Game Giveaway of the Day

#45

it the same off 27-06-2009, every time a old Game Giveaway

no thanks

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

This may be an update. I don't have the time to check today, but file sizes differ from the previous time this was given away, so there's a good chance it's an update; especially as this particular developer has updated several games he's given away previously.

Reply | Comment by pazax – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#44

I enjoy the graphics. It is a nice good game.

Only thing I might change is difficulty level dealing with lives. It seems even on the hardest setting and on level 35 and presently have 42 lives.

I suggest on:
Easiest setting by level 35 I should have about 9 lives.
Normal setting by level 35 I should have about 6 lives.
Hardest setting by level 35 I should have about 3 lives.

It is hard to feel the challenge in the game when I have some many lives.

Reply | Comment by Kylism – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#43

Excellent breakout game. When prompted to unzip the files, I used browse to store the game in my external hard drive rather than the default path:C:\games\Sawoid. The game opens and plays well through the external path.

Reply | Comment by walkingwoman – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#42

reinstalled, works fine!

Reply | Comment by mthealien – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#41

ok, for the 3 time I have tried to run this game on Win7/32 and it just will not load... I get the window and it is just black! I tried this last July and the same thing happened.... this stinks! I want to play this game. uuuggghhhhh! guess I will DELETE it again.

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

Try updating your graphics card drivers. That may cure the problem.

Reply | Comment by Susan – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#40

THANKS GOTD and commentators I enjoyed the short time that I played before getting back to post a comment. I don't purchase many games and haved enjoyed playing the downloads. The first computer game I played was Popcorn(DOS) and it was a "break-out" game. I remember how determined I was to evolve this game onto my Windows 3.1, I guess that one would call this an addiction. I rate it 9 and only because I am certain that other break-out games have better gaphics. I am glad that although it is late I did turn on my computer!!!

Reply | Comment by Cheryl – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#39

Not Activating. Just stuck on "connection to game giveaway..."

...................................Moderator Comment......................

Try rebooting your modem and/or router. If that doesn't work then try clearing out your internet cache

Reply | Comment by Jerry – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#38

Another excellent review. Well done old chap!

Reply | Comment by Mr. Snoozles – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#37

I played the game for a half an hour and I found it pretty fun. A new take on the old blaster ball style of game with many cool powerups and even enemies! It activated, installed, and played fine in both 16 and 32 bit 1152 x 864 resolutions on Win 7 64 Pro, but when I go to the menu and change the resolution to 1600 x 1200, in both 16 and 32 bit, then click apply, the game crashes and a pop up window says “Error DirectX initialize Low Video Seti…” (I can’t see the rest of the words [the error text is at the top of the window in the name pane of the window] in the message because it comes up as a small un-scalable blank window with only an OK button on the bottom right corner) then when I click the OK button the game goes back to normal but in the lowest resolution settings. I’m not sure what this is but if there’s something wrong with the game, just letting the programmers know so they can improve it, but if it’s a problem with my computer, because for some reason it can’t handle that resolution, then sorry for bothering you with my own incompatible computer.

................................Moderator Comment..................................

Thanks for your contribution.

Reply | Comment by itdontwork – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#36

I downloaded this the last time it was given away. I think this is the first posting I have made, but after reading that the developers might like to hear more, I am stepping out of my comfort zone to try to help.

I play many video games. I love the Arkenoid type games, this one I noticed it is hard to know which bonuses are good or bad (the ones that shrink your paddle). Other people have mentioned there are too many bonuses, and I have to agree. I am not very good at these types of games but this one was one of the better ones. I too enjoy Shatter, and it was worth paying for!

I hope this helped, I don't know how a developer could gain any insight by my comments, other posters are far better at this! =)

Pixiey
................................Moderator Comment...............................................

Don't put yourself down Pixiey, your comment was as valid as any other comment.

Reply | Comment by Pixiey – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#35

Ill let this one go, not a breakout game fan. But still a nice giveaway :) Will look out for the one of tommorow, because it is my 18th birthday then :), and i hope to see something nice :)

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

Happy Birthday Lars. Unfortunately there wont be a giveaway tomorrow. check out MyPlayCity. theres a couple of hundred decent arcade games available, all safe to download. no advertising, tohugh you do get your browser opened when closing the games down. :)

Reply | Comment by Lars – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#34

Downloaded and installed just fine. Runs "decent" on my not so new, Windows 7 laptop with dedicated 256mb graphics card by ATI.

