This game is very short. It is not forgiving. The ammo and health items are a little on the short side, such that you find yourself relying on melee attacks against enemies that can spit at you. The enemies are little more than bullet sponges, aside from some latter-game enemies. You will run out of ammo quickly The checkpoints are frustratingly infrequent, and you find you sometimes have to repeat the same sections over and over again because you got killed by enemies that always have an advantage over you until you discover how to avoid them. The puzzles are very esoteric sometimes until they click. But if this is not one of the most beautiful games I have ever played in my life, then I do not know what is. Somehow the fact that the game has these problems complements rather than impeeds it. I felt a constant sense of dread and perverse wonder at the world around me. I found that when I was doing these puzzles, although the assets were grotesque and unusual, I could fully understand what was going on. Then there's the level design. I've saved around 20 screenshots of the background and the world around me. When you have a graphics engine that allows the world to breathe and pulsate around you, I find that I had to stop and look at the rotten roses. So if you're looking for a grotesque fps then look elsewhere. This game sucks. If, however, you are looking to get absorbed and digested into a labyrinthian biopunk nightmare where you are tasked with the Sisyphean task of surviving in such a bleak world then I can almost guarantee you will never regret delving deep into this work of art
After 50 hours I completed one of the endings of the game. Did I enjoy it? Yes siree, I did. Is it in the top ten best games I've played? Absolutely not. The main issue I got with the game is that it seems that it tries too hard to be everything at the same time. We have crafting. We have RPG mechanics. We have stealth. We also have, to a certain extent, looter shooter parts. What this means is that it lacks focus. I spent the vast majority of the game with stealth which proved to be an effective way of completing missions. The issue I had was that while there were certain locations that were designed to allow a stealth approach the vast majority of it just a bunch of cover that you can hide behind and the occasional electronic device which you hack to distract enemies. Deus Ex or Dishonoured this is not. Then we have crafting which I never used because the game is so saturated with Unique, Legendary and Epic loot that the things you create seem underwhelming. The RPG mechanics are also underwhelming with many paths completely pointless to the game. The open-world, while very detailed and graphically stunning, feels empty in comparison to games like GTA and Witcher 3. The only thing to do is repeat the same missions over and over again in order to get money to buy more stuff. “But wait, there’s a mistake!” I hear you cry “Why are you giving it 5 stars? You’ve just roasted the entire thing!” The reason is quite simple. This is a game that is a victim of it’s own ambition and hype. While the open world is boring, at least it isn’t generic: Japantown is quite a bit different than Pacifica for instance. You could drive to each area and just walk around even if there’s not much to do. While there are RPG paths that are meaningless, at least it can give you options for another playthrough. The plot, as mentioned in other reviews, is just one big downer. Flawed masterpiece? Hardly, but ignore the hype and you may just find something beautiful within it.
I remember being introduced to this gamely vividly. I remember my brother's housemate saying 'Wow this is so tense! I cannot play it, it's too scary. You will struggle to complete it!' So there I was playing it thinking 'Wow! Will there be a horror game/movie that will make me crap myself? I have to try this!' It was underwhelming horror-wise to say the least. The issue horror wise is that the game is far too reliant on its set-pieces in that it relies on you not knowing what is going to happen next. This however is easily overcome by the player if you go around corners with your weapon drawn (as a previous reviewer has said) expecting that something will pop out and say 'Ooga booga booga!'. In addition is the fact that by the time you get midway through the game you know how to kill each enemy, what weapon is best for each situation, and triggers that notify you when something is coming and you find that they are easily defeated after you meticulously upgrade all your items which is very easy to do. Also once you master the limb severance, it becomes too methodical to kill them all. Therefore, overall, the game loses its horror edge by chapter 3. What the game is VERY good at however is throwing you in Adrenalin filled action sequences such as surviving a meteor storm, a boss battle with a gigantic wall plant and large rooms of mobs. The fact you have to balance killing enemies efficiently by severing their limbs slowing you down with making sure you hit them before they hit you makes the blood pumping and the mechanic of severing limbs certainly helps with that. Perhaps for this reason EA decided to go for a more shock scare and actiona approach with the sequel which in my opinion was far, far superior to the first and actually was a lot more tense for me. So in conclusion if you come to this game expecting a great horror experience prepare to be disappointed but if you want a action filled roller coaster ride then you have definitely come to the right place!
Years ago I bought a game that seemed to be a well amde version of Freelancer. At the time I had played Elite and Pioneer and thought those were the ultimate space games. I fondly remember playing them on our Amiga. That game was X2 and it sucked me into its open world with its neon lit finger. (I will be making a review mark my words as soon as I'm done with Terran Conflict, mark my words! Let's see if GOG did a miracle). I needed more and after playing X:BTF to death I tenuously bought, as I was unsure if my laptop could handle it, X3: Renunion 2.0 from the CEX store. This version, little did I know, was a Game of the Year edition which meant not only that it had all the wallpapers and icons but a comprehensive guidebook and flavour textbook that enhanced the game. This is truly the best X game that has been made so far. Now at this point you may be wondering why this warrants only 4 stars. The reason is that while the game is indeed the full version that X3 deserves it sadly does not include this booklet. Granted this was free and in fact was compiled unofficially by fans of the series and sure Egosoft just simply lifted this from the forums; the quality was as simple as a hastily made PDF with a white background and oodles of text. That was it. It's the sort of thing an amateur would make which can be downloaded onto the internet. It was eventually compiled and made into The X3 Handbook which you can get for around $2 Yet I cannot help but feel that such an obvious and touching act of love for such an incerdible game deserves to be in this version if not to guide people in what is in fact a very complicated game but also to demonstrate how much Egosoft does appreciate its fans and want to demonstrate their efforts, While I can understand why GOG would not be able to put something that is paid for onto its bonus package it somehow makes it seem shallow. I guess it can't be helped...
I have to say I enjoy CTP2 and although I prefer the Sid Meier's series more as a whole I often find myself returning to CTP simply because it feels more fun. Yet out of the two CTP games I have to pick the first. Something about 2 got on my nerves. Perhaps it was the fact that the news screen was completely overhauled which meant instead of icons on the left telling you the latest news from around the world it instead insisted that you click on a tab on the bottom right and read through all the news squeezed into a little window. The former ensured that any boring and unneccesary news could be ignored unlike the civ series. Perhaps it was also the fact that 2 made things too grounded and instead of discovering the meaning of life through growing an alien you instead had to spend an obscene amount of time building Obelisks in the middle of nowhere costing thousands of public works for every one. Perhaps it was that the bugs that were annoying but were nevertheless fun aspects of the original were removed. No longer did you have an AI throw a revolution because you built too many cities. No longer did you have to micromanage your military to avoid a tank being wiped out by a horde of warriors. No longer was the fantastic dream future filled with utopian ideals and hopes. Sadly due to licensing it is unlikely that CTP1 will ever be realeased on GOG and it is a crying shame because I would certainly sell a kidney to buy it through here.
