This game was lauded as the spiritual successor to the Dead Space series, and as it was being made, it certainly looked and sounded the part. Some of the people who made Dead Space were even working on it, trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle that was the original series.
For one that loved the Dead Space series so much, it took me until the game was free for Playstation Plus members to play it myself. Maybe it was just balking at the cost of $70 - $100 for the game. Maybe it was because the streamers I watch on Youtube never got past more than two episodes of game play. I don't know why I really kept putting off getting it.
But I'm glad I did.
This game is beautiful. The environments, the graphics, the sound are all so amazingly well done. The premise, the people working on it, it should have been one of the best horror games ever made.
It was rushed out unfinished.
That may confuse some people, as it wasn't plagued with issues like Cyberpunk 2077 or No Man's Sky. It has an ending and the story is pretty coherent. Different areas bring back memories of Dead Space 1, 2, 3, and even The Last of Us.
No, there is a full game here, and there's lots of parts that are terrifying, require skill, and that are fun.
Where I started to notice things is a small detail in the first area. A screen that was part of the background with words. In a lot of games, you'll see screens like this that are blurred, or covered with symbols that are otherwise unreadable. However, you expect lore in a game like this, and a screen in English that's readable you expect to give a hint or two about the story going on behind the story. No, this screen was in English, it was readable, and it was gibberish, and not even in a "The guy writing this was panicked and freaking out while writing it." style. It was "The scene in the, the, they, wasn't in charge. Files are ready to transfer as soon as I, I, they, the.". It was either badly AI written, or it was placeholder text that nobody ever got back to finishing.
The next thing I noticed was that there was no system to actually tell you where you were supposed to go. Games that are linear enough can get away with that, but this game has multiple paths at times, and it's very easy to get lost and lose track of where objectives are. In addition to that, the more linear sections tend to lock doors behind you, so if you go down the path, you're very likely to find yourself unable to back track and it's easy to miss things.
Not that you have enough inventory to collect everything you find anyway. Multiple times early in the game, I was forced to choose between ammo, health, or things to sell for credits to buy upgrades. Off one beaten path I found a room with several items, and I ended up having to leave almost all of them behind, opting instead for the health packs and ammo I was already carrying. At 60% of the game finished, I didn't have a single weapon fully upgraded because money was so hard to save up, and a lot of things to sell were left behind until I was too far along to go back for them when I finally found a store.
Yeah, you'll want health and ammo over money.
The next thing I noticed was that there was no system to actually tell you where you were supposed to go. Games that are linear enough can get away with that, but this game has multiple paths at times, and it's very easy to get lost and lose track of where objectives are. In addition to that, the more linear sections tend to lock doors behind you, so if you go down the path, you're very likely to find yourself unable to back track and it's easy to miss things.
Not that you have enough inventory to collect everything you find anyway. Multiple times early in the game, I was forced to choose between ammo, health, or things to sell for credits to buy upgrades. Off one beaten path I found a room with several items, and I ended up having to leave almost all of them behind, opting instead for the health packs and ammo I was already carrying. At 60% of the game finished, I didn't have a single weapon fully upgraded because money was so hard to save up, and a lot of things to sell were left behind until I was too far along to go back for them when I finally found a store.
Yeah, you'll want health and ammo over money.
Then there's the controls. In addition to shooting and melee attacks, you have a very nifty little dodge ability. Too bad in tight quarters and when you're facing multiple enemies it usually helps you get killed more than it saves you. I died several times because a perfect dodge against one enemy ran me right into another enemy that I couldn't dodge. There's also been a few times a dodge ran me right into a wall and not out of attack range. Hit detection when you or enemies are a few steps above or below is also poor, meaning you miss more often than not while enemies whale away on you.
Enemies also have a habit of spawning into your blind spots close enough to attack you before you know they're there. There's even an entire type of enemy who's whole purpose is to blindside you as you come around corners from half a room away. (They grab you and then you have to fight them off before they drag you across the room and into a waiting mouth.)
Finally, there's the bosses. There's the final boss, which is huge, terrifying and worthy of being a final boss. There's also a monster that's just two regular enemies stuck together that you have to fight off four times. That's it. Two bosses. One that you fight four times. The first two times you face him are also so close together that you really don't have a chance to build up your inventory from the first fight before it shows up again. Trust me, I scoured every corner trying to find health and ammo.
That's a lot of issues, but the game is still playable, and a lot of it is still fun in spite of how frustrating parts can be. What it comes down to is the game clearly needed a few more trips through Quality Assurance. Having finally played through it myself, it's actually really easy to see why what should have been one of the best games of the year ended up being so quickly forgotten.
Still, if you're looking for an action-horror game without worrying about the lore and love a good challenge ala Dark Souls, you'll probably love this as it is.
Finally, there's the bosses. There's the final boss, which is huge, terrifying and worthy of being a final boss. There's also a monster that's just two regular enemies stuck together that you have to fight off four times. That's it. Two bosses. One that you fight four times. The first two times you face him are also so close together that you really don't have a chance to build up your inventory from the first fight before it shows up again. Trust me, I scoured every corner trying to find health and ammo.
That's a lot of issues, but the game is still playable, and a lot of it is still fun in spite of how frustrating parts can be. What it comes down to is the game clearly needed a few more trips through Quality Assurance. Having finally played through it myself, it's actually really easy to see why what should have been one of the best games of the year ended up being so quickly forgotten.
Still, if you're looking for an action-horror game without worrying about the lore and love a good challenge ala Dark Souls, you'll probably love this as it is.