Overall, it's a fun time waster. I actually enjoy games like this, and the fact that you're on rails progressing further into the "map" gives it a little bit of an adventure feeling. Really nice.

My only negative comment about the game, which is pretty bad, is the fact that sometimes the razor blade goes through the bumper on your craft making you lose a life.

This is really annoying. It's like playing a FPS with a gun that doesn't work. What's the point then? And since we won't receive any updates since this is a GoTD it kinda brings down the game a lot in my opinion.

Other then that, really a fun little game to play.

..............................Moderator Comment...........................

I agree, the ship is far too high up in the game arena. Acutely angled shots are almost impossible to hit back if you hit them with the edge of the ship. Normally games like this i find very easy to play, rarely losing lives, but with this game i lose lives all the time, but IMO not because of a lack of skill, or speed, but simply because of bad programming (the collision mesh doesn't seem to fit properly). I wish the developer would fix it and maybe upgrade the game to include a levels editor.

Reply | Comment by Duncan – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#33

Downloaded this before..Great brickbusting game.

Reply | Comment by delenn13 – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#32

Thanks for this one. You may not like the speed, but for me, it gives me a little better chance to make it past the first round. I may not be very good at these, but I like to try them. My fingers just get too excited and move farther than I'm supposed to. Wish me luck, I need it. LOL

............................Moderator Comment..........................

Good luck ;-)

Reply | Comment by Anita – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#31

Thanks for the game. It was good

Reply | Comment by Crystal – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#30

An Egyptoid clone? The powerup and power down icons, style, is similar to Egyptoid. Egyptoid was a game given away a coupla times before on GAOTD. Dont get me wrong, I like Egyptiod I, and II. So, if you liked Egyptoid, you will like this game also. This isntalled (unzipped) to the folder of my choosing just fine. No complaints so far. Someone complained about their saw getting bounced back and forth (stuck) between 2 like berriers. Egyptoid did the same thing with the ball bouncing on the "spirits". Given it seems like the same game engine, the saw will probably break free after a bit of a wait.

............................Moderator Comment..........................

It's made by the same developer. :lol:

Reply | Comment by chuck – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#29

I'm really liking this game but i have 1 question to anyone that's playing this, Is the bat supposed to always go to the left side of the screen when you aren't moving it? When i started a game, and throughout the whole time i played, if i wasn't intentionally moving the bat it would start moving to the left side of the screen by itself. Is this how the game is supposed to be or is it something else? Thanks!

............................Moderator Comment..........................

No it's not supposed to do that. try reinstalling the game. Maybe your mouse is causing the problem??? Can'think of any solutions, sorry.

Reply | Comment by mthealien – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#28

took sound errors on .org files...numerous.....on my vista 32 home. x-fi sound....all are updated to my knowledge. So, could not run

............................Moderator Comment..........................

Try the download from Gametop. It may be a different version to the one provided by the giveaway team. remember that gametop games open your browser to gametop when you close the game down, but otherwise there's nothing untowards. some games from Gametop will also ask if you one toolbars installed or your home page changed, but you can avoid this by unchecking the check boxes all of which (when present ) are ticked by default.

Reply | Comment by steve – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#27

Really enjoyed playing the original of this (many years ago on an arcade machine) and have been waiting for a similar game to appear here. Takes a bit of getting used to - so many bonuses drop down that it's a little difficult to distinguish between them. Would prefer to have fewer of these, rather than see about three or four at a time. Thanks very much for the game, a keeper for me.

............................Moderator Comment..........................

I've often contacted breakout developers or posted comments on their websites asking for the ability to control the number of bonuses that drop. Breakquest is one breakout that allows you to do that and another which I bought many years ago, which is now freeware (can't remember the name offhand, though it could be POW Ball) also allows you to select the number, type and frequency of bonuses. Those that come with level editors for example Quadronoid allow you to place whatever number of bonuses you want in game, though some such as Hyperballoid 2 which also has a levels editor do not because the bonuses are randomly generated.

Reply | Comment by Jester – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#26

It would not open for me on XP.

............................Moderator Comment..........................

