Joining the surprisingly robust genre of sci-fi survival games about the Chernobyl exclusion zone, Chernobylite 2 takes the warped-landscape scrounging of the original and supersizes it, putting the player in the role of a mercenary working for an interdimensional colonial exploitation project.

In the original Chernobylite, we learned that the titular mineral, a byproduct of the Chernobyl disaster, had amazing properties which allowed for expanding human potential, creating horrible monsters, opening doorways to other dimensions, and more.

Chernobylite 2 starts the action in one of these alternate dimensions, where the cheap energy that Chernobylite offers has allowed people to build a peaceful utopia. Of course, that utopia is entirely dependent on the continued access to the aforementioned mineral, and when the dimension’s supply runs low, a project is undertaken to travel to other dimensions and raid them for their resources.

The plot kicks off when one of these raids goes horribly wrong and player’s ship crashes, stranding them and the rest of the crew on a world ravaged by the beasts and anomalies Chernobylite creates. Awakening after a stint in suspended animation, it’s up to the player to figure out exactly what happened to their expedition, and hopefully to find some way home — at least, that’s the part featured in the demo. I’d imagine the actual plot is going to feature all sorts of twists and turns, as well as an eventual indictment of interdimensional strip-mining, although that remains to be seen.

While the first Chernobylite focused as much on base management as it did survival, the demo content suggests that Chernobylite 2 is going to hew more in an action-RPG direction.

As the demo begins, players are encouraged to try out three character archetypes — a melee class that clobbers enemies with swords and focuses on parry-based combat, a ranged class that deals largely in firearms, and a mystical class that uses Chernobylite-influenced technology to warp reality. So, a fighter, archer, and mage, basically.

In addition to the combat I encountered, I ran across a few skill-checks — my high agility allowed me to squeeze through a gap keeping me from having to figure out how to open a door, but I lacked the technical knowhow to repair a turret, forcing me to use valuable resources when bizarre creatures attacked during an ersatz tower-defense sequence.

The simplified scavenging system (which has the player scrounging up types of resources en masse without strict inventory limits) is back, and it’s just as good as it was last time. Base building has also returned, with the player forced to gather enough resources to construct facilities before they can use that same pool of resources to upgrade their equipment. Is it largely a trick to give the player an excuse to head back out into the wasteland and fight monsters for scraps? Absolutely, but it’s a good one.

Chernobylite was an occasionally-punishing survival adventure that, from my point of view, made me focus too much on management when what I really wanted was to explore a genuinely fascinating locale. The developers at Mill 51 seem to have heard that complaint and are expanding on all of the best parts of the first game, giving players more of the adventure elements that worked last time, while now downplaying some of the fiddlier elements.

The glimpse I got of Chernobylite 2 offered a creepy and foreboding world full of terrifying foes that were satisfying to fight, and it was compelling enough that I’m excited to get a look at the larger world that the game will offer.

Buy Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone (Early Access) – PC

The post PREVIEW: Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Goodbye “Quests”, hello “Leads”!

LOW Shallow gameplay mechanics.

WTF They “say less is more” but isn’t it too little!?

Atomfall is Rebellion’s timely break from the Sniper Elite franchise.

Officially called a first-person survival actioner, this work of historical science fiction is a reasonably-sized double-A project that does not want all of a player’s time and attention, instead offering a short, mysterious adventure filled with conspiracies and moral dilemmas.

Atomfall‘s story is set five years after the UK’s (real life) Windscale Fire nuclear incident of 1957. In this alternate take, a military quarantine protocol is enacted and players control of someone who’s had an accident that left him unconscious for five years. Upon waking up, the protagonist discovers that he’s lost his memory and now must find the truth behind the incident and a way out of the quarantine that’s been in effect for all this time.

Atomfall is played from a first-person perspective, and employs stealth and shooting elements. In the early stages, firearms and bullets are rare and combat is mostly focused on melee. Later on, different types of firearms such as revolvers, marksman rifles, and bows can be acquired through looting, exploration, or trading. The world consists of four areas that are connected through a hub-like facility called The Interchange. Different factions reside in each part of the world, and as one might expect, the factions can consider the player either friend or foe based on their choices.

