Parkan 2

I just replayed this game on Steam - and here it comes to GOG, intabought. Disclosure - never played original Parkan, but this game is a remake of that one with expanded features and modernized everything else. I personally enjoy these kinds of games, so yeah - I'm biased. STALKER, Space Rangers, Ex Machina, A.I.M. - these games strive to create a living, breathing world to borderline live in. Maybe this game did not succeed in all things it tried to do - the development was hard and many ideas were simplified or simply cut. Main narrative in these games is secondary. Focus is on independent universe feel and atmosphere. And this title excels in that. Everything looks authentic - e.g. every ship, station and building has holographic interfaces, which can be just for show, but they also can display maps or pointers for you to navigate easily (no automap). Nevertheless, the game in its final state is cozy as hell and I definitely overlook issues that for some can be detrimental. You are a captain of a ship in a strange part of the galaxy of a fascinating universe. You have complete autonomy - fly around, take missions, help or anger factions, buy other ships, land on planets, board other ships - or even capture and manage planets and space stations. To follow the main narrative - it's all up to you. The progression is a bit streamlined - "clans" you encounter are just hierarchy of power, from Purple to Red, and subsequently - every item and ship in the game. Still, fights can still proove to be challenging, especially in the end. Granted, the game can be limited and silly in some regards, but it's good honest fun. No serious issues, 1-2 crashes during complete playthrough. Voice acting is hilariously bad, even on russian - just treat it as a part of the charm. Also, there is an easy trick to run it in proper aspect ratios (default widescreen just stretches 4:3) - seach for it on WSGF, requires a bit of HEX editing, but don't let it intimidate you. Do recommend!

Parkan 2 is one of those indy, raw gems that just work. It has a straight forward game design that harkens back to the first decade of the twenty first century, along with graphics that squeeze out beauty despite the limitations of the engine. What can I say? I'm having a lot of fun for just a few bucks.

Simply put this is No Man's Sky but made by visionary (not scammy) devs. It's a blend of styles, unique in its own good ol' rusky weird way and you'll be stunned by how well this game holds up 12yrs later. A true wacky gem that somehow added A LOT of stuff when compared to the first one in the series, this will keep you entertained for weeks to come. Great value. Great score. Awesome gameplay. Just go out and explore it all, wack some alien scum, repair and upgrade your ship... and much much more. Do what you like. Simply put, that's it. Space Game Junkie's review (https://youtu.be/ouDoB-guCRs) says it all. You have to play it thoroughly to see what I mean. In all seriousness words can't describe how awesome this game truly is. Go get it now, cheap as heck, intense and fun like in kazoo kid fun.

Nice concept, but has some flaws. Tutorial is kind of useless and you have to learn it on your own. Text is too small and thus hard to read. Early space battles takes too long to kill a single ship. Using mouse for space battles is kind of weird, but if you use joystick controls they are too sensitive, even with its in-game sensitivity sliders. Maybe its cool when it was first released, but if you plan to play this today, there are plenty of other open world exploration games out there.