FreezeME Reviews

It's a really nice game, reminds me of some good old N64 platformers. While this game is clearly inspired on Super Mario 64, it also reminded me a bit of Banjo-Kazooie and other Rare games from back then, and that's no small feat. The puzzles are pretty good, and use well the unique abilities of the character. From the little I played, I can see there is a lot to find, and lots to do on each level. The only negatives I can say about this are that the game can be a bit overwhelming at first, it kinda makes you read the whole text tutorial - without interaction or anything - to learn the basics. There is some strange camera jank/bugs, but nothing old platformers didn't also have. Worth buying for the genre fans, for sure.

Great concept. Played enough to see 3 full levels and 4 single-action levels. Great level design, it could be a really fun game. Unfortunately, that "COULD" is based on two very simple things that have gone wrong. 1. Controls, particularly with a gamepad: The keyboard mappings are fine and make plenty of sense; however: any wall-interaction movement is appaling. Try to walk near a wall and you'll end up grabbing it for no reason, and when you want to grab it you'll keep running past the wall. Getting a wall-jump to register correctly is a test in patience (provided there's a floor for you to start again) and many platform jumps which look like a sure-footed landing may turn into a ledge-grab, or you just may fall off and have to backtrack a significant amount. Small movements to rotate in place to set up for a series of jumps don't seem to exist. In 2D sections (particularly single-action levels) 3D controls still rule; you can miss a wall jump very easily because the game things you're slightly moving in/out of the plane of movement. Which for purposes of a 2D level is impossible. I could go on 2. Camera. Requires a lot of manual moving as you play. Navigating small spaces, and the camera doesn't show you any hazards, falls, or anything around you; just a lot of environment that obstructs you. Gosh. It could be a lot of fun. I really want it to be. But until the controls get cleaned up, the game feels like more of a chore.

FreezeMe is exactly what it promises to be: a 3D platformer in the style of the 90s era. Between all of its influences, the most noticeable are Super Mario 64 and to a lesser degree Super Mario Galaxy. Instead of Gold Stars your main collectibles are Gold Cubes, there are 40 distributed around the game's 4 levels. Less important collectibles are Green Pig Coins, Screws, Red Pig Coins, most needed to 100% the game, they add a collectathon exploration and task solving to the experience. The levels are enjoyable although a lack of variety can be noted, the challenges vary from very easy to very hard, which is good. The boss battle aren't really that great, but they are passable. The music is pretty on point to other entries in the genre. Overall I had a blast playing it and it really helped with that 3D platformer dry we've all been experiencing the past years. I'd completely recommend it for any fans of the genre.

FreezeME is an enjoyable platformer overall, but I think it could be improved significantly with a little more development. There are lots of minor bugs and other annoyances which make this game harder to recommend. Pros: -the time-freezing camera is a novel addition, and makes you think outside the box for some challenges -the worlds are all a decent size, filled and spaced out well, and generally fairly well-made -most quests are fun and a little challenging -camera is decent, so are the controls in general -low system requirements -steam controller worked out of the box without tweaking -music/sfx are all on point Cons: -lots of bugs. Mostly small, with one big one (soft lock requiring game to be closed, unsaved progress lost) -occasionally there's a cube which seems disproportionately difficult, or an overly punishing challenge which is a little out of sync with the rest of the game -no way to tell which world your missing green pigcoins are located in, making 100% completion difficult -no indicator for which time attack levels are already complete -you always spawn at the center of the hub world, instead of near the level you just exited. You're ejected from the world after getting each cube, so... lots of unnecessary walking -no development for years, so unlikely to get any fixes/improvements If you do decide to give this game a chance, just make sure that you're realistic with your expectations. It has bugs, it has design flaws, and it's probably going to stay that way. I'd still recommend this game in spite of its problems, but only if you feel confident that you can see past them and enjoy this game for what it is.

As someone who has missed the bygone era of 3D platformers, I decided to give FreezeME a whirl and fortunately, I wasn't disappointed. FreezeME pays homage to Rare's classic platformer Banjo Kazooie and Nintendo's Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy so people familiar with those series will feel at home with FreezeME. The worlds are big, bright and colorful with puzzles/tasks spread across each of them. People who have played Super Mario 64 will be familiar with completing individual tasks and being rewarded with a star for their troubles; it's the same premise with FreezeME but instead of stars, you're rewarded with golden cubes. The scope of the worlds is impressive with individual planets (al a Super Mario Galaxy style) reached by launching R from a cannon. I was at first hesitant to make my purchase after reading other reviews and thoughts about the control system and mechanics. Controlling R certainly feels "heavy" and not as fluid as controlling Mario in Super Mario 64. Jumping and landing can be sporadic in places but controls, at least in my case, have began to grow on me and fortunately, it hasn't deterred my enjoyment from the game. The camera work is also not as refined though still adaptable with free reign to adjust camera options and predictability in the settings. I personally use an Xbox 360 controller's right stick to control the camera and hitting the "Y" button to center the camera behind R when needed. The soundtrack is very bright and colorful; I'm fondly reminded of Grant Kirkhope's Banjo Kazooie effort and Koji Kondo's Super Mario 64 score. In no way does it grate on you and it's pleasant to listen to. To conclude, FreezeMe is a good effort from an indie developer and while it certainly lacks the polish and fluid controls I had come to expect from Nintendo and Rareware platformers, you can't go far wrong with FreezeME for its price-point. 7/10.

