I don't often play these sorts of games - they're new to me and only certain games interest me enough to hold onto them for more than the 'quick fix' they provide in certain scenes. This game, however... is really, really good and balanced. This feels like the college experience I never had (non-US). The socialising, events, relationships, all intermixed with some issues that I have had or know some friends have had in the past. It's all a really, really good mix of circumstances. It brings up a lot of issues, fun times, and consequences, in addition to what I think most people play these games for. There's more than a few twists to keep you interested and you begin to genuinely want to see more and more of the story unfold. Lots of interconnected decisions and plots you don't see until later, and they unfold quite naturally - nothing feels forced or strange in terms of pacing. I can't wait for Season 3 - I hate cliffhangers!
If you're looking for a modern, science-fiction adventure romp, you can't pass up the opportunity to play this on a sale. The plot focuses around Earth being a dry, almost entirely desert planet, experiencing frequent dust storms. A previously abandoned project to transfer microwave energy from the Moon to Earth seems to be the only hope, and while the space program was also abandoned in the wake of this, a handful of staff manage to scrape together resources to fund one last launch to the Moon. This is where you come in, as the pilot of the Fortuna-1. While this is a tangible, enjoyable start to the game, it begins to fall flat as more details of the lunar project are unveiled. Anyone with basic understanding of science - notably biology and how much diversity is required for a population to survive - will begin to feel the story unravel in coherency before reaching the half-way point. The journey through this story is enjoyable, but does not engage scientifically and taints the experience. Graphically, the game is impressive, utilising Unreal Engine 4 for some crisp visuals, however these are marred by occasional performance issues, with frame rates dropping to 10-15 when effects become high. This is mostly noticeable in the latter third of the game. The soundtrack is stunning and well worth listening to by itself, and accompanies the player throughout the journey suitably throughout. Unfortunately, it is the plot that leaves the most to be desired, which is obviously important in an adventure game. Voice acting is strong, with believable tones and suitable commentary. The puzzles throughout are very basic, involving rearranging of objects to open specific rooms for other materials, cutting brackets using a laser cutter, alignment of objects to specific rotations and avoidance of hazards on two occasions. Control bindings are not editable, and graphics settings are locked into presets between Low and Epic. Overall, I give this 3/5 stars.
TAKE NOTE - The listed fixes people are posting do not work for everyone. There are MANY people in the community crashing to desktop without the game launching to any menus. I suggest waiting, right now it does not work well enough and you'd just be throwing $10+ into a lottery.
Firstly, this game is a great experience. It really thrusts you into the SWAT atmosphere, embarking on dangerous missions to rescue civilians and pacify threats to the populace. Levels feature randomised AI spawns and behaviours, so if you fail a mission and restart, it'll still be a different experience. There is a lot of replay value because of this. In certain missions you're able to review the map in advance and choose a point of entry, further adding to replay value, as you're able to experience the same scenario from another angle. Graphically, the game still stands up, with good texture usage and modelling. Audibly, the use of 911 calls and SWAT radio chatter in briefings adds an air of authenticity. Gun sounds aren't anything to write home about but portray the weapons used decently enough. Where single-player becomes infuriating is in regards to squad AI. If you play on Hard difficulty you need a score of 75+, Elite, 95+. Prep a squad as much as you want, you are likely to lose a squad member in 90% of your encounters. Why? Well, you're often given two squads, Red and Blue, and can order both grouped as Gold. Having four AI team members results in door blocking, some squad members preventing others from completing their action until they all shift around, and what should be opening a door to flash, gas or sting an enemy, results in said team member poking half their body out and getting shot. There goes your attempt at beating the level. They also get stuck running into each other, if you order them to investigate a door, then move to the next location, and take around 10 seconds to shake out of it. 10 seconds where they can be shot. You'll find it's much more reliable to use your cronies to scout with mirrors under doors, then to Fall In and stay the hell out of the way to protect your score, because they're only competent at being a threatening presence when you bust through doors yourself. Grab that pepper spray, grenades, and lead it.
I picked it up on sale and it was worth that price (50% off). I had to trim this review down a little to fit, hopefully it still reads well. The graphics are minimal but nice, and add to the ambience provided by the atmospheric music. The music is decent, but some tracks were poor. One included a choir that was so gravelly in deep sections and so scratchy in high sections that it made me want to mute it, to be honest. The rest of the tracks are passable. Gameplay mechanics are simple to grasp. Balance is key, else you'll find yourself struggling for a little before either coming back to a level playing field against the AI, or losing gradually enough to not realise until its too late. Unfortunately, the game is driven mostly around multiplayer, and being such a niche game it is practically non-existent, so you're left doing missions and skirmishes against the AI. That is good, except for the fact the game features a ranking system for progression, and you can only progress against human players in multiplayer. You can't make a two-player multiplayer match with just yourself and the AI either, so if there's no-one else in multiplayer, and if you don't have friends to play this with, the game ultimately ends up feeling quite limited. AI in the game is alright. I highly recommend learning the game using the Easy difficulty, as Trivial AI are almost completely stationary the entire match except for sending out Invasion fleets in a vane attempt to grab any sort of resource to build from. Overall their tactics seem to be scripted per map rather than adaptive in any weighted form. Considering this is an indie game, for what it is the price is still a bit too high. A max of $10 with a decent community behind it would make this a lot more appealing to a wider audience, but as it stands is a niche game that will remain in its niche, alone, with no community to populate the core drive of the game; multiplayer.