Atomfall can largely be seen as two halves — the gameplay and the narrative.

Though there is a barebones skill tree that improves combat, stealth, and survival capabilities of the player, it doesn’t provide any active special abilities. As such, Atomfall largely plays the same at the end as it does at the beginning, resulting in the combat and stealth feeling shallow, especially since the mechanics (in general) are on par with something from the early 2000s.

For example, players can crouch or hide in bushes to prevent being detected and to take out enemies silently from behind but that’s all there is to it. The awareness of enemies is also incredibly high, which makes it nearly impossible to stealth without it eventually turning into a shootout. The same goes for combat. Melee is tanky and slow because there’s no dodge or deflect, and shootouts are all about hiding behind a rock and returning fire. There are no cover systems or special abilities to add depth or strategy to any of the action. In fact, the only good thing about combat is the weapon variety and the ability to upgrade later in the campaign, increasing a weapon’s stats and their looks.

With such straightforward action, Atomfall‘s narrative and story are certainly its strongest suits, and to be fair, its opening is a good one — imagine leaving an underground bunker, suffering from amnesia and the very first thing in view is an atomic powerplant on the horizon surrounded by strange cyan auroras. Before that sight can be properly digested, a nearby payphone rings and a monstrous voice on the other side requests the death of someone called Oberon! Just five minutes into the experience we’re already faced with so many questions — what happened to that powerplant? Who is Oberon? Who are these people living in this mess? And what is my role in it? Mystery is a classic way to kick off an adventure, and the team at Rebellion have nailed it.

Atomfall also tries to redefine the notion of quests and rebrands them as “leads” — and they don’t start and end in a traditonal linear way. Some of the leads players find at the beginning of the story will continue to get updated until the very end. Sometimes finding an object updates the log for multiple leads and adds entries about them. Every lead might be as important as the next, and players will find themselves in a web of interconnected leads whose value and importance are sometimes revealed only after their conclusion.

Further, Atomfall doesn’t believe in handholding when it comes to exploration and lead design. Players must follow visual clues such as a bloody set of footprints that lead to a waterfall to find a hidden cave behind it. Such do-it-yourself encounters are the basis of exploration which might result in finding rare resources, weapons, quest items, or more leads.

While Atomfall‘s ending isn’t a top-notch example in the genre, it is highly reflective of the choices players make and their interactions with NPCs. Supporting characters met along the way are well written and each have characteristics that make them feel like unique human beings with agendas and aspirations, and very often they’re in contrast with what someone else wants — for example, one might be focused on accepting what’s happening in the zone, another NPC asks you to fight against the odds, while yet another might suggest jumping ship and leaving everyone else to their fate. Credits will roll accordingly.

Atomfall is ultimately what I call a “chimera” game — it incorporates elements from different genres, but keeps their influence on a surface level. It has resource management and crafting mechanics of classic survival titles, multiple endings and choice-related story and gameplay outcomes akin to classic RPGs, and an emphasis on exploration usually seen in action-adventure counterparts. These are all good things at first glance, but the lack of depth in most regards makes it hard to recommend to dedicated genre fans while also making it relevant to any discussion on traditional boundaries of defining genre.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Buy Atomfall: PC – PS – XB

Disclosures: This game is published and developed by Rebellion. It is available on PC, PS4/5, and XBO/X/S. This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PC. Approximately 14 hours were spent in single-player and the game was completed. There is no multiplayer.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M for Blood, Language and Violence. The site reads: Battles are highlighted by gunfire, cries of pain, and blood-splatter effects. Players have the ability to attack/kill bystanders and civilians, snapping their necks and/or slashing them repeatedly, with large blood-splatter effects. During the course of the game, players can encounter bloodstained corpses and/or blood on the ground. The words “sht” and “prck” appear in the game.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles and visual options available in the game, all of which can be adjusted. There were no audio cues of note. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Atomfall Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH A gripping, expertly-framed first-person sci-fi adventure.

LOW Polish issues and rough edges in the climax and finale make for an awkward landing.

WTF How did this story come out in 1964 and manage to still feel as timely as it does?

