits frantic energy with each play. Visual staggering has also been greatly reduced to increase performance on devices, which is something I am personally attentive to considering accessibility tends to be secondary to display for some developers.
Unlockables - Featured within this game is additional content that can be secured by utilizing GAO Points-currently earned exclusively through playing matches and clearing Arcade mode. There is one fighter, a single battle stage, and three color patterns per character that may be purchased. Upcoming content appears to include Finishers, Taunts, Costumes, Win Poses, and Lose Poses, according to the “Game Store” option on the main menu.
/// Anniversary Update - With the introduction of new characters breeds the inception of inspired stages as well as the visual alteration of equipment for said entities, what are termed ‘in-game emoticons,’ and a plethora of updates to the previously mentioned features. The current allotment of characters have been unlocked for utilization, barring the need to spend GAO Points on them and focusing instead on accessing additional cosmetic options; this promotes intrigue rather than limitation on gameplay.
TL:DR – I must stress again that this review and subsequent title are in Early Access on Steam, and therefore have their fair share of bugs that need to be patched out such as a thrown attack item being tossed behind the opponent if they stand too close to the lobber; gameplay smoothing is also require and expected. The only downside I see to the gameplay at this current time is that attacks do feel a bit glidey, and damage relation is really only seen by the depletion of the enemy’s health meter-there is not much knock-back or other indication of attacks connecting. Content is fairly bare at this moment when it comes to selection, but the premise is quite desirable and promising from my perspective. I cannot say that I endorse this game, but optimistically look forward to additional content for Go All Out! such as characters, game modes, and customization options.
/// Anniversary Update - Go All Out!-and the respective team behind it-has advanced impressively over this past year, meriting not only the initial review but this updated retrospective. I personally see much in store for this title, as it has already emerged from a fairly vacant shell into a competent two-dimensional fighting game with much more promise I am confident will be backed. Thanks for reading.
Do you feel this review helped in any way? Feel free to visit my Curator Page at Spearpoint Reviews.
Originally posted on April 10, 2019
Comments
Post a Comment