Charlie Curnow

Visually, this game is stunning. Genuinely impressed the box can handle it for the most part. You are going to get a lot of stuttering regardless of what rig you use without making some performance sacrifices. Story wise, It’s derivative, shallow and predictable. I had such high hopes for the sound design listening to the developers talk in their shorts about how unsafe and scary it’d be. But you quickly learn and recognise which terrifying screams are their for ambience and are effectively the same sound byte looped. This quickly removed the fear factor and became an annoyance as these sounds repeat, often. Josh’s acting is leashed hard by how weak the script is but like Karen, Sam and Zeke they all push to deliver solid chops from cereal box writing. Testament to all crew. I do have issues with the Warden. He is meant to be this big untouchable force who sees all and knows all but comes across as menacing and intimidating as a rubber on the end of pencil. The Biophages are cool at first but quickly become an indifferent homogenous mass of all the same viscera under your boot stomps. Dodge dodge hit to ad infinitum. Folly guys really like the sound of throwing paint tins worth of blood on the floor. If you like excess you’ll enjoy that sound. If you had unrestricted internet access from a young age you know that thats not what “that” sounds like. Boss fights are a No No. do not recycle the same boss to me my guy. Just don’t. Also, if you absolutely have to, don’t make it like I’m fighting a punching bag with Christmas hams strapped to my arms. They are long, drawn out and so, so boring. The fear leaves your body and the anger gentle sachets in. I get it. They want to build this universe and leave unanswered questions to entice you into the season pass and blah blah blah. But they forgot to include a reason to care. Maybe that’s coming with all the other stuff next year. I feel no connection to the characters or their respective stories. It’s not because you’ll find out in a dlc it’s because these characters don’t have any! He’s a smuggler. Okay. Cool. What’s his motivation? Why is he a smuggler? Oh, she’s from a solar system spanning terrorist organisation. Wow! That’s super menacing! Why is this organisation so successful and solar system spanning? What are their motivations. He’s the Warden of a multi trillion dollar prison installation on a moon of Jupiter! Profound! Just the like the prison system of America today he must have some serious investors! Who are they? You have no answers and zero motivation presented in game to find out why. I’d give this three stars if I could get the taste of bitter disappointment out of me but time and time again devs keep pushing out half baked goods with dog doo doo stories and brittle energy. Never pre order! Always buy discount! Yes spelling and grammar errors. Don’t care.