Unlike the last walking sim I played this one is much lighter on the gameplay and more on the walking. Which is *fine*. There is one barest hint of a puzzle and that's it, the rest is walking, clicking on things and experiencing the story. Which is full of heavy stuff. As you might expect from being set in an asylum in fascist Italy. It features all the neglect, violence, malpractise and other bad things you have heard about. The environments are beautiful. Most of the art is too, though it varies and not all character models and animations look equally good, but it's fine. I'm fairly sure this was their first major work so whatever, janky animations are also found in big game titles. The voice acting (in english for me) is also well done. If you#re in the mood for a depressing story (some of the details actually vary during a few choice moments) and got 3 hours, why not give this a try?
Morrowind is a classic for a reason; and a flawed one to boot. It offers yet again an epic sized world (though not as big as Daggerfall of course), a sprawling story, a bazillion sidequests and endless opportunities to get sidetracked and lost. It has an old school appeal where there are only a few comfort/QOL functions but those that are there are welcome. It also performs like ass, has awful combat, broken alchemy and magic systems and an awful dialouge system. I love it anyway. There are also thousands upon thousands of mods to adress every possible issue (within reason). just a few days ago I got it tunning on a modern windows 10 machine with the expanded rgaphics mod and several other ones. Works flawlessly. if you are curious where Skyrim came from - give this a go and if you are an old school fan... it still works!
It's fine, really. It really hopes you haven't played Bioshock or the modern Prey because it is more or less this in spirit but without any combat. There are also some technical things lacking, like no rebindable keys, all environmental things like climbing and shimmying etc. are done via context button pushes - which probably speaks to the developers inexperience. What's positive? Well. The story is... fine. Not great, but works well enough. The characters are perfectly fine, especially the protagonist, but nothing special either. The simple puzzles break up the exploration and are simple enough. The sound design and voice acting is good, most of the visuals are there as well, making the ship come alive. Exploring the damaged hulk feels rewarding and suspenseful, though some of the pathing is a bit annoying - again probably inexperience showing. If you want a combat-less exploration game in a very pretty dieselpunk setting, give this a go. Just be mindful that it's pretty rough in places.
Looks great. Sounds great. Plays decently. Writing and story start off good ernough... SPOLERS... and effing drive off a cliff. Like, they mishandle ALL the heavy themes. Suicide, pedophilia, murder, you name it. Also holy hell CW suicide, not that it should be a surprise.
Fun fact: Many years ago - when I was still a minor- I bought a used copy on amazon and only then found out it was 18+. Those were different times. This was an unfortunate game. Back in the day Warhammer 40k licenses were seldom granted and a shooter was completely unheard of so there was much excitement. However it turned out to be in vain. Firewarrior falls into many of the same traps that other contemporary shooters fell: extremely limited arsenal, very linear levels and a very unlucky gfx engine. There must have been other factors as well such as maybe a very tight schedule, not enough funds or whatever because.. yeah, as I said, the game is lacking. It bravely tries to capture the setting but falls apart on technical grounds. The models are not very good, the animations are jerky, the weapons don't feel very impactful (with the exception of the bolter), the levels are small and linear, the story is muddy and the game is also very short (this being still unusual in then). I played it several times back in the day but mostly because as a youth I couldn't afford much more. These days it serves as an interesting curiosity and as proof that even so many years ago 40k games were very hit and miss.
I loved this game. I have played it for many more hours than is necessary but I can also appreciate why it wasn't that successful. Pros: The game is still beautiful after nearly a decade. Only one or two glances at the skybox (especially in "Boat") look somewhat dated now but the rest, especially Faith's movement, look great. The stark white art style is also really intriguing. The soundtrack, sporadic as it is, is fantastic. Check out Solar Field's other work while you are at it! The core gameplay works perfectly. I remember people complaining about imprecise controls when it came out but it always felt fine on my keyboard. Cons: Reportedly some 70% of dialogue was cut. It shows. Characters are painted with the broadest brush, motives remain unclear and world building is very sketchy. It seems to be an interesting world though. There a few scenes where violence seems the only option. Sad. A lot of the game is not set on roofs but in various indoor locations... pretty sweet ones sure, but the roofs are just more fun. So it remains a great looking, great playing game where characters do weird and dangerous things for very obscure reasons in a world which is not easy to get a handle on. If you can ignore that... get to it and.. run!
Much has been said about the rather unique setting, the surprisingly good fight system and the stunning lack of serious bugs. Those things are all good. Only one thing dampens this gem: The romances are exceedingly dull. Sky is almost as obnoxious as Dragon Age's Alistair and Silk Fox is almost as bad as Morrigan, the living embodiment of pathetic male fantasies. Adding to the distinct "meh" that hangs over that aspect is the fact that an astonishing amount of sexual tension seems to come from the character who is ostensibly your sister. Some may find that a bit disturbing. Nevertheless, this is great. The last, triumphant breath of Bioware, before the weight (haha) of Mass Effect and the Dragon Age series dragged off the RPG throne forever. Well worth playing.
Back in 1999 when I was so young that I could not afford to buy actual games, I got the demo for this on a magazine CD. I played the demo hundrets of times (180s free roaming in a certain area) and I loved it to bits. The game, sorta Tomb Raider meets GTA3 with lots of brawling - is generally good but doesn't hold out for it's entire length. It gets a bit old towards the end. If you ever held the peculiar and rather detailed fanatsy of being a sassy and extremely violent black female cop in a dystopian city... this delivers.
Hoo boy... Yes this game deserves all the stick it gets. The design is muddy and the difficulty is wonky as fuck. I remember standing around a locked door for 30 minutes because it was not at all clear how to open it... BUT! It had many, many memorable ideas and for that alone it is worth a look. It is a study in failed design, hopeless ambition and unfullfilled promises. Especially the multiplayer, with all the funny weaponry.
... why no multiplayer? Check this game. It's neat.
