disappointed in GOG for putting this on their store
With the huge caveat that at its launch it was in a terribly buggy state with the studio who made it falling apart. Over a decade later and I believe my title is correct, thanks to a mountain of work by Wesp5, a legend in the Bloodlines community whose unofficial patch kept the game alive and then some. The basic version of the unofficial patch is included in the GOG release, which fixes bugs & makes it playable on modern machines. I would still suggest seeking out the "plus" version of the unofficial patch for restored content and extras though, it's very well done. The game itself is vampires done right with an incredible atmosphere, a mind blowing soundtrack and art direction that impresses to this day. Even if the graphics don't. The games biggest strength is immersing you into this horrible, dark, terrifying world that on one hand makes you feel like an all-powerful creature of the night; but on the other makes you feel like a pawn trapped in a political game you don't understand. Another of the games strengths is its use of city hubs for you explore and quest in, similar to the Deus Ex series. The combat is fun but not great. It's no where near as dated and awkward as the previous title in the series, but it still isn't why you play the game. You play this game for the story, the dialogue and the vast amount of choices you get to make, as well as the overall atmosphere, As an 18 rated game starring vampires, it doesn't pull any punches either. It's completely different from other popular vampire media like Twilight, True Blood, Buffy and even Dracula. The world this game uses to tell its story is to me, the definitive interpretation of vampires as supernatural predators who are "born" into a centuries old power struggle. These vampires are humanized not because they're whining about their lost souls or brooding in shadowy rooms, but by the fact that everyone around them is trying to screw them over. You can't get much more human than that can you?
This is one of the only survival games on the market that I would recommend. Although it isn't finished yet (like most survival games right now), it's in an incredibly playable state. It's unique and not only because it's single player with no zombies and ISN'T a buggy mess. It's a real survival experience with a huge focus on immersion, exploration and the constant struggle between life and death in the Canadian wilderness. The art style is gorgeous, the sound design is phenomenal and it's given me some of the most intense, compelling experiences I've ever had playing a video game. Freezing to death in a snowstorm, desperately trying to find your way back to shelter while wolves howl all around you is not something you soon forget. The developers have done early access (or games in development) right with frequent updates, significant improvements and good community interaction. I really can't recommend the game enough, I've played it for 33 hours and the game isn't even finished yet. That's in sandbox mode which is in a super polished state with multiple large maps, tons of places to explore and many, many, many ways to die. Story mode is coming later which will actually explain why you're the only walking human left in this "small" part of Canada. I can't speak for its quality yet but I can say the player characters will be played by Mark Meer & Jennifer Hale. AKA both the male and female Commander Shepards of Mass Effect fame. You can hear their comments, cries and pained groans in sandbox mode already. As you can probably tell, I kinda like this game. In my opinion it's easily the best survival game around (no matter what platform you're buying on), alongside Don't Starve. I don't think you'll regret your purchase unless you're a much bigger fan of multiplayer zombies than I am.
Thea is a curious mix of turn-based strategy and survival with a combat system based on a card game, with a story and setting based on Slavic mythology. The premise of the game is that darkness fell over the world, the gods went afk and only now a hundred years later is light returning. Along with light, the gods return (the player character being one of them) and you take control over a single village plus a small band of survivors. Your goal is to discover what happened to the world and restore your full power as a god. In reality though, the goal is to gather enough food to survive and enough warriors to not be eaten by monsters. The gameplay looks like Civilization at first as it's turn-based and the map is a hex grid, but the comparisons soon end. You lead your band of warriors around the map, searching for resources and treasure. Along the way you encounter quests, potential allies and enemies. Success or failure then depends on a card game, with the cards either based on your skills (hunting, social, poison etc) or your warriors prowess. The card game would take a while to explain so I recommend watching some gameplay, but it's fairly intuitive. It's good fun, rewards strategy and heavily punishes mistakes. You also have a village to care of. Your villagers gather local resources, construct buildings and defend themselves from attack. Earning experience in the game grants you research points which can be used to unlock the means to construct new buildings, craft armour and weapons, as well as ever important recipes for food. You'll require your warriors to bring back the rare materials needed to craft the good stuff of course. The game is held together with a uniquely Slavic soundtrack and a choose your own adventure style story, entirely text based. Presented each game slightly differently thanks to an impressive amount of random events. I really like the game, even if part of me wishes it could evolve further towards Civilization in an expansion.