The key art for Starward Industries’ The Invincible shows an unfortunate astronaut buried up to their neck in sand on a desolate desert planet, skin and tissues rotted away to reveal the skull underneath. Looking at this art without any prior knowledge of the game or its inspirations, one might think The Invincible is a science fiction-themed horror title, or even a harsh survival simulator set on a distant world. Luckily for me, The Invincible is neither. Instead, it’s a rather compact, engrossing, and almost perfectly delivered first-person sci-fi adventure.

The Invincible is based on Polish author StanisÅ‚aw Lem’s 1964 novel of the same name, but it isn’t a direct adaptation. Where the original tale focused on the titular vessel — a heavily-armed military spaceship — Starward Industries opts to reframe the story on a more personal scale. In Starward’s version of the story, the protagonist, Yasna, is a biologist instead of a soldier, part of a small, six-person research crew. She wakes up on the surface of a barren, foreboding planet with gaps in her memory and her journal to fill the blanks. Yasna must find the rest of her crew and reestablish contact with Novik, the mission commander in orbit onboard their mother ship. During this journey she’ll uncover why she and the crew were separated, and how their troubles relate to the planet and its mysterious, dangerous ecosystem.

Players will go about solving that mystery in the manner of a first-person exploration game — the kind some jokingly call “walking simulators”. In its opening moments, The Invincible gestures convincingly to the minutiae of survival simulators by having Yasna check her spacesuit for damage, carefully doing an inventory of her backpack, and perusal of her mission log, giving herself (and the player) an initial set of objectives. However, these actions are less an introduction to a set of gameplay systems (such as maintaining hunger or oxygen supplies) than a way to establish Starward Industries’ expertise at first-person navigation and immersive presentation. Other than a few small HUD elements to help players orient themselves, almost all functions are represented diegetically by using objects or mechanisms in the world of the game rather than abstractions.

Need to navigate? Yasna will open up her log, turning the pages to represent different sectors on the map grid. Need to find landmarks to pinpoint a landing zone for the mother ship’s evacuation capsule? Yasna’s telescope has separate “dials” for distance and zoom. Notes and waymarkers appear marked in bright yellow pencil on the map. All of this is couched in a sublimely appealing retro-futuristic visual style inspired by the Cold War-era space race art and concepts from the Soviet side of the divide. There’s a chunky, weighty physicality to every object and animation that matches or exceeds even the likes of triple-A behemoths like Cyberpunk 2077 in making a player feel like they’re inhabiting the viewpoint character. If you’re like me and love to look at vintage appliances or appreciate consoles covered in old LEDs and switches, knobs, and dials, The Invincible‘s chunky, grounded aesthetic sense is as intoxicating as catnip.

Starward Industries knows what it’s doing when it comes to looks and sounds, too. The synth-heavy soundtrack puts a haunting CRT TV hum behind every vista, and every vista looks like the cover of a weathered sci-fi paperback novel, not to mention the fact that the Soviet-era origins of both the story and the style are fresh and new compared to the endlessly reiterated versions of American retro-futurism envisioned by the likes of Fallout and old sci-fi TV reruns. The Invincible genuinely feels like a vision of an alternative future grown from different roots than the “typical” titles one might encounter growing up in the English-language gaming scene.

Where The Invincible is heavy on style, it’s deliberately light on gameplay systems. Rather than distract from the story by having to maintain vitality meters or batteries, Yasna’s main jobs are to explore each area, uncovering clues and slowly moving along with the pace of the narrative. While I won’t reveal specific plot points, the script does feel a little quaint. Starward Industries’ take on the original The Invincible‘s themes of robotic advancement, artificial evolution, and the relationship of humanity to future alien environments is well-executed, but doesn’t fundamentally challenge or alter them significantly, making the beats come across as a bit easy to predict, even without having read the source material.

That said, the alternative framing does a fantastic job of making the experience of those predictable beats land close to home. With players never leaving Yasna’s viewpoint, it’s good that she’s a personable and engaging lead, and the solitude of being marooned on an alien world is alleviated by Novik, a radio voice in Yasna’s ear. As Yasna travels the planet in search of her crew and and some answers, she can discuss various topics with him while players are usually given agency in deciding Yasna’s attitude. Yasna isn’t a blank slate protagonist, and the writing works to make her a convincing driver for much The Invincible‘s ten- to fifteen-hour runtime.

