...........................................Moderator comment...................................

Due to two of my family members passing away this week, one tragically (my brothers partner), I won't be posting full reviews this weekend and probably not next Friday/Saturday as I will be away visiting Family plus attending funerals. I will endevour to moderate this weekend as usual, but it will be sporadic. to all who have send condolences, thank you. I appreciate your comments: I will reply to all who post condolences, but I will not check the box that says moderated until the giveaway is over so that they don't so that they don't swamp the game comments. you should see my replies, but no one else will see your v=comment until later. Thanks. To the community members I promised to send Steam keys to last week, sorry for yet more delays, I will send them out as soon as I'm able.

Please only post comments about today's game giveaway; other comments either not appropriate, or not about today's game will be deleted at the moderator or administrators discretion; however a little light banter among community members and with the moderator to keep this a friendly place to visit is acceptable and welcomed. All comments not specifically about today's game giveaway will be judged by the moderator and if deemed not appropriate, will be deleted with no explanation. Please see the end of this review for further details about posting comments and links to the teams contact, moderation policy and the FAQ's thread, thank you

12 is Better Than 6

In Brief

12 is Better Than 6 is a dynamic top-down shooter with stealth elements, presented in a Wild West theme. The story puts you in the shoes of escaped slave fleeing to the United States in 1873.

Suggestions:

If you win a key for 12 is Better Than 6 please give some feedback about your opinion of the game once you've had an oppertunity to play the game, for example, what you liked or disliked about it, or how it could be improved from your point of view . If you don't like this genre at all, please explain why. What, improvements, if any, would change your opinion? There are thousands of subscribers to the game giveaway of the day every weekend which makes this an ideal forum for giving developers ideas as to what their consumers (i.e you) would like to see in a game. For example, you could suggest extra content such as better or more original mini games, or a level editor that you would like to see that would make it more appealing to you. Maybe you think the graphics are a little dated and are in need of re skinning, or maybe you've just had enough of the genre and want to see something different or something with more originality?

If you don't win a key, don't mind playing games via Steam or miss the offer totally you can get the game 24/7 via Steam HERE. It usually costs £6.99/$9.99

Installation:

Assuming you win a Steam key for 12 is Better Than 6 once you've found it (should be sent to the email you used to enter the giveaway - it must be the email you first used to sign into the game giveaway site. If you’ve used a throwaway email there may be problems getting a key, because the key may be sent to that email. If you have any problems use the contact form. Hopefully the giveaway team will repost the information they posted several weeks qgo explaining the email situation. ) you have to activate the game via your Steam client. Once activated it will be permanently tied to your Steam profile and you'll be able to install the game at any time, anywhere on any computer, so long as you can validate who you are (usually via emails etc.). If you don't have a Steam account you will first have to download and install the Steam client HERE

Then create a Steam profile/account. Once that has been completed you can input the Steam code that you've received (after completing the form filling) via the game button along the top of the Steam client, (located between friends and Help). From the drop down menu select 'Activate a product on Steam'. This opens a product activation window. Just follow the prompts to complete activation. Once the Steam code has been accepted, the game will be permanently associated with your Steam account and can be installed any time you wish. The game onc einstalled takes up just over 480MB.

If you have a problem installing or activating or getting 12 is Better Than 6 to work, please visit the problems section over in the Game Discussion forums, which I've now incorporated into the FAQ's thread, and which you can find HERE

The Game:

12 is Better Than 6 is a dynamic top-down shooter with stealth elements, presented in a Wild West theme. The story puts you in the shoes of escaped slave fleeing to the United States in 1873. It is 1873. An escaped slave is slowly walking through the desert, making his way from Mexico to Texas. He keeps a revolver close and is wearing the sombrero stolen from a dead man. Real places and towns, the spirit of the desert and the most desperate bandidos of the district will help you to plunge into the breathing and cruel world of the Wild West

Key Features:

