Review Archives - BouGame https://bournethegame.com/category/review/ New computer video games Fri, 03 Mar 2023 00:36:26 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 https://bournethegame.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cropped-BouGame-32x32.jpg Review Archives - BouGame https://bournethegame.com/category/review/ 32 32 CyberFall 2020. Cyberpunk Games https://bournethegame.com/cyberfall-2020-cyberpunk-games/ Thu, 17 Dec 2020 05:21:00 +0000 https://bournethegame.com/?p=137 A list of four cyberpunk games coming out before the end of 2020. As usual, October and November are extremely rich in releases. Scrolling through the list of upcoming releases, we can see that in the next month we will be waiting for a few games in the cyberpunk genre. What are the projects under […]

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A list of four cyberpunk games coming out before the end of 2020.

As usual, October and November are extremely rich in releases. Scrolling through the list of upcoming releases, we can see that in the next month we will be waiting for a few games in the cyberpunk genre. What are the projects under consideration and should we pay our attention to them?

Cloudpunk

This series of releases is opened by a small indie project called “Cloudpunk”.
This title has already been released on PC and now it’s turn of consoles. Despite its simplicity, I personally became interested in this game first of all because of its visual style. An interesting gameplay and a pretty good story are able to involve the player into its world. Here you will take on the role of a delivery service courier. It turns out that such an indie “Death Stranding” in the world of dystopian future. Despite the fact that I don’t have a bad PC, I would have preferred to play this project on consoles. Unfortunately, the prices are disappointing again. On PS4, for example, “Cloudpunk” will cost up to 4 times more expensive than on PC on Steam. Released on October 15.

Ghostrunner

The next object of our attention was the action Ghostrunner.
Dynamic slasher-platformer from the first person. The most interesting mechanics of this project is the one-shot system, where you as well as you will be killed with a single hit. It forces the player to use his reaction to the full, dodging sometimes from a hail of enemy attacks, flying literally from all sides. Having completed the demo (which was not an easy task, at least at first), I can safely say that the project will be at least interesting, and very-very driveable. You will have to take a katana and become a real cyberwarrior, whose goal is to save the dying world. The game is scheduled for release on October 27.

Observer: System Redux

We are going to talk about the good and dark Observer: System Redux.
This is an expanded re-release of the original Observer game for next-gen consoles and PC. Unfortunately, in anticipation of the re-release, the original game was removed from Steam and PSN. The game is set in 2084. You have to take on the role of a detective, investigating a series of mysterious crimes, with all the trappings of cyberpunk. The game itself is made in a psychological horror genre. The extended edition will include a few hours of new content on the likes of “Persona 5” and “Persona 5 Royal”, where the “Royal” version compared to the original game has a few new mechanics, as well as the new storyline, the passage of which is designed for a few hours of gameplay. The release is planned for November 10.

Cyberpunk 2077

And the last game in the list is the well-known “Cyberpunk 2077”.
There is no sense to talk too much about this timetable, in view of its obvious fame. Action role from the Polish studio CD Projekt Red, the plot takes place in the city of the future called Night City. You will have to take on the role of a mercenary. A vast vertical game world, a large freedom of action and a serious role system. These are the main pluses of the expected project. We can only hope that Cyberpunk 2077 will really be the project that many are waiting for. The price on PC is 2 times lower than on consoles. Release on November 19 and there will be no more postponements.

As a fan of the genre, I’m really looking forward to trying out all of the above games. I hope that they will live up to my expectations for them. Perhaps I missed something and there are more releases planned. It looks like the cyberpunk genre is in its heyday, and for sure not without the help of famous Poles. Are you looking forward to any of it?

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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines review. Still the Best Vampire Game https://bournethegame.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-review-still-the-best-vampire-game/ Thu, 07 May 2020 19:34:00 +0000 https://bournethegame.com/?p=143 Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the sequel to the cult RPG from the mid-‘0s, is coming this year. The announcement of the second part straight up kicked me and made me finally pass the first part. How does the game look in 2020? I’ll tell you in a moment. The popularity of vampire themes […]

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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, the sequel to the cult RPG from the mid-‘0s, is coming this year. The announcement of the second part straight up kicked me and made me finally pass the first part. How does the game look in 2020? I’ll tell you in a moment.

