Can't remap keys. For a keyboard-centric game.
It could be a fun game, but it isn't. Keyboard controls are basically unusable; expect to use a gamepad to get anywhere. It only uses the mouse as a menu selector. It could be worked out much better than that. The game tries to show key tips, but it doesn't do it well unless you just use letters. UI's got a lot of issues. Starting a game shows the xbox-style "join game" screen (including the "Press [Green A] to join". Lose a level? You see giant numbers flashing covering the entire screen while you can still interact with everything. It's easy to miss the tiny text in the corner that says "tap [key]" to retry. Where no key that I've assigned appears to do anything. I get what the game's trying to do -- a frantic action game that pulls you many directions at once to accomplish everything you need (basically, directed button mashing). It's just not doing it well.
Short and sweet review: If you can't set up 100% completely distraction free environment for a big chunk of time, don't bother. The game can't pause, and devs have said they won't implement one.
It's cliche to start a review by saying this is the best "FTL-like" game that's come out since FTL, but it is the easiest way to describe it. You select your leader, and two companions (who later unlock as leaders too). Then you move around a map doing an expedition, encountering nodes that yield various rewards: immediate rewards; buffs that last for this expedition; (most commonly) tokens that convert into various currencies after the expedition; or treasures, including the main artifact to find during this expedition. Along the way, some of the encounters are combat encounters, where your party of three engage in a light turn-based tactical battle against enemies, using various skills that are modified by the mood and demeanor of your party and your enemy's party, with a little bit of rock-paper-scissors. Counter aggression with devious plots, which are countered by friendly banter, which is itself countered by aggression. Each party member has one or more skills in each of the categories. After the expedition, your treasures and tokens are cashed in for currency and you're taken to the world map, where you can buy various upgrades (gear, research assistants, skill unlocks, etc) and do some limited short jobs for extra income, before it's time to go on another expedition. The game lasts a few expeditions, before you're ranked on your success. The game is extraordinarily fun. But, like any FTL-like, the tide can quickly turn against you from doing well to losing. The sound and graphics are great, pushing the theme of the game forward. I haven't yet played enough properly to judge the quality and quantity of the writing, but I like those I've yet seen. The game is not perfect though. As of this review, it lacks difficulty, has some crashes, and UI bugs -- but nothing that I don't expect patches will resolve. An improved, contextual help system would go a long way to cutting the learning curve, as would some UI clarifications and action confirmations.
Yes, this game is FTL-like. But it's not as good. The game play goes too many directions at once. The world map being open explore is okay, but it's all but devoid of features and encounters happen much like old Final Fantasy random encounters -- randomly with a few hot spots. The battles are where it truly pales compared to FTL, however. They're too frantic. Pausing and issuing orders is a feature, but by the time your trucks are done moving, the order is moot because the enemy has moved. Add on top of that that the battlefield randomly has "rocks" that destroy whatever is in its row when they come up and the calculating, make-do part of FTL-like games is gone, replaced by too much RNG, too much "action". Don't get me wrong -- the game isn't BAD. It's just not good enough when we have other near-perfect entries into the genre. It's good to get and play, but it's only a side attraction at this point.
The game itself is pretty good, but it'd be better if it were actually turn-based; it's not.
RCT3 fixed so many of the issues from RCT1 and 2. While it does have sandbox mode, you don't need it because the scenarios bundled with it are, while challenging, actually quite accomplishable and varied. The game's perspective (now being in a fully 3D engine) can sometimes interfere with playing; you may need to adjust the camera options (of which there are many). The Wild and Soaked expansions have full campaigns their own, and you can use their elements in any previous park, which can make some of the money-making scenarios easier (consider it a cheat if you want to be a purist).
