Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 281
 Buy this on Steam November 16, 2009
Joseph Fletcher (North Carolina, USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
If you purchase this game on Steam, as I did, you won't have to worry about SecuRom. This is an excellent game, which should appeal to FPS and RPG players alike. I'm a first-person player myself, and there was enough action in this game to keep me happy for hours. It's a little buggy, but I had such fun, I hardly even noticed. Nice cut-scenes, excellent story, all around great game - as long as you get it from Steam.
 STEAM Version review November 9, 2009
Hunter D (Monterey, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Pros: A little of many videogame genres. Engaging and entertaining narrative dialog. I got it cheap off STEAM with 50% discount weekend for around ten dollars. Default controls are simple and work well.
Cons: No actual physical media (case & disc) when purchased off STEAM. No DRM that I notice or agreed to during download and installation even though STEAM is already a form in itself. A very BUGGY Xbox 360 console to PC port and inconsistent textures even on Very High setting at 1680x1050 resolution. It's obvious this is a console game first port graphically. I like the RPG elements but very slow game and not for everyone. This game is way OVER HYPED by media fanboys most likely because it's a XBox 360 console game exclusive like all 360 exclusives.
I've invested around 10 hrs into this game and most of it is dialog fetch quest related and seldom much action sequence in between. I spent most of my time just completing filler quests one after the other to accrue money. I've got all but one last ally (alien lady) at the moment. The action is okay and unsatisfying mostly due to clunky TPS mechanics, but the dialog interaction is pretty good and similar to Oblivion. This game has an identity crisis and doesn't seem to know if it wants to be Gears of War or something else in the action department. The action mechanics aren't completely bad but weapons cool down and so forth versus quick enemies is just never good combination. So far the action has been easy but the squad ally NPCs are awful and die often (probably intentional as the game is easy at the moment).
The adventure aspect is also unsatisfying as non-main quest planets aren't all that interesting. The tank vehicle's controls are also awful similar to Halo jeep third person control but worse and it's action is also unsatisfying.
Others: Personally, I like what I've experienced so far overall but this game is far from being as great as the hype surrounding it. Even with STEAM updates the PC version is extremely buggy and I reloaded several times too many. Like Oblivion, this game is over-rated and not for everyone. I've played many JRPGs and several Western action adventure RPGs (Diablo series, Guild Wars, Oblivion, etc.) and this game is just average material.
I like the dialog options that changes outcomes of certain events but that alone does not make a game great. I felt Xbox 360 owners (media included) who started playing videogames late are easily impressed by games like this and Bioshock. Overall, I would recommend this version to any PC gamers with a system capable of running it. If you own a 360 you'll probably get a better experience playing it on console with an HDTV because not being able do "High-Very High" graphics PC setting you'll be staring at fugliness through all the face cutscene dialogs.
 Atmospheric but ultimately dull November 6, 2009
C. Macdonald (SF Bay Area, CA United States)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I can't help thinking that this game works better on the Xbox than the PC because the settings are very good and very varied - the different planets, the weather effects, and the truly excellent art direction - reminds me of some of the great '80s Syd Mead style futuristic art. Sort of Star Trek, but also a little Alien/Bladerunner (minus a lot of the grit). I also liked the RPG aspect with the varied weaponry and especially upgrades, etc. The environments in the last 2 missions are extremely atmospheric - pretty much worth all the problems.
It did have a lot of flaws, however. I don't count in the flaws load time, installation problems, performance issues or DRM (the de-activation tool makes the game work in the used market which is important). I have a 3.0P4 with a Nvidia 9600GT and it was fine. Also the downloadable add-on was quite alright and a nice little epilogue.
I am not a fan of 3rd person, only barely getting through GTAIV despite the excellent story and environment...but even that's not it.
Ultimately the game is just a little dull all around. The environments while atmospheric and beautiful, are grindingly repetitive - the models especially so. The monsters are varied but rather quickly you find ways to take them out and that becomes repetitive too. Weapons in the same class are all essentially identical. There is no notion of ammo. Little things are missing (like animations for getting out of vehicles etc). The conversation trees are simplistic in the extreme, even when you unlock persuasion and intimidate options.
One gets the feeling that the developers had a lot of things they wanted to do and the publisher just rammed it out the door. I understand why these things happen, but sadly it makes the difference between an OK game and a very good game in this case. I don't think it ever could have been a great game though.
