Overall most helpful review

Posted on: September 28, 2020

ChronoWolf

Games: 100 Reviews: 4

I was one of PAMELA's greatest advocates

At the time of writing this review, I have put 121 hours into this game. I initially bought this game when it came out in early access and immediately fell in love. I thought it was beautiful, captivating, and immersive. After dedicating dozens of hours to it, I left a glowing review. I steamed it on my Twitch channel for weeks at a time. I praised every update from the devs and was so excited to show off the new features every time something new was added. I knew every trick, every location, every strategy. I even hosted the GOG Twitch Channel release stream for the game when it came to GOG. Sadly, I have done a complete 180 shortly after the games' release... To put it simply: there are just too many issues with the game, many of which prevent you from even completing it. It has also never been properly optimized, resulting in many users complaining that their otherwise stellar hardware is being brought it its knees after 1 hour of gameplay or overheating. While you can forgive a game for having these issues in early-access, or perhaps shortly after release, there's no excuse for leaving these issues unaddressed for so long, and then simply abandoning the game. Many users reached out to the devs to try and get these issues fixed. At first, the devs were responsive. They released a few patches shortly initial release. But now it has been many months and some of the biggest issues remain unresolved, and the title appears to be abandoned by the developers. This game could've been a masterpiece and a defining title for the studio. Instead, it was allowed to become the victim of its own shortcomings. Too many un-addressed issues, resulting in poor reviews, resulting in developers feeling exhausted, beaten, and basically giving up, resulting in more un-addressed issues, resulting in more poor reviews, etc. Rinse, repeat, and say goodbye to PAMELA and hello to one of the greatest missed-opportunities in the genre. I do not recommend this title.

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Posted on: June 19, 2020

Verified owner

Games: 0 Reviews: 18

Read lots of reviews before buying

So, I brought this and installed. The game looks promising, graphically nice. However that is where it really ends. It is nothing like bioshock (apart from maybe the base setting a bit), and it is a bit like Prey 2017, which I just mostly finished. However performance is terrible. My system far outweighs the requirements and has no problem with any game. This one however jumps a frame every few seconds, so dropped the graphics right down to low before it became playable. So the environment, there are few things to interact with, almost all of the empty. There are also numerous bugs present, opening the menu left me with the brackets from the menu locked on my cursor, when I saved my game the camera was frozen - I could still move but not look, when exiting the thing crashed. And I found the items screen opens sometimes halfway in the object so you can’t see things, not that there is generally anything worth picking up. The models are ok, look a bit scary, however they don’t seem to attack, just stand there growling until you attack them? The PAMELA voice over is the most annoying whiney voice. Combat I have only the punching mechanism, enemies seem to move through me so was left punching air, no solidity. Overall this wants to be Prey in a lot of ways, however it really is nowhere near that. Also note it’s a rogue like, you die often and just respawn, not mentioned above. TL;DR: has some potential, currently very broken. Want this type of game, buy Prey (or bioshock).

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Posted on: June 19, 2020

greyhat

Verified owner

Games: 1439 Reviews: 16

Not just System Shock 2

I played PAMELA during early access and loved it. So much that I put over 50 hours into the game. I saw it go through many small mechanical design changes. It is rare that I would continue playing an unfinished game for this many hours. Despite the performance issues at the time and saves getting broken between pre-alpha builds it was a trip. The atmosphere is very much like System Shock 2. Don't kid your self though the game does it's own thing and stands on it's own merits. Evidently, though I did not read this myself, the developers did not take inspiration from System Shock or Bio shock when making this game. It was their own design and vision. System Shock players will probably love it though. The execution of the setting is entirely unique and the level design is very immersive. It has complex survival mechanics such as optional base building. Though not in such a way that it takes away from the primary game play. It is entirely optional. Survival is the name of the game though. Pamela allows for a certain degree of environmental puzzle solving and story telling to carry you through the game. The combat feels like a hybrid between The Surge and System Shock. It consists of dodge mechanics as opposed to jumping. However, there is no lock on. The architecture and level design has a lot of verticality. Just dont get the idea that you can mantle over obstacles and parkour everywhere. It is not that kind of game. The reactivity in the world is huge. It has day night cycles, power drain, and relocation of power to different zones. Making them safer at night but at the cost of power resources. Bases you set up can be attacked when you are absent. This adds to a lot of tension to an already tense game. Exploration is fun and never gets tiresome. In short, PAMELA is an immersive game in the line of System Shock. For those that love LGS/ Arkane Studio games look no further. What we have in PAMELA is unique take on the "Immersive sim" game.

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Posted on: June 24, 2020

Thaliosz

Verified owner

Games: 415 Reviews: 11

Is not ready

For the first time, I would encourage GOG to better review the titles that they publish. This game is simply not ready. 7 minutes (seven) to load the level, frame rate dropped (I just lost 3 hours of gameplay because the action freezed while I was being attacked), broken hitbox, super heavy in the very same laptop that runned The Witcher 3 at ultra details. On the technological level, is unplayable. I'm very sorry to say that, is really the first time. But it's the reality that I experienced. I will not ask refund in trust that it will be patched, and because the atmosphere was intense, with good potential. But on the date on this review, I suggest to at least wait.

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Posted on: June 21, 2020

zavenous

Games: 402 Reviews: 24

Got on Steam in Early access - Not ready

Issues as of 1.0 (will cover issues only as they ruin the fun - please check Steam / GOG reviews first for the positive aspects as there are still plenty): -Major performance / degrading performance issues -Game crashing after death 20-40% of the time upon trying to re-spawn. -Counter intuitive UI / control scheme by default. -Screen drifting is introduced when you try to hack mini games. -Enemy IA not here yet (such as NPCs walking straight into walls). -Enemy and player falling between textures at times. -Enemies partially crossing closed doors. -AI detection issues. -Journal doesn’t seem to update properly. -Combat doesn't feel fun with balance issues and poorly implemented combat generally speaking. -Game start with station not being powered sufficiently (we do see more than pre-release though) -Enemies keep spawning in an inconvenient way and will keep destroying your bases. -Survival aspect ends up feeling oppressive. Tip: Lower the strength of enemies when first setting the game mode (that you can customize which is cool BTW) otherwise you might get -quite- frustrated.

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