Delete the installed folder then reinstall. If that doesn't cure the problem try updating your graphics drivers. to find what graphics chip you use type dxdiag into the run command field. Click on the display tab to see whether you have ATI or NVidia graphics chips, then go to the appropriate developers website (just Google NVIDIA or ATI). you can get the latest drivers from either manufacturer for free. There’s usually a link on the home page that takes you to the driver pages. If you have problems post a request for help in the forums. :)

Reply | Comment by Joyce C – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#25

I'm running windows 7..............How do I uninstall Sawoid

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

Go to C:/games and find Sawnoid then delete. The game is free standing. you'll find a few references to the game in your registry, but nothing of importance. you can always delete those entries manually by opening up the registry editor. type regedit in the field at the bottom of the start menu (in win 7 and vista, or via the run command in XP). Take care when deleting registry entries. I'd recommend backing up your registry before you do any deleting just in case. I personally never bother as I feel confidant when editing the registry, but still it makes sense 9I'm just lazy). :)

Reply | Comment by mommyof5 – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#24

Nice game, works fine on Windows 7. I'm not a very skilled arkonoid player, so it's difficult to choose between the saw and the flying objects. Oh well, this game is fun!

Daan

Reply | Comment by Daan – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#23

Different and fun twist!

Reply | Comment by Scooby – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#22

How do you play this? I get to the opening, create player, select difficulty and pick start level. Then I get a screen that apparently has the playing field in the background and a bonus screen on top. But no controls work - not mouse, arrows, space bar or anything but esc. Help!

...............................Moderator Comment.....................................

You need to click the left mouse button to start the game from the bonus screen. :lol: Hope this helps. (You've probably already figured this out)

Reply | Comment by Lynette Benham – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#21

Whiterabbit; While I appreciate the immense time and energy you put into your postings, I do wonder though after all that why everything seems to be rated 7 out of 10. I usually skip down to your rating first, and then decide if I want to read your very detailed report. Typically, I can't get through it, it is too much information for a game. Now if you gave that much attention to what was being given away on the software end, that would be very helpful.
No hate intended, from your other postings this seems to be a way for you to feel useful, and I can understand and appreciate that.

.............................moderator comment.................

You hit the nail on the head there Susan; being stuck in the house and unable to do much this helps to keep me sane. As for scoring. Most games of late have been 7 out of 10s because that's what i feel they are worth. this game for example is not exceptional. I've got over 200 arkanoids in my games library and this one rates as average. If you want a good arkanoid that scores 8 or more then you'd be looking at games like shatter (one of the more recent brick busting games), Ricochet Infinity, Reaxxion, Brickquest, Acky's XP Breakout, Hyperballoid 2, Action Ball 2, or Incrediball. Of these only one is 3D. Games like Magicball 3 and 4, or Strikeball 3 are also okay, but not in quite the same league as these.

I have thousands of arcade games(most purchased to feed my need for distraction from the ever present pain) so feel qualified to be able to score most games on the basis of my experience. Of course everything is an opinion, but after playing so many games I think I give a fair score. I try to be as unbiased as possible. Most games I think I achieve this, but there are always the odd one that I’ll be wrong about.

Seven usually means a playable game with decent graphics and some amount of re-playability. I should give an account of what criteria I give my scores; which I may do sometime soon. I may even start to break down the scores into categories such as game play, re-playability, graphics sound etc.

Whiterabbit; While I appreciate the immense time and energy you put into your postings, I do wonder though after all that why everything seems to be rated 7 out of 10. I usually skip down to your rating first, and then decide if I want to read your very detailed report. Typically, I can't get through it, it is too much information for a game. Now if you gave that much attention to what was being given away on the software end, that would be very helpful.
No hate intended, from your other postings this seems to be a way for you to feel useful, and I can understand and appreciate that.

.............................moderator comment.................

You hit the nail on the head there Susan;  being stuck in the house and unable to do much   this helps to keep me sane.  As for scoring.  Most games of late have  been 7 out of 10s because    that's what i feel they are worth.  this game for example is not exceptional.  I've   got over 200  arkanoids in my games library and this one rates as average.  If you want a good arkanoid that scores 8 or more then you'd be looking at  games like  shatter (one of the more recent brick busting games), Ricochet  Infinity, Reaxxion, Brickquest, Acky's XP Breakout, Hyperballoid 2, Action Ball 2,  or Incrediball.  Of these only one is 3D.  Games like Magicball 3 and 4, or Strikeball 3  are also okay, but not in quite the same league as these.

I have thousands of arcade games(most purchased to feed my  need for distraction from the ever present pain) so feel qualified to be able to  score   most games on the basis of my experience.  Of course everything is an opinion, but  after playing so many games I think I give a fair score.  I try to be  as  unbiased as possible.  Most games I think I achieve this, but there are always the odd one that  I’ll be wrong about.

