Mars War Logs was well off the radar for me, I did not even know it existed until the first week of it's release on Xbox Live - so I went into the demo without researching the game and came out of it thoroughly satisfied and wanting more from the full game. So it wasn't a surprise the next day I went out and purchased Microsoft Points to download the full game - which for 1,200 points was a very reasonable price for a deep, mature themed Sci-Fi RPG.
The first thing that struck me with the game was the reasonable graphics of the game, they weren't brilliant but they were good enough that I couldn't gripe with that as an issue. Now MWL is your conventional linear RPG, with set chapters of an area to journey through before moving along the main line of the plot to another area of the planet that involves the main quest of the game. This is for some quite an issue, this would be an issue for me if I had paid the full retail price of a new release - but Mars War Logs wasn't that expensive, so I could even enjoy that the game was somewhat controlled, and driven by the main story-line.
Now the story-line of the game is not perfect, certainly not on the level of Skyrim, Dragon Age or Mass Effect games - yet it is quite an interesting story involving elements of Science-Fiction and Post-Apocalypse revolving around the colonisation of the planet Mars, and following a devastating disaster in space the planet is now alone, cut-off from Earth. The game is dark, mature and relatively depressing - with characters quickly killed off in the sacrifice for the two main characters to survive, quite common in Western RPG's.
Personally for me, it is not the characters that drives me to play the game - but the story-line, which is simple yet quite well written. Some of the voice-acting of characters is quite atrocious at times, but it is expected of a game with a limited budget - and a growing developer. With the voice-acting aside, I could not find an issue with game-play, combat or exploration; all are very simple, and portrayed with simple controls yet that is what makes the game so accessible.
Currently I stand at putting about five hours into the game, and still know I have another 5 - 10 hours of quests and game-play to still enjoy; this gives me a good feeling, rather than dread of playing the game in order to simply finish it.
The Good:
- For 1,200 (£10.00) Microsoft Points, Mars War Logs is well worth its price with at least twelve hours of game-play; more if side-quests are completed, and side features are continuously used.
- A very dark, mature story-line set around a Post-Apocalypse setting in a Science-Fiction environment.
- Combat is smooth and fluid, and doesn't take long to get used to before battles are enjoyable and fun.
- Exploration is fun, as scavenging for resources allow upgrading of weapons and equipment.
The Bad:
- Voice-acting is terrible, but can be accepted as it's a small project of a growing game developer.
- At times combat can become repetitive.
Yes, Mars War Logs cannot be compared to the likes of Mass Effect, Dragon Age, or The Witcher without coming up short- but as a project of a growing developer, with a limited budget and scope it is well worth it's price and I do hope for more RPG games from this developer or perhaps expanding DLC for Mars War Logs. Well worth buying, if you're a fan of Bioware and Bethesda RPG's.