This game was a very pleasant surprise. Unlike most "builders", this has a serious element of survival included. Death is not permanent, but surviving a moment of "about to die" is quite exhilarating. What made it memorable for me, is that hours of gaming flew by in seconds, without being aware of just how much time had passed. While some tasks do get a little repetitive, there is always something new and different just over the horizon. Progression is mostly smooth and well-timed, such that you are rarely "stuck" or bored. Initially you're gasping for air, struggling to find water and especially food. Then you make your first tentative forays away from the safety of your home base, and start making discoveries. More and more gameplay unlocks, and new buildable items (IF you can find the raw materials needed) ease the grind considerably. The variety of environments and locations is excellent. Exploring wrecked ships, going back to them later when you can deconstruct more advanced items, terraforming the planet such that there is a breathable atmosphere and drinkable water aplenty feels like the edge is taken off, allowing you to focus more on producing things, upgrading things, expanding your base, building other bases... Eventually you get fast travel via teleporters, and suddenly the long distance travel is not a problem anymore. There is a bit of a backstory, and secrets to uncover. They just add flavor, and add some spice to the otherwise typical terraforming mission. It is mostly bug free (I've fallen through the landscape a few times, but have always managed to get out. And a couple of inst-crashes, so I've learned to save regularly) and the minor issues do not detract from what feels like a very complete and enjoyable experience. DEFINITELY worth the money, whether you enjoy terraforming or survival.
I'm going to draw similarities with This War of Mine because, if you liked that game, you will like this one. The "train view" is a bit like the TWOM house. Limited to the train and carriages, and the things you can do to them. Repairing, upgrading, and enhancing all have their place. Everything is balance and compromise. You can only have so much storage, so much fuel, so much metal and wood, and food... Guns, ammo, cloth... you will always be short of something. Along the route, there are places to visit and battles to fight. Combat zones are in 3D isometric, where you choose up to ten soldiers for a squad. They can level up, and gain skills as they go. Each one is a character with strengths and weaknesses. But they make up a team, and choosing the right squad is very important to mission success. There are some dialogue choices and even route choices. I was never quite sure if they ever made any meaningful difference. I got all the way to Vladivostok without losing anyone. A few maimings and permanent traumas (aka debuffs), and I did allow soldiers to be "downed" - they will die if not stabilised within a reasonable time limit. But if anyone died outright, I reloaded a save. And that's the best feature - you can manual save almost whenever you want to. Only in the midst of actual combat engagement is it denied. You can also pause to give your soldiers orders that can be carried out simultaneously - like, getting two or even three soldiers to sneak up and take out a group of enemies, that would be impossible one at a time. You can play whichever way you like - go in guns blazing, or sneak around in the undergrowth whittling down stray targets at leisure. There are a couple of timed / escort missions that force the style, but mostly it is entirely up to you. Five stars for providing a deep and varied game, educational history, and a simple yet deep environment and atmosphere, that I want to continue in the Legion Tales expansion.
I know the Arkham Horror board games, and was keen to see what this PC version might be like. But I haven't even got past the opening. This is not a review about the game itself, because I can't play it. Because the developers have not accommodated Laft-handed players at all. Character movement is by WASD only. Not even a default alternative option for arrow keys. There is NO REMAPPING of anything allowed. Seriously? In this day and age, no remapping? Since I play left-handed, mouse in left hand, numpad under the right, it is impossible for me to use WASD. I've tried in a previous game, and cannot cope. I was refunded because that game developer stated they had no intention of providing key rempaaing for at least the next year. I don't know about this one, but I'll be asking for my second ever refund (in over 20 years of GOG gaming). Extremely disappointed, because it beggars belief that anyone would devote this much time and effort into any game, and not offer keyboard remapping for fundamental controls. What is more surprising, is that there is zero mention of this in any forum debate, nor in the reviews I've seen. Most comments are about the game relying on board game knowledge to make any sense. Which didn't bother me. If you're in the 90% that plays with WASD, congratulations. If you normally use the numpad, prepare for intense frustration.
