The famous residualvm bug. None of the solutions in different forums work. It's probably the same everywhere in all platforms, as its not specific to the GOG release. It probably requires too much additional effort to maintain.
Each strategy layer of this game has a lot of potential and a lot of ways to be played. Superb graphics, difficulty can be challenging - so if you are not XCOM experienced, better play normal difficulty. However, read the manual first, because some in game mechanics and controls are not too obvious at first. Another big problem is that it is buggy, but inconsistently so. it's not like everyone has one and the same bug and you can find easy solution in some forums. For example, in my instance right clicking on grenade crashes the game. In night missions the flares are the default equipment choice in the grenade slot, which means in night missions you can't use grenades at all. There is another problem to which I haven't found any solution: the workshop may be broken, but you don't see that during the first day. So you may waste two months campaign before realizing you cannot progress further, because you can't build new fighters or armor.
This comes from Monkey island- types of game fan. The art is beautiful, there are some very well drawn locations in the game. The story is fresh and unique, it is engaging. I really likes the soundtrack. The main character is showing great progress from being a total Rufus-style moron to responsible little man. The characters can be memorable. The game manages to be funny at times and really outlandish at others. Strange choice of humour, but overall - good one. Definitely worth the time. I would give it 4.5 stars if I could now and 5 if it was a bit more sophisticated in terms of story resolution.
Anyone who likes innovative games with unique universe, good story and atmosphere - should buy this one. I played it for the first time last year, so I have objective and fresh opinion, which is not based on 10-15 rose-tinted memories. Considering how old it is, it really stands out among its contemporaries. The world in which you find yourself is very alien - and that feeling is conveyed very precisely. The npc's are very human-like, yet their culture is quite different from ours. You get involved in solving their problems, you learn about their beliefs and all this contributes to making the game a living world. Certainly sometimes it is difficult to find a certain npc and finish their related quests, but this should not be a reason to abandon the game. The graphics seem a little bit strange, sharp and as far as I remember - a little bit behind the standards of its time, but this doesn't matter very much. The world is shaped beautifully and varies from map to map. I strongly recommend searching forums on how to make enemies stronger and player weapons weaker, as the game is dis-balanced in that regard. There are a number of very interesting items which allow for different type of game play. You also get to ride and fight on a horse-like creature which adds speed and some definite pleasure in the whole thing. Last, but not least - this was one of the best stories in a pc game I personally enjoyed, and I still remember some scenes vividly. This game reminds me in its general feeling a little bit of Omikron. Most people who liked Omikron will like this one a lot.
This game is one of a kind. Its simply magnificent experience, although I admit that it had potential for so much more. I guess back then in 1999 they didn't had the resources to make it happen quite so as they imagined it. However, it doesn't really matter, because it has one of the most intense atmospheres of a sci-fi world. It is clunky at times, but what works best about this game is that it makes your imagination finish what the game itself didn't do. The world has a huge background story. It has nice ideas, actually, the save system is the best I have ever seen, and the body changing ability was phenomenal idea. It doesn't add too much strategic value to the game, however I enjoyed much more the nice puzzles, quests, story line, even the fighting system. Being able to shoot, fight, drive a car, change bodies, investigate crimes, meet demons, hack computers, buy weapons gives it a variety, and the fact that it is not well polished doesn't bother me. After all there are 4 big cities, but they are not an open world, you may walk around , but there is not much to be done. And you know - this is NOT an issue with this game ,since its main strong point is the main story and 3 or 4 side stuff to do. The philosophy of the Nomad Soul and the weak souls of the inhabitants was also an excellent spot-on metaphor. So, putting aside some bugs and general unfinished feeling , this is one of my favourite games for me! It proves that a good game is sometimes about general experience and making your imagination work on the background, and not so much on nice mechanics.
Ok, I will admit I didn't expect much out of this game when I first ran it. I had to invest some time to get the hang of the combat, as well as understand the alchemy system. I suppose you need time to immerse fully in the overall setting. After that you start to appreciate it. I would say this is a very BELIEVABLE game, though this being a strange word to be used in RPG context. The combat system is realistic - you either do series of successful hits, or suffer from such. You need to learn ingredients and monsters, formulas. You have to pay for this. The alchemy system is realistic as well. Drinking potions is limited by toxicity. You can't carry tons of weapons as most other games. Until certain point you can't even make unlimited amount of money (Which become pretty useless in many other games). Magic is something of which very few are capable of. You don't buy hundreds of spells just like that - you have few, and must choose wisely which to train. Everything you achieve is a result of hard work. This game doesn't hold your hand, you may fail a dozen of quests. The plot is intriguing, very mature. Of course there are flaws - dialogues could have been written better at some points in the game. First round of battle should have been less buggy, quests sometimes become unclear, you may lose yourself in the amount of things to do... That doesn't matter. You either love this game or hate it. I opt for the first - this is a unique experience and I absolutely recommend it.