The popularity of vampire themes in games is far from similar in movies. Judge for yourself: what games come to your mind when you say “vampire games”? Among modern games theme seems dead. Apart from Vampyr nothing “vampire” has not been released for a very long time. And among the classics gathered not so much. I mean, the games may be a lot, but it’s all part of the series. Legacy of Cain, Blood Omen, Castlevania, Bloodrayne are quite modest.
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines particularly stands out among them. This game has long caught my eye, but I’ve started it a couple of times and abandoned it almost immediately after learning. But not this time.

Bloodlines was created by Troika Games in 2004. In case you’re not aware, Troika Games is an RPG development studio founded by the developers of the original Fallout. They are Tim Kane, Leonard Boyarsky and Jason Anderson. And it seemed to be their “trio” that was implied in the studio’s name. But it so happened that Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines was the third and the last game of the studio. That’s the magic of number 3.

Let me tell you right away that I am not familiar with the World of Darkness universe, and Bloodlines is my starting point. Therefore I won’t describe the dark game’s lore and every vampire class right now. The only thing I will point out is their hierarchy. That is, in theory, the Tremers, Ventrue, and Toreadors are kind of the local aristocrats and aesthetes. The Brouhaha, the Gangrels, and especially the Nosferatu are more of a hardcore proletariat. But whether you choose Ventra or Toreador, you’ll have to crawl around in the sewers and get your ambition dirty one way or another. Just like when playing as Nosferatu, you’ll be able to co-found a nightclub and get some profit from it.

The game welcomes an interesting opportunity to create a character. I have already seen it in Morrowind, so I can’t call it unique. Still, I can’t help but mention the ability to create your vampire alter ego with a test. I decided to create my vampire in the classic editor. I chose the Brucha, which is a class of rebels and warriors. In general, do not be afraid to choose any class. Yes, some class will suffer more in the beginning, but the main thing – it’s what you want to get out of the passage and who you want to play. The only exception can be made for the Malkavians – their dialogues are not really designed for the first introduction to the game.

There are quite a few clans, and each gives a different passing experience. Go crazy for the Malks or crawl through the sewers for Nosferatu? You’re welcome. That said, there’s a wagering option. You want a brouhaha hacker? Go for it! You don’t have to pump up only combat skills and forever go full throttle. The game encourages exploration of locations and out-of-the-box approaches.
Choosing a clan is not choosing a mage, archer, or warrior in a typical RPG. It’s more about choosing who your Sire was. And what disciplines you can use. But what you personally become is up to you.
In Bloodlines there is no such thing as a “grind”. You don’t get experience points for killing your enemies. Yes, the game has a combat system that allows you to use both melee and ranged combat. It is also combined with the supernatural abilities of the hero. But you won’t be able to level up your character by killing a hundred enemies, no matter how powerful they are.

The level is only increased by completing quests. Complete the mission – you get points. Upgraded a skill, which can help you in the next mission. Completed it – got more points. And so on. On the one hand, this makes fighting pointless. What’s the point of fighting if you don’t get experience points? It turns out that the enemy – just a barrier to the completion of the quest. And if there is a way around it, rather than trying to break it – that’s also an option. Sometimes I even got the feeling that the developers understood the curvature of the combat system, so they made it possible to avoid it as much as possible.

That said, experience points are limited by the number of quests. Therefore, you must still choose which skills you want to pump up as much as possible, and which – as a kind of support in the passage. After all, the amount of experience points to increase with each skill level. And the discipline to increase is even more expensive. So all the same, some kind of vision of your character should have.

As I wrote above, the combat system is quite crooked. I especially felt this on the battles with the bosses. The hitboxes of some of them were incomprehensible to me, as a melee character. Because of this, I had to use firearms a couple of times. And the usual enemies after a series of blows are always flying somewhere up. I understand that vampires are strong, but damn… It’s annoying, and sometimes it works against you. If you throw an enemy with an uppercut weapon up there, he can stay up there and calmly bombard you.

I rarely used shooting, so I don’t have much to praise or condemn. There are a lot of different cannons, but I wouldn’t say they’re any different than the damage they do. Regardless of the cost of the cannon. But by pumping up the shooting skill, you can reduce the sight and recoil.
In general, the combat system crosses out some points of the game. But you know, crossing out can be done in different ways. For example, you can write a word and draw a thin line along it. The word will remain visible – it’s just crossed out. Or you can draw over the written word and you won’t know what was written there. The combat in Bloodlines is more of a fine line.