Seven usually means a playable game with decent graphics and   some  amount of re-playability.  I should   give an account of  what criteria I  give my  scores; which I may do  sometime soon.  I may even start to  break down the scores into categories such as game play, re-playability, graphics sound  etc.

Save | Cancel

Reply | Comment by susab – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#20

Very enjoyable game. The graphics are well done. As for the speed... I like the slower speed.

Great game, thanks.

Reply | Comment by Dennis – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#19

This gets high ratings in my book.
Its a very good arkenoid type game.
I got it the last time it was offered.
played it, enjoyed it and am now playing it again.
because you don't like this type game is no reason to give it a thumbs down.
Thumbs down is for software that has a problem, not because you don't like it.....

Reply | Comment by ,meagain – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#18

Win 7 64 bit. Wont run says bad sound file around 20 times and then nothing...

...............................Moderator Comment......................

Try uninstalling then redownloading the file. It may have become corrupted. If that doesn't work try updating your audio drivers to the latest ones. If you don't know what your audio set up is type in dxdiag in the run command/search box then click on the sound/audio tabs in thediagnostics window. you should see what your sound set up is and then you can Google the correct manufacturer.

Reply | Comment by Graywolf – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#17

Help! I installed and tried to play. The screen is showing a bonus screen, but I can't figure out how to start the play.

Reply | Comment by Alf – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#16

thanks, that what I like to set the screen size in options for my computer I hope to do the same as other new games and great game

Reply | Comment by Jeffrey B – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#15

I won't be able to moderate now for the next 5 or 6 hours. I am off to my In-laws for a birthday party. Shpild be back about 8.30pm GMT (6 hours). Please continue to leave comments and I'll get back to them later.

W.R.

Reply | Comment by Whiterabbit-uk – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#14

VERY wonderful & Thank You I LOVED Egypoid 1 & 2 they were 2 of my favorite games, I lost them to a new PC. I played this right away and it's a BLAST!!! For me - I am super happy to have this game.

Reply | Comment by Rae – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#13

Runs awesome on my Windows XP. Thanks so much-a definate keeper!
GAOTD ROCKS!

Reply | Comment by Sgt McDonald – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#12

I have Just started To Try some Of These games In the last few Weeks. I must Say that they are Quite Good.I Am Not A Serious gamer just some one who likes to play every now and then to relax.This brings me back to my teen years at the local games arcade. thanks,(feeling my age lately.lol) I have been playing this all morning and enjoying very much.my son laughed when he saw this but then I told him that this type of game is classic and with out this type of game he would not have his Black opps and all that other stuff that goes way over my head.
Thank you Star ashes And Gamegiveawayoftheday For A very Enjoyable Saturday Morning.

Reply | Comment by Rob.C – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#11

The game runs great on win/7,64. This is a cool game! Thanks alot GOTD team, your the best!!!

Reply | Comment by Lee Julian – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#10

Thanks WR, I'll really enjoy playing Sawoid. The graphics are stunning!

Reply | Comment by chazzo125 – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#9

Thanks very much. I'm looking forward to playing this :-)

Reply | Comment by me – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#8

Runs great on win/7,64 bit. Very good game-play, and very nice visuals as well. I call this one "a keeper", thanks GOTD you're the BEST!!

Reply | Comment by Greta G. – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#7

Good game, but too much determenistic. At level 8 I got into a trap: my saw was endlessly flying between two teleportation holes... And you can do nothing there!

...........................Moderator Comment.........................

I've been lucky; not having come across that problem after playing the game quite a lot last year.

Reply | Comment by Vladimir – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#6

This is a game I come back to again and again...is today's download any different from when it was previously offered? I love it and am wondering if there any new screens or anything.

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

I've still got last years version installed and can't see any difference. Actually the other version I had was from Gametop. which was v1.0. I don't see any difference between the two except that todays version doesn't have a version number where it is shown on the Gametop version????

Reply | Comment by Franklin Moore – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#5

I've always loved bat and ball games going right back to the original Atari Breakout, and this one was already in my collection. It is nothing special compared to some, but is still enjoyable if you like the genre. Just one criticism, collision detection between bat and ball when the ball is at an angle is a bit iffy. You soon learn to allow for it, but it makes aiming the ball difficult. If I didn't already have this, it would be a keeper for me.
Thumbs up.