I say “much”, because things hit rougher patches in the last couple of hours of the journey, unfortunately.

As the story closes out, I couldn’t help but wonder if Starward Industries was forced to compromise on scenes or gameplay sequences that could’ve formed useful connective bridges for some of the logical leaps Yasna takes as the tale reaches its climax.

As things begin to draw near their conclusion, Yasna becomes something of an exposition device, spouting long, awkward monologues full of expertise outside the field of a biologist — or worse, calling on knowledge or speculations that she didn’t seem to know or encounter earlier. If the first three quarters of The Invincible come across as a well-paced sci-fi yarn, its last quarter feels haunted by the ghost of a producer telling the rest of the team to wrap it up. This abruptness wouldn’t be so bad if the rest wasn’t so good at delivering its slow-burn story in every other instance, but it’s disappointing to see the story stumble in the last few paces before the finish line.

An undercooked ending doesn’t capsize the rest of the experience, though, which is ultimately a perfectly calibrated sci-fi adventure with an inimitable aesthetic sense. As a game, The Invincible may not be entirely unassailable, but its credentials are as solid as one could ask for.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Starward Industries and published by 11 Bit Studios. It is currently available for the PS5, XBS/X and PC. This review of the game is based on a review build provided by the publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 11 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, discovering multiple endings. There is no multiplayer mode. The game was completed.

Parents: This game is rated M by the ESRB, with content descriptors for Strong Language and Violence. The description is as follows: “This is a story-driven adventure game in which players assume the role of a scientist searching for her missing crew. From a first-person perspective, players traverse an alien terrain, engage in radio chatter, and interact with robots and drones to uncover mysterious events. Some interactions with robots can lead to instances of violence: a robot destroyed by a cannon blast; a character nearly crushed by a walking tank. Comic-style prints also depict violent imagery: humans getting shot by lasers; robot blasts melting through flesh; a surrendering character disintegrated by energy beams. The word “f**k” is heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: The game has no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Voiced dialogue is accompanied by subtitles (see examples below), however, some subtitles showed discrepancies between the wording of the voiced line in English and the written text onscreen. The game features text size options, and highlights handwritten text and notes in computer font for readability. All gameplay cues are visual. Fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: This game’s button controls are not remappable.

The post The Invincible Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Wonderfully rich cultural content rarely seen in games.

LOW Some of the puzzle battles are incredibly tricky.

WTF *That’s* how you become immortal??

As an American game player of 40-plus years, I’m well-versed in the themes we get in the West over and over and over again. Muscle-bound military guys with guns? Can’t avoid ‘em. Ninja and samurai? We’re constantly steeped in swords and honor. Medieval-style knights and armor? It’s baseline stuff.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy these archetypes — I do! — but the world is a big place and there are more cultures, ideas and perspectives than what we see in the “new this week” tab of any online store. Game developer Morteshka agrees, and they used their Kickstarter success to launch Black Book.

Drawing from Slavic and Russian folklore and supporting that content with a mixture of visual novel and deckbuilder gameplay, it’s hard to imagine a traditional publisher taking a risk on it, but their efforts to offer something new (along with some bravery from Hypetrain Digital) have resulted in one of the best titles of 2021.

The story begins with a young girl, Vasilisa, at a crossroads at midnight with her grandfather. Her betrothed has just died under questionable circumstances, so she’s seeking to become a literal make-a-bargain-with-the-devil witch in order to bring him back to life.

Beyond the powers of witchcraft, she’ll also need to use the Black Book — a tome locked by seven seals that can only be opened by performing seven great tasks. Once open, the book will grant any wish — but is saving the life of her beloved worth the price it will take?

The adventure that follows is more vast and epic than I would have ever expected, especially knowing that it comes from a small team building on a crowdfund foundation. Vasilisa will travel through the darkest corners of Russia visiting villages, helping townsfolk and battling demons every step of the way while capitalizing on the unique blend of myths, folklore and stories native to the region.