("Too long, didn't read" person? Skip to bottom for conclusion.) ;-) Back in the good, old days, we had classic after classc like Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazooie, Crash Bandicoot and Beyond Good & Evil. Then... nothing. Super Mario Galaxy was great, but it was also the last, awesome 3D platformer. We could debate whether SMG2 was better, but personally, I felt it was more a SMG 1.5, or expansion to Galaxy 1. It wasn't exactly as new and refreshing as SM64, SM Sunshine and SM Galaxy were. But nevermind that. Way off topic, sorry. Ever since Super Mario Galaxy, I've wanted a new 3D Platformer, but no one has delivered. Mario was scrapped, returning to his 2D roots and the semi-2D Super Mario 3D World. Banjo was abandoned. Crash, uh, crashed. But just when all hope seemed lost, we got a game called FreezeME. True, the title is a bit generic and off-putting, and yes, it's an indie game from people you have probably never heard of. The main character doesn't even have a name, and the story is something generic like a dog being kidnapped. Something tells me it might be in another castle... hehehe. But get past all that and take the game for what it really is, and you'll be well rewarded. We're talking a 3D platformer in the style of Super Mario and all those, and it's pretty darn good. It might no be the *best* game out there, and it's not the longest game out there. But what it is, is a very old-school, excellent 3d platformer with a whole lot of style, and, even more important, a whole lot of love put into it. This isn't a quick cash grab from greedy publishers who don't know what makes these games popular. This is a game by gamers, for gamers. A game that really shines with love. These guys aren't just games like you and me. These guys really love their games, and most of the time, it feels like this is a game by them, for themselves. A love letter to themselves, in a way. We are just fortunate enough to get to take part in this and enjoy the game for ourselves. Too long, didn't read? Mario, Banjo, Crash, FreezeME. 'nough said.

I wish there were more of these games on Steam. FreezeME is a full Super Mario fix and plays well on the Steam Controller. Would I say it's perfect? No, but there's a lot it does right: Pros: -Surprising amount of professional polish to: area designs, menus, animations, etc. -Great game layout as far as traditional Super Mario like game goals go. With bonus/challenge areas, revisiting same locations to get more challenging gold cubes, etc. -Captures that Super Mario platformer "themepark" feel pretty much spot on. Where you can see all the challenges around you that makes you want to keep exploring more. -Lastly, GREAT VIEW CAMERA. It doesn't try and get too smart and most importantly, it lets you flip the axis to what you like. Cons: -Freeze Camera aiming is a little weird/takes some getting used to. A more intuitive control scheme where the view stays in 3rd person, but auto locks onto the freeze camera target and back again might work better. Or t least make it a check box, so you can have either/or, depending on what works for the player. To me, it's weird moving a little tracer line around from whatever side angle your view happens to be at when you bring the camera out. Also, the aiming is a little dicey, it needs an acceleration curve or some kind of smoothing. -Wish there was a sprint feature where you would start to run a little faster outside, like the LEGO games do in open world exploration areas. -I wish the main character had a little more personality, the black haired glasses thing is fine, just a little too "Plain Jane" to stick in your mind and remember. Overall though, I'm very happy with this game as a pretty good Super Mario fix, of which there are not many this true to form on Steam. I paid full asking price and would do it again.

I would compare this to several games in the mario series, mostly 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy. It is a collecthon, I've found two main collectibles along with just regular "coins". You leave the world after collecting one of the "stars", and you can mostly collect them in any order that you wish, except for certain event ones, like how you couldn't race against Koopa the Quick when you chose Battle on Bo-omb Hill. Several moves like the somersault, wall jump, and dive work similarly to sm64, except that you can chain dives and the somersault covers way more distance. The number of collectibles though isn't techinally the same amount, there seems to be 40 "stars" and 80 "star pieces", with 10 of those giving you one star. Since you don't leave the world when you collect the star pieces, I can say you could probably complete this game faster then a run of 64 if you're very familar with platformers and "collectathons." I do recommend this game a bunch, though, as it is a great 3D platforming collectathon.

I really wanted to like this game, but the controls killed it for me. Controls are very important in a platformer and they just don't feel right at all. The game has some interesting ideas and I want to love it, but I can't with the way it controls now.

I want to love it so much. Everything about it is so so very right. The Mario 64 inspirations are there and beautiful. It is everything I want in so many ways BUT The controls just don't feel good. I'm not sure if this is something they are continuing to work on, but they are just not there. One of the things that made Mario 64 so tremendous was that the controls were incredibly smooth, and the camera was very smart. FreezeME, however, still has a certain clunky feel to the controls and leaves me feeling like I am fighting the camera half the time. It is a really great 3D platformer with a joyous spirit if you are okay with the controls. (I've heard that some people find the KBM controls better, but a world in which Mario 64 must be played with a keyboard and mouse is a world that I reject.) I am still happy that I purchased it, because I support the 3D platformer renaissance with all my heart, but the controls just are not there yet for me.