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

thanks for your review. I agree with you on the collision mesh with respect to the bat and ball. you can see an image of the relationship between the bat and ball via the following link:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/9355#post-88673

Reply | Comment by banditrider – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#4

Awesome game, I am enjoying it. This really tests your hand and eye co-ordination. Thanks for the game.

Reply | Comment by Mark – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#3

http://starsashes.com/sawoid.html
is blocked by TrendMicro: "Trend Micro has confirmed that this website can transmit malicious software or has been involved in online scams or fraud." Any explanation?

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

I'm not getting any problems with this game, also the giveaway team throughly check all downloads for malcious software to ensure we get a clean download. If the message you receive concerns you you can always download the game from Gametop. You do get your browser opening everytime you close the game down, but theres nothing else insiduous about the site. :)

Reply | Comment by Muhsin – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#2

Good Arkanoid-like game, but I've already played it on this website many times.

I'd like to suggest new free game for this weekend from http://www.GameHitZone.com

Ultra Monster Truck Trial

http://www.gamehitzone.com/download-free-games/ultra-monster-truck-trial/

.............................Moderator Comment........................

We apreciate the link you've been providing each week for some time now Tom, but would you please leave an opinion about each of the giveaways before posting the link. All the games you link to are also available on Gametop, myPlayCity and sometimes FreeGamePick. :)

Reply | Comment by Tom Wild – 13 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#1

Sawoid was created by Stars Ashes, the developer who also created two other familiar breakouts called Egyptoid and Egyptoid 2, as well as a shooter called Incinerate. All have been given away previously and are now available for free via Gametop, as is today’s game. :). Sawoid was previously given away last summer on July 4th where it received a positive 47% out of 213 votes with 35 comments which you can read via the following link:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/sawoid/#comments

You will need to click on the view all comments link to see all the comments. Don’t let the low number of positives put you off this game. It’s actually a well-made breakout with decent graphics, released about 2 years ago. The download size is 14.3Mb very slightly smaller than the previous time it was given away. The game unpacks to a dual setup and activation module and a read me file. There is no activation code required as it is automatically activated via the dual activation/setup module. When installed the game expands to 25.2Mb. The default installation path is:

C:\games\Sawoid

There is no shortcut installed nor a start menu shortcut. If you're not sure how to create the latter, there's a short tutorial available in the game discussion forums. You'll find it easily as it's in the stickies on the front page of the gaming forum.

The game works on Win XP Pro 32 bit, win Vista Home Premium 64 bit and Home Basic 32 bit and Win 7 Pro and Ultimate 64 bit. (these are just the iterations that I personally have, the game should work on all iterations)

Story:

You volunteered to be assigned to the VIOLATOR ship. Your objective is to conduct a raid into enemy territory and destroy the troop supplies. For this particular long-term mission away from the supply ship, the scientists have developed Sawoid, a totally new type of armament not requiring resupplying! Nothing can stand the wrecking Sawoid; however, there is one shortcoming, Sawoid is hard to control!

Good luck, private!

reference accessed http://starsashes.com/sawoid.html 1st July 2010

The Game:

There’s not a lot you can say about a breakout/arkanoid that most community members won’t already know, so I’ll try and keep this short. I’ll describe the features I found in Sawoid before writing a brief conclusion to the game.

The most striking difference between sawoid and most other breakouts is that sawoid doesn’t have a ball; instead it has circular saws. You get three lives to start with, but can easily build these up to several lives as there are a generous number of bonus lives available. Otherwise it’s a typical 3D breakout with average looking graphics. The game has 20 bonuses that include ball and bat changers, additional lives, bombs, a magnet, armour, different types of cannon and four different types of sawoids as well as a few other bonuses.

You can change the games resolution if needed to one of several choices via the options menu. There’s also the usual sound and music sliders, a windowed toggle and the ability to turn on improved lighting. I’ve posted a couple of screenshots to illustrate the difference between the advanced lighting and no lighting.

When you complete a level the level scrolls onto the next level as though you are in a ship. There are three difficulty settings. On medium I found the sawoid was a little too slow for me unless I picked up the speed up bonus a couple of times. You’ll find gun emplacements, and moving ships that fire back at you. When you start a level your ship has 100% armour. If you get hit by the pulse cannons or missiles you’ll lose 5% of your armour by each hit. They fire dual cannons so this can result in a 10% loss depending where you are in relation to the incoming shots; however, there are armour bonuses that are quite common, though most armour bonuses give only 1% armour back.

