I am currently ~15h into the game (finished it once, and apart from saving earth, nearly everything else went horribly wrong ;) ), and I must say, so far it is really nice. At the core, this is a classic / retro-style point-and-click adventure (sci-fi theme, of course), with some light elements of resource management and tactical, round-based space combat on top. Add some moral decisions plus alternate endings (on many planets you visit, your decisions and behaviour alter the outcome, so you may end up getting resources OR crew members, or nothing at all). Generally, the more effort you are willing to put into it, the more you will get. Sometimes still, you have a choice to make (and those can have effects at a later point in the game). The writing is truly felicious: It is humorous (resembling classic Sierra adventures), immersive, but can also be quite dark at times: After all, we are at war here. There is intentional replay value: The "mini" endings you unlock on certain occasions can be used on subsequent playthroughs to quickly auto-complete this section, but you certainly will always be on the hunt to get the "best" possible ending. The puzzles can be somewhat intriguing at times, but always fair. So far, I have encountered only two under time-pressure (in the sense that you have to time your actions appropriately). If still something goes wrong, you can always load the latest save state. Space Combat is not highly sophisticated, but can be quite demanding nonetheless: You always know what actions enemy ships will take on the next turn, so you can (and have to) plan ahead accordingly. It is also completely optional. All in all, it looks very polished, and is an enjoyable experience. If you are into sci-fi themed point-and-click adventures, this is a no-brainer; just buy and enjoy :) PS: should a developer read this: I would have liked to be able to get Jonesy (the cat) as a companion, and be it only for flavour ;)
There is a frequently-used term: the unpolished gem, and that´s exactly how I think about Convoy. As the review title says, it does many things right, only a very few "wrong", and the rest is mainly .. well, missing (yet?). The gameplay itself is pretty straightforward: Aquire spare parts for your stranded starship, no matter how. You wanna leave this barren rock floating through space ;) Storywise, this includes the (non-obligatory) good-Samaritan-behaviour for a reward, but you may also go YARR and simply shoot NPCs in the head, gaining loot. Your choice. So, you spend your time travelling through the wastelands, earning "money" (bolts), fuel and starship parts. In between, repair and upgrade your vehicles, buy/find some new stuff, make new friends or enemies and gradually prepare for lift-off. The text-based events are full of nice flavour (I´ve found references to Starcraft, Magic: The Gathering, Robocop, Monkey Island and - of course - Mad Max so far) and really add to the feeling of the game world. Combat is pretty hard (even on easy difficulty), but held rather simple, although you can make quite a difference by combining certain weapons and/or abilities. Things I liked: - The opportunity to explore freely. The world is limited in size, but you don´t have a time "limit" (as in FTL, where the enemy fleet is constantly chasing you). - Nerdy dialogue :P (see above) - Intentional frustration (to a certain degree). The game is hard, and even a fully-equipped and upgraded convoy may be shredded in an instant if you don´t pay attention. But, this makes it all the more satisfying if you come out victorious. Things I disliked: - The only thing I really miss is versatility, mainly in terms of quests and equipment. - Also, combat tactics is a bit .. flat, due to quite repetitive AI behaviour. I´m giving Convoy 4 stars because I had a really good time so far. Simple and straightforward funny game, with only some more content missing for being less repetitive.