I am far from being a fan of vampire stories. But Bloodlines managed to take me into its mysterious and dark world to such an extent that it was hard to tear myself away until the end of the story. Perhaps my comparison seems strange to you, but Bloodlines had the same effect on me as Mass Effect did in its time. Space is one of my least favorite settings. But I have passed the Mass Effect trilogy with great pleasure. There is a certain similarity between the games for me, although apart from the Action-RPG genre they have little in common.

Did I mention the atmospheric locations?

Bloodlines has a great presentation of the World of Darkness universe. After the game you want to learn more about the universe and the background of the characters. For example, Beckett is a local historian scholar. A very interesting character with a rich backstory. Once you start studying his biography, it’s hard not to get sucked into the further twists and turns of the World of Darkness universe. You should agree that it is very cool when the game gives interest to the universe it is based on. Not the other way around, as is often the case with Warhammer games, for example. When a game is made as if it’s only for fans of an already established universe, not trying to attract new people to the setting. Playing Vampires, on the other hand, makes you want to know more about the world of the game.

The dialogues are well written. They’re fun to read and it’s cool that initially you don’t see options for using all sorts of beliefs and stuff. Until you pump up the appropriate skill, you won’t know what possible options are waiting for you. The dialog system is interesting and doesn’t reveal all its tricks at once. As Fallout or other Action-RPGs do, for example, where you are shown a possible option that you lack the skill for.

Once you achieve success in enchantment, enticement, or threats, you’ll notice new options right away. And if you decide to pump up any of these skills during the walkthrough, you’ll immediately feel the urge to see what would have happened in the old, already passed moment if I had charisma skills…? This is a great motivator to pass the game again.

It’s impossible not to mention the voice acting. And it’s not just the voicing of the characters. Particularly noteworthy are the radio broadcasts within the game and even the news on TV. Actors play their roles qualitatively, and it creates an indescribable atmosphere. But the characters are also, understandably, voiced well. If we’re talking to LaCroix – we hear a cocky, arrogant character. Jack (the character from the tutorial) is gruff, stern, but with a touch of humor. All of this is felt in the voiceover and applies to all the characters we encounter. Seriously, all of the characters I met on my first playthrough were voiced with quality. And the actors are completely accurate in conveying their characters. Combined, the voice acting and dialogues are a huge plus for the game.

It’s hard to say anything about the visuals of a game from years ago. Yes, it looks old, but Source is a long-playing engine. If you’re not allergic to old games – Bloodlines won’t scare you off with grotesque textures, trust me. The locations are well designed. They’re compact, but there’s plenty to explore. The transitions from the parade life of Hollywood to its backyard are particularly pleasing. If well-dressed NPCs hang out around the club, it’s around the corner from a burning trash can that homeless people are basking. Moments like this are a great indication of the game’s level of craftsmanship.

The soundtrack is impressive for the time. In the clubs there is driving industrial and various gothic metal. Even Lacuna Coil made an appearance in the game. In the story locations plays a dark ambient. Each of the four main locations has its own theme song. Somewhere more melodic compositions, somewhere more somber. All very much on topic and once again adds points to the score of the game’s atmosphere.
I liked the detail work. This and what I mentioned above – all sorts of TV shows and radio. And also exactly the gameplay moments. Some side quests that are given through the main character’s laptop. I actually remembered my apartment only at the end of the game and was surprised that I was waiting there for tasks from LaCroix and interesting quests for one Nosferatu.

For completing quests for this Nosferatu he gives a very interesting reward – posters of different vampire girls that we meet in the game. But you won’t get experience points, alas.

The game came out raw, but that didn’t stop the fans from loving it. Because they have supported the game for years and even helped to improve it – Bloodlines now doesn’t suffer from the huge amount of bugs, and the part of planned content was restored. With such a fanbase, one shouldn’t be surprised by the game’s cult status.

For some reason, Deadly Premonition comes to mind. The Japanese detective is also praised by many players for the story and atmosphere, but most of the bugs have remained in place. Troika Games closed because of the financial problems after Bloodlines, and the developers of Deadly Premonition just stopped supporting the game. Here the fans didn’t do someone else’s job.

To all RPG fans, I strongly recommend Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines for a walkthrough. Don’t be afraid of its age or the bugs – critical things have long since been fixed. You can more than enjoy the game now. Especially since Bloodlines 2 is on the horizon.

