Mutation Phase - This Game Has It All... Sort Of (DTV)

[@PlanetKhaos]

You know, this may be obviously poor, but I reckon with a few more years of experience the devs might be able to do some better stuff. I feel that's the biggest thing that sets this apart from all the other crap. There's a drive to make something good here, just not the ability to make it happen yet.

[@plasmaoctopus1728]

still better than hunt the freeman that's for sure.

[@SketchBookShortFilms]

This game, unlike a lot of the toss on Steam Direct, actually feels like someone was *trying* to make a game. It still doesn't deserve to be sold on Steam, of course, but it feels like there was at least some vision behind this one. Like the person making it just didn't have the resources or experience to make it all work, y'know?

[@ouroldhouse3674]

Pretty much.

[@kieransaul2711]

Yeah, if I had seen this as a kid's project back in highschool I would have been fucking impressed. Anything anybody made approximating a game back then was worthy of praise.

[@FuugaNatsu]

Yeah, it genuinely seems like someone put in some actual fucking EFFORT for once. Hell, if you refined it a bit it could possibly be used as a sales pitch to get funding to make the actual game. You know, like "Okay, imagine this, but with financial backing" - I don't know if it would've worked, but I actually could see that building upon this as a basis you could have an at least semi-decent game out of it. ... it's actually kind of sad that we're at a point where "they actually fucking tried" that results in this is more note- and praiseworthy than some "triple-a" games.

[@DrakeBarrow]

Yeah, this isn't bad at all. I mean, I wouldn't want to pay money for it, but as a free download off Itch.io or something it'd be alright. It's amateur work, not incompetent.

[@grindorblackout1986]

This developer actually tried. The game still looks bad, but I definitely give it marks for putting in some honest effort.

[@Zack_Wester]

feels like a 4 month school project. where you are told you need to make something good luck doing that in 4 month whit a new engine your never used before.

[@DrWhite]

But, by Jove, did they try! Easily give it B+ for the attempt alone.

[@JustaGuy_Gaming]

I felt this was made by some one who has aspirations of being a game designer, knew how to make a game and generally tried. That said they were not a programmer and had to make do with what the could figure out of the programs they were using to do it for them. All that said it looks more or less like a game from the 90's, I mean Duke Nukem or Doom wasn't much better tbh when they first came out. They had UN-winable situations as well if you wasted too much ammo or health packs early on.

[@lamezorlord]

@Justa Guy - I cant speak about DN, but I cant think of a single time Doom presented an unwinnable situation. Introduction to new enemy types was usually in controlled environments with plenty of ammo and health around. Bosses had literal rooms of shit to pick up beforehand so that you were prepared to face them, including ammo and health in the arenas you fought them. Thats not mentioning that you could more or less beat any enemy with a chainsaw if you were good. This game clearly tried, but the level designer wasnt very good. Hell, an example to make that final fight better would have been to spawn the big monster slightly later into the open terrain and maybe put a busted up car of some sort with some dead bodies to loot for ammo. Immediately that would make it more of a classic arena to fight a new hard enemy. Its like seeing a game made by someone who likes games and has played them, but maybe hasnt done any before and is blindly feeling his way through them while trying to make a buck out of what he has.

[@thoranzalarvhazen4250]

ikr instead of being the shitty cash grabs that I feel insulted by, this at least feels like some kid actually tried to make a game. You feel like whoever did this is REALLY inexperienced and may even be a student, but dammit, they had fun doing this. It's like walking in on some little kid's lego project. Even if it's not worthy of being displayed at some Lego museum, someone at least made something.

[@davidlane1248]

It just feels good to see a game that's at least trying to be a game, rather than a feckin virtualized cash sink hole A prime example of how a dimmer light seems brighter the darker your surroundings become... What has happened to this god damn industry? When things get so bad that we can applaud the most bare minimum of effort? When TRYING TO MAKE A GAME becomes something worthy of praise in the feckin industry that's supposed to be doing that on the regular

[@MrClassicInTheMaking]

Your username annoys me.

