You know, I have to be honest, I was really looking forward to The Technomancer. It looked great, something a bit different to the market, and a RPG where you`d be taken on a journey across Mars as a Technomancer, who is part of a powerful organization, who are in fear and running away from a group known as the secret police. I was really looking forward to this. But as you can probably tell from my tone, and my language, I have been let down massively.
Let`s go the beginning. The Technomancer is a Sci-Fi RPG, and is developed by Spiders, who have been behind a few previous Xbox 360 games before including Sherlock Holmes versus Jack the Ripper, and Mars: War Logs. They are a small developing team based in Paris. The Technomancer is based and set in the universe that alludes the planet Mars, which is where we are thrown straight away into. It`s set 200 years after humans have colonized there, and we are going to be taking the role of Zachariah, who is a rookie Technomancer who is aboded for promotion. However, you`re a Technomancer. You`re not an ordinary guy. You`ve been trained up by the best, in Artistic fighting that reminded me of something out of Star Wars. You can shoot electricity out of yourself in order to stun and to help you wipe out your opponent, before looting them, to see what precious belongings that they had you can make of, including health and ammo. I found the game also to be following quite a few characteristics that you saw in Hack n Slash games, where you could just mash a few buttons and get the kill, but this breaks away in another respect in that this offers a real challenge, and when I mean that, I mean a real challenge.
Be prepared to be frustrated, and calm as if you lack the calmness, do not bother trying this. Even the easiest difficulty, I was struggling badly, to get grip of a system that although seems basic, very tough AI make it very frustrating to play. You need to use your dodging and ducking skills to be effect, as you`re going to be in short supply of health, and when you get low, you`ve had it. There`s nothing worse than a few guards and officers trying to kill you when you are near low health, as the game holds no remorse, and you`ll be wiped out very quickly. I fear in a way that Spiders have made it too difficult, and it`s something that you need to be prepared with. Be prepared for a tough start and a frustrating one.
Of course, I`ve no doubt that you`d improve dramatically throughout, and by the end of it you`ll feel proud that you`ve over-come what is a very difficult gameplay system, but if that`s what it is on easy, I dread to think what the hardest difficulty is. That`ll put you to the Mill and back.
Graphically, I think it looks very good, and is up there with very good games in terms of being able to offer good frame rates and sweet graphics. Of course, it`s not a fantastically graphic game that we`ve seen some games push out the last 12 months, but is a very good game that takes advantage of the graphic capability on Xbox One. Architect and the environment are truly something, and it`s fantastic. But, being Graphically good is one thing, people pay to play the game, and the gameplay system, not pay £45 for sweet graphics. And for me, the Graphics simply cannot outweigh the game, and nor should it in any game to be honest.
It feels massive. Massively huge. Everywhere you go there seems to be several areas to explore, and several places to see. Some good, some bad. Some will be empty, and some will be crawling with enemies. Be prepared for a lot of searching around, some will reap benefits, while some will make you think you hadn’t made that turn back then.
It`s a game also to strategize. Enemies come in swarms, and never seem to stop. Spawn after spawn after spawn. Be prepared to practice and fully utilise your skills and ability to hack, slash, duck and dodge enemies in your way of taking the brutal and fighting approach, or be prepared to sneak around, run a marathon and take the back route approach of staying silent. Whatever you decide, be prepared, that a ton of frustration and anger will be waiting for you on the way.
It feels tedious. It feels awful. And I`m really disappointed because it was a game that I was really looking forward to, and had the real urge to stop playing after 20 minutes and un-install straight from the hard drive. It`s got to be one of the most frustrating games I`ve played on the Xbox One, and it`s a game that really will test your nerve and ability to stay calm and not get frustrated. How they can charge £45 for a game of this standard, is beyond me, and I certainly wouldn’t pay anywhere near that at all. You can pick up several ID games that are much better than this for the same sort of price. I`ve become the Technomancer, and I very quickly handed my resignation in for it.
A huge thank you to Focus Home Interactive For supplying us with a Review copy.
