There was a period between 2000 and 2006 where every shooter that wasn't Call of Duty or Halo was god-awful. Quake 4. Doom 3. Unreal 2. This game was smack dab in the middle of that. Unreal 2 has a myriad of issues: The guns are either nerfed or OP (Over-Powered). The enemies are all OP. The Music is bland and uninspired. The plot is non-existent. The characters are bland and lack any semblance of depth. Yes, even the sexy broad from the promo art. Dialogue is insipid. Environments are dull and level design is as boring as it gets. Graphics are ok for the time period. Setpiece triggers fail so that you can't finish the levels. It's just awful. But the worst part is the pacing. Your character's top speed is the walk speed of any character from another game. You can change it by editing the game's .INI files, but then you run circles around everything and the game ceases to be any fun whatsoever. Skip it. Or don't and indulge your inner masochist. I'll update this review if I ever manage to get all the way through it.
From my steam review: TL:DR : It's Gwent: Story Mode. The first thing you need to know about Thronebreaker is that it is Gwent, and Gwent is free to play at https://www.playgwent.com/en/ . If you like Gwent, you will like this game, if not, you will hate this game. That being said, Thronebreaker is great for Gwent and Witcher fans alike. The game faithfully fills in the story of the war that is raging in the background of the Witcher books. I played this game while reading the books, so If you are reading the books at the same time, Start this game during "The Blood of Elves". The end of the second to last act in this game is also the end of the book, "Baptism of Fire". Now, note that Geralt only gets a very brief cameo in this game, no matter how much he shows up in the artwork. This is the story of Meve, Queen of Rivia and Lyria. Her tale is told tastefully, portraying her as a strong character, but not as one of the nauseating Mary Sue characters that have infested gaming and movies in recent years. Her tale is one of intrigue, betrayal, and of course, hard choices for the player. She can be an out of control psychopath, a iron-fisted tyrant, or benevolent leader depending on the choices of the player. Choices off the battlefield do affect the course of game-play. The morale system determines the relative strength of your cards. Characters join and leave your army and deck. What surprised me the most is how this game actually felt like I was leading an army through a yearlong campaign, since there was story in between battles to give context to what was happening in the war. 9/10 Must play. My only real negative is that this game is surprisingly taxing on your computer. I had FPS dips often, which don't usually happen on even full 3D games. Weird.
NOTE: Original Review for the Steam Version. This is easily one of my favorite Star Wars games of all time. I've logged at least 50 hours on non steam versions. Yes, it's a DOOM clone, but it's a well balanced DOOM clone that inspired a ton of other Star Wars media. Before this, most Star Wars games were flight sims; this was the first real taste gamers got of Star Wars ground combat. Single Player only, but very well done. I highly recommend using the DarkXL mod to make this game more graphically appealing and have more modern controls. Dark Forces launched the Jedi Knight series of games and introduced the Dark Trooper Project and Kyle Katarn to the Expanded Universe. This game was also THE definitive answer to how the rebels stole the Death Star plans before the Disney Heresy. TLDR: Essential for Star Wars or Jedi Knight series fans, great for DOOM clone aficionados.
The atmosphere in this game is perfect. Voice acting is great. Th graphics are good. BUT, there is no replay value. Buy it on sale and play it once. 10 HR Campaign.