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Citadel: Forged With Fire – Review. Seems to be Something Fresh https://bournethegame.com/citadel-forged-with-fire-review-seems-to-be-something-fresh/ Sun, 09 Jun 2019 21:54:00 +0000 https://bournethegame.com/?p=146 Today I would like to present you a rather interesting project in a non-typical setting and with non-typical mechanics. Citadel: Forged With Fire is an online Sandbox RPG with elements of sorcery and the ability to engage in combat with other players for territory. As a newly minted student of the magical arts, you will […]

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Today I would like to present you a rather interesting project in a non-typical setting and with non-typical mechanics.

Citadel: Forged With Fire is an online Sandbox RPG with elements of sorcery and the ability to engage in combat with other players for territory. As a newly minted student of the magical arts, you will set out to explore the dangerous world of Ignus. Your goal is to make a name for yourself and achieve fame and power among the ruling Houses.

You have complete freedom of action. The player can form his own clan to battle with other players for territory, become a notorious hunter of other players, build massive and unique castles, tame mighty beasts to do your bidding, and explore uncharted territories to unravel their rich and intriguing history. The path to power and influence is up to you.

Sounds good, right? But how is it really?

As with most online sandboxes, the story is not the first place in the game. In our case, there is none. But in order to fill in the sector of the story, I will note that it’s quite an interesting setting. The player will play as a mage in a typical fantasy game world. In his travels you will encounter orcs, zombies, dragons, magic towers with points of rapid movement, caves, etc. Also scattered across the map are camps with enemies who guard chests with valuable items, which should motivate the player to clear them. The world itself consists of two biomes, forest and snow. Here I would also note that you only need to play in co-op or online mode, as one in the game:
a) will not be easy,
b) just do nothing.

Speaking of gameplay, the first thing I noticed is a relatively fine-tuned server. Creating your server, you can determine the experience modifier, choose PVP or PVE mode, limited weight or not. And what is most attractive is the presence of “unlimited resources” mode. On the one hand, this tab kills grind completely, because you no longer need to collect resources to make items. It’s enough to open a recipe with a certain LVL and pump it with skill points. On the other hand there is so much grind in the game, that to build your own castle or to craft more or less advanced items the lion’s share of time is spent on grind and you can safely forget about the exploration of the world.

Like any RPG, Citadel: Forged With Fire has its own progression implemented in the form of the LVL-ing of the character. With each level the character can pump up one characteristic, such as “damage, health, mana and allowable weight” and several points in knowledge, thereby opening up new recipes for crafting furniture, workbenches, ammunition and the like. It should pay tribute to the developers, the character receives EXP not only for completing quests and battles with mobs, but also for crafting things, building and collecting rare resources. The list of recipes is quite impressive, it includes different types of armor, weapons, accessories, and a large number of elements associated with the construction of their homes.

Various junk in a heap, so there’s room to run wild

Construction can safely be called one of the main positive aspects of the game. I at the time of writing, just started to equip his fortress on a gorgeous lake in a snowy biome, but traveling, I stumbled upon the buildings of other players and they inspired by their size and appearance. The game has a system of privatization of the territory, due to the so-called throne. Once the player lays the foundation for his castle, he will need to put the throne, which privatizes all further blocks in any way related to this throne. If you want to build a house not alone, but with your companions, level 5 opens up the possibility of creating a common house. You only need to put your companions on the list and each member of this house, can make changes to the construction.

However, you must understand that peaceful construction is only available in PVE mode, and with certain server settings for your throne requires care or over time it will collapse, and all your building will lose its status as a private. If you play in PVP mode, you also need to build traps for your building, which will not allow attackers to destroy the throne and seize the castle.

Already by the evening after the release, someone managed to build such a machina

As a separate plus I would like to mention the absence of survival elements, forcing the player to constantly spend time not on construction with the exploration of the world, and the search for food, water heat and other nonsense. The game has no such thing, so the player is free to do whatever he wants.

Well, the last feature of the game, refers to the ability to fly on a broomstick and taming of wild animals. For the first you just need to get a level 10 and personal transport, albeit not the fastest in your pocket. For the second, you need companions to help tame the wild beast, up to dragons, thereby helping to tame them.