[@davidlane1248]

@@MrClassicInTheMaking lol this has been my handle for so long and on so many platforms

[@driftercarbon]

Exactly. It's not like this probably took them long in Unity to throw together, I mean the tools to make a good game are always at the ready if people put in the time to do it, but we've come to a point in our lives when the norm is no shits given. This one's a little broken but I'd love to see the devs take in criticism and fix the Kobayashi Maru at the end. Cause at the end of the day, the biggest difference between something crapped out in a day and forgotten about and something that's not A-tier work but is worth supporting is the developer trying to please the audience.

[@-Trauma.]

@@MrClassicInTheMaking Your profile picture annoys Willem Defoe.

[@AngryGerbils]

When you've been dealing with toddlers all day, you have to be impressed when one doesn't poop themselves. That's what this is.

[@largesnoks6600]

I really miss the "hello you ..(random insult)". It's a rarity these days and i savor every one

[@MrConredsX]

So does that means Guru Larry was always insulting the audience with this greeting?

[@SporeFreak2010]

who's talking about Guru Larry? he was referring to how Jim fucking Sterling son opens his videos. :/

[@spork8655]

It's a joke.

[@legion999]

Jim does what he needs to but I miss the good old days of uncut jimpressions almost every day :(

[@legion999]

@Dan oz It's just a joke. They're often hilariously creative, random and disgusting. Love 'em.

[@kyrendunord5249]

Can this be a new series... *Best of Steam Direct*

[@BWithMist]

At this rate, it'll be the best of the worst steam direct games.

[@superthorc6894]

Kyren Du Nord yasss

[@lucbrisebois767]

Honestly I think Jim was excited in this video

[@MeMoshRocks]

less worse of*

[@MathewHaswell]

It's already a series - called "Direct to Video"

[@NyndjaYT]

Most people discovered you through the Jimquisition (I did as well), but my absolute FAVORITE things you do are your direct to videos, squirts, and jimpressions of really baaaad steam and ps4 games. I come to you channel on Monday's for the Jimquisition. I stay all week for shit like this. Also, fun fact. When I typed Jimquisition the first time, android didn't try to auto correct it. You have officially made it! It did correct jimpressions to impressions though.

[@Kaylakaze]

It's funny that you started to sound far more British than normal once you started talking about Ashens.

[@Idkevenwhatisnttaken]

IKR! I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed the sudden accent change and use of British slang

[@chloraloner7]

'Ello yewchube

[@BuzzaB77]

and " 'am not wantin' for nowt" is pretty yorkshire

[@RubbelDieKatzNr1]

Ashens is my favourite cat from Fallout 4.

[@Sonichero151]

Speaking of Ashens causes British people to has a 25% increase in Britishness

[@VaderQuakee]

Favorite video series. Glad you brought it back

[@Tibasu]

I think we need another video about how flashlights work because people clearly haven't learned yet

[@Kie-7077]

What's to learn? You put batteries in, turn it on, batteries run out in 60 seconds, and you repeat the process.

[@demsterclippy4252]

To the game's credit, make a flashlight realistic often spells trouble a programmer is supposed to work around (designing ways for the player to get batteries, maybe a mechanic to control the way the flashlight works, and probably not getting it to be as effective as it is here), and, personally, I'd rather have the programmer dodge that bullet if they know they can't or don't know how to work around that problem, rather than attempting to make it realistic and just make the game worse to play. So praise lack of realism here.

[@emperorfaiz]

@Orophlacious What's so hard to make the flashlight more realistic? Make the surrounding less dark while the flashlight is on due to ambient light and implement it is as easy as slightly increase the screen brightness. Though it's not going to be really realistic but at least the flashlight works as it should. Even Jim made an experiment about this on his 2015 Halloween Jimquisition called The Golden Sins Of Horror Games. You're just talking nonsense.

[@LORDOFDORKNESS42]

Really liked how Silent Hill 2 did it. Spoilers! The flashlight runs out ONCE in the entire game... but you find the actual battery hours before it happens, so you get to stew in paranoia about when your only light-source is about to bite the dust. Thought that was a good compromise between an eternal light the player stops worrying about, and one that's annoying & useless.

