If ever there was a game that caught the look, feel and atmosphere of Blade Runner and Neuromancer, this is it! One of Peter Molyneux' greatest games (before he became the über hyperbole-prone developer he is now). This game knows what it offers and does it well! A fantastic blend of tactics and RPG and science fiction! To some degree, Ground Control reminded me of this game but it never fully achieved the cyber splendour of this action game. For those who don't know (or never came to know the golden age of gaming that was Bullfrog and Sierra) this game has you lead a group of genetically modified mercenaries that can be further modified (à la Deus Ex) as you progress through the game. Missions involve tactics, stealth, assassinations, killing and a healthy dose of blowing things up! Anyone partial to futuristic dystopias and Vangelis-inspired music will find themselves right at home. Absolute fun! This game has been on my GoG wishlist (along with System Shock 2) as my most anticipated gaming re-releases. GoG, I cyberly salute you! Wielkie dzięki!
All you need to do, is throw your money at GoG, download and enjoy the game that basically re-invented the FPS and survival horror. They just don't make them like they used to!
In this day and age of rising indie game popularity and digital distribution, there really is little room left for sub-standard indie games. The market is becoming tighter and game designers are finding it more competitive. This is a great platform which ultimately also challenges mainstream game developers to try harder. So basically, in one way or another, indie game developers are the mechanics in the background that manipulate trends and new ideas. Lucius is a new indie game à la The Omen. It's essentially a rip-off but I don't mind that too much as I thought the films were not that good. When I read the summary of what the game was about I actually jumped at it quite quickly and purchased it within minutes. I've now played it for an hour or so and have just a few things to say about the game. First of all, I can't believe this kind of game wasn't thought of before. It falls somewhere between Grand Theft Auto and Ghost Master and is a devilishly fun game. I won't go too much into plot but as I said before, it's very much The Omen with all the names changed and emphasis on the story within the mansion. You get to go around and devilishly plot the deaths of people around your home, which is of course a dark, creepy gothic mansion. But just like The Omen films, something just doesn't hit the bull's eye with this game. Not only is the story a rip-off but it's rather flat. Contrary to what some developers may think, games are all about narrative. Many games' shortcomings can be forgiven as long as the narrative captivates and satisfies. Lucius unfortunately suffers from an uncomfortably linear plot with absolutely no interesting elements. You are Satan's spawn and your 'dark father' appears to you on your 6th birthday (yes, the game contains a little too many over-the-top and expected references to 6) and you are baited into doing nasty, hurtful and murderous acts against the people around you so that Lucifer can fill his hellish soul quota. In a very cheesy and cliché voice over, he teaches you how to use notebooks, flashlights and your inherited hellish gifts: telekinesis; ESP etc. The trouble starts when you realise that as fun as it is to skulk around a creepy mansion and cause mischief (stealing matchbooks, locking people in fridges and turning crucifixes upside down) the game ultimately suffers from a lack of open-ended gameplay. Your Dark Father guides you on each mission and you pretty much can do only that. Your notebook instructs in exactly what you should do and areas of the mansion not relevant to the mission are locked off. There are moments which leave the player to his own devices and discover what mischief they can cause but these left me feeling frustrated as sometimes the game tells you exactly what to do, and other times you have absolutely no idea and the plot does very little to relieve that feeling of random game-play. I also had trouble relating to Lucius and the game drops you into his world and he acts almost like a display picture on Facebook: just an avatar the represents you. I couldn't relate to the plot in any way. There are also some graphic issues but as I said before, I really don't get bothered by technical issues too much, as long as the story satisfies me. The game is fun, however. There are very few games that would dare to let you play a little 6 year old boy who murders grown-ups as offerings to Satan. But there is something devilishly fun in all of it. The more I write this review, the more I wish the developers polished the game a little more and tweaked game-play elements. There is such growing competition in the industry of creativity that it just isn't enough to create a devil-child simulator and hope to get away with some short-comings. Indie game developers probably have the toughest job when it comes to the creative process but when they get it right, boy to they hit the nail on the head. Games like Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Slender come to mind. A game doesn't need to be unnecessarily complex, just a fresh and innovative way of treating new ideas and hiding familiar ones. Lucius is a missed opportunity but it isn't a waste of a game. Maybe it will spark ideas in other developers who have a little more time and patience to smooth out the rough edges. Until then (and Halloween) I'll still play a little more Lucius to sate my hunger for the upcoming blu-ray release of Rosemary's Baby. I hope
