Interregnum Chronicles: Signal
First advice: Read the game description closely :)
This plays like a “walking” simulator inside a satellite called “Harmony” that accommodates one person, so you’re floating in microgravity with ways to grab onto things and push yourself around. The core of the game is to tweak signal processing using human interfacing terminals, and that mysterious signal of unknown origin and requires decoding to find out what it is/says/does. At first the system doesn’t have the capacity to process the entire signal so an Operator (you) needs to approve lots of AI upgrades. See where this is going?
– Real player with 26.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Sci-fi Idler Games.
So I have played this game a fair bit and tried to “get into it” but honestly, it’s pretty awful. I’m writing this review with steam saying that I have had 11 hours playtime, but really it’s more like 5 or 6 because I would leave the game on to “idle” in order to farm the necessary resources to progress the story.
And that is pretty much the game in a nutshell. Leaving it running to obtain an ever increasing targeted number of resources that are basically just numbers on one of several terminal screen’s. There are Networking, Data Processing and Memory “resources” that you need to increase in order to upgrade the stations AI and each resource is tied to the others with glass ceilings that you need to break by obtaining more of one of the other resources. There are ways to expedite the process such as using up to 4 batteries on a terminal but honestly, that just gets annoying. The batteries will explode if you overcharge them (or at least damage the stations electrics) and when you do use them they don’t last long at all. I haven’t timed them but I would be shocked if they actually last more than a minute or two at most. When you do have to recharge them as well, you can only carry one at a time and so you have to take each one from where you need it back to the garden where the charging ports are. Obviously you can’t plug one in and leave it charging whilst you fetch another as it will likely overcharge and short out the electrics so you end up floating along carrying one for a 2nd, dropping it to pick up another, dropping it to pick up a 3rd and so on until you get them where you need to go. Obviously you are in space with no gravity and so they drift…. a lot. Yeah, lets just say that gets old. Fast.
– Real player with 11.6 hrs in game
Stars Die
Stars Die is an amazingly atmospherically dense experience. it’s a very short game but honestly doesn’t really need a whole lot of time to express itself and its ideas, and does a great load of work narratively and emotionally with the brief period it takes to complete. the game has 6 endings, including 2 secret ones, and going through all of these brought its own interesting character insights to the table. getting to explore the island itself was a real treat - the distant ambient thump that plays everywhere really added to the feeling that it might be alive, and each little area feels distinct while still flowing into each other naturally. the soundtrack is really great also - the swells of synth or heavy beat coming in at a dramatic moment to provide tension felt really perfect (and tbh the tracks all just slap, i’d love to see a release of the soundtrack by itself!).
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Sci-fi Multiple Endings Games.
I did not enjoy the story on my first playthrough because the second half of the narrative was too heavy on exposition, but the game has several endings that will add more context to the experience. It takes about 30 to 40 minutes to complete the game, depending on which character you align with. To my knowledge there are at least 5 outcomes not counting the secret quest. The format reminded me of Fatum Betula because the main character essentially decides the fate of the world, additionally to the retro aesthetic and exploration in general. The area that you explore is not very big, although there are hidden trinkets that can be difficult to find. As far as the gameplay, it’s a walking-sim with some dialogue choices, even though the conversations don’t seem to impact the outcomes - you can change your mind at the very end (with a few exceptions). If you need to locate a character, you can use a radio that can be obtained shortly after meeting the crew. There is a time limit which can be disabled in the settings, meaning that you could miss out on some events if you don’t get there in time.
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game
Tacoma
When Game Informer magazine came out in August 2015 - two years ago - it had a compelling cover for a game which had yet to be released. I read the entire article, and realized I had to play this game. There was just enough detail balanced with mystery, especially as it relates to the story and the game mechanics, that it drew me in. I wanted this game.
This isn’t a first-person shooter (although, thankfully, it is first-person). You won’t be shooting bullets, or slicing and dicing with a sword. If you’ve played the game Gone Home, and liked it, you’ll like this game even more. If you’re not a fan of Gone Home, especially because of the “shortness” of the original game, Tacoma has a lot more story, depth, and a slightly more complicated game mechanic.
