In 2012, when I wrote for a different website, my editor asked if I was interested in reviewing Stealth Bastard, a puzzle-platformer. I love platformers, so it was an easy yes.
The developers only gave us the option to review on PC. The specifications for Stealth Bastard were modest: Windows XP; a dual-core 2.5 GHz processor, 2 GB of RAM, and DirectX 8 compatible graphics. I had a decent laptop—not a gaming one—but it could run this game.
When I started, the game worked well for a few minutes, then became slow and choppy. I’d restart the game, and again it played well at first, but became like a slideshow over time. I told my editor. He wasn’t happy about possibly assigning the game to someone else or potentially scrapping the review if the developers couldn’t provide another code, but it was an honest mistake. Even though my graphics were DirectX 8 compatible, something about the laptop’s integrated graphics made the game run poorly. Oops.
