Talk:Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack!/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Cognissonance (talk · contribs) 01:49, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

Nice, short article. I'll get to reviewing this soon. Cognissonance (talk) 01:49, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

Lead

• "the game" is repeated three times in the paragraph. Maybe replace the last two with "It" and "Kamikaze Attack!".
• "mixed" is used twice. Maybe replace the second instance with "conflicting".
• "release" is used twice. Maybe replace one of them with "launch".

Gameplay

• GamesRadar says it has forty "missions". Add source 8, which mentions them as "levels".
• Instead of following up "Serious Sam games" with "The game contains forty levels", maybe just write "There are forty levels".
• "a desert and a jungle environment" - This only needs the first "a".
• "In each level" - You can lose "level" and still refer to the already mentioned levels.
• "the character's" can be shortened to "their".
• I assume the "player" and "player character" are the same. If so, you can change "the player traverses a two-dimensional world, with the player character persistently moving" to "the player character traverses a two-dimensional world in persistent motion".
• "Inbetween, the player character" - Replace "player character" with "Headless Kamikaze".
• "kick ability. Using this ability fills the "rage meter" that, once filled, kills the character" - Avoid repetition and write "kick ability, which fills a "rage meter" that can ultimately kill the character".
• Refs. 2 and 4 don't need to end that sentence because the next one already uses the same sources.
• "It automatically drains while the kick ability is not in use" - "the kick ability is" is not needed here.
• Realising there are many repetitions of "character". Please find other ways of describing them, or remove if possible.
• The sentence "Additional lives may be obtained through collectibles" doesn't need to end with ref. 2, since the next sentence already does.
• "Other collectibles" - Gamezebo names these collectibles, use them instead of repeating "collectibles".
• "the player's score" - "player's" not needed here.
• "jumping over hazards" - Since "hazards" has already been used, replace with "obstacles".
• "holding down the jump button prolongs the jump, and a second jump can be initiated while in the air" - Avoid repetition of "jump": "holding down the button prolongs the leap, and a second one can be initiated while in the air".
• "Each level" - Replace "Each" with "Every" to distinguish from the first use of "each level".
• "Achieving these objectives unlocks level modifiers" - Avoid repetition of "objective" and "level": "This unlocks modifiers".
• "progressively made more difficult" - Avoid repetition of "progressively" by replacing it with "eventually".
• "by incorporating more hazards" - "hazards" can be replaced with "dangers".
• "Additional endless levels" - Endless? I don't know what is meant by this.
• "bonus objectives as the primary objective" - Use a synonym like "goal" for the second repetition.
• "for any level" - Unnecessary.

Development and release

• "game" is repeated several times in this section. Please find other terms and remove if possible.
• "He considered this a "no-brainer", wherefore he accepted the request" - Simplify and avoid repetition of "he": "He considered this a "no-brainer" and accepted the request".
• Sources 10 and 12 are cited several times in the first paragraph where they don't need to be. The first single-use of ref. 10 can be removed, since the sentence ending with "Serious Sam 3: BFE" already covers it with 10 and 12; however, these can also be removed because they are followed by another sentence citing refs. 10 and 12.
• "given the experience in the genre the studio had gathered with Lame Castle" - Copyedit: "given the experience they had gathered with Lame Castle".
• "He also ruled out developing a first-person shooter" - Try this instead: "He also ruled out doing a first-person shooter".
• There's a lot of "developed", "developing" and "development" in the section. Instead use words like "production" or remove if possible.
• Remove ref. 10 from the sentence ending with "mobile phones", the next sentence already uses it.
• "was developed using the Unity game engine" - The last paragraph started with "was developed", so instead write "employed the Unity game engine", and per MOS:SEAOFBLUE, you can remove the wikilink from "game engine".
• "which saved him development time he used to add" - Simplify: "which allowed him the time to add".
• "Be-Rad" starts three successive sentences in the second paragraph. Consider rewording these.
• "by adding objectives and boss fights to it" - Avoid repetition: "by putting in objectives and boss fights".
• "also added role-playing video game elements" - Avoid repetition: "also implemented role-playing elements".
• "but decided to remove them" - "decided" was already used in paragraph one, try this: "but removed them".
• "Be-Rad was given a lot of freedom in the development process, receiving only some feedback on the visual design for Sam" - WP:POV and improve prose: "Be-Rad was given substantial creative control, only receiving feedback on the visual design for Sam".
• "receiving only some feedback on the visual design for Sam" - Can you direct me to the quote that covers this claim, I can't find it.
• "The game's core development lasted around two months, with the game finished in six" - I suggest this, per the Be-Rad source: "Though production had been planned to last two months, it was finished in six".
• "iOS mobile operating systems" - MOS:SEAOFBLUE, remove wikilink for "mobile operating systems".
• "; creating a Windows Phone version was not considered because Unity did not support the platform" - Perhaps lose the semicolon, this feels like its own sentence. Copyedit: "A Windows Phone port was not considered because Unity did not support the platform".
• "Two promotional trailers for Kamikaze Attack! were released: one in July 2011 to demonstrate the game's gameplay, and one in September 2011 to coincide with the game's release" - Improve prose: "Two trailers were released: one in July 2011 to demonstrate the gameplay, and another in September to coincide with the launch".
• Minimise and reword the repetitions of "release" in this section.
• "To commemorate the release of Kamikaze Attack!" - This works better without the title.
• "The Android version of Kamikaze Attack! was offered as freeware through the Amazon Appstore storefront on November 29, 2011, and became the storefront's most-downloaded free app of that day" - Improve prose: "Kamikaze Attack! was offered as freeware on Android through the Amazon Appstore on November 29, 2011, becoming the storefront's most-downloaded free app of that day".
• "Be-Rad consequently created a build without this permission, which was quickly approved by the storefront" - "by the storefront" is not needed here.
• Move sources 26 and 27 to the end of the fourth paragraph and remove all others, since both cover all claims made there.
• "In this collection, the game was delivered as a download with no digital rights management, as well as a download through the Desura service" - Avoid repetition of "download": "In this collection, the game was delivered with no digital rights management, as well as through the Desura service".
• "IndieGala included the Android version of Kamikaze Attack! in a collection in May 2013" - Avoid repetition of "version" and "collection": "IndieGala included it on Android in a bundle in May 2013".
• "In June 2013, the game, in its Microsoft Windows and Android versions, was included in a "Humble Weekly Sale" collection on the website Humble Bundle to help to fund the development of Serious Sam 4" - Improve prose: "In June 2013, it was included among other Windows and Android games as part of a "Humble Weekly Sale" on the Humble Bundle website to help fund Serious Sam 4".
• "Kamikaze Attack! was one of five games obtained on this collection's lowest pay tier, which started at US$0.01" - This is not necessary information.