Thankfully there are three or four different sizes of armour bonus available. There is a damage indicator to the bottom right of the playing area. Some of the gun emplacements and ships are protected from damage when hit from the front. To destroy these you need to use your guns or hit them from behind.

You don’t get unlimited ammo with the guns and lasers, so you need to use these sensibly. I counted about 30 shots, which is ample to do a significant amount of damage to the level in terms of destruction.

When you are left with only a few bricks they are automatically destroyed by powerful lasers. All bonuses apart from new lives are lost when you move on to a new level, though any damage to your ships armour is automatically repaired.

Comparison between no lighting and advanced lighting:

Images:

You can see lots of images of Sawoid as a slideshow via the following link:

http://s571.photobucket.com/albums/ss160/Whiterabbit04/Sawnoid/?albumview=slideshow

Conclusion:

I found the default speed of the sawoid too slow, and therefore too easy to win. (though I have played a lot of breakouts regularly for years so could be considered an expert) However you can pick up speed ups which when set can increase the sawoid speed to a more challenging level. However if you are a novice to this genre of games I’m sure the speed of the sawoid is fine. :) I’m a little biased over this issue because arkanoids/breakouts are one of my favourite arcade genres.Another problem for me was the bat. It was mounted on two arms that took it a significant way into the level. You can see from the images posted that it protrudes about an eighth of the total depth of the playing arena. I rarely lose balls (or in this case saws) when playing breakouts but lost a significant number in this game despite me finding it easy. This occurred more often when the saws came at you in an acute angle as it was hard to judge where the saw was in relation to the bat. I would suggest the developer adds the ability to choose different sizes of bat at the beginning of the game to counter this problem or change the bat style altogether.

Compared to the 200 plus arkanoids/breakouts that I’ve owned over the many years that the first breakout was created by Taito Corps I’d give this one a 7 out of 10 for decent game play and graphics. It’s not the best, but is playable and better than most free breakouts that are available.

I have posted several images but Wordpress doesn't appear to be allowing them to be seen any longer. I have uploaded some images to my photobucket account so you can still see some images. I've also posted this review over in the forums where the images are visible. you can see that review via the following link:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/9355#post-88673

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Similar Games available for free:

You'll find loads of Arkanoid/breakouts via the following links:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2607#post-17584

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/4534#post-48404

http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/fbreakout.html (169 games)

You can also download today’s game every day for free http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/sawoid/, though you will get your browser opening every time you shut the game down. Thankfully this is one of the games they have had for quite some time so there’s no tool bar or home page tick boxes to bother with.

http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/sawoid/

Sawoid was created by Stars Ashes, the developer who also created  two other familiar breakouts  called Egyptoid and Egyptoid 2,  as well as   a shooter called  Incinerate.  All have been given away previously and  are now available for free  via Gametop, as is today’s game.  :).  Sawoid was previously given away  last summer on July 4th where it received a  positive 47% out of 213 votes with  35 comments which you can read via the following link:

http://game.giveawayoftheday.com/sawoid/#comments

You will need to click on the view all comments  link to see all  the comments.  Don’t let the low  number  of positives  put you off this  game.  It’s actually a well-made breakout with decent graphics, released about 2 years ago.  The download size is 14.3Mb  very slightly smaller than the previous time it was given away. The game unpacks to a dual setup and activation module and a read me file.  There is no activation code required as it is automatically activated via the dual activation/setup  module.  When installed the  game expands to  25.2Mb.  The default installation path is:

C:\games\Sawoid

There is no shortcut installed nor a start menu shortcut.  If you're not sure how to create the latter, there's a short tutorial available in the game discussion forums.  You'll find it easily as it's in the stickies on the front page of the gaming forum.

The game works on Win XP Pro 32 bit, win Vista Home Premium 64 bit and Home Basic 32 bit and Win 7 Pro and Ultimate 64 bit.  (these are just the iterations that I personally have,  the game should work on all iterations)

Story:

<blockquote>You volunteered to be assigned to the VIOLATOR ship. Your objective is to conduct a raid into enemy territory and destroy the troop supplies. For this particular long-term mission away from the supply ship, the scientists have developed Sawoid, a totally new type of armament not requiring resupplying! Nothing can stand the wrecking Sawoid; however, there is one shortcoming, Sawoid is hard to control!