– Real player with 10.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Sci-fi Adventure Games.
This way to the TACOMA DOME!!!!
Introduction
Tacoma is a narrative focused game, a “walking simulator” developed by Fullbright, the creators of the lauded Gone Home . The game involves exploring a space station, uncovering information about its former inhabitants (as well as the future of year 2088) through recorded scenes and a detailed environment.
Everything that Gone Home got right, the deeply meaningful topics of the narrative, the empathy for the every-day average person, the sonder-ful and wonderful environmental storytelling - this game does it better. The studio’s sophomore game definitely shows off everything they’ve learned from Gone Home - and their mastery of narrative places this game at the peak of the “Walking Simulator” genre. The only problem with this game is that it didn’t last longer (about 2 hours, for me)
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
The Subject
Playing The Subject is an intense, fun, and challenging experience. From the tutorial to the end game you have to think about the way to solve ever changing puzzles and discover useful patterns. Some of these puzzles do take time to understand and figure out. The key is to not get frustrated, and keep track of your health/battery life. If the puzzles in the game were not challenging enough, there is also a creature hunting you down in what appears to be a sci-fi labyrinth of art reminiscent of 1980’s science fiction.
– Real player with 17.3 hrs in game
The Subject is both a mind-boggling and heart-racing game. Its careful balance of puzzles and horror keeps you on your feet while not taking away from its problem-solving core. The Subject indeed does have a traditional Sci-Fi feel but manages to keep its unique atmosphere and aesthetic. Its story elements provide a contextual background of the main character’s (your) situation while leaving many aspects up for interpretation by the player. The Subject is not meant for the light of heart; completing the game takes dedication, attention to detail, and anger-management skills.
– Real player with 9.3 hrs in game
Wild Dose: First Session
I absolutely love this. ❤
I’m addicted to cyberpunk-virtual-trippy-worlds and stories. This game served it’s topic very well to me. I almost felt like coming home, getting a hug by neon colors and getting petted by sweet grafic glitches. I’ve played so much crap the last days, so now i probably sound like a freak… but… who cares 😁
The different world maps are big and beautiful, no doubt they were crafted with care. A solid piece of work, easy to handle and user-friendly, but still challenging. 3D platforming may be hard, but to me it was relaxing for some reason, even if i died a few times.
– Real player with 4.1 hrs in game
I do recommend playing this prologue but PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE THE CABIN IS. I stopped playing because I couldn’t find the cabin after over half an hour of wandering around. Overall, I liked this prologue and I am curious to see what the developers do with it because they do not have a release date set. To me, that means that they have a lot of development that they still expect to do, which probably means lots of changes.
The cabin was game-breaking for me because it’s the equivalent of a quest where they tell you to find a needle in a haystack- no one wants to do it. I can even see the cabin in a screenshot on this Steam store page but I don’t remember ever seeing it in the game.
– Real player with 3.5 hrs in game
ATRIA-1
Charge Game Studio presents a dark Sci-Fi first-person action thriller. Challenge yourself as a space colonist on a Russian ship lost so deep in the Universe that even the strongest com ties are torn. Experience the ruthlessness of cosmos, painful past, and extraordinary phenomena unfolding aboard the ship that all mix up into horror.
You are a former prisoner and the first victim of malfunctions on the ATRIA-1 spaceship. What’s it like to wake up after a year of criostasis and single-handedly fix up the ship with hundreds of unconscious people aboard? Eliminate a series of failures not only on board, but also in your own head: memory blackouts, recollection mirages, and strange visions. And don’t forget, all ship resources are running low: movement capability, air, energy, freedom, and common sense as well.
Breached
Two main reasons to play this game (on lesser and bigger scale) are anomalies and replayability.
Anomalies' gravitational effect is designed so amazingly, getting caught into one is both always unpleasant and very different based on their type. The orange ones gave me the most intense experiences: while I wiggled and tossed here and there (whimpering into my screen), trying to slide at least a little bit out of its gravitational field; while my maximum acceleration did not give me any significant motion; while the anomaly pulled me closer once in a while with its rough, unstoppable power, – that’s when I had THE best experience of helplessness in games EVER.