Reception

• Remove the first instance of ref. 34, it is cited in the next sentence.
• "website Metacritic. Based on six critic reviews, Metacritic calculated an average score of 67/100" - Avoid repetition: "website Metacritic, which calculated a score of 67/100 based on six critics".
• "Some critics found that the hand-drawn graphics were appealing and fit the game's overall esthetic" - Avoid repetition: "Some found that the hand-drawn graphics were appealing and fit its overall esthetic".
• "Andrew Nesvadba (AppSpy) called the game's visuals "stunning" but noted that they could lead to some "visual confusion"" - Avoid repetition and improve prose: "Andrew Nesvadba (AppSpy) called the visuals "stunning" but noted that they could cause some "confusion"".
• "Commenting on the game's controls" - "game's" is not needed here.
• "Alexander described them as" - Avoid repetition: "Alexander thought them to be".
• "Chris Schilling (Pocket Gamer) stated that they were" - Avoid repetition: "Chris Schilling (Pocket Gamer) opined that they were".
• "also lauded the game" - Avoid repetition: "also lauded it".
• "Hayward also noted the game's shortage of art assets, as did D'Aprile" - Improve prose: "Hayward and D'Aprile also faulted the shortage of art assets".
• "Further criticism was drawn towards the repetitiveness of the game, with Schilling and Thorin Klosowski (TouchArcade) both noting a lack of diversity between the individual levels" - Avoid repetition and improve prose: "Further criticism highlighted the repetitiveness of the game, as Schilling and Thorin Klosowski (TouchArcade) both saw a lack of variety between the individual levels".
• "D'Aprile considered the repetitiveness the game's biggest problem" - Improve prose and avoid repetition: "D'Aprile observed this as its biggest problem".
• "Several critics stated that Kamikaze Attack! was a good fit for the Serious Sam franchise, although they believed that it would have little to no appeal to players with no background knowledge of the franchise" - Improve prose: "Many agreed that Kamikaze Attack! was a good fit for the Serious Sam franchise, although they believed it would have limited appeal to players with no background knowledge of the series".
• "Kamikaze Attack! was GameFly's "app of the day" of June 12, 2012" - Add italics to "GameFly" and move the sentence to the first paragraph.

@IceWelder: A decent article with reliable sources and information, but also some prose and source placement problems. Ping me when you're done. Cognissonance (talk) 22:03, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

Cognissonance, thanks for your thorough review. I believe to have fixed the issues mentioned. Some additional notes:

• Gamezebo only provides crude descriptions for collectibles, usually just pointing out the icons ("turtles", "water drops"). In the game, they have names like "slow" (for speed reduction) or "rageless" (for rage meter drainage), which is not much of a step-up. I combined the two sentences to eliminate one use of "collectible" instead.
• "Endless" levels lack Sam at the end and just throw hazards at the character until the player runs out of lives. I have amended the sentence for clarity, please check whether that helps.
• "Game" is still mentioned eight times in the development section, albeit in six different contexts ("game engine", "auto-running game", etc.). Please let me know if further reduction is required.
• The quote on Sam's design feedback is in the adjacently cited interview, it reads:

(Interviewer:) Have you faced any creative restrictions, or have you been able to put to paper any and all ideas? BJ: We had one bit of feedback on the look of Sam, but that was it. Devolver Digital and Croteam let us do pretty much whatever we wanted. They even gave us a ton of great ideas for the game.

• I minorly reworded some of your suggestions for clarity. For example, the game was the only one available on Android in the Humble Weekly Sale.
• I did not italicize GameFly in alignment with the styling in its article and because it is a game rental service rather than a news outlet.

I hope my changes address all problems, please let me know if there is more work to be done. Regards, IceWelder [✉] 10:08, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

I found it difficult to describe some problems while re-reading the article, so I made edits of my own. I am satisfied and will be passing this now. Cognissonance (talk) 11:37, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

Cognissonance, thanks for your continued efforts! Your changes are appropriate and I am very happy with the result. Regards, IceWelder [✉] 12:08, 17 April 2020 (UTC)