⦁ Deadly gunfights
⦁ You’ll need to cock the revolver with one trigger before being able to shoot by pressing another trigger. One false move and you’ll be overrun in an instant.
⦁ Authentic weapons
⦁ Winchesters, double-barreled guns, revolvers and Gatling guns will gladly help you to destroy all of the gringos. By the way, we have a RAT with dynamite
⦁ An enthralling story
⦁ Live through the journey of an escaped Mexican prisoner fighting for survival and freedom in the 1870's in the United States
⦁ Choose your style
⦁ You can choose to take a more stealthy approach to surprise your enemies, or even just sneak straight past them
⦁ A splendid art style
⦁ The game is drawn by hand with pen and paper to create an interesting visual experience

You'll find breastplates that will have a 50% chance to deflect some bullets, a fast recharging skill that will allow the hero to insert 2 bullets at once, extreme accuracy (less spread for your shots), being able to kill an enemy in stealth without attracting the unwanted attention of his friends, and more!

Reference accessed HERE, 1st april 2017.

Communirt Reviews of the Game:

12 Is Better Than 6 is a beautifully hand-drawn, gun-toting, poncho-sporting undertaking into what seems like the perpetually acrimonious world of the wicky-wicky-Wild West.

Although grossly different visually, its top-down, blood-fest aesthetic might remind you of Hotline Miami, and the fact that it takes place in 1873 might remind you of Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Needless to say, we’d win hands-down in a shootout, but I suppose 12 Is Better Than 6 deserves some credit for its recent Kickstarter success.

When Adam first rode into town earlier this year, he commended the shooting segments of 12 Is Better Than 6, whilst he bemoaned its stealth for being a bit tedious. Having spent a while in the demo myself, I feel the same – the game shines with its finger on the trigger.

Over the course of the game’s Kickstarter campaign, however, developer Ink Stains Games added free level demos as updates which appear to have recognised this, focussing more on the action elements of play. They work much better.

Speaking to the Kickstarter success, Anton Grischenko, the lead programmer at developer Ink Stains Games, had this to say: “With 12 is Better Than 6 now funded, it means that our life long dream will now become a reality and we can share our love of classical western movies and action games with the world!”

He then spoke about enjoying a vodka shot or two in celebration, which seems like more of a punishment to me but each to their own.

Reference accessed HERE. Original review by Joe Donnelly Nov 22nd 2015.

Recently, there’s been a surge of top-down shooters in the indie scene that focus on making everything, including yourself, very easy to kill. 12 is Better Than 6 is another entry into that specific category. Featuring a wild west theme, does this tale of gunslingers manage to impress or does it merely add another entry to the genre?

You’ll be playing as a mysterious gunslinger known as the Mexican. The story actually picks up halfway through, with the Mexican being chased through a desert by bounty hunters trying to collect the rather substantial bounty on his head. The Mexican is also suffering from a bout of amnesia and doesn’t quite remember what he actually did to get said bounty. During the game’s story he’ll team up with some strange people to assist him, including a criminal named Slippery Pitt, a European man pretending to be a Native American named Tomato of Wild Prairies, an angry barber that goes by the nickname “Beardman”, and more as he continues to try and get his memories back and clear the bounty.

The variety isn’t bad, but the game is prone to really sudden scene transitions that barely feel natural. 12 is Better Than 6 also tends to just suddenly introduce characters that the Mexican is supposed to have a history with, but that history is never really explained. For example, during one mission, the Mexican shot his way through a house and ended up in the backyard where he met a guy that he apparently was friends with, and who never shows up in the game again. It ultimately came off as an unnecessary distraction from the shooting. Finally, the game doesn’t really end, so much as just sorta stops on an unsatisfactory note before tacking on a fifth chapter that sees you replaying levels without much reason.

Levels in 12 is Better Than 6 are fast and furious, as they often only take a couple of minutes to get through on a perfect run. You’ll play from a top-down view, and will be picking up various weapons to shoot your way through swarms of enemies. Notably, the majority of the weapons in the game need to have their hammer manually cocked or have the lever pulled between shots. This means between firing every round, you’ll have to hit a button to simulate this action. Similarly, you have to reload shots one at a time by hitting a button for each bullet you load. You’ll have to place your shots and pick when to reload carefully, which sometimes feels at odds with the way levels occasionally like to throw bigger swarms of enemies at you.

