I have expected anything from Martian Fortress to Martian Centauri. What I got was SimMartian. The bad one, as in "The EA one". SM is pretty as "The EA's SIM". It has some fanservice, including quotes from Weir's "Martian" or Musk's intervews, like Civ. It tries to have multiple storyline quests, to excel Centauri. And it has pretty much no arch enemy, except game quality itself. The gameplay is dull. Micromanagement, micromanagement, CRISIS!, micromanagement... The mechanics of the game is simplified and linear, so, the replayability is low. I will disclose: I have failed my colony. It nosedived circa 65% of tech tree developed. Was it some bad decisions I made? Was it a Deus Ex Machina crush by forces of nature? No, it was a effin' logistics nightmare! Simply put, I got to a moment where AI of my own autonomus drones (and transports) started being more effective in it's counterproductivity than my micromanagement. And, frankly, I see no other way to lose this game. I played on 295% hard setting, and it was mild, compared to other colony sims. Yes, you have to read every description and apply logics (duh!), but there were no moments of "dang, I'm in a self made dead-end!". Not that I like such hostility from game, but than comes the choices: the realistic scenario, without the whole national guard landing with humvees and beer, gave me 295% hard rating. Wha?! Regarding tech of the game engine. I'm on a Linux. "Let's say I will cut the game some slack!" - I told myself first few crashes. Well, I'm in my low 20-s now, after only 3 days of playing, and man, it sucks... Aaaand one could combine 2 statements, about at least 2/3rds of science tree developed and 3 days playing... Apply logics... Yes, the game has 1-2 week of playing, until it starts hitting end of scenarios wall. Bottom line, the game has all neat graphics it that it should in the year 2018, but the rest is considerably worse than what became default 15 years ago.
Ahoy! Spoilers ahead! The game is not political, it is human. It is, although, about human in the world of politicians. The dissapointment of player is empathy - it is pain of losing moral focus, pain of betraying himself and everything he believed in; and player feeling f&%ked over and left out is the sign that game, as a vehicle, succeded. Yes, the system is rigged. And the game that is very honest in it’s depiction. It is nor mayor, nor serial killer, nor gang leader that Boyd is opposing - it is the system. That is why the final scene is at the club. The system won, it chewed and spat Jack out. “This is the police” isn’t about the system though. And the player is playing not against the system - one plays against the narrative. The game made me recall some situations I had to deal with as a manager, some situations with “forces to be” and some situations with close ones - and they never have been totally explicit. Just as they are in game. And really, one never knows everything about the choices he makes, in the moment, or even years after. “You know, s&*t happens. Deal with it.” It’s a tough lesson and games usually avoid it. Games are made to make profits, to make big profits. And for that they do everything, they stroke all our sensitive spots, they say what we want to hear and avoid being sincere. They tell us “good always wins”, and “racism is bad” (with consequent “if rasict, than [is part of] forces of evil!”), and “good gys are feminist”, and “trust your police - they’re good guys!”, and, always “you are exceptional”. Games became disney’s domain - bland, ever praising “press X to win”. Games are the last generation of storytelling medium, more contemporary than movies or books. This game is very strong in delivering it’s message to anyone capable of being open and honest while playing. And the message is very intimate - in fact, it is between Boyd and player, not pre-recorded by game creators. It's what Jack will do when he stops counting.