Stay your hand a moment. Pull yourself away from the next twitch shooter, the almost jetpack-propelled jumping in an MMORPG, turn off the lights if you have them on, close the door and load Legend of Grimrock into your machine. Oh, and play it in old-school mode; get some paper and a pen, and map these levels out the traditional way for a much more rewarding experience. This review is based on my experiences in old-school mode. You are one of four prisoners sent to Grimrock to absolve yourself from your crimes and earn a pardon, but to do so you must all journey through a labyrinth full of gigantic slugs, reanimated skeletons and who knows what else that haven't eaten fresh flesh in... well, since the last batch of criminals. All of that sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, it isn't. Party members are arranged in a box formation with front row party members capable of melee combat and the back row capable of casting. This allows for splitting of damage if a party member is taking too much; rotate your formation. Each party member has a hunger meter and it's up to you to ensure you're all well fed, which means more scampering around in the dark trying to find a source of food to prevent health and energy penalties. In addition, you have to explore each level of the dungeon for keys to unlock certain doors, solutions to puzzles you find yourself walking into, uses for other items you find along the way, whilst tackling monsters unarmed until you happen across a weapon or object that can be used as one. Don't throw rocks at slugs if it's all you have to fight with, they'll chase you, as will all monsters (to a certain extent). The puzzles that I've encountered seem to have a good balance of difficulty. If you're wanting a brain-teaser similar to Portal, don't expect that. The puzzles in Legend of Grimrock are enough to tickle the mind and break up the exploring and mapping, which is appreciated as variety never hurts anyone. Dungeon levels also contain secret rooms and passages, traps and lever- and switch-bound triggers, so there's plenty of variety in dungeon tiles. Due to the size of each dungeon some players might consider everything to be very much the same per level, but for myself the constant vigilance as I turn around the next corner blindly, mapping the room ahead and planning out my options brings enough satisfaction to not be worried. Movement, player-driven and AI, follows the traditional square-by-square movement and the food meter for each party member dwindles very partially per square you travel, which not only makes it important to map while you travel instead of backtracking, but it makes you plan out your combat possibilities before entering a fight; running backwards 20 steps isn't a good use of resources. Attacks are handled simply, with each party member having a left- and right-hand slot to equip items or cast spells from and both attacks and spells are actioned by right-clicking the respective slot of choice. The graphics, which to myself are not the most important focus of a game such as this, are beautiful to look at, which I do appreciate as I would've enjoyed the game if it were 16-bit, but am far more immersed with the high-resolution details provided. Each dark wall visually echoes the eerie atmosphere trying to unsettle your nerves, reflecting torch light, ambient light (where visible) and each object within the game has been crafted to near-realism. The audio is simple but effective, providing enough ambience to make your wary of your location but not too jarring as to halt you in your tracks crying in the corner of the only torch-lit room in the dungeon. It's enjoyable, standard dungeon faire, so while it doesn't lure me in with intensity or worry, it isn't bad at all. The game comes with a dungeon editor, which allows you to create your own dungeons and share them with others to play, which I think is pretty cool. Unlike games with modding capabilities such as Skyrim, where making a dungeon can have it's immersion ruined by players using bright lighting mods or rainbow ponies, the game keeps that in check by not allowing import of custom models, which to some will be considered to not be very modder-friendly, but I think it's a good thing for the sake of the immersion I crave in games such as these. Now, for my scoring. I decided to give it five out of five stars, because there was simply nothing within the game that I could not personally fault. This game, while not grabbing me by the edge of my seat as I explore the dark depths of Grimrock, did not have me in the back of my seat in boredom, drinking and eating as if I were watching a movie. It was engaging, entertaining and exactly what traditional dungeon-dwellers like myself enjoy. If you love the thrill of exploring the unknown, managing resources and locations so you don't get lost and love atmosphere while doing thus, for the current price ($7.49 within the Christmas Sale, until January 3), you can't go wrong.
I remember playing this as a kid and let me tell you, it's just as fun now as it was back then. Flying one of 10 armed, race-ready hovercrafts, you're an a-typical career racer. You're to do whatever you can to win. You have an array of upgrades you can purchase for your hovercraft, from enhanced turbos to scrambler missiles, to disruptors that reverse a pilot's controls when they're hit. And the AI will also use all of these against you, making it a constant challenge to stay ahead. You can ram the AI into other ships for a chance at wedging them together and they will do the same to you on occasion. The only drawback there is you can actually get stuck without hope of escape unless you use a missile on the ship you're attached to, or if someone runs into you, though that can also just wedge them onto you. But all these scenarios can be difficult to pull so they don't happen in high frequency. The AI will make tactical moves in terms of which person to target if you're trying to mix it up amongst others (they'll go for a points leader), use shortcuts in levels when they should be used and duck into the turbo rechargers when their turbo energy is low. Bundle all this with frenetic action in varied environments from Cairo, Egypt to the streets of Tokyo to Norwegian mountains, it's well worth $5.99.