– Real player with 10.1 hrs in game
3.1/10 - Motion sickness simulator
While Breached is a very pretty game, it suffers from several major flaws that make it unappealing to play.
You wake up from cryosleep to answer an irrelevant flavour text questionnaire, and discover that your oxygenator and fuel synthesizer are broken, leaving you 8 days to fix them before you die. The former requires you to find the necessary parts and resources for repairs. The latter requires you to collect minerals and figure out the correct ratios to synthesize fuel.
– Real player with 8.4 hrs in game
CAT Interstellar
The main character, Dog, controls beautifully for a walking simulator, moving comparatively swiftly. The level on the planet surface is where the game truly shines for me; rather than move painfully slowly like in most walking sims, you can speed along the dunes like a dog unleashed, and the game strikes just the perfect balance between serenity and wonder for me, which considering what you’re actually doing is a small miracle. Well done!
It must have been there that I completely blew the alleged allotment of 1 hour: I ended up with 3.5h total, for story, all achievements, the easter egg location on the surface, being rather sick – not game-induced, I believe – and telling spouse in detail about it, as you do, so let’s dock 40 minutes for that last bit. There are some minor points against the game (all characters but the main one move like molasses; subtitles setting does not stick between sessions; NPCs seem to talk to your character when they reach a certain location, regardless of whether you’re actually near enough to hear them when it happens – you can ask them to repeat themselves, but only for the very last bit of dialogue), but the single big one is this: there’s a fair bit of hints and exposition, but the pieces never quite come together as a proper narrative. While I’m not sore on general principle that the game is short (like many of y’all, I have a backlog of several hundred games; I like short games, and the attainable goals they offer), I think giving the game one or two more hours of breathing space, and better telling therein, would have made this a clearer winner. Well that, or the main exposition droid said something of complete genius to me while I was at the other end of a cave. Either/or.
– Real player with 3.9 hrs in game
Well, I hate to be the first one to say not recommended but will explain my reason and I will update it as the game gets updated. Price point is not a factor for my reviews so should mention that as well since many will look at the fact currently it is quite cheap.
TL;DR Version
If even a tad more of the story was included at launch or at least one interesting mission included at the beginning I may of swayed to the recommended side. Once more story is in then I may change my review to that.
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Cradle-18
I wake disoriented. Where am I? Looking out a window, I see the light reflected off the planet below. Clearly, I’m in orbit, but over a planet I don’t recognize. How did I get here? Why can’t I remember anything? Where is everyone?
Cradle-18 is a 3D walking simulator aboard an orbital space station. Explore from one compartment to the next to unravel the mystery of this deserted craft. What was the mission? And what has become of the crew? Am I truly alone?
No enemies. Seems there is nobody to fight with.
Search for clues and collect information to piece together the answers. But space is a harsh environment, and the systems on this craft are showing signs of stress. Survival is not guaranteed.
Notes of horror. It feels uncomfortable on the uninhabited station in space.
Space ambient music. Enjoy space views to the beautiful space music. While you can.
De-Void
I almost only have negative things to say about this game.
First off, voice acting.
I disliked all the voice acting except for 2 characters, the character you play and the AI that gives you ‘missions’, they are the 2 main characters.
There is nothing more to say about that, bad voice acting is bad voice acting. It doesn’t feel engaging, it’s too obvious someone is just reading a script in a studio, not good at displaying emotion etc…
Story was just bad, didn’t seem very well thoughout.
I will admit though that the first 10 minutes made me feel hyped, the story seemed cool then, but it very quickly dropped off.
– Real player with 5.9 hrs in game
OKAY, here’s a review. I only write these when games are amazing or suck total ass. This one is the latter, unfortunately.
Some bullet points if you want to ignore my nonsense.
PROS:
Promising story!
Interesting story development through clues around the levels
Solid music
Decent character development
CONS:
So much excessive, unnecessary walking between stuff.
Unclear idea of directive, where things are, and sometimes even what to do
Much of the story left with loose ends, undeveloped, or ignored
– Real player with 5.5 hrs in game