If you love the genre (SCIFI or RPG) or dig the artwork, you might like this game. Many say they like the story. While I appreciate the attempt at working together a story and an RPG, it's ultimately a rather dull one.
Easily the Best Single Player Game I've Played October 23, 2009
Joshua M. Allen (New London, CT)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This game excels in every dimension. It's the first single player RPG where I was actually interested in the dialog, which by itself says a lot about the writing in the game. Ultimately, I have the say it was hands down the best single player RPG experience I've ever had.
 Hard to start, but boy what an ending. October 22, 2009
Thomas Cila (Auburn, Wa)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
I never had any trouble like most of the people in the other reviews listed here have mentioned. But I wouldn't pay much attention to them. Just think about it, if the game was that broken and hard to play it wouldn't have sold as many as it would and it wouldn't be as popular as it is. A lot of the things said, like about securom, or drm or validation, all those things... They're such a small thing that people like that are just blowing something way out of proportion and 99% of other people wouldn't and don't even care or notice.
So, that being said... I had a hard time when I was first playing this game. I got this when it first came out and I never really got into the game, I would play it for maybe a few days, get bored of it and uninstall it. But for some reason I kept coming back to the game. But the same thing would happen, I'd get bored and uninstall it. It wasn't until earlier this year when I reinstalled it again and started playing it... But this time things were different. For some reason I was completely sucked into the game and within one very long night I finished it and I was simply amazed with the great story, the lovely ending, the fantastic game play and I kept thinking to myself... Why didn't I experience this earlier?
This game has got a lot of really good qualities and, for most people, is worth your money. It's like a really good movie, it might not be something you play again and again and again.. But it's something that you'll always remember, cherish and love.
There's a great deal of combat that is by far one of the best that I've ever played in a third person rpg, games like the witcher and others like it don't even come close. You have a squad of 2 other people (3 in total, including yourself), there's 6 other characters you can choose to have in your party (Not at first, you meet them as you go along in the story).
The action is just like a normal shooter, you can use cover, shoot, run around, order your teammates to move to certain areas, use specific skills, all in all it works together wonderfully and flows very well and it's just a blast.
The inventory system is great, you don't have to worry about "Oh no, I only have 1 slot left but there's 3 items here I want to pick up". Loot everything you can, because space is not an issue - which is a godsend in this game. You can get things to attach to your weapons, things that will regenerate your health, give you better accuracy, do elemental damage, etc. It's really fun, it's not just weapons too, you can also upgrade your armor and other things.
While the graphics are nice with some really awe inspiring visuals at times (Ok, almost awe inspiring) the audio in this game is just as good. With the sounds from the weapons or just things passing by, to the music and ambient sounds.. It really sells where you're at, what's going on and what you're doing.
But what really set this game apart, for me, was the story.
Now... I've never been much of a "story" driven guy, at least in regards to games. But if you can make it past just the first two or three hours of the game, things start to get interesting and start to really get good. I kept on wanting to find out what would happen next and even though I was fighting my own fatigue and wanted to go to bed, I just couldn't get myself to leave my desk and leave this game unfinished. I kept telling myself, "Just 5 more minutes" or "Once I finish this last thing and find out what happens here".
The ending in this game was by far one of the best that I've experienced in a few years, next to call of duty 4 among others. I felt like I had just taken part in a great movie when this was finished and that's how it is with many people I've talked to about this game. They just love it.
This game does have a few problems, for one... You're going to need quite a decent rig to play this, even at low settings sometimes. Some of my friends couldn't even play this game because it ran so slowly at times. Also, this can definitely be a hard game for some people (like me) to get into. But it's worth it if you stick it out and play it through the end. It can also be pretty difficult at times, but thankfully... You can change the difficulty if there's a part you simply can't get past.
Also, if you spend your time doing side quests (Which is easy to get caught up in doing without even really realizing it) you might end up losing the will to go on, which seemed to be the case for me all the times I tried playing this before. So this time I decided to simply just do the main mission and follow through and boy am I glad I did.
There's a few minor things like that but overall this is just an extremely fun game, a very rewarding game. However, there isn't much replay value. Once you finish this, you're probably done. There's a few things you can download, like the Bring Down the Sky, which is free dlc. But there isn't much to keep you playing once it's all said and done. But like I said, it's like a great movie you might watch once every now and then... But it's definitely worth the price.
Showing reviews 16-20 of 281
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