[@Tibasu]

Just because you have a flashlight doesn't mean they need to have batteries that run out, or only light up 20% of the middle of the screen. Alan Wake had a battery system where they recharge on their own, but since you need the flashlight to even do damage, you can use batteries to instantly recharge it. If you want the flashlight to be purely vision based, then let it light up the whole area, like a proper flashlight, but in return enemies see you easier. This would only work if people stop making their games as dark as a black hole of course. Making video games isn't suppose to be easy. You need passion to create art. If what you want to do is too difficult for you, then pick a different genre, style, mechanics, whatever it takes to create what you want. When you're better at it, then try something more difficult and keep improving. Saying something is "Too much trouble to program" shouldn't be an excuse for something that can make your game stand out from the hundreds of asset flips out there.

[@nferg2]

Love that we're seeing more DTV's. The old school Jimpressions were one of my favorite things on youtube, and I'm happy to see more of that kind of content.

[@jasonblalock4429]

Yep. I often enjoy his Jimpressions vids more than his "main" Jimquisitions. Honestly, I kind of feel like his Jimquisitions are getting a little stale.

[@ContemptuousCornbread]

I feel old... I remember seeing Jim's Day One Garry's Incident video pop up as a suggested video 5 years ago. I've been hooked on his channel since.

[@Azariachan]

That classic Tomb Raider-style rotating inventory sure brings back memories.

[@kepler6873]

Seems to be a lot more competent than the average steam shit. This dev might actually have potential if they keep practicing.

[@SpotTiger]

I hate to say this, but this one isn't so bad! It obviously needs balancing, but... It's quite competent! It's genuinely a good start for whomever created it. It probably has some prebought assets and some default sounds, but, in the pus filled voids of Steam? It's quite alright!

[@VaunShiz]

I thought he was fair towards it

[@adderous]

As many people have said, not bad for a new dev. This is a game that they don't have to feel ashamed about having released to the public. It's not really _good_ but in a way that seems like it can be improved with experience and a better budget, not because they didn't give a fuck. Hopefully they can continue making games, and get better at it as they do.

[@SirCuddlesWorth]

Whoa... The NEW *Konami Zombie* game is looking fairly decent. It's leaps ahead of Metal Gear Survive!

[@plasmaoctopus1728]

lol, for real, why wasn't metal gear survive more like this?! Instead of slow shambling piece of shit zombies, these ones at least charge at you.

[@emilystewart6175]

I'm so happy to see the DTV vids back Jim! I always used to love putting your early access videos on while working on a project and I miss not having them around as much any more to watch.

[@HatchAngel]

So glad to see one of these again!

[@R-Rova]

He put some actual work into it. You can't deny that.

[@EKGProductions7]

These videos were always my favorite and I’m VERY happy you’re doing them again! Missed these so much

[@DragonNexus]

Oh Christ that field of view. Nothing like playing a game where it feels like my eyeballs are six feet in front of my head. BLEUGH.

[@divinitydoe]

I wonder how that last enemy worked, was it meant to be a kind of charger class but it has almost no cooldown on it's use, or did it actually just run rather fast and hit faster? From the looks of it the times you hit it's head while charging it was interrupted. Makes me curious what the devs intended design of the enemy was/is, and whether he just can't fulfill that with limited technical knowledge.

[@robbourne83]

Loved the brief Yorkshire accent, Jim. Made me chuckle

[@ThatOneDudeWhoPostsStuff]

I think the floating blood is meant to indicate the corpse hasn't been inspected? Mostly because the particles goes away after he loots the bodies.

[@MechaPlays]

Hearing you talk about ashens cracked me up, love both channels, could see some sort of crossover there haha

[@cernos7230]

They still don't know how a flashlight works eh?

[@kawrght]

Now to be fair, theres never been a game with a decently working flashlight. Ever. Even doom 3 screwed it up.

[@moosemaimer]

RTX OFF

[@donatodiniccolodibettobardi842]

What do you want? I still haven't find a flashlight that works in real life!

[@demsterclippy4252]

Better to keep it unrealistic rather than giving it real-world limitations that they probably wouldn't know how to fix or work around.

[@mjc0961]

At this point, I'm convinced that Orophlacious is a shitty dev who can't figure out how to make a flashlight work in his game. No other reason to so vehemently defend stupid flashlights in video games.

[@connordarvall8482]

With some ambience, much better story implementation, fairer enemy placement and little details like patches of mould in the corners, bits of rust etc. this could actually turn into a solid survival horror game. I'm not really a player of survival horror games, but I like to see the potential in fledgling game developers. Mutation Phase has a "my first real game" feel to it, though, which will be hard to shake.

