TOP DOWN PERSPECTIVE

GAMES
Task 1 - EXAMPLES
Review the list of 31 best top down games on Steam according to Slant.co
https://www.slant.co/topics/6412/~top-down-games-on-steam

Select 3 titles from the list and complete an analysis of them completing the following
questions;

EXAMPLE ONE
1. Game Title
2. Hotline Miami

What genre of game is it? E.g. FPS, Puzzler, dungeon crawler

Top Down Level Based

3.
Screen shot from the game

4. Describe the visual style of the game

 5. (Description on next page)
6. Hotline Miami has a very distinctive look, the bright pinks and blues really fit the tone
of the game, the enemy design is very basic, but you can easily tell the devs focused
on gameplay over realistic graphics

7. What is the review score and typically what do the reviews identify as pros

Most reviews talk about how they really like the fast, flued gameplay, also people
love the soundtrack. Gameplay is the most important part of a game and most
people agree that hotline Miami does that very well.

From having played it myself I would have to agree, dying over and over trying to
beat a level is fun not annoying. (Review Score 97% Positive)

EXAMPLE TWO

1. Game Title
2. Enter The Gungeon

What genre of game is it? E.g. FPS, Puzzler, dungeon crawler

Top Down Rogue Like

3.
Screen shot from the game

(Image on other page)

 4. Describe the visual style of the game
The visual style of Enter The Gungeon is very blocky most of the time, but what I like
the most about it is how tons of enemies/objects are all to do with guns, as you can
see in the image above the enemies on the right are actually bullets. I like this type of
dumb humour in the game.

5. What is the review score and typically what do the reviews identify as pros

Pros: Difficult Game, Enemy variety, lots to do, Tons of weapon variety

Review Score 96% Positive

EXAMPLE THREE

1. Game Title

Factorio
2. What genre of game is it? E.g. FPS, Puzzler, dungeon crawler
Factorio is a top down survival game, its main gameplay loop is automating a factory

3.
Screen shot from the game

4. Describe the visual style of the game

Very sad/depressing look. Very industrial aesthetic

5. What is the review score and typically what do the reviews identify as pros

Most reviews mention how this game very addicting, the constant challenge to find
better ways to automate their factory. Review score 98% Positive
Task 2 – KEY TRAITS

Conduct some research and answer the following questions based on your findings.

1. What games genres are more commonly presented from a top down perspective?
Twin stick shooters, rogue likes

2. What are the most common platforms for top down games? E.g. Mobile, console etc.

Pc, a lot of top down games are indie games and most indie games are on pc

3. What type of developers typically make top down games AAA or Indie and why do
you think that is?

Indie devs make top down games because they are easier to make compared to 3D
games, also with a small team it can be really hard to make big open games.

Task 3 - REVIEW

You are tasked with playing and reviewing 3 top down games examples. Visit the following
sites and select titles that appeal to you.

https://www.kongregate.com/top-down-games
https://itch.io/games/tag-top-down
 Numina

1. Game Title
2. What genre of game is it? E.g. FPS, Puzzler, dungeon crawler

Story Based JRPG

3. URL website link to game

4. https://starlit.itch.io/numina?download

What score out of 10 (10 being fantastic) would you give this game?

3/10

5. What did you like about the game?

6. The art style was nice,

What could be improved about it?

A lot of things, it just threw me into combat with no tutorial, the story feels really
rushed, and I had no clue what was going on. 2 characters died in the first 5
minutes.

1. Game Title
2. SUPERHOTline Miami

What genre of game is it? E.g. FPS, Puzzler, dungeon crawler

Top down twin sick shooter

3. URL website link to game

https://albatr.itch.io/superhotline-miami
4. What score out of 10 (10 being fantastic) would you give this game?

6/10

5. What did you like about the game?

6. It is a good combination of two different games, I liked the levels, the first level was
challenging.

What could be improved about it?

Options for audio, graphics etc, make some gameplay mechanics that are original.
Even though I like the gameplay it is not original

1. Game Title
2. MORFOSI

What genre of game is it? E.g. FPS, Puzzler, dungeon crawler

Survival Horror

3. URL website link to game

https://unidot-studio.itch.io/morfosigame
4. What score out of 10 (10 being fantastic) would you give this game?
8/10

5. What did you like about the game?

6. I liked the art style, the lighting and the story. The story is presented well with
character pictures and easy to read text. I also like how you can skip cutscenes.

The gameplay was strange, I was sneaking around this house for a while avoiding
these weird meatball enemies. I then got an ability to turn into one of the meatball
enemies, I used mana to shapeshift into the meatball enemy. I could destroy
wooden obstacles with the attack the meatball enemy has.

What could be improved about it?

Make the protagonist’s character modal better. And add more music variety.