Mars - Two Late Reviews

Myrthos

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Found two more reviews for Mars War Logs, with one being somewhat more positive than the other.

Connected Digital World, 3/5

This is a budget game which obviously presents certain limitations. Unfortunately, attempting to make something worth £100,000 with only £10 just isn’t possible. Unfortunately the scope of the game feels very limited by its own budget. It’s an ambitious project that had potential to prove that a budget title can be a great RPG without all the bells and whistles of AAA titles. Sadly it has gone further to prove that in fact the opposite is the case. The visuals and size of the game are not the problems holding it back.

The problem lies in its lack of imaginative characters, quests and story telling. Coupled with a potentially great combat system chained down by a sluggish feel MWL pushed for greatness but missed. There are features with grounds for a great RPG in MWL but they never materialise into anything significant. It’s definitely ambitious but unfortunately the budget can be felt at at every turn.
Action Radius, 6.5

Overall Mars: War Logs did impress me more than the expectations I started playing it with. The game’s dialogues and voice acting maybe bad but it itsn’t something which would make the gamer frustrate or unable to play the game. The game does have potential to attract you back till you finish it. If only the developers had put some more work on polishing it after completion rather than releasing it, then the results would have been far more promising. By no means this game is meant to challenge the likes of Mass Effect, and yet it does stand on its own two feet with its well developed quests and combat system and charming RPG implementation.
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Not too impressed by all these budget single character RPG/Action games (this, Dark, LOD etc.) they all appear to be somewhat lacking. If you can't afford to make something that stands comparison with Skyrim, then think of something more original, more niche or whatever.
 
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Not too impressed by all these budget single character RPG/Action games (this, Dark, LOD etc.) they all appear to be somewhat lacking. If you can't afford to make something that stands comparison with Skyrim, then think of something more original, more niche or whatever.

Just to point out that Mars and Dark are totally different games with different pricing models. Dark is an action stealth game with skill development; there is no dialog, choices and consequences, crafting .. etc. It is also released with AAA pricing model. It is 6-10 hours long with no replay value.

Mars on the other hand, is a rpg with characters customisation, skill development, crafting and strong emphasis on choices and consequences along the lines of Witcher 2. It costs almost a third of an AAA title, and is 12-15 hours long with very good replay value.

I found the latter to be a well written and implement rpg with excellent replay value.
 
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These reviews are practically worthless. Where the heck does Connected Digital World get their ideas about quest design. Why don't they describe what a good quest is because I doubt they understand RPGs.

There are actual intergrated Quests about gathering information, solving mysteries, and escape plans, unlike 90% of all RPGS that rely on basically fetch quests and kill the foozle quests.

What are this reviewers ideas of great RPGS I would love to find out. I hope people don't listen to these magazine reviews, they are so simplistic.

As to comparisons to larger budget games, Mars War Logs is very good in the gameplay aspect, unless you are looking for endless pointless grinding.

As for length, I have been playing for 15 hours already, and probably only half way through the game. These dogmatic time length absolutes people postulate like 15 hours long are relative, take it with a grain of salt.
 
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Just to point out that Mars and Dark are totally different games with different pricing models. Dark is an action stealth game with skill development; there is no dialog, choices and consequences, crafting .. etc. It is also released with AAA pricing model. It is 6-10 hours long with no replay value.

Mars on the other hand, is a rpg with characters customisation, skill development, crafting and strong emphasis on choices and consequences along the lines of Witcher 2. It costs almost a third of an AAA title, and is 12-15 hours long with very good replay value.

I found the latter to be a well written and implement rpg with excellent replay value.

Sure the details are a bit different from a consumer POV, but they are pretty similar under the skin - you play a single character and wander around a 3D map. Problem is to sufficiently differentiate your game you need loads of high quality assets: animation/art/writing etc. And that's where the small fry can't compete.
 
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Sure the details are a bit different from a consumer POV, but they are pretty similar under the skin - you play a single character and wander around a 3D map.

Really? I'm pretty sure you just described about 80% of modern games in general.
 
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