Hitting the button to cock your gun also locks you onto a nearby enemy, who you’re almost guaranteed to hit so long as the crosshair is red. This helped, especially with controllers, as almost all shots in the game are a one-hit kill on either side. On the other hand, the game didn’t always lock onto who I wanted it to lock onto, and sometimes I’d have to make strange movements to kill someone I didn’t particularly need to or want to kill simply because the game was refusing to let me lock onto someone I actually needed dead.

I did like that 12 is Better Than 6 challenged me. Its stages were usually well thought out in making points where I could evade enemies and have room to move. I was also happy that stealth is actually an option. A knife is always available and I could sneak behind and around enemies and take care of them without alerting other enemies. It’s a simple system that only relies on line of sight, but it’s a nice addition that gives more options when taking on levels. Some levels are more peaceful, allowing me to wander around a town and take on odd jobs to earn some money to buy perks. These include things like using two revolvers at once and strapping dynamite to rats and sending them running towards enemies.

The biggest problem I had with 12 is Better Than 6 involved the broken ammo system. I’m still not sure if it was a game-spanning glitch or I just couldn’t figure the system out. However, in my time playing, I was completely unable to pick up ammo for the rifle or shotgun at any point, leaving me stuck with whatever I happened to find left in the gun. I also couldn’t pick up ammo for the pistol, but every time I reloaded new rounds would just sort of show up in my inventory. It meant I basically was forced to use the pistol for most of the game, which usually wasn’t a problem. However, sometimes I would get to a fight were I needed the longer reach of the rifle. A train sequence where enemies would run alongside the train and shoot into the windows, leaving me to just sort of blind fire my pistol and hope for the best rather than get sure shots with a rifle.

After finishing the story, which takes around six hours depending on how many times you get killed, you’ll be able to mess around in an arena mode that lets you fight waves of enemies. It’s a nice bonus, but not actually one that had me going back after a single run.

One thing that 12 is Better Than 6 has is an interesting art style. This is both to the game’s advantage and disadvantage. It helps the game stand out from the crowd, the colorless heavy outlines with splatters of red style looking pretty great. While the game itself stands out from the crowd, enemies in the game don’t. Enemies are difficult to spot at times, blending in with the environment easily, so I would often miss them while making my way through levels. While the art led to occasional problems, the soundtrack is almost always on point and excellent. Fitting in many interesting tracks, I found myself constantly entertained by what I was hearing.

12 is Better Than 6 isn’t a bad game by any stretch, but it is a game that needed some more refinement. It needed a story that doesn’t have strange jump cuts and random characters popping-in, Mechanics that worked better and didn’t spend the entire game broken, an art style that helped enemies stand out, and some more polish. It’s still good fun when it’s at its best, but it’s not there often enough. 12 may be better than 6, but 6 is all this game is getting.

Reference accessed HERE, written by Samuel Guglielmo Aug 16th 2016.

Other Reviews, Videos and a Slideshow of images:

You can see Steam community reviews of HERE, and some videos of game play HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE (Russian), HERE (Polish), HERE (German), HERE (Italian), HERE (French), and HERE (Spanish). You can see a slideshow of almost 30 images HERE.

Conclusion:

I played this game when it was first released Nov 2015 and found it quite unusual due to the hand drawn graphics, but more importantly I found it a refreshing change from the plethora of top down shooters that had flooded the market at that time. It's definitely an enjoyable game to play in my opinion, easy to pick up and play, plus the art style is different to the usual top down shooter and for me added to the games overall playability. It's well worth trying to win a key for this excellent indie game. It has very good, mainly positive feedback from the Steam community. The game was in two Bundle Stars bundles, i.e The Chaos Bundle and Indie Legends 5 Bundle. I do have two spare keys for this game becasue I purchased both bundles but had already purchased the game when it was released. I may add one of those to the list of games I'm giving away, so, if you don't win a key for the game next week, you could try your luck by writing some decent feedback of this weeks or next weeks games. :)

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the developer Ink Stains Games for giving away 50 keys for this Wastern themed Top Down Shooter with great art style and also to the game giveaway team, as always, for securing other ways to get free games, in this case a Steam key.

Useful Information not related to today's game giveaway:

Please see my review of today's other game HERE for details of this weeks game deals and other information, including a list of Steam key winners from my own personal collection of spare Steam keys.