[@nevetszinodas6654]

Yay! Glad these are back.

[@lunasophia9002]

"think ahead"... when talking about headshots...I'm onto your antics, Jimothy!

[@dezereks]

I love these videos, thanks for keeping this series up!

[@kekbur249]

These are by far my favorite videos of yours.

[@Leahi84]

So glad these videos are back. They were always my favorite.

[@nobetternickname]

ashens reference?! i'm so happy!!!! :-))

[@DrAcid-ty8lm]

I love how little you edited this video Jim, reminds me of your vanilla jimpressions or squirtyplays. Wish you'd go that direction again with no edits unless strictly necessary like the one cut in Alpha Zylon (still one of my faves).

[@danielsantos6437]

Flashlights in videogame design, it's one of those things that will never change, I'm surprised there ain't a meme for flashlights that light only a small circle in the screen and in most games it actual darkens the rest (lmao) to increase the already obnoxious effect, and the fact that those flashlights have the most useless and inefficient batteries know to men... It's just cheap, every dev does it cos it's cheap and it saves time in development cycle.

[@abloogywoogywoo]

Jim: My standards have lowered. Steam: That's alright, the quality of my games has lowered!

[@kaichi23]

Note to self, never eat anything Jim cooks.

[@rajamicitrenti1374]

Whoever made this clearly cared and has some talent. It looks like a pretty good indie effort.

[@MrClassicInTheMaking]

How did it take him that long to see the floating blood?

[@lessergamer1899]

I recently installed Steam on my computer, but I haven't touched it once since I started watching your Jimpressions/Direct-to-video series since around 2016. At the time, I had no idea that the storefront was polluted by most of the games that make it onto Steam. Yes, there are some good games out there, but the amount of bad ones seems to constantly cancel out the former's relevance. It truly takes someone as passionate as you to give us the heads up on what we're getting ourselves into when it comes to terrible games and horrible gaming monetization practises. Thank God for Jim Fucking Sterling Son! Also, it's good to have you back on the Direct-to-video series Jim. Don't forget your designated Steam asset flip gloves.

[@DeadWhiteButterflies]

Speaking of Ashens, he should have an episode of "will it sodastream?" where he just sodastreams blood.

[@sodadrinker89]

Physics defying blood. 10/10 IGN

[@esper6119]

Jim, shocked: This... this is a *video game*.

[@CervantesVI]

8:35 Zombie dab.

[@SpotTiger]

LOL 👋😂👋

[@cloudstriker3972]

LMFAO!! HAHAHAA THANKS

[@lnsflare1]

I read that as Zombie dad.

[@JeffSense]

yes, this is the content I SUBBBED FOR

[@uncertainultradian]

These videos are by far my favourite.

[@Brandon_Powell]

The gameplay videos were always my favorite on this channel. I always wondered why they stopped. Surely it can't be because playing barely functional messes dredged out by people who are likely to harass and generally make a nuisance of themselves would be bad for one's mental stability.

[@Brandon_Powell]

@@pvsweetypie All the developers of these games that have given Jim Sterling among others shit over the years. Case in point the Digital Homicide situation.

[@ShelledHandle]

From what I gather, a combination of getting bored and not wanting his channel views brought down in KZbin's new landscape

[@Brandon_Powell]

@@ShelledHandle That sounds about right. For a while they're all the games were pretty much the same. And figuring out how to appease the whims of the KZbin algorithms is anyone's guess.

[@YouDonkeyfu]

well, jim did mentioned that those videos just were not popular and since youtube algorithm is based on his least viewed videos, he had to change things up to not be buried. But now, since regardlessly, he is still gonna get buried cos youtube gonna youtube, he just say screw it, might as well have fun and so we have best of steam direct back :D

[@SixDeadMice]

THE STEAM CLEANER IS BACK EVERYONE!

[@preyinteractive6434]

I missed videos like this :) Been great to watch again.

[@MercurialCorsair]

I missed this particular line of videos glad they're back 8)

[@dentistguba]

If you think about it it's pretty hard to pick up a gun off the floor while standing up straight, unless you flip it up with your foot first. Or you are an orangutan.