Some people, create a field for Quiditch from the novel of the same name

What I couldn’t make up my mind about was the combat system. The system is mostly based on fighting with magic using a wand, staff or magic gloves. However, the player is free to choose a simple melee weapon, which in some cases can be much more effective. The very idea of fighting with magic alone appeals to me, considering that the visual effect of the skills is made very juicy and bright, but there are some negative aspects.

First of all, the game has a very strange and sparse skill system. By default, the character only owns the school of sorcery, and to acquire the skills of other schools, the player has to look for magic spheres. It is impossible to combine spheres with each other, and each of them gives only 4 skills, of which only 2 can be used on weapons. And here begins the difficulty.

A character can carry 4 types of weapons, each type of weapon can hold only 2 skills out of the 4. The skills themselves are usually divided into an area attack, a specific enemy, a buffing skin, and a support skin. It is impossible to find out what a skill does without putting it in the weapon box, and in case you use spheres, each attempt to find out the ability of your skill, will cost you 1 sphere. Such a system, in addition to forcing a waste of not rare, but not infinite spheres, deprives the possibility as well to carry out related combinations. For the alternation of different skills, you have to frantically switch between the weapon, which are assigned one or another ability.

In addition to the problems with combinations, the game observed a very killed hit box and through too annoying targeting. In the first case, the opponents will hit you even if you are a few meters away, dodging or running away from him. In the second case, enemies will annoyingly chase you until you take off, hide in a peaceful area or go into the water.

If the bear has his paws up there is nothing to save you)

There is also a problem with the level of the opponents. If the starting points, the opponents are more or less balanced in level, in a couple of hundred meters their level is noticeably high. Thus not allowing you to explore another biome without spending a lot of time on pumping. Reading the reviews of players who have spent more time in the game, some note the inability to pass the final dungeon in solo mode because of the overly high complexity.

Another disadvantage I would like to refer to the semi-empty world. Certainly, there are many camps with enemies, dungeons and chests in the game, but it’s all very local. In places where there is no such activity, it is quite sad. Also not happy with the quest system. Games of such a setting allow you to implement a lot of options for quests, or at least diversify the banal fetch – serve. In Citadel: Forged With Fire, there are only tutorial tasks, which by the way can be repeated at each starting point and get extra experience, and daily tasks on the type to pick n amount of grass and kill n number of animals.

Poisonous days and romantic nights

Speaking of graphics, with great joy I will note the almost perfect optimization. On ultra settings the game runs at a smooth 60 frames at Full HD resolution. The world itself looks very colorful, and perfectly copes with the goal to convey a fantasy setting. However, in my opinion, the developers went too much with acid colors, which can cut the eye in the morning, but the nights in the game are very atmospheric. I am also happy about the visual diversity of the opponents, which let the mechanics are similar to each other, but the variety of opponents is quite large. For all the beauty of the game is responsible not unknown to you engine, which appears in almost every my review.

Sound component alas can not boast such achievements. The music in the menu is quite epic, no doubt, but in the game itself I did not notice any variety of soundtracks. Also, the game has some problems with sound effects. So, for example, wandering around the world, the game can make quite a loud sound to alert the player that somewhere are fighting mobs, even though the enemies themselves will be at a decent distance.

Not bad, but you can do much better

Maybe it was the long vacation that spoiled my taste in gaming, or maybe good optimization where you don’t expect it clouded my view, but Citadel: Forged With Fire really pulled me in. And if it weren’t for other games to familiarize myself with, I would have spent a lot more time in the game. The game has good graphics, optimization, a lot of abilities to build your castle and nice mesh. Many complain about the various bugs, I have not met them. If the developers will work with combat system, content and balance, they can get quite good game. This game will suit those who primarily miss sandboxes and only then those who want to dive into the fantasy world. This is a game I recommend you to check out, and whether it will pull you in or not is up to you to decide.

Thank you for your attention, don’t use magic outside of games and see you soon.