Good luck, private!</blockquote>

reference accessed    http://starsashes.com/sawoid.html 1st July 2010

The Game:

There’s not a lot you can say about  a breakout/arkanoid that most  community members  won’t already know, so I’ll try and keep this short.  I’ll describe  the features I found  in Sawoid before  writing a brief conclusion to the game.

The most striking difference  between sawoid and most other breakouts is that sawoid doesn’t have a ball; instead it has circular saws.   You get three lives to start with, but can easily build these up to several lives as there are a generous number of   bonus lives available.  Otherwise it’s a typical 3D breakout with  average looking  graphics. The game has  20 bonuses that include ball and bat changers, additional lives, bombs, a magnet, armour, different types of cannon and four different types of sawoids as well as a few other bonuses.

You can change the games resolution  if needed to one of several  choices via the options menu. There’s also the usual sound and music  sliders, a windowed toggle and   the ability to  turn on  improved lighting. I’ve posted a couple of screenshots to illustrate the difference between the advanced lighting  and no lighting.

When you complete a level the level scrolls onto the next  level as though you are in a ship.   There are three difficulty settings.  On medium I found the sawoid was a little too slow for me unless I picked up the speed up  bonus a couple of times.  You’ll find gun emplacements, and moving  ships that fire back at you.  When you start a level  your ship has 100% armour.   If you get hit by    the pulse cannons or missiles you’ll lose 5% of your  armour by each hit.  They fire dual cannons so this can result in  a 10% loss  depending where you are in relation to the  incoming  shots; however, there are  armour bonuses that are quite common, though most armour bonuses  give only 1% armour back.

Thankfully there are  three or four different sizes of armour bonus available.  There is a damage indicator to the bottom right of the playing area.  Some of the gun emplacements and  ships are protected from  damage  when hit  from the front.  To destroy these you need to use  your guns or  hit them from behind.

You don’t get unlimited ammo with the guns and lasers, so you need to use these sensibly.  I counted about 30 shots, which is ample to do a significant amount of damage to the level in terms of destruction.

When you are left with only a few bricks   they are automatically destroyed by powerful lasers.  All bonuses apart from  new lives are lost when you move on to a new level, though any damage to your ships armour is automatically repaired.

Comparison between no lighting and advanced lighting:

Images:

You can see lots of images of Sawoid  as a slideshow via the following link:

http://s571.photobucket.com/albums/ss160/Whiterabbit04/Sawnoid/?albumview=slideshow

Conclusion:

I found the default speed of the sawoid  too slow, and therefore too easy to win. (though I have played a lot of breakouts regularly for years so could be considered an expert)  However you can pick up  speed ups  which when set  can increase the   sawoid speed   to a  more challenging  level.   However if you are a novice to  this genre of games I’m sure the speed of the sawoid is  fine. :)   I’m a little biased  over  this issue because arkanoids/breakouts are one of my favourite  arcade genres.Another problem for me was the  bat.  It was mounted on two arms that took it  a significant way into the level.  You can see from the images posted that it protrudes about an eighth of the total depth of the playing arena.  I rarely lose  balls (or in this case saws) when playing breakouts but lost a significant number in this game despite me finding it easy.   This occurred more often when the saws  came at you in an acute angle as it was hard to judge  where the saw was in relation to the bat.   I would suggest the developer adds the ability to  choose   different sizes of bat at the beginning of the game to counter this  problem or change the bat style altogether.

Compared to the 200 plus arkanoids/breakouts  that I’ve owned over the   many years that the first breakout was created by Taito Corps I’d give this one a 7 out of 10 for decent game play and graphics.  It’s not the best, but is playable and better than most free breakouts that are available.

I have posted several  images but  Wordpress  doesn't appear to be allowing them to be seen any longer.  I have uploaded  some images to my photobucket account so you can still see  some images.  I've also posted this review over in the forums where the images  are visible.  you can see that review via the following  link:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/9355#post-88673

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Similar Games available for free:

You'll find loads of Arkanoid/breakouts  via the following links:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/2607#post-17584

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/4534#post-48404

http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/fbreakout.html  (169 games)

You can also download today’s game  every day for free http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/sawoid/, though you will get your browser opening  every time you shut the game down.  Thankfully this is one of the games  they have had for  quite some time so there’s no  tool bar or  home page   tick boxes to bother with.

http://www.gametop.com/download-free-games/sawoid/

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