This cultural content and how it’s integrated into the world is one of the most striking things about Black Book. Despite being a witch, Vasilisa greets most people with “God be with you!” or “God helps!” and displays a nuanced neither-one-but-both dichotomy allowing her to embody both dark magic and Christian belief. This sort of sophistication rarely makes it into Western games. Going further, the script frequently incorporates pre-Christian indigenous beliefs from the region and allows those to exist alongside the rest. It’s a wonderfully rich glimpse into a fascinating multi-layered culture.

This context influences every aspect of Black Book in marvelous ways. Take, for example, the main form of narrative interface — a visual novel-style setup where Vasilisa will meet people, engage in dialogue, and then be presented with a series of choices. Many of these choices absolutely hinge on knowledge of Slavic superstitions and stories, and since most of the audience will likely be clueless, the devs provide several encyclopedias’ worth in the menus.

When meeting a leshy, how do you recognize it? When trying to escape from a mazelike forest, what tricks will see one home safely? Reading these entries not only provides players with the answers they need, but also greatly enriches the world. However, this content isn’t here just as a way to quiz the player — it also informs the player as to how to navigate Vasilisa’s world and guide her into being the kind of person they wish.

Once the player starts learning the rules and realities of this Russia, Black Book provides ample opportunity for Vasilisa to become a good witch, a bad one, or to land somewhere in the middle. It’s constantly possible to help or hinder, to give or to steal, to exact revenge or forgive. It’s also important to note that many acts (like digging up a grave) have ‘sin’ inherent to them, and this is especially true when dealing with “chorts” — the Slavic term for demons.

As a witch, Vasilisa will amass a small army of chorts via gameplay, and if they’re not sent out to do harm, they’ll harm her. Will she let them loose on local villages to sow misery if it keeps them out of her hair, or will she endeavor to mitigate their evil deeds?

This wonderful character development and constant internal tug of war between good and evil forces is also reflected in the other major part of Black Book — the deckbuilding combat.

While traveling across points on a map, Vasilisa will often come across demons. Sometimes they’re benevolent, sometimes they’re up to no good (but willing to let her pass — or join them!) and sometimes there’s going to be a fight.

As seals of the Black Book are gradually broken during play, unlocked pages represent different types of spells, both white (defensive and curative) and black (offensive.) Combat happens in turn-based fashion, and the player can cast several spells in a row, often creating combos as certain spells buff or trigger others. It’s not possible to win without being skilled in both types of magic, although some of the most devastating spells will either harm Vasilisa physically or stain her soul with sin. Power comes at a price indeed!

Between the cultural context, the masterful balance of elements, and a story that had me gripped from start to finish, Black Book hits all the right notes. If there are any criticisms to be made, it would probably be that the English translation could use a little tightening up.

The script’s wordings aren’t generally an issue (and I adore the quaint voice performances) but there were a few times when a choice was unclear because it was phrased a little vaguely. Even more noticeable is that during combat, the wording on some cards leave their effects or proper usage unclear. A little experimentation generally cleared things up, but I’d love to see a more accurate translation overall, especially given that many of the concepts, events and norms (church… towels?) will be totally unknown to most players in the West, meaning they won’t have any personal context to fill in language gaps.

Honestly, I love Black Book. This marvelous piece of work consistently avoids the expected beats, and I have no doubt that many aspects of the story and how it’s told will be quite surprising — hell, simply being exposed to the attitudes and views of the characters is eye-opening all on its own. Morteshka has brought us a title that offers a glimpse into a time and place that we rarely see, and has couched it in the incredible journey of a humble Russian girl.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Morteshka and published by Hypetrain Digital. It is currently available on PC, PS, XB and Switch. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 40 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ and contains Fantasy Violence and Mild Blood. I’m honestly a bit surprised at how low this rating is. While there’s nothing too graphic in terms of visuals, the content is quite dark at times and many of the concepts can be frightening. I’d feel more comfortable with this game being rated at least a T, honestly. There’s no sexual content and no salty language.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: All dialogue is subtitled, but the text cannot be altered or resized. (See examples above.) The game is turn-based, so no audio cues are necessary for play. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable. There is no control diagram. The game is mostly text and menus, with choices selected with the left stick, ad the ‘confirm’ and ‘cancel’ being one face button each. Occasionally Vasilisa will walk around a small open area, and in these sections, she is controlled with the left stick.

