Had few attempts before, but couldn't get through the UI and cyberspace. Not this time! I'm surprised at how good this game is and loved how SHODAN had a back up plan for a back up plan. I've heard people were complaining about a number of guns being useless, which is kinda true. I've used a Stun gun once and dropped immediately, didn't use a rail gun too often because of the splash damage (same thing with grenades), shot few tranquillizer darts but those weren't effective at all, dropped using energy weapons in the late game because I prioritized saving up energy for the energy shield. So I used regular guns for the most time. The controls are janky. It's not that much of a problem for the most time, but it hinders platforming sections or sections where you would appreciate better movability. I'm glad I've heard about writing down numbers near computer nodes so I didn't have to backtrack. The only time I've got stuck was at the Executive (7) level. The audiolog said something about security numbers being shuffled near the elevator, and indeed there were numbers. There was even a camera to show you the numbers without backtracking, but both codes were incorrect. Apparently the code was located in cyberspace, I just had to check cyberspace notes. I wonder why is everyone referring SHODAN with male pronouns when both her voice and avatar have feminine features. Did they've changed it after writing things down? my main regret is basically skipping the Security section by entering the middle tower via rocketboots and speed booster
The game has a nice atmosphere of mystery and you can really feel the impending doom that awaits you if you don't speed up repairing the ship. You are reminded of this fact be receiving more and more unnerving calls from other survivors. The game also reminds you of this with gradually more intense soundtrack. At the beginning you have three crew members at your disposition, usually each of them excels at one of four possible tasks and is pretty mediocre in others. You can train them to do other tasks as well, so you can specialize crewmembers in other activities. Unfortunately, what you can't train them is self-preservation behavior. The scientists will go collect that wood, on empty stomach, empty health bar and it's up to you to stop them from certain death. It wouldn't be that bad, if there was an easier way to manage those people. Some sort of a chart or an console where you could quickly glance and see what is their status. In games like Kenshi or Rimworld, where you also manage a group of people, you can click at one's portrait and find out what's wrong and quickly react to it. Here, you have to skim from left to right and check everyone individually how far from death they are. The story is told through monologues. Characters do not interact with each other, unless it's waiting in line to a stasis pod or fridge. One person can complain about the pilot, and the said pilot won't answer back or react in any way. However, the writing in those monologues is pretty solid. It’s not too long to bore you, and informative enough to tell you what are the motivations and type of a person that speaks them. There's stark difference between resignation at the beginning, and panic at the end. It's a nice game for an hour or two. It has nice graphics, which are sufficient for this kind of production. What it lacks thou are gameplay mechanics that could diversify your playthrough because so far, its mostly gathering junk and hoping that RNG won't mess up the shelter too bad
