by Burbie52, HSM team writer

Emo Ray VS. The Intergalactic Teddy Bears, from Heavy Water, is the first game of its kind in Home. No one can dispute that fact, as it is a stand-alone single-player with a disc-based feel to it. It is done as a comic book — another first — and in instantly recognizable colors that will set it apart from other games.

It has also done something a bit different in the rewarding department. They give you an avatar reward at the end of each chapter finish, but the rest you have to actually work for and buy with mod-points earned by playing the game several times as you hone your skills. And this game is not a pushover, either: it has some timed side-quests in it to gain points that are hard to complete, and the game itself is harder than most I’ve played in Home.

I have been reading the forums and found people who don’t like the way the van moves around. It goes into a “god camera” or bird’s-eye view when you leave the street and go into alleys. This is a bit hard to get used to, but I think it was necessary to help you in some of the quests, like the one where you have to find dumpsters and pick up parts for your female friend. The driving does take a bit of getting used to, but once I got the hang of it it was fun to do.

The Alien Teddy Bears have arrived!

I truly can’t understand when people get upset about something and they haven’t really given it a chance. Yes, this game is a bit more difficult to play, yes it is very different from anything in Home so far, but to me that is a good thing, not a negative. I’ve played it several times and beaten all four chapters now, and I think it is a great new addition to Home’s gaming community, albeit a more difficult to play one. The fact that they are going to be giving regular updates to this game and that there are some pretty cool rewards attached to it seems to have been shoved under the rug.

Once you get used to the controls, it becomes a heck of a lot of fun to play. I have been trying to best the timed ones now that I have beaten the core game components, and it isn’t easy. The streets have dead ends, there is a real maze-like quality to them, and even though they provide an arrow to direct you, in many cases it can still become confusing as the small map in the corner doesn’t provide a full map to see. If there was going to be any improvement I think that is where it needs to happen. If there could be an option for a full city map built in it would be good. The way it is now, it is very hard to figure out where you are or how to get to where you need to go, even with the arrows that appear on the map.

The boombox that comes with the game’s purchase has one song, but I added one more for completing the core game. There will be five total by the end of the two volumes and four side quests. This is also a first in Home: never before has music been given as a reward.

Emo Ray and the Porsche Companion reward

The game starts out with you having to rescue your friend and take her back to the garage you run with your dad, Radd and Son. It is also the space that they give you when you purchase the game, and the fact that you get an apartment you can furnish when you purchase the game is also a new concept for Home. So is the fact that it is a perfect duplicate of the public space you have to go to to play the tutorials and free hour of game-play.

Raymond Radd (Emo Ray), our protagonist,  is a singer in a band called the Raging Unicorns; there is a video that appears on your screen when you first enter the apartment which shows him and his bandmates playing at a concert and the intro into the game. The video being there is a bit confusing to people who have never had this happen when they go to a personal space, so I make sure to tell them before they come to hit start and exit the movie player so they can see the space and move about.

The red, black and white theme of the space is a fun one to decorate. I kept mine totally in those colors, and it took some doing to find the right pieces for it. It became another game to me until I got it done. It has sliding doors that separate the bedroom where you spawn and the interior of the loft floor. Surprisingly, I like the space, though I am not a racing fan or car aficionado, and the space is most definitely a change from the others I have purchased. But it is kind of cool to go out your door with friends in tow and tease the alien teddy bears trying to kill you from the other side of the fence.

Large personal space

The lower level of the personal space is where you return and speak to the NPC’s to get quests and information about your next move during the game. It is the launching area for the game when you try to enter the garage; it gives you the option of going to your personal space or the game garage. This is a cool way to get to your gaming experience and adds to bringing the whole thing together.

I am looking forward to what the game has to offer in the upcoming sidequest missions. There are two of them in between the big volumes that are the core game. They are reasonably priced at $2.99 and will add to the depth of the storyline as you fight your way through the ever-increasing hordes of homicidal teddy bears trying to destroy your world. The bears get harder to kill as you progress and level up your weapons and the van’s capabilities. There are some who can blow up when they get near you — and they don’t just toddle toward you, either; they rush quickly when they get within a few yards. Timing is everything in this game.

I hope the Home community will give this game a chance to grow and become a prosperous addition for Heavy Water so that they continue to invest in its future. I like that I can buy the rewards I want and leave the ones I don’t somewhere besides my overflowing storage area in my inventory. In a way, I wish that all games were like that, it would certainly make it more of a challenge if we had to work for and choose our rewards and not just have them appear in our inventories so easily.

I am glad that Heavy Water brought this great new concept to our shores, and I wish them all the best as they continue to invest in our community’s future.

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