Prisoner 518

I wanted to write a positive review for this game, being an indie project developed by a single person and all of that, but since I can't even finish the game due to its problems I really can't. First, there is no official support for the Reverb G2. There's a user-made controller binding profile, but it is very glitchy (I dunno if it's the game's fault or not) since every now and then the control sticks just suddenly won't work and I had to go the bindings menu, deactivate the G2 bindings and then reactivate them to make them work again. And sometimes it happens every 5 minutes, or every time you die. Second, there are bugs. Some innocent ones, some annoying. I spent 20 minuted trying to solve a puzzle, without knowing that one of my tools was bugged (its screen didn't turned on), which I found out only after reloading. Third, in some points there's an ambitious climbing system, which is quite fun when it works but very annoying when it doesn't. I dropped the game at a long climbing session without checkpoints (or maybe the checkpoint was bugged since I'm pretty sure I saw "saving" at one point, but then every time I died I had to start from the beginning). I read in the forums …

I had a wonderful time playing this when the game worked. The dev, also, is very responsive to questions. It is a good length and in many ways better than a AAA game. I enjoyed parts of this as much as I enjoyed HL: Alyx. The bugs in this are HORRENDOUS though. The game is unplayable at times. Luckily dev has helped me out with saves and advice. Some of the game breaking bugs have been resolved by the dev sending me a new save file, and I've never had to wait longer than a few hours before I'm able to continue. Once more: were these bugs not resolved (I believe they will be - wait a couple of months from the date of this review); even were they not resolved, I would recommend this game. It is simply incredible. What is here is beautiful, and amazing. This is exactly what VR needs. The length and amount of content is incredible too.

The controls are archaic which would be bearable if only there were more tweak options, but sadly there are not enough. Models are decent, animations are good, lighting and textures leave a lot to be desired. This seems like demo quality. Drop something and it's harder to pick it up from the floor than it needs to be. Tool belt is interesting but needs an overhaul and tweaks. With all its faults I'm surprisingly captivated and will continue to the end.

UPDATE: The last two patches have fixed all of the show-stopper bugs. I have replayed from the beginning, and gotten back to where I left off without falling through the map, losing appendages or vital equipment, getting stuck on/repelled by the environment, or simply being unable to see or interact with something. There are still a lot of bugs in this game, but nothing that stops you from enjoying the story. The developer is engaged, and the price is alright. BUTTONS! -- Fixed (mostly) LADDERS! -- Fixed (at least, I haven't had any further problems) MENUS! -- Fixed (at least, I haven't had any further problems) CONSOLES! -- Fixed LIGHTING! -- You may need to adjust the default brightness levels. Dropping contrast under 20% lets you see into the dark shadows.

Very much enjoying this game. It's a tad buggy but so far that hasn't deterred me from playing and enjoying myself. Graphics are pretty good. Game play has been exciting and thought provoking at times. Enjoying the story. Could use a little something more there but its satisfying enough. There is a lot more going for this game than I expected there would be. For the discount price I consider it a bargain.

Not bad. There are some flaws but overall nice game.