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Dark Messiah of Might and Magic ReviewSarakonWolf https://bournethegame.com/dark-messiah-of-might-and-magic-reviewsarakonwolf/ Wed, 11 Apr 2018 00:02:00 +0000 https://bournethegame.com/?p=149 Why do we play games? Maybe to escape from reality, or maybe to pass the time while waiting for something, sometimes we are driven by simple curiosity, which makes us want to explore unknown lands and spaces. Either way, in order to immerse ourselves in the world, we must believe in it.However, it takes a […]

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Why do we play games? Maybe to escape from reality, or maybe to pass the time while waiting for something, sometimes we are driven by simple curiosity, which makes us want to explore unknown lands and spaces. Either way, in order to immerse ourselves in the world, we must believe in it.
However, it takes a lot of money and time to create a living world. And not every publisher is willing to take risks, especially when such games do not sell well. But even these days there are companies that are willing to work, more for art than money.
One such company is Arkane Studios, which opened back in 1999. It has created many games where the player is free to be whomever he wants and can do whatever he wants, in worlds where the choices are carefully crafted so that they feel important and emotionally charged.

The plot of Dark Messiah unfolds in the strategy world of Heroes of Sword and Magic and there’s not much I can say about it other than it’s typical fantasy. It is populated by humans, elves, orcs, undead, dragons and the like. Our hero is a mage named Saref. He, like any young man, dreams of becoming a hero. And at one point, on his shoulders is a mission to find a mystical artifact of the Skull of Shadows.
The plot is not striking us with its originality, but it may surprise you with an unexpected twist, although you can come up with it during the game.

The gameplay is really the strong side of the game. As our hero is a magician, he will use different spells, like freezing, healing, lightning, fire and magic traps, hypnosis and so on. But the hero is not limited to magic alone, he is able to use swords, staffs, daggers, shields and bows.
During the game, the hero for completing certain tasks will receive skill points. These he can pump magical, combat or passive abilities. In the magical branch, he will learn spells in combat – to wield weapons melee or ranged, and the passive will increase health, mana, learn how to pick locks, etc. Also, the hero has the ability to kick enemies and thus throw them from a height or push them on spikes.
On some locations there are a lot of enemies and simply swinging your sword won’t overcome them easily. The game encourages you to use your own abilities and environment. You can take a jug of oil and throw it to your enemies and then burn them with spell, you can cut the rope, that holds chandelier and it will fall on your enemies, you can take frosty bow and shoot your enemies’ legs, immobilizing them. Or you can not engage in open combat and deprive everyone of life from the shadows. The game will provide tools for all styles of play.

In fact, don’t underestimate the power of everyday objects. Once in the game, using telekinesis, I threw a frying pan at a man and severed his arm.

The world in the game is divided into vast locations. And these locations are filled with many interactive elements, lockers and windows with doors that open, interior items that you can take and throw at the enemy. In some places there will be characters and do their job or talk to each other, which perfectly helps to immerse yourself in the world of the game.
The locations themselves are often intelligently constructed, but the questions – “Where do I go now?” – sometimes arise. Exploring the levels is encouraged by finding secrets that hold valuable items.

Graphics and technical components, look dated because of the engine, which gives not vyvoriznuyu picture and is able to show the beautiful scenery. But at the same time, it is not designed for melee weapon combat and rapid movement. Movement in the air looks twitchy, and the sword, at times difficult to hit the enemy.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic despite the years is played briskly, although it feels that by the end, and the forces and the means were coming to an end. It allows you to immerse yourself in your world and brings positive emotions from the gameplay.

I advise everyone to play it

Immersive sim games do a great job in the main task of all games, to provide fun and immerse in an interesting world. They give the player freedom and choice. Do not keep you as an idiot, and present interesting challenges, with many solutions. But how is it that they became unnecessary?
Nowadays, when money is in first place, no one wants to invest in expensive projects that have the slightest artistic value, but may not sell well.
But okay, if the problem was only in publishers, the players themselves do not want to spend money on such games. They don’t want to play a quality game that respects their own player. They go and play slag.
Immersive sim is an interesting genre, but only a small number of people want it and it’s extremely sad. And so, if you like smart games, you should definitely buy, exactly buy Prey, the last representative of a dying genre at the moment.

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Fallout: the Game that Turned the World of Computer RPGs https://bournethegame.com/fallout-the-game-that-turned-the-world-of-computer-rpgs/ Sat, 12 Aug 2017 03:49:00 +0000 https://bournethegame.com/?p=131 Post-apocalypse is one of the possible options for the future of mankind, especially since weapons capable of destroying the existing civilization have long been created. The threat of nuclear war has existed since the creation and use of the atomic bomb. A world similar to Fallout may well await us in the future. No more […]

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Post-apocalypse is one of the possible options for the future of mankind, especially since weapons capable of destroying the existing civilization have long been created. The threat of nuclear war has existed since the creation and use of the atomic bomb. A world similar to Fallout may well await us in the future.

