The game itself is not bad at all. It is even fun at the start. Towards end of level 1 and definitely at level 2 it becomes: pointlessly frustrating, religiously punishing for slightest mistakes and generally difficult for no reason. 1. At level 2 and still no idea what's going on. No story. No characters. Just kill kill kill. 2. No map. I mean seriously. The weird glowing thing on the wall is not a map. In 20th century we have GPS, so in umpteenth century with robotic implants we won't? 3. No explanation of what to do or why do it. See 1 and 2 above. 4. No trade-in on unused items. (That's a small point of course). 5. No humor or satire. The game takes itself extra serious. A major sin in my eyes. (Even Borderlands had humor). On the plus side, graphics is good, combat is fluid and... that's it. Asked for refund.
Good design, deeply flawed in mechanics and internal logic of story and dialog. Mechanics very simplistic (no item creation except for some alchemy). Dialog written probably by several people who were not aware of one another's work. Typical of other games of this company...
This is one of MicroProse's quests. Dragonsphere was the absolute undefeated best. This? Close second.
Played for maybe an hour, then dropped. In many places it's scripted -- listen to long conversations, then shoot a couple of monsters, rinse, repeat. In other places it's incredibly tough: the first mission which takes you to Dead City, you have no map, no idea where to go, no idea where you can or cannot jump.. or what to shoot. You, as a player, fine. You, as a person living in that world? No way. On the plus side: great graphics, really incredible. Good voice acting. Great and scary atmosphere. Oh if only I were, like, 18 again, how would I enjoy it.
Pros: Graphics good, if not the level of Skyrim or Witcher3. Storyline solid, voices not bad at all. Many world design choices very good. Plays well. Cons: Too much cheap propaganda in various forms, from "white man bad black man good" to "religion bad science bad nature and naivete good". Some world design choices very bad, like having a mandatory visit to a campsite/trader in-between traversing the world, natives not being unirace, etc. Small things, but they pile up. Also some of the side storylines are kinda contrived and unbelievable (within the world context).
Ok, so first things first: I got it for free, and thank goodness for that. Positive: nice graphics. Negative: everything else. 1. Anime animations. Big yuck with vomit on the side. 2. Childish voices. 3. Very very standard "battle" sequences with very clunky controls (WASD for movement with J and K for combat? Really? Why the hell not mouse?) In short: bleargh.
This game was an absolute gem once upon a time. Sadly, it is no longer supported, and does not work on Windows 10. No, not even with "compatibility mode" tricks. Graphics are buggy, surfaces disappear and are replaced by "water" (which can still be walked over) etc. Do not buy unless you have an old computer.
The graphics may be improved, sure, but don't get tricked by the rest of their promises. I got this game for $4, and that's despite already owning the original. The "making of" movie is nostalgic (they mention 3D studio!) but mostly boring. I mean, in the 11th hour they included the actual making-of, how they thought, how they did it, etc. Here? Nothing but a history lesson, and short at that. Seriously. Buy the original. This one is a rip-off.
