http://www.positech.co.uk/kudos/index.html

Kudos Review by Geek Woman
Downloadable : $22.95 US

Kudos is called a  life-sim game. It is being developed by Cliffski (Positech Games, Makers of Democracy). When the game begins you are 20 years old and single. You are living alone in a small flat in  Slough, which is a suburb of London, England.  You are without any qualifications, and you have a dead end job as a waitress. If that isn’t depressing enough all ready now you are expected to decide what you are you going to do with the rest of your life.

The new Kudos game has a very unusual presentation. It is a deep well thought out god – game. You don’t have a game avatar. It is not 3-D. You do not move your character through a persistent Massively Multiplayer Online world.

You sit behind an interface that offers you several menus to choose from like any normal 2D computer desktop. There is no remarkable artwork or breath taking renderings of the old English countryside. There are no rambling reproductions of the city streets of towns such as Slough, and the suburbs of London.

You control a set of parameters and attempt to improve them. I started the game and chose female. There were no character customization options. The choices were very limited. I attempted to pick a very high IQ and wanted to see what it would be like living with the lowered points for social skills which were assigned. Presumably if you are that smart then you don’t have many friends in this game.

The options menus also included a check box for “Enable Same Sex Relationships.” I found that to be both enlightened and unenlightened at the same time. It seemed progressive that same sex relationships are included in the game. But was the “Options” menu the right place for a it? Is a checkbox the most sensitive way to express it? Homosexuality and heterosexuality isn’t a choice or an option, it is how people are born. What is the best way to convey that in a game atmosphere, I wonder?

Gameplay

Gameplay consists of making one choice each day for your character. You can relax alone by going jogging, taking a  bath, cleaning house or attending night school. Each day you are told how much money you have made after expenses, and what mod you are in. You are expected to take courses and elevate your income and social status.

You are given some starter friends to socialize with. When they call you can choose to attend whatever they are doing or not. You can also invite friends to various social venues such as dining out gambling, movies, plays, ballet opera and sports. The success of these adventures with friends earn your Kudos and more points towards social networking and relationships. The game gives points for good experiences that raise confidence, lower loneliness and boredom.

Each turn consists of clicking one of these choices and then the “day ends.”  You are told by an automated prompt that you are a waitress, the day’s weather, how much you made in tips and how you feel about that. You start out without a car, you walk to work and if you can’t to drive you have to pay to go to driving school and you have to be able to afford the car or public transportation.

Game time goes by in terms of years. In one evening you can advance your character through several years of life. You’ll see progress or decline based on the choices you make. I chose Kung Fu, and Kick boxing classes and courses in science and chemistry to meet people and advance my character. But it was to no avail no matter what I did.

My original option of having super high IQ didn’t appear in the final formation of my character. She was left with average and below average stats across the board.

Enjoyment

It’s a god game all right that is a little slice of hell. It also tells me things like
“You are a miserable uncultured waitress” “You are a reclusive slim waitress” “You did not get the job because no one wants to work with anyone as miserable as you.”  It made me want to kill myself.
Will games ever be fun again?

Not having any character customization features will be a big downside to the game. There certainly was much time and effort spent on other parts of the game. It plays more like an interface to test models for psychological theories than something meant for fun.  Even though it has a set up for functions like shopping, the role-play aspects aren’t very strong or rewarding. You can’t craft or use many of the items, and it seems impractical as if there isn’t any purpose.

It is odd that this is a game that you ‘win’ by having relationships, but you can’t date. It is a solo player game. You can fall in love and go out with someone in the game, but they aren’t controlled by another human. You could stay single if you choose. The game limits you by not enabling features of life such as moving in together or marriages.

Even though i chose same sex relationships, no suitable partners ever appeared, In fact the game kept offering male ‘friends’.

Sound and Music n/a

Graphics n/a

Marketing Efforts to Women.

You would imagine that a game like this is intended to take a share of the Sims market that has many women gamers hooked. I don’t know if it can. It might be amusing to fiddle with while you are waiting for the phone to ring at work.  It’s point and click and it is a good enough time waster for the price.
It would be more fun if it had dress up features, and the ability to see your character change. There isn’t anything to distinguish this game as being particularly targeted for women to enjoy.

Conclusion

Kudos isn’t about graphics or most of the things that make current games interesting. It is original and the AI behind it is wasted on the lack of avatars and the fact that there is no world to explore and live in. The game feels unfinished. It would do better as a component in a larger game. No doubt the designer is talented with creating game statistics engines. I enjoy indie games, but Kudos and its creator would do well to be picked up by a team that could bring it to life in 3 -D.

Pros: It is an original premise.

CONS: It lacks the muscle to fulfill it.

Total Rating – 4
Gameplay – 4
Enjoyment – 3
Graphics – 0
Sound/Music – 0
Multiplayer – n/a

Minimum Hardware:
PC Windows