No more dungeons and dragons

Role-playing game worlds were firmly associated with fantasy. On both sides of the ocean came out a huge number of projects in various fictional worlds of elves, hobbits, dwarves and other bizarre creatures. And the slaying of monsters was done mostly with medieval weapons and magic. This approach gave a lot of room for creativity and an already ready consumer of such products.

But what would happen if instead of orcs they made huge mutants, instead of magic they used energy weapons, and instead of dungeons – scorched wasteland? To dilute it all with complete freedom, danger around every corner, cynicism and black humor. Yes, and the action will take place in a world after a nuclear war. In general, the theme of post-apocalyptic has been in games before. For example, there was already the Dark Sun setting (about the apocalypse in a fantasy world) and Wasteland from the same Interplay.

First playthrough

The strongest impression of computer games usually gives their first pass. But the “passed and forgotten” is not about Fallout. After the destruction of the Cathedral and the base of mutants usually create a new character and start the game all over again. It is quite possible that the subsequent passes will give much more emotions than the first. The game makes you come back to your world again and again. The world of the game is interesting to explore, and all the important events and quests should be kept in mind.

Glow. The first visit to this location caused the game to load from the last save after the asylum seeker received a lethal dose of radiation. Probably the most impressive location in the game, filled with mystery and danger.

Interesting computer

Necropolis. The city of gools crushed by its atmosphere and resembled a ghetto. Isolated from the rest of the world, formerly human beings drag out a miserable existence in a dying city. And of course there is one of the best NPC’s in the history of RPG’s – mutant Harry.
He is simply beautiful.

Brotherhood of Steel. Before Fallout I was not yet familiar with the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The paladins of the Brotherhood in power armor and with miniguns in their hands were very impressive. At the time, we were all under the impression of Terminator 2 and Predator, so the opportunity to shoot with a six-barreled machine gun myself seemed like something outrageously cool.

Mutant Base. Another location that left a lasting impression. On the first visit, a mutant from the shelter usually split into two parts by the field of a laser rifle shot. The super mutant at the entrance quickly made it clear that this is still too early. And after all, the game had no autoleveling or any plot limitations. I upgraded, found a cooler gun, and easily blew the head off any mutant.

Asylum 13. The Sanctuary itself was not particularly memorable. But the value of this location was different. After walking around the wastelands and seeing the real world there, we would return to this closed society. And the problems of the asylum’s inhabitants, living in a clean and safe place, seemed like trivialities and nonsense. That’s how it is in real life. The hungry man never understands the hungry man.

So he should

Excitement. And what the game gave the feeling of pumping. If at the beginning of the hero could miss rats at point-blank range, then at level 21 quietly took out all the brotherhood of steel without prejudice to themselves (although no one canceled the screams). After all, how nice to make a pathetic rookie a real machine of death. The game even provides a special place to quickly raise the level. This is where the claws of death are respawned. And all of this did not force you to spend 100 million hours and half a lifetime on the game. The game is quietly passed and without the additional stuffing experience.

When first passing you do not know how important this or that parameter SPECIAL, and therefore begin to mold the character as you would like to see themselves in the game itself. For example:

  • Strength 10.
  • Perception 4
  • Stamina 10
  • Charisma 2
  • Intelligence 6
  • Dexterity 10
  • Luck 5

Skills also increased at random: immediately swing heavy weapons and melee, trade, gambling, and always theft. In general, the first thing to clean the pockets of all NPCs. Then I had to roam the wastelands to raise the repair skill. You have to repair power armor, after all.

I’ll be strong and healthy

Such a character is easy to pass the game, but you can miss a lot of interesting moments and random encounters. By the way, has anyone played as a ready-made characters?

Important! The game can be continued after its completion, though with the help of cheats. Do 99 action points in the editor of saved, kill the keeper to talk and run out on the world map until the fight ended. Then you can always come to him on the third level of the asylum and watch the credits after the conversation.

The game even has an alternate ending and even a whole video. Mutants take over Refuge 13 and the hero is lowered into a vat of green slop.

Second and subsequent playthroughs

This is where the time for experimentation began. At first, of course, I wanted to create the strongest possible character. The parameter of power no longer seems so necessary, perception becomes an important parameter, you don’t have to bother with stamina, charisma remains a two, intellect and dexterity must be 10, whatever is left for good luck.

