B Murphy

Before getting into the weeds about this game: I played 24.5hrs, beat the game, and earned almost all the achievements... so this isn't a "quick take." I wanted to give the game its "wins" where I could. So let's move onto the good things... -The graphics. The character details, monster details, indoor designs and outside snow terrains were visually impressive. I played on PC with Ultra High graphics settings. All 2 of my 2-star rating came from this. And with that, we have reached the end of the good things. Oh how I, and my wallet, really wished there were more. RIP $70. Onto the bad... -Horrendous movement mechanics. I can't overstate how bad the character movements in this game are. People who have had strokes are more nimble than this character. Any time something happens, you'll be unable to focus on the thrilling or fun part of it, because you will be focused on how you move like a sloth. The camera / targeting system is awful, and never moves off your character's right shoulder. Ever. No peek-around-corner ability either. So if you want to aim around a corner that is left of you, well, you're Zoolander. Most ironic of all, in the last minute before the game ends, you are suddenly able to sprint like Hussain Bolt. So... yeah. What. -Combat system seems okay at first, but is a brain-dead wolf in sheep's clothing. For whatever reason, guns are not the focus of this game, melee combat is. Bold move Cotton. And this melee system is one-dimensional. As long as you hold left, or right, you will dodge the attack of the enemy directly in front of you. You don't have to time anything, hold left or right and you're immortal. Repeat all game. The combat system really shines when multiple enemies attack you at once, as the dodging mechanics mentioned have no answer for multiple enemies, and the targeting system implodes as you try to sloth around during the fight. It's truly amazing. -Zero modern quality of life considerations. Everything from inventory space (laughably small), swapping weapons (no weapon wheel), healing with a med kit (you kneel for an eternity and inject yourself), recharging your GRP battery (only can be done in inventory), to listening to audio logs (can also only be done in inventory, can't walk and listen simultaneously), were all things the developers never considered, and require you to open your inventory a million times. Best part is, the game does not pause when you bring up your inventory... so have fun being attacked while trying to swap or recharge your weapons. Frustration Protocol. You will find yourself clicking through guns one by one to find the one you need, just to have to click back through them to switch to another gun since ammo is always running low. This is a nightmare mid-fight. Even better is trying to recharge your GRP mid-fight, let alone use it. -There are six different types of "actual" enemy variants in the entire game. And two of those six are a "miniboss" and "boss". And I kid you not... you will face that exact same miniboss 4 times in a row. After the third time, I just had to laugh at their commitment serving us the same two-headed guy. Kudos. -With so many other things going wrong in the game, I hoped the story would at least be decent, but nope... most of the game has no plot progression until the end, and story you do get is so illogical, you'll giggle if you try to reason out why the main antagonist made any of the choices he made. Take my word for it, paying $70 for Callisto Protoballs to fight against your own character's movements, aiming, and inventory screen all game isn't worth the money or frustration.