So its no Mass Effect, its flawed unquestionably, but if you can overlook its quirks for 20 bucks its rather good.
The game starts off with a monologue from what you ASSUME is the games lead protagonist, Innocence. And no I am not making this up the characters have really peculiar names almost to the point of absurdity. Innocence has been captured and is heading to a POW camp on Mars of course. This is turned on its head slightly after a near man rape get fouled by Roy the games ACTUAL protagonist aka YOU. Anyway after exploring around Roy eventually lets innocence in on his plan to escape the POW camp. As far as I can tell the bulk of the game seems to take place in this POW camp.
Graphics- 8.0
Well turned up all the way the graphics aren't half bad. Character models look pretty good and details like Roy's multicolored eyes are easily noticeable. The lighting is OK, the RED sandy look of Mars and atmosphere are OK too... for a $20 dollar game...they actually did put allot of work in here. My only gripe is the EXTREME repetition of character models. get used to seeming familiar faces*cough Witcher 1* cough....
Controlls- 6.0
Ok so you can play 2 ways Mouse keyboard or Controller. I use an X360 controller with the wireless dongle and I decided to go that route. Generally speaking I think its better in a NON FPS game to be able to play with a controller.... here NO NO NO.... Although they mapped everything well and the controls are not always responsive and you have to work your but off with the controller for 1 reason. NO lock on character, so you CONSTANTLY have to fix your camera with the right thumb stick and strange camera angles will get you killed here as the combat is rather unforgiving... at first. My advice is dont use a controller, the keyboard and mouse is more forgiving.
Sound- 7.5
Roy's voice at first seemed odd to me but it like many of the games quirks finally grew on me about 8 hours in. The voice acting is actually pretty good, not sure I agree with the casting but the acting is of quality here. Music is not very good in my humble opinion...its just the typical weird martian ambiance crud...nothing above good enough.
Story - 8
I think the prison escape thing is played out but I kinda like Roy and Innocence's plight and I enjoy the various characters and clever dialog. Its not the best story but it has me intrigued by its lack of grandiose themes....its not save the universe its much more personal and I like that.
Big GRIPES ---
I push the button to crouch and go into "stealth" mode.... there is no way of knowing how "stealthy" you are until a guard/prsioner screams "get him". Also once combat starts you cant re-stealth Roy till ALL the enemies are dead...You also cant pick up any loot these are very annoying and will cause you problems.
---- for time I will leave out my gripes about the combat system but its no Arkam Assylum I will say that.
Your AI partner --- So essential Innocence has a small purpose stand there as cannon fodder so you can focus on fewer enemies.... THAT IS IT... no matter how you slice it. Although some AI companions you get or will get I should say... will be much much better. Still more thought in this partner set up would have helped.
----------------------
Conclusion...
Ok so its not a BAD game...in fact Id say its a rather good one just allot of little issues that could have been fixed really keep it from blowing me away in way. The importing thing here is that ITS ONLY 20 BUCKS>> and if you like mature adult games in the vein of Mass Effect you are doing yourself a disservice by NOT checking out this game...stick with it at least until you get past the caves and do some weapon crafting...Mars War Logs may not be everything you hope for in a game like this but its still worth the LOW price of admission.