ALONE IN SPACE

The game has a cool premise. However, there is one level with reactors and random discharges that requires absolutely no skill, only luck. You can die from a random electrical discharge. There is no observable pattern to the location or frequency of the strikes. After 60 minutes of playing only this level, I died more than 80% of the time in front of the same reactor panel - regardless of whether I went to it first, second, or third. There are no options to out-think the problem either. For example, you're taught in an earlier puzzle with electrical discharges you can throw metal objects to see where electrical arcs will strike. There is no such option for this puzzle. So you can't detect, or avoid the random. IF you make it through it's sheer luck. It became unpleasant.

This game had a decent premise, if a little cliche. You wake up on a derelict space station with no one around and you have no idea what's going on. The story is completely told through text files, with no voice acting at all. There's a hint of an interesting story here, but its execution is botched and the ending has absolutely zero payoff and is a complete letdown. The gameplay is also a letdown. While only three devs made this game, the entirety of gameplay is either finding the same few items to complete the same type of puzzles, or avoiding some dangerous environmental hazard. Speaking of the puzzles, they have several of those sliding block puzzles that are incredibly annoying, there's one halfway through that really makes me feel like they just wanted people to quit the game, because it would be such an exercise in masochism if you tried to solve it without looking up a walkthrough. It would have been great to have more effort put inot the puzzles and the removal of the sliding block puzzles. The graphics are mostly copy-pasted, and while they did add some rooms where you can tell there was a purpose, that's about the only good thing I can say about them. But like I said, …

The opening scene showed a lot of promise, but then it went downhill from there. Waking up in a sleep pod in a doomed space station... Pretty cool. But as you go through the station you are just not awed by the atmosphere. Everything is a bit too squeaky clean and perfect. I can chalk that up to being a small indie team kinda, but the puzzles, which involve mostly throwing items through an electric fog to find a safe way through, are not really my thing. Honestly I'd rather not have to deal with it and just sort of enjoy the story, but it makes this a bit of a tedious prospect.

What would Elite Force be like if you stripped out the combat and tired making it your own walking sim with less trek assets but still adhered to the same feel of being in the ship. 5 min in and I was expecting the EMH to appear and ask me to 'state the nature of the medical emergency...' Unfortunately its just not done well and the presentation comes off as flat. The environment is static aside from the few things your supposed to use. Music or something to punctuate the crazy/dangerous events would have gone a long way.

I just started playing this game and I don't think it's very entertaining or engaging. I do respect that it was put together, and I think the idea of exploring a space station alone is cool, though. I like the idea. However, so far I think it's a little sparse on things the player can interact with. Also the sound effects are not very good. They seem to be low quality. And the ambient sounds while not terrible, are also not that great, and kind of take you out of the game. I think the idea is cool but there are several things that are lacking.

Very little help with finding your way around.... but it is keeping me entertained!!