The post Black Book Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The writing.

LOW The learning curve.

WTF Nothing like a cheery Bolshevik.

The premise of Help Will Come Tomorrow is that four random strangers (chosen by the game from a group of nine possible) are passengers on a train traveling through Siberia. The locomotive is attacked, but the four survive and find themselves lost in a frozen wilderness with only each other to rely on. They’re sure rescue is coming… but what if help doesn’t come tomorrow?

HWCT is a 2D survival game played via dialogue options, and it’s split into three phases. The first is a side view of the survivors’ camp. The player must decide what to build with their limited resources (protection, cooking utensils, weapons, and so on) while also addressing concerns like hunger, thirst, illness, cold, morale and a myriad of other issues.

The second phase is when the player should consider exploring their surroundings and gathering resources to expand the facilities and craft items for survival – things like clothes, knives, and medicine. However, it’s not so simple since survivors going out might go missing, lose vital items or meet roaming gangs that might murder them.

Finally, when all party members have exhausted their actions in the first two phases, the player ends the day around the campfire – as long as there’s something to burn. This is when the personalities of the group come to the fore.

The player will pick a conversation topic and then let the characters do their thing. Maybe a Bolshevik will talk about the injustice within Russian society and upset an aristocrat, or a militarist might confront a deserter. The player then has a chance to reply, and it’s really a stroke of genius since there will be two choices.

The first option is to continue to disagree. The second option appeases the person arguing, but that placation might not align with the speaker’s philosophy. For example, if a socialist chooses not to challenge the bourgeoisie, it might sit well with the audience, but the person saying the false statement of agreement will become demoralized. Morale impacts interpersonal relations, but if the camp morale drops to nothing, it’s game over.

On the plus side, learning more about certain characters through these campfire chats may unlock a new mission for exploration or uncover a new personality trait – things like one person getting drunk easily and become friendlier to others, or that someone has an iron stomach and can eat bugs.

All of these factors amount to a complex web of systems in Help Will Come Tomorrow. A depressed lower-class member might need to build cover so that they can sleep and recover from the cold, but teaming up with the authoritarian army veteran to do so might cause them to sink into a deeper malaise. It might be necessary to keep the fire burning low to avoid being seen by outsiders, but if it’s too low, it won’t be possible to cook food.

The thing that struck me the most about HWCT is that it seems to be a game that is not expected to go well on the first playthrough, and honestly, it’s a lot to parse. The tutorial covers the bare minimum and then leaves the player to figure the rest out – it wasn’t until my third playthrough that I realized I needed to invest in the cooking pot before I did anything else.

HWCT does eventually start to reveal itself, and more tools and resources become available as more challenges strike the campsite — snowstorms hit and bury the shelter, bandits attack, and more. I loved getting stuck into this and deliberating of what to prioritize each day.

Help Will Come Tomorrow is rich with nuance and content, and it often doesn’t end well, but those looking for a survival game with focus on dialogue or those wanting to get a taste of an interesting period of Russian history should check into it with no hesitation.

Disclosures: This game is developed by Arclight Creations and published by Klabater. It is currently available on PS4, Switch, PC, Linux, and XBO. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher reviewed on the XBO-X.  Approximately 10 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game one ending was reached. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated E10+ and contains Mild Language, Mild Violence, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco. I’m actually kind of surprised about the low rating — the game is relentingly depressing and there are long, intricate dialogue talks of murder and betrayal. I didn’t see people getting murdered and there isn’t much in the way in blood, though people are forced to kill animals (it’s not graphic) and people die as a result of a myriad different influences.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game is easily playable without sound, and there are no relevant audio cues necessary. The text size cannot be altered. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls are not remappable, and there is no diagram for the control scheme. The left stick moves through items, A button is generally confirm, holding down the A button is sometimes required. The B button cancels selections, and the Y button has several uses including going out on an exploration and confirming certain commands. The D-Pad is used in certain menus and the RB and LB button are used to highlight different characters.