Then there is a desire to try to play for a non-combatant character. Charisma and intelligence is 10, the rest is optional. You can also make lucky 10, then there is a very high chance of finding an alien blaster at the beginning of the game. And the passage will not be so peaceful.

The most munchkin way would be to create a character under the subsequent increase in parameters in the brotherhood of steel for the roof (everything except charisma and luck). How many unfortunate supermutants have been killed and bamboozled in order to make the asylum seeker a little stronger.

Munchkin variant

In general, the game does not force to create an ultimatum build. Perks you can take any to your liking, even the most useless. For successful passing this does not matter. Everything here is made exclusively for the fan.

A real boon for the developers – special encounters. Contains various references to other works of fiction. Very well dilute the wandering around the map and stimulates to do so. For example, the corpse of an alien with a portrait of Elvis suggests the real purpose of the visit to our planet. Apparently fans. The game is full of all sorts of references and Easter eggs.

Turn-based Combats

Turn-based combat allows you to carefully plan your next moves. This allows you to savor every shot and its consequences, and the system of critical hits adds excitement. You subconsciously expect a hit from every shot.

The aiming mechanics adds to the excitement. It is more difficult to hit the opponent in the head or eyes than when shooting the torso. But it can stun or blind the enemy. Shooting the groin or brahmin in the udder has always been a source of genuine joy and satisfaction in the game.

Sanctuaries

The country began to build and most importantly sell all sorts of personal bunkers and shelters. By the way, this trend has persisted to this day. The Internet is full of information about the whole underground hotels. The main thing is that for every taste and every budget.

Cruelty and doom

When I was shown Fallout by a friend in 1997, the first thing he did was set up a massacre in one of the cities. The spritely little people were being blown to bits of blood by a minigun round. It was then that this game became the most beloved, and remains so to this day. The unique animation of death for each type of weapon literally made you immediately check out every gun you found, and the gunshot sounds added to the sensation of firing.

Particularly pleasing was the spread of the automatic weapons, which made it possible to kill several opponents in a single burst. I would like to highlight a few of the most significant:

  • Laser Gatling – the best automatic weapon;
  • The Minigun, an ultimatum weapon against unprotected targets;
  • Flamethrower – the funniest death animation;
  • Grenade launcher – just the funniest bubaha;
  • Laser Rifle – pretty powerful weapon in the first part of Fallout;
  • Plasma rifle and its improved version – the best weapon in the game;
  • Alien Blaster – the main thing to find at the beginning of the game. Then there will be no problem.

Energy weapons are the most powerful in the game

But the brutality of this world is not just about brutal murders. The world of the game offers no hope of restoring civilization. Society is split into separate factions and settlements. In many human settlements, criminality reigns, and various factions divide spheres of influence. A person’s life is worthless here.

The ending of Fallout offered no hope for a bright future. The hero was cast out of the asylum. The destruction of the Overlord and his army only saved the remnants of humanity from total annihilation, but the prospects are still hazy. And the fate of the settlements depends entirely on the actions of the player.

Mark Morgan’s ambient music creates an oppressive and gloomy atmosphere in the game. This is the kind of music you can listen to in the player.

Is it possible to scold the game?

Yes, you can, of course. The partner system does not hold up to criticism. Skills: “Trading, gambling and first aid” – virtually useless. Skills cold weapons and melee could not be separated. Many perks and additional features are frankly unnecessary. But nevertheless they help describe the character and add to the game fan.

Time limit on the search for water filter frankly annoying, and does not immediately enjoy exploring the world. In 1997, there were no guides and walkthroughs on YouTube, so it was easy to not have time. There are mods that remove the restriction.

Imagination

What I love about old games is that they actively put the imagination to work. Fallout, on the other hand, was able to draw an entire world in my head. I was so impressed by what I saw in the game that I molded the paladins of the Brotherhood of Steel and the weapons from the game out of plasticine. I got my own PC only in 2002, so I had to make do with improvised means.

All subsequent PC role-playing games were compared exclusively to Fallout. The game set a personal bar for quality and still holds it steadily to this day.

Conclusions

The game has spawned many imitators and clones, but no one has been able to surpass the original. If anyone has not yet played, it is urgent to begin to join the classics.

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