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by Oldmariner
Supreme
League of Patriots
This game was released
in episodic chapters earlier this year. They have been referred to as
Chapters and sometimes Issues. However, you choose to identify them,
there are three in total and all are available on GOG, Steam and
Phoenix, the publisher’s outlet. There may be other sources as well. The
game is complete with all chapters available for download at time of
purchase. It is your traditional point and click style Adventure Game
and available for several computer systems. For this review, my version
was acquired DRM free at GOG.
Nuts and Bolts
The first question is does it work?
I’m happy to report, I found no bugs, glitches or problems with running
the game. I’ll qualify this by saying the claim is made from my
experience running Windows 7. I can’t speak to other versions of
Windows. We start with the interface by looking at where things are and
how they work. Your inventory is managed from two locations. A cursor
sweep on the top right of the screen reveals, from left to right three
icons: Inventory, Tasks and Map, which you select for traveling to other
locations.
Regarding your inventory, it is
housed in two places. The top inventory box reveals items that you can
mix and match to create something usable. However, to use said item you
must sweep the bottom of the screen to what the game calls The Utility
Belt. Your inventory appears here as well. To “Take” or “Examine” an
item you must click on the arrows shown on the screen to move the object
into the center circle. From there, you drag it to where you want to use
it. If you can use the item, it will show in your cursor, but not until
you click on the targeted object. At that point, it will show in the
center of the circle. Click in the center to use the inventory item. The
opening screen offers five choices: New Game, Load Game, Tutorial,
Settings and Quit. Because of the departure from the norm, it is strongly
recommended you view the tutorial to see how inventory items are
manipulated.
A sweep of the upper left of the
screen finds a button that once clicked contains five options: Resume,
Load, Save, Settings and Quit. For the purposes of customer service, I’ll
acknowledge that nothing drives me crazier than spending hours searching
for where they hid the bleeping saves. To help avoid readers that
frustration, you can find saves stored on Windows 7 in this location:
C: /Users/ User name/ App
Data/ Local Low/ No Bull Intentions/ League of Patriots
Saves are in three
folders sorted by chapters. I hope this bit of information is useful. A
final note on how things work. You can access any of the three chapters
without playing through the prior one. Navigation is purely point and
click and you are directing one character in third person view. I did
not discover any method where you can force the characters to run. Kyle
or his alter ego, the Purple Patriot, will take his time moving across
the screen. Kyle’s partner Mel will interact, at Kyle’s request. You do
not have the option of playing more than one character. As Kyle, you
click on Mel and ask for his help. Mel frequently offers smart remarks
without prompting. The backgrounds are cartoon drawn, as are the
characters. At times, movement is blocky but it is not anything beyond
the norm for this type of game. Thankfully, voice acting is fairly good
and I found no grating voices. Background music is passable but it seems
to be constant and does get tiresome. The graphics are quite good and
most items are easy to see. I found none of the pixel hunting required
in darkly lit games. For the most part this is brightly lit and easy to
navigate.
A final note on graphics, the
Settings icon found on the load up screen and Options during game play
allows you to choose from 15 different settings between, 800x600 to
1920x1080. You can shutoff captions which are on by default and you can
play the game windowed mode if you like.
Game
Play-Stories-Plot-Etc.
Phoenix Online
Studios provides this descriptor for Supreme League of Patriots. “Don
your cape and mask and join the Supreme League of Patriots in this
hilarious and irreverent superhero comedy adventure! Poking fun at pop
culture, politics, reality TV and more, join Kyle Keever in his
politically incorrect quest to win a spot on the newest hit reality TV
show, America's Got Superpowers. But when a freak accident turns Kyle's
alter-ego, the Purple Patriot, into his main ego and triggers real
superpowers at the cost of his sanity, Kyle's got a new mission to
become the hero New York deserves, and definitely not the one it wants.
Navigating a twisted world of vigilantes and villains with his sarcastic
sidekick Mel, Kyle's got a lot to learn about the world of superheroes!”
Essentially the above is correct.