[@GarretOakamber]

I love Ashen's glance at the strange and macabre, it is quite similar to your steam games videos Jim. :D

[@VaunShiz]

I've missed these videos glad they are back

[@WarriorTRZ]

"Silinium... You mean the Active Ingredient in Head and Shoulders?" My Lord.. it's getting loose into the world.

[@kaizerdeath12]

Your character must have the mass of an elephant and a stance to go with it to fire such a powerful body-flipping handgun showing only the slightest recoil.

[@Sheldezare]

Might be Ahnold.

[@TheRealColBosch]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIuvfKejbK2WfZY I dunno, Ian's first couple of shots here are a bit janky, but once he settles in he doesn't show too much more recoil than in this game. .45 ACP really isn't that bad, recoil-wise.

[@claudiuspulcher2440]

presumably was making fun of the ".45 will kill your soul" meme?

[@johnc6497]

You should embrace the 'best of the worst' mentality for these types of games and highlight them as an on-going series! That way we can revel in your suffering! hah

[@flooblybub]

as an aspiring gamedev i've really missed this type of vids from you jimbo

[@Frellyouall]

Great Ashens shout out.

[@Katy133]

Watching these Steam Direct videos has really shown me that I've learned a lot about user interface design. The generic horror font, the bad text size and composition, having dark red text on a black background? These are all dead giveaways that the rest of the game will be poorly designed.

[@endogeneticmorphine]

Honestly, one doesn't need to learn anything to predict generally lackluster design based on stuff you mentioned

[@CoqPwner]

Yeah knowing is wrong is easy, it's just a gut feeling most people will have immediately, even if you're not sure WHY you have that feeling. Which is actually the problem for designing something when you don't know how, even if you can tell it's off, you just don't know how to make it right, or indeed WHAT is actually off. I'm the same way, probably why I don't do ANY front-end stuff too lol

[@malcomchase9777]

To be fair, what the dev lacks in graphic design prowess, they make up in game design. The game is awful, but it shows promise. The surprise zombie that caught Jim was actually a great idea.

[@inkblotCrisis]

So you basically have to teabag your kills to pick up items? Sounds like that's a supposedly reflex action at this point.

[@RiotAncient]

The thing thats changed since you last played asset flips are the fancy assets / plug ins to flip on Unity! Everything you kinda liked was straight outta the box

[@theangryaustralian7624]

Thank the Sters for another video

[@Hugmir]

The videos of this kind are like a comfy happy place.

[@mr420quickscops2]

Damn this actually looks kinda decent. Can see the effort behind a lot of the little things and I really hope they keep trying to make something better

[@Jackalblade9]

Great to see this series make a return, Jim!

[@DeathAngel-ft8oz]

Hey, just played R.O.M and found out you voiced someone in it! Awesome job!

[@circleofsorrow4583]

How can left 4 dead still be the best in the genre?

[@MetaMdad]

vermintide makes some interesting innovations and is competent

[@grandpulse7970]

Because niggas are too pussy to break the mold and explore

[@connorhandforth814]

XenO SparKS Tbf what's to explore. The genre isn't exactly booming these days.

[@stevenyukabacera160]

Nobody who has any original idea in their skull is still making zombie games.

[@krystalfan]

because its good and still is

[@Arrakiz666]

The game Digital Homicide wished the Slaughtering Grounds were.

[@PsychadelicoDuck]

It warms my heart to see Jim so giddy at a game.

[@stevenewsom3269]

3 seconds in and I've got a smile on my face and am thumbing up the video... well done jim

[@sodown8871]

Yes! Love this style of content you do.

[@lindalobstadefenda]

I missed this game series. :) Glad to have it back,.

[@Zinfidel1]

So glad Jim is back to playing games for us.

[@chartingtheinfinite9656]

From Jim Sterling, a new DTV Yes, Jim Sterling. Thank god for thee.

[@CarozQH]

Zombie asset flips. The Romines' legacy will always live on as long as Steam is a thing

[@sharkofjoy]

I love that the steam direct games are back!

[@FaithandValor]

When you said we’re wondering why you were still playing or why we’re still watching I laughed out loud because I was literally thinking the same thing in that moment. Can’t understand how these things are sold as games. Also your tolerance to try them all is impressive (Jimpressive?). Nice video.

