| |
Twilight Heroes
www.twilightheroes.com
Reviewed by:
John Porter
(12/18/07) |
Accessibility Rating
9.5 |
Game Overview --
Twilight Heroes is a free browser-based RPG from developer Quirkz Media. The superhero themed game takes place in the setting of Twilight City and its outskirts; a decaying, crime ridden metropolis surrounded by mysterious desert. Players assume the role of an unhappy, underpaid office worker who has finally had it with the crime running rampant through their beloved Twilight. Deciding to take things into your own hands, you become a superhero...
Now, that term is used rather loosely at first, as you start out as an amateur caped crusader sans cape, equipped with nothing but a baseball bat and some home-dyed flannel pajamas. As the story progresses, however, you'll have plenty of opportunity to deck yourself out with weapons, armor, decent wheels and all manner of the gadgetry you'd expect from from a real crime fighter.
Players choose between four classes which actually cover the bases fairly well as far as superhero powers are concerned. The Gadgeteer, who relies on ingenuity and superhuman tinkering to tackle challenges. The Elemental, who commands water, fire, earth and air (note: unfortunately, choosing this class will give you no sway over Milla Jovovich). The Psion, whose high intellect coupled with psychokinetic abilities make them a powerful crime fighter. Last but not least, the Naturalist, whose physical strength is only surpassed by their ability to manipulate all manner of fauna.
After character creation, you go to work establishing yourself as a force to be reckoned with. Within a few clicks, you're on the path of the quest system and fulfilling challenges assigned to you by the Twilight Police Department. Since it's a turn/adventure based game, your character has only a limited amount of action it can take per day. Don't let that turn you off, though, as even on your first day you have enough time to make PLENTY of progress. As you advance through the game, your character will level up, granting you new skills and access to a wide array of challenges.
One other aspect of gameplay worth noting is the fairly inventive implementation of computers in Twilight Heroes. Every up-and-coming hero begins the game with two empty computer bays in their hideout. Throughout the course playing the game, you will amass a fair amount of computer components. When all of the necessary parts are at your disposal, you have the option of building yourself a computer (electronic computers can be built by anyone, while positronic computers can only be assembled by Gadgeteers) to install in one of the available bays. Pieces of damaged memory dropped by robotic components can then be decrypted by your computer into complete pieces of code. Any two of these completed code sections can be combined to yield one of several functional programs which can then be run on the computer. Through a remote connection to your computers in your wristwatch, your character can benefit from the unique intrinsic effects/bonuses offered by each of these programs.
Be aware that at the time of this review, Twilight Heroes is in public beta. This means that even though it's open for people to play, it's still in a state of constant development and new content is being added almost every day. It may seem a little thin at times, but that is only because it's a work in progress.
Accessibility & UI/Controls --
When playing Twilight Heroes, your browser window is divided into four main areas. Along the left edge of the screen is the status pane, which shows an array of information about your character, such as HP/PP totals, finances, current effects and time remaining before bedtime (turns remaining that day). The right edge of the screen is taken up by the chat window, in which you can ask for help from (or provide it to) other players. Across the top of the remaining screen area, there is a shortcut bar with links to various areas of interest in and around Twilight, as well as shortcuts to your character profile page, inventory, and the in-game message system. Below this shortcut bar is the main game window. This is where you can pull up the city overview map, choose your destination, and carry on your battle against crime.
This game is about as good as it gets as far as accessibility goes. As combat is turn-based, speed is no issue. Anybody limited to keyboard only, mouse only, speech recognition only or switch only interactivity with their computer will be on an absolutely level playing field with everyone else in the game community. Additionally, the game is particularly well-suited for players utilizing Dragon NaturallySpeaking, as the hyperlink & button driven nature of the game makes it easily played by voice alone.
Another positive point for this game is that, even though there are some graphics in the game (small images of inventory items, and the portraits in combat etc.), Twilight Heroes is almost text-based. As a result, visually impaired individuals using screen reading software will find it quite easy to play. It is worth noting, however, that of the images that are present, almost all of them lack alt-text. While this won't hinder your ability to understand the game, their addition would be nice. The game's creator has expressed his understanding of the importance of this feature to the visually impaired users, however, and informed me that he intends to work on this.
Summary --
No matter how severe physical limitations are, I guarantee you will be able to play this game. Combine that with a well written, subtly humorous storyline and great community of players, and you've got a winner all around.
Pros |
Cons |
• Fully compatible with any assistive hardware/software
|
• Extremely limited alt-text on images |
• Enjoyable gameplay
|
|
• It's going to get even better as time progresses
|
|
|
|
|
|