We join this pair in the TV studio as Kyle is about to undergo a series
of super hero tests. His sidekick, Mel is there to help him through the
process. His goal is to become famous and secure an acting position.
Then it all goes wrong. During your adventure a psychotic nurse is
encountered. Her preferred treatment is euthanasia for all ailments. The
publishers did warn you this is irreverent and a jab at political
correctness. You will navigate conversations laced with sarcasm and
oddball characters. What puzzles are encountered? You may be happy to
discover, there are no scraps of paper to piece together. No mazes,
sliders or complicated laser fields and there is no way you can get
killed. The bonus is no quick reflex puzzles appear to challenge your
slow mouse reactions.
What do we have for puzzles if
all the hard stuff is omitted? The challenge is conversation. What
serves for puzzles becomes an endless asking of questions hoping someone
will give you a hint. There are a few places where you must combine
inventory items to make a new object. The air conditioner you eventually
find somewhere can’t be turned on by repairing a fuse box or any other
established mechanical puzzle. It is resolved through an endless series
of conversations. You know how this works. Ask to speak with a character
and the conversation tree appears offering a selection of questions.
Sometimes, selecting a question twice produces additional information.
Most often it does not. The selection remains on the tree just the same.
This forces you to repeat a rehashing of speech you don’t want to suffer
through. But you must ask it again just in case because you never know.
At least you can click through it. You can’t afford to miss something
because the only way you can move forward is through conversation. Many
gamers do enjoy constant conversation as a game catalyst but many don’t,
so be warned. The game ends with a mini cliff hanger setting up the
possibility of a season two.
Summary
It should take
about three hours per episode to navigate through this game. It is
dependent upon how quickly you recognize when a character has given you
the answer you need. The hints box is almost a requirement. As a player
who enjoyed the original Longest Journey, and Culpa Innata, conversation
and dialogue do not trouble me. But this one wore thin in a hurry. The
game works well, presenting no glitches. Its graphics are fairly good; as
is the voice acting. I’m sure many players will find this a competent
game. I suspect many will be offended by it. This game is not for
everyone; keep it away from your kids. The seemingly endless voicing of
sexual innuendo and implied off color comments grows old well before the
midpoint of this game.
Minimum
and Recommended System Requirements
The developer,
Phoenix Online Studios, supplied basic data for several systems.
Included here is the complete listing provided by the publisher. In that
way, this review can inform readers no matter what OS they may be using.
Minimum system requirements –
Windows: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
Processor: 2 GHz (Single Core),
Memory: 2 GB RAM, Graphics: Intel HD 5000 or better with 256MB VRAM,
DirectX: Version 9.0c, Hard Drive: 4 GB available space, Sound Card:
DirectX 9.0c compatible,Mouse, Keyboard.
Recommended system requirements
Windows: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
Processor: 2 GHz (Dual
Core), Memory: 4 GB RAM, Graphics: AMD or Nvidia with 512MB VRAM,
DirectX: Version 9.0c, Hard Drive: 4 GB available space, Sound Card:
DirectX 9.0c compatible.
Recommended
system requirements - Mac:
Processor: Intel 2 GHz (Dual Core), Memory: 4 GB RAM, Graphics: AMD or
Nvidia with 512MB VRAM, Hard Drive: 4 GB available space. No minimum
provided for MAC.
Minimum system
requirements - Linux: Ubuntu 14.04, Linux Mint 17
Processor: 2 GHz (Dual
Core) Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: Intel HD 5000 or better with 256MB VRAM
Hard Drive: 4 GB available space, Mouse, Keyboard.
Recommended system
requirements - Linux:
Processor: 2 GHz (Dual
Core), Memory: 4 GB RAM, Graphics: AMD or Nvidia with 512MB VRAM, Hard
Drive: 4 GB available space
Grade:
C
Played on
Windows 7
Home, 64-bit
Intel Core i3 - 2100 CPU @
3.10 GHz
12 GB RAM
Nvidia GeForce GT240 1.25 GB
VRAM
Sound
Blaster Live, sound card
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September 2015
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