[@demsterclippy4252]

I may not know if that ramming zombie was designed by the developer here, but I like how they made it look. A believable look for a zombie to take while being of this enemy type.

[@Acuzzam]

Great to see these again!

[@MrDreyven]

Love this series, glad it's back.

[@stephenseville4724]

Can you not stun the headbutter and run?

[@Focusedfelix]

Shoot and run, yeah, probably. To his credit, it wasn't really clear if you were supposed to kill it or stave it off long enough to get away.

[@sharkofjoy]

I thought that was the last thing he tried to do. He stunned it, but it's so much faster than he is that when he tried to run, it came to and killed him from behind anyway.

[@Kilmoran]

They should have used the classic "Room full of resources you need" right before that area and save point. Unless there is another solution, but that is utterly unclear so far.

[@plasmaoctopus1728]

I think the game needed a better hint to keep exploring a little bit more in the house to get more ammo. It looked like Jim just went to a a random door and he was just suddenly outside.

[@kylele23]

Algie Evan DeWitt V There definitely could’ve been another roadblock or at least the so called shotgun that he kept finding ammo for right before the encounter since it seemed like a mini boss type of enemy.

[@MrToimeton]

Jim sounds.. extra british in this one.

[@Lordblow1]

Jim it's not just you who's standards have lowered. I thoroughly enjoyed the video and watching you play it. Just the minimum effort that was put into this makes it rather fun to watch, especially because you are entertaining to watch either way.

[@Donovaneagle2098]

Welcome back Jim! Youve been missed!

[@jopearson6321]

I missed these playthroughs very badly.

[@philiphied]

Love these, Jim!

[@nickarmitt4722]

Did you just invoke the form known as Dr Stuart Ashens? Ahahahaha. This is a good looking start. It shows some competence and actual work. That is the most important part - putting in the time and effort. Having an idea is nothing if you can't realise it.

[@xcq1]

Getting my hopes up for seeing more of this series again

[@PonySlaystati0n]

Ashen’s reference alone got you a thumbs up

[@Sealab2021dotorg]

Ashens shoutout!

[@Marscow]

I like when my favorite KZbin personalities mention one another.

[@crafting_joy]

I've missed this types of videos and for a steam direct game it is surprisingly not trash as could have been.

[@kawrght]

I don't want to point this out, but steam keeps changing its position on games like..every week. Constantly. This video might be outdated by next week. And if the game has any sex or nudity, itll be gone by tmmrw. This game looks like itll be great with a little more work.

[@Arrakiz666]

Steam's nudity policy is what gets me. Like I didn't believe that they seriously have so libertarian principles, until they started working on Artifact and the economy of that game is Ayn Rand's wet fucking dream. In that light the "everything goes" policy of Steam Direct makes sense. But then their stance on nudity doesn't make sense, if they believe in the free market so much, this is clearly what the market wants, so what gives? I think they're just being massive hypocrites and just want to keep doing what gives them predictably growing income.

[@kawrght]

@@Arrakiz666 i just wish they would make up their bleeping minds. Do they want nudity on there or not?

[@Arrakiz666]

kawrght This will all start making sense once you go with the assumption that what they want there is what will give the most profit.

[@Hamieee]

I've seen those crunchy hand models before. Didn't starforge use the same models?

[@TheJakubSvanda]

Oh thank you!!!!! I needed this in my life!

[@thebatman2476]

Glad to see direct to video is gonna be coming back. Ive been re-listening to podtoid and in it you mentioned a book you were working on, is this the same book as the one you talked about in the state of sterling or was this an old abandoned project? Just curious.

[@JimTheKiwifruit]

These videos are the purest form of Jim! 2:58 British intensifies

[@SuperKittyPogoDance]

I beg you go back to doing more of these ;-; I miss this so much!

[@LoftusWatching]

Of all the people i enjoy watching at the moment you're definitely the standout in my 'always watch' column Jim! Even on the rare occasion i dont agree with your opinion i always enjoy hearing what you have to say and the sarcastic-fuckness way you describe things! Whether its videos on "triple A" games or random ass ones like this, keep em' coming Jim.