It's a nice game with a great atmosphere, loads of decisions and character building like the so often mentioned Fallout. Nice post apocalyptic setting in an underground railroad/subway setting. But it tries so hard to be old school that it misses its turn and went down the wrong tunnel, sadly. Absolutely no map, if you don't use a wiki or other pointers you are stumbling from area to next wondering if you are in the right place, forgot something or shouldn't be there at all. And with all the choices, with skills, stats and talents I haven't seen any non violent approach viable. Skilling intimidation, mercantile and persuasion won't help you against those bandits or cave ratdogs. The quest log is not helpful either, there is no adequate log or helpful journal that keeps track of important conversations. And obviously, no pointer where to go or what to do next. You can't safe during combat and are at the mercy of the RNG generator. Which means a lot of save scumming for me. Maybe you fare better. Good for you... Hard Level Cap. to create a an artificial difficulty. The game is already difficult, additionally it doesn't limit the places where you can explore making some encounters nigh unbeatable and if you manage to beat them against all odds and you get the XP you hit a hard level cap at some point. Lastly the walking speed is a chore, especially since they aren't many fast travel options and backtracking is a constant hallmark. Unfortunately, the game forgoes all the little streamlining advances we made over the years for the sake of old school feeling and sacrifices comfort and accessibility for it. Alas, it's too much chore to be entertaining, so sadly I can't recommend.
...or frustratingly charming. Alas I bought the early access version on Steam, but still this game turned out to be *pretty damn good*. Its narrative is captivating, the story is fantastically grim. The situation feels overwhelmingly desperate which make every victory all the sweeter. "Pretty damn good" for an early access coming from someone like me who despises roguelikes, permadeath and no multiple savegames. You can hardly get a better verdict. Addendum: I managed to overcome all my hate about the despicable so called "roguelike" features by abandoning all forms of rationality I normally use to play RPGs, I embraced failure and desperation, reveling in a new found nihilism not caring for anyone in the party of pitiful adventures and this brought success, riches and absolutions. What an impressive feature.
The theme is nice, over the top violence with gratifying finishers. Weapons are fun to use, but controls are so ludicrously demanding and the margin for missing is basically non-existent. You fail, you die. Failure means restarting from last checkpoint. No fuss about that. Winning always feels like luck. That or I lack the superhuman reflexes needing to play this game right. I don't see stealth or strategy having any worthwhile impact. Just run through the level and hope to murder everyone before they manage to kill you. Winning a level doesn't feel like any form of accomplishment, except for being lucky. Too difficult to be truly good. No easy mode, I get the impression it is basically aimed at gaming elitist who want to feel superior and shun casual gamers. Interestingly, the way it handles violence and repetition and how you get used to it, even embrace it as part of the setting truly has remarkable potential. Your get numb and tired even though the whole game is one flashy gory trip to hell and beyond. Excellent style, promising idea, nice atmosphere, poor choice of difficulty and control, so sadly lacking. Almost sorry I can't rate it better than 3 Stars, but the "hype crowed" already gather and took care of that anyway.
I'm totally flabbergasted. I spend my better half of my teenage years playing this awesome yet almost unknown gem and now I find it here on gog. So, yes nostalgia is overwhelming any form of criticism. Let me just say it's less complex form of CIV. It's not simple, just like Civilisation II only with a magnifying glass. As an optional you have more micromanagement, you can name every soldier or tank the way you want. Give orders how they behave in combat, somewhat similar to Dominions, You have hilariously written diplomatic message where you can insult, threaten or coerce your opponent (diplomacy is pretty weak though) And all races are very charming and fun to play, except the boring humans perhaps, but who wants to be human anyway... If you like turn based strategy on a grand scale, but you want to have fun for an afternoon without getting a headache - this game is for you.
The game tries very hard to be good. There is a lot of effort put into it, and it's far from bad but some piece just don't fit together for me. + The visuals look very nice, the animations are excellent, the cutscenes and the music is extremely impressive - Yet the interface is not for me, the buttons are lagging behind, feeling sluggish, just like the units and how they move too. Micromanagement of each individual unit gets extremely bothersome right from the start. But let's talk about the gameplay + Hex field strategy is well executed and the xp and levelling system is nice too but - the units can't roll over debris unless they are tanks, the 25% Flanking Bonus for each unit needs some getting used to, the choke points of the map seem to be excessively obtrusive. Generally I have more trouble finding a spot where to move my units safely than devising a grand strategy soundly defeating the enemy. Actually it's sluggish enough to feel more of a parking and traffic jam simulator simulator with some combat thrown in between.
It's a mixture of Faster Than Light and Freelancer, taking out most of the good bits. It's turn based, it's very well written - with lots of options and career paths to chose from. You fly around, do some trading until you unlock the missions while fighting for your factions. Upgrade your ship, buy a new one, rinse and repeat until you hit the biggest ship class. The gameplay mechanic is solid, albeit repetitive. The really brilliant point is that you can really feel your impact on the galaxy. You can help your factions grow by actively helping the war effort. You can marry and/or get your own planet. As a trading magnate you can buy your own Mega-cooporation. As a pirate you can buy your own hideout. The list goes on and on and you really don't run out of things to do. The bad thing is that it feels small. The resolution might work well with smaller displays but on HD it just looks tiny and cramped. Not like a universe but more like a bathtub, with some fishes swimming in it. The galaxy seems limited and there is almost no exploration. Personally I do miss crew interactions and bonding you had with FTL (Faster Than Light) All in all, it's defintely worth it's price if you like the genre and don't mind the somewhat repetive combat.
Oh wait, it isn't a sequel. I almost forgot. It was actually released in 1999 yet its source material hasn't aged one bit. Still avant-garde with many features that modern and similar Civ games fail to implement. A spectral rainbow of possibilities in comparison to a modern grey bland monochrome tone of modern "streamlined" strategy titles struggling to create something unique. If you want a futuristic approach to a civilisation building turn based strategy game, you don't have many alternatives that offer you ample background and include modern political and global dilemma. Ganted graphics are dated, but to quote a famous Publisher: "30fps are better than 60fps anyway."
For the strategy / turn based purist a completely overdose of endorphin. For anyone else, hell on earth administered in tiny shards. If you like turn based games with solid mechanics and on a large scale this game is great. It's sleek, polished and efficient and uses its few resources perfectly. Minimalist graphics, very fun dialogues, good sense of freedom and choice but almost no animation and other sparkling effects. No save options, not really an option turning back... It's not too difficult but still it's mostly not learning by doing but rather learning by dying. 4 out of 5 stars because I miss the savescumming reload button and because of minimalist visual