The post Help Will Come Tomorrow Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH The epic torture techniques.

LOW My save file getting corrupted.

WTF A cutting sound effect kicks in when choosing to mutilate a criminal.

Imagine being an executioner in darker days and torturing criminals to get information on potential rebellions – it’s the premise of story-driven The Executioner, and it seemed to strike all the right notes at first glance thanks to a dark theme, moral choices as plot devices, and a historically-inspired setting. Unfortunately, stat-driven components take center stage and ruin the immense potential for suspense and immersion.

In this text-based choice-driven RPG, the player controls the son of the royal executioner on the day he takes over for his father… by picking up dad’s axe and cutting his head off for supposedly betraying the kingdom. With an epically-narrated cutscene, the stage was set and I expected Executioner to fully commit to the grim morality of the profession.

In some ways, it does. Executioner is set in a medieval setting on the brink of a societal collapse, so the player is out to save his own skin and preserve the family legacy. There are moral choices to be made, such as when the player has to decide whether to help a struggling stranger survive or exploit them for information.

In terms of how it plays, there are storytelling sections in which huge chunks of texts can be read before making choices. There’s also travelling between locations and managing health and finances on a map screen. Of course, there’s also the most iconic component – a torture chamber where the player can select various methods of pain for prisoners in order to get answers on questions presented as objectives.

At times, playing Executioner was mentally exhausting. I remember cringing when cutting off a prisoner’s limbs or waterboarding a poor fellow to reach my interrogation goals. The proper approach to torture is crucial in determining outcomes – I ended up killing prisoners multiple times, and it made me feel like even more of a monster. I’m sure this is what the developers intended when crafting this experience, and in this respect, it’s successful.

Sadly, except for the sense of moral conflict and diversity of choices in inflicting pain, Executioner fails to deliver on other aspects.

First, the writing of this text-based title is poor. Much is probably due to being translated from Russian (and some lines weren’t even translated at all!) but the frequency of strange sentences and missing words is unacceptable, especially for a text-based game. My enthusiasm was quickly soured because of this, and any hopes of fully understanding the plot were lost as well.

Another issue was the absence of auto or manual saving at any time – I usually had to play through an entire in-game day (equaling several pages of text) before I could save and quit. Worse, my first save file became corrupted and I had to restart the campaign for this review.

Apart from those things, my main issue with gameplay is the reliance on stats. Ideally, Executioner would’ve been a purely story-driven experience in which my morality (or lack thereof) would be the guideline through plot choices. Instead, stats like Health, Sanity, Worldview, Conscience and other attributes changed based on my choices, reducing the moral aspects to a mathematical construction in which I was inclined to think in terms of numerical value instead of conscience.

Also, the existence of a market and money management elements similarly disrupt the proceedings. There are activity points to earn and options to ‘work’ at some locations. Wasn’t I supposed to be a royal executioner? Where’s that sweet palace money at? Medicine and food have to be bought on a daily basis as well, again borrowing aspects from genres this unique plot doesn’t shine brightest in.

When comparing The Executioner‘s frustrations to its merits, the negatives outweigh the developers’ intentions. This title seems like it plans to do and say a lot about morality within a cruel society, but its stat-based design feels like it’s going to need a huge overhaul before the statements it wants to make can come out clearly.

Disclosures: The Executioner was developed and published by Lesser Evil Games. It’s currently available for PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 3 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: The Executioner has no ESRB rating, but I think it would be safe to say this title should be kept from children. There are frequent sound effects simulating horror as agonized faces of humans are depicted and mutilations occur. While I haven’t encountered anything visually horrifying, the implications could be overwhelming.

Colorblind modes: There are no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Except for a few narrated lines, cruel sound effects and a mediocre repeating tune, the game relies heavily on reading subtitles, of which sizes are adjustable in the options. This title is therefore fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: There are no remappable controls and no control diagram, but it’s essentially a point-and-click with dialogue options, only requiring a mouse.

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