Think Civ6 meets Aven Colony meets... many other builders, perhaps even including Tropico. But pleasantly refreshing in look and feel, to be a worthy addition to that club. Triangular tile based expansion and building (like the hexes of Civ 6) with some ultra-cheezy generic NPCs and scenarios... It is very pretty, you can control game speed (pause and save at will) and money is a tricky challenge with many solutions. The "eco message" is somewhat in-yer-face. There's enough "push" to get you thinking of building your economy in a gentler, eco-friendly way. But if you want to spew out noxious gases and "terraform" your territory by destroying forests and mining resources, you most certainly can! I can even see how rapid pollution and prematurely raising sea levels can be a weapon to flood your rivals out of the competition. There is just enough complexity (adjacency bonuses, stock market, useful workshop "tools" you can build IF you have access to the right materials - and what you can't source naturally, you can buy from traders) to make the game challenging and interesting enough, while also being simple enough to pick up and put down as you like. I knocked off one star for the dumbest interface mistake of all time: When in a trading window, a tooltip pops up to explain what that resource is needed for. Great idea. But since that window pops up centred on the item, it obscures the two rows below. So, I instinctively move the cursor off the trading window to clear the tooltip, and... the trade window automatically closes. DOH! Especially bad, since there is PLENTY of spare screen available to the sides, for that tooltip to be placed alongside the trade window, obscuring nothing. This "obstruction leading to inst-close" feature is the one thing that really irks me. (Patch?) On the other hand, some of the quick access lists show which buildings are lacking upgrades, that can then be built from the list instead of visiting each building. Best feature eva!
I love TWOM. And found the first story (Father's Promise) as disturbing for the twist at the end, as it was urgent. There was always the pressure to "must go there tonight". In Last Broadcast, there isn't much urgency. You are under no obligation to press on with anything. There's sometimes an additional "discuss" interaction button with people at night, and you get to choose what to broadcast. (Hint: the conversations take ages, and it guzzles game time. But you don't have to wait for it. You can click either mouse button to speed on to the next speech balloon, to hustle it along at the pace you can read.) At the risk of hints of spoilers, the wife heads out to places at night, (usual scavenging routine), but with the possibility of encountering things of "newsworthy" content. She is then sometimes faced with a "dilemma" of what to tell her disabled husband. He's the one that lives for the radio, both listening via headphones, and broadcasting "news statements". He is limited to one floor of the large radio station, so plan the house develpment accordingly. For me, the game ended at day 19. Not quite when expected, because there is a further twist and extension, that adds a few more days. But the "game-ending" trigger was Night 14 for me. I went back to try the other wife option. Hated how that felt, especially for the comments hubby made. Worst of all, it STILL ended. There is a way to prolong things. The wife must choose what to tell her husband. But the EXTRA option, is that the husband chooses whether to broadcast, or not. He can only report the story his wife told him, but he can also choose to stay silent. (I suggest copying the "iPhoneDefUser" savegame location every couple of days, in case you want to change your mind - alt-tab to windows without quitting, for a quick "backup copy" of the last two daily savegames) I can go back and try not broadcasting at all. Might get more gameplay. I mean, I didn't even get to visit all locations!
While TWOM is one of my all time favourite games, mostly for the simplicity of playing and powerful emotional engagement, this DLC raises mixed feelings for me. It uses the TWOM system to direct a story. You are limited, looking after your sick daughter. For the first three nights, you can't scavenge, forced to stand guard over Amelia. You pass out on the third night, and Amelia vanishes. From then on, you're a distraught detective. Depression interrupts your tasks with hopelessness. As you follow the trail, new venues open up. The story is very narrowly scripted, but you can always choose where to go at night, so you can "prepare" before blindly chasing after the mystery abducter(s). It is impossible to say much about the ending without giving away horrendous spoilers. There is only one ending, so replayability is virtually nil. It will shock you, perhaps disappoint you. You wish it was different. Then the reason is explained. And the more you think about it, the more you realise (intellectually) that the game just made you experience something you would probably never experience. Never want to experience it And that it was crafted to deliver that, in an incredibly mature and sensitive way. The dilemma is this: that experience is something money can't buy. But I can't help feeling disappointed, and frustrated. Cheated out of an alternative ending, perhaps. The way I feel after the finish, is at odds with the intellectual assessment of what it was all about. And that's what makes it hard to give 5 stars. I love TWOM, and suspect that this DLC is as good as it could ever be. It is an extremely worthy add-on. But be prepared for a full on emotional experience, and something that will live with you forevermore. It's a genie that can't be put back in the bottle, no matter how much you want to. But if everyone experiences this, the world will be a more compassionate and understanding place. Unless you're disappointed by the lack of instant gratification.
