I never really played the original, I thought its user interface was too clunky and the gameplay was mildly offputting compared to e.g. Gold Boxes of the same era. Now I forced myself to complete the game, and it was worth it. Wasteland, as a game, still isn't perfect. It has its good sides – believable wasteland with memorable places, plotline that fits the theme, NPCs , gear. But as a whole, there's lot to be desired. The most annoying part are the random encounters which are way too common, combine this with the XP system which only rewards XP to characters who do the kills...or use their skills. As a word of advice, increase combat text speed ASAP, you'll thank me later (n.b. in some more difficult areas, it's good to slow it back down!). The UI is practically the same as in the non-remastered version, but it kind of works OK if you ignore the mouse. Inventory management is PITA in early game, but GAMBLING solves most of the issues as you can ignore looting for money. Alas, gambling also gives XP to the character so it also levels them up (word of advice: LUCK is a great stat both in and out of combat). Overall, it's not as memorable as, say, the aforementioned Gold Box games, but it's definitely worth trying.
I kind of liked it...but the bugs! Your heroine is a badass Duchess Nukem out for alien blood, the story itself is pointless like in most action games. The game is an isometric 3D shooter, absolutely nothing new to write home about. You kill enemies, collect loot, gain XP & levels. Playable with a gamepad or with keyboard & mouse. I used the latter, it worked relatively well. A solid 3-4 star game...except for the bugs and the console saving system. Having to redo areas when you get stuck or weapons don't work is exceptionally unmotivating. It's still quite fun to play, but it's too old to get the patches it needs. If you want it, wait for a hefty discount.
So...The rating is due to controls and the console-game-likeness of the game with autosaves and whatnot. The idea seems pretty nice, but you need a gamepad – which I don't have – and a console game mindset to enjoy this. With keyboard and mouse the interface is just too unintuitive to work. If you have a gamepad, it might be worth a shot.
To be frank, I had rather low expectations when I installed the game, and the intro did not really convince me...However, once the game started I almost instantly fell in love with it. The atmosphere of the game was spot on, and highly reminiscient of its predecessor, Beneath a Steel Sky, with its subtle humour in a rather grim world. While playing the original isn't a strict necessity, it helps in understanding how this game does not merely play homage to it – you do revisit familiar locations – but expands the original universe. A true sequel if I've ever seen one! The characters are well written with even the side characters having depth. You remember Pixel & Voxel, Songbird, Reginald, etc.. because the game does not forget them either – They are real parts of the story! It's not perfect though, there's quite a bit of running around and a couple of the puzzles are whut-level click around and find out. There are also bug...well, I'd call them features with one of the more inventive "hacking" interfaces around there. Overall, I don't think I've enjoyed any adventure game so much since, well, Indy & the Fate of Atlantis...? Heartily recommended!
It's a combination of Elasto Mania and Katamari Damacy. I liked the game, especially in the beginning but then it got to insta-death grinding. It is not the most difficult game and my thumb injury prevents me from using a gamepad, but the levels are wee bit too long and the "puzzles" focus too much on navigating instadeath laser mazes. If you can get it for cheap – and euro or two – worth a try!
I have really tried to like this game, and the basics are there: You design and construct mechs, and do combat to escape the Earth. What's there not to like? However, there is a huge difficulty-by-obscurity factor in play. Lot of the things you should know are "hidden", for example, you improve the city BUT you have to figure out which sections are more critical and provide good bonuses...by clicking through all of them. The combat also feels random. Same enemies can be complete pushovers or just annihilate you based on some more-or-less hidden factors. The main culprit is the UI which is confusing, badly thought out and, frankly, uninformative: I have mech with a fire resistance of 30, ok, but is that good, bad..?
I love the concept, and the characters are awesome: Totally not Sean Connery insulting totally not Morgan Freeman as God. However, the game is all about same few scenes and the game play and insults get repetitive real soon. It feels that after a single few hour session you've seen all the game has to offer. On the other hand, the price – especially on a discount hitting low one euro mark – makes this game a good bargain. As far as the concept goes, there's plenty of room for a sequel here!
It's basically an ARPG meets traditional CRPG, but without the fun. Reminds me of something like Divine Divinity or Silverfall, and marries it all with Baldur's Gate level of text. So far so good! And the reason why I managed 30 hours in the game. However, the gameplay itself is abysmal and the mechanics have not been thought through. For an example: You *need* levitation spell regardless of your starting class as most "puzzles"(?) are you levitating over poison/fire/bottomless pits. Add asine combat, inventory management, etc.. and you're in a world of hurt. It has a lot of potential, but the gameplay is too tedious to really enjoy it.
I had an itch. A big mech combat itch. The last mech game I played was MW IV Mercs when it was released free with MekTek ~15 years ago. So I bought MW5 mercs from a GoG discount. Never regretted that, the game fulfilled the itch spectacularly well. I finished the main plotline coincidentally in August 3049, and while the ending – story wise – is pretty good, most of the campaign is bad. However, the world develops while you play, the time advances and you get access to better gear, mechs... and the story events check out with the actual lore. You *are* a mechwarrior in the 31st century. To put it all together, I've tallied ~300 hours with this game, it's brilliant but not 5/5... The positives: – It's a brilliant Mechwarrior game that's lore accurate to a degree no one cares about deviations. – It's fun. – The world *evolves* through time. You *live* in the mechwarrior universe. You get access to new gear, mechs, etc.. over time. Factions change, etc. – It has plenty of MP options. – Autosaving works well. – DLCs add a *lot* – Tons of mods to tweak the game as you like! The negatives: – The regular campaign is meh. – The combat feels bit too arcade. Mechs don't have the *gravitas* they deserve. – Random mission generation could be better – AI is bad. Especially your own team AI. Oh the times I cried about this! – Your main enemy is NOT combat or enemy mechs. It's losing gear. The scarcity of good gear, while lore accurate, makes equipping mechs – especially mechs piloted by AI – difficult as you can't really afford to lose that singular elite version of the PPC! – And to previous...There is no autosave *before* a mission in the mech selection. Only after mission & arriving to a system. – You need mods & the DLCs to enjoy the game to the fullest.
I played & completed Starflight 1. It felt uncannily familiar as Star Control 2 is basically a reboot of Starflight. Everything from exploring galaxy, harvesting biomes & minerals, travelling wormholes, meeting oddly familiar alien races, to having to deal with an inevitable march of death, which you of course have to discover first. It was like visiting the home of an old friend! But, it's not 5 / 5. The user interface, while looking and feeling good, is incredibly kludgy for the things you have to do with it, especially as the game runs in real time (why? oh why?). This makes, for example, space combat and communicating with aliens pretty much unbearable pain. While the UI feels like you're commanding a starship, contacting aliens while having to navigate slow menus is an incredibly painful choice. Also, while combat is mostly optional and you can oft just run away, the absolute kludginess of the interface takes away from developing your starship (beyond the engines). The contrast to SC2 could not be greater, where meeting aliens and the combat was the joy of the game. The other grievance is the soundscape. Damn, while some of the retro speaker beeps are cool – especially in the starbase – some things, like the intro, makes you want to rip your ears off. One thing that's IMO absolutely better is planetary exploration. It *feels* like you're landing on a planet and exploring it...if it weren't for the horrid interface coupled with the real time gameplay. In SC2 the interface was better, but the sense of awe wasn't there. I rated it 4/5 but dividing it it's more like: Star Control 2 retro vibes: 6 / 5 Planetary exploration: 5 / 5 Crew management & ship upgrades: 4 / 5 Battling the user interface: 1 / 5
