First off I want to go over some of the things I really loved in this game 1. The setting: having the opportunity to play an amnesia like horror game where the monster is the Alien and your Ripley IN A SPACE STATION is so damn cool. I love looking outside the windows in this game and just taking in the vastness of the setting sometimes -- this was definitely an idea that was cool on paper. 2. The Alien is consistently scary (especially in that death animation) despite it's flaws which I will get into. However, this brings me to the downsides which is the execution for such an idea: 1. The Alien AI borderlines on psychic at times to downright moronic at other times: for example in terms of it acting stupid there were periods in this game where the alien dropped from a vent right in front of me -- face me -- not notice me at all and jump straight back into the vent above, so okay... that was one time, right? NO, there were also several periods where it would duck down when I was hiding under a desk and it would again look straight at me and not do anything. Now to address the times when the AI was practically psychic: I would sneak into another room (alien was in a completely different room and didn't notice me), I begin to hear it approach the room I was in from outside and before it opens the door I hide in small closet under a desk and the alien would just casually walk inside, reach across from the other side of the table, open the door from the closet, pull me out and kill me. How did it know so casually and why didn't it rush in? In conclusion I'm guessing this behavior is supposed to make the Alien more unpredictable, but it just confused me because I didn't know when it was going to be an idiot or a psychic. When it was an idiot I would just laugh at it and when it was a psychic I would get frustrated. 2. While the setting is really cool, the levels are designed poorly with paths not marked correctly leading you to get lost and level design was repeated
cons: dialogue is boring for the most part, I found myself skipping video clips and ignoring letters I found. The characters were also quite forgettable and I only really liked Lara and that's because she was hot. pros: A fantastic gameplay loop! I consistently enjoyed the mechanics in this game and the devs offered new ways of using your weapons through upgrades and other items you found as you progressed so I never got bored. I really enjoyed collecting all the little trinkets throughout the world. The tombs offered some nice puzzles and outside of the tombs you encountered some challenging enemies which would help balance the overall experience so combat wouldn't drain you and neither would the puzzles.
I purchased this game on GOG because my PHYSICAL copy had to be downloaded on steam. I'm happy to now actually own one of my favorite games without DRM. It doesn't matter if you're into RPG or not, this game is a blast so long as you can get past some of the bad bugs. It's brilliant and a masterpiece of game!
This game was bloody brilliant! The combination of game mechanics and abilities allows the player to fight enemies in a number of different ways with plenty of new mechanics being introduced as the game proceeds which keeps the game fresh and fun. The ending was just the cherry on the cake as well, it's not often that an ending for a game makes me feel like a kid again after finishing some of the old classics that I used to play as a kid, not to mention the original Pychonauts game which this is a fantastic successor to. If you're a fan of the original then double fines hasn't let you down with this game. Just buy it! I bought this game for half price in a sale, but after completing it it's plain to see that this game deserves that full price tag.
The character customization is really in depth: not only do you pick a class and a race (like many other RPG's) but you also get to customize the history of every character you create, THE HISTORY which can also be mentioned in dialogue as you continue to play the game. The game mechanics are very engaging; the fighting never gets old and the world is vast with mystery, puzzles, dungeons and followers to recruit as you adventure. Games like this aren't made too often today. It's really sad to see that Obsidian had to make a kickstarter for the game since games like this shouldn't even need one. I suppose if you want a good game these days, you have to fund it yourself which I'm glad so many people did otherwise I wouldn't be able to experience this. This game tips its hat to the old school RPG games while also providing a really good modern experience. Pick it up, you won't regret it! :)
