An old saying of the Wild West was that if something knocked you out of the saddle it was important to get back into that saddle and go on. Our Sci-Fi Heroine Aileen Harding did just that, for the game starts with her return to duty.
We do have the slightly buggy option of renaming her, but it is no must.
We can further decide, what 'character-class' or 'background-training' our chosen version of the heroine has. Each choice has a favored weapon, and different stats to start with. Typical for Action-RPG, but it may be worth testing out all styles, as I belong to those who failed with their first-choice class. ;-) If anything reminding the least bit of games like 'Diablo I or II', 'Baldurs Gate - Dark Alliance' or 'Champions of Norrath' is your gusto, then only the main drawback of the game remains: The levels can be complex, but are often prone to a boring monotony. It doesn't really matter much, if you must pull some switches, or reprogram some computers, all the way alien hordes storm against you, and the top-down graphics are sometimes a bit of a hindrance.
Not as bad, as with several Playstation 2 games though. ;-) True Action-Gamers already know: Make the best of it. Fight those alien hordes, then fight them again to score some bonus levels. It IS worth to raise the attributes and skills properly! And those skills unlock weapons and armor you can find, craft, or in an abstract way: Modify. It is possible to beat the game with any chosen class simply due optimizing the armor and weaponry.
The story is fitting, but reduced to minor scenes at start and end of missions. In example: When Aileen finally reaches the room of her husband, reads of his suicide idea, and then hears monstrous aliens storming into his room... she cries a second, shivers a second, and then reports back for duty aka more of the same routine.
The game's difficulty depends indeed on how much you optimize your gear and how well you choose your skills. Take one firearm and a melee aka close combat weapon. Better get good with that than being amateurish with each weapon.
A myth of the game: Best take the Seal (Survivor) class, for energy weapons can't run out of ammo, if you put two skill-points into ...
True, but I got creamed with that class. All classes ARE fully playable, and all weapons can find ammo, and you can salvage whatever found to craft ammo, first aid kits, armor, weapons, and so forth, too. It is in a simple menu, easily reached in SCARAB, means game is paused while you meddle there! And learning-by-doing you can use the first ten character levels to find out what works best with your own playing style.
What is a playing style: Well, the thought of charging into melee is still 100% my attitude, but my aging body is of the opinion that slow and casual rulez instead! ;-) Means I understand the attack, and what skills I need for it, but I am often too clumsy to win with it. Henceforth a 'Tank' focused on only melee would be a bad choice for me.
Same with a 'Demolitions Expert'. The idea of causing area-of-effect damage is great. Until it happens you are one of the eagerly playing fellows who get themselves into ground zero once too often. Oh, I liked 'Vasquez' in Alien II, but I found she died a bit too early.
Playing Style means the best possible compromise between the heroine you imagine and the figure which makes you beat the game! This includes the way you raise skills, and the way you craft and salvage armor and gear! The Music is a bit repetitive, but it has that daydreaming-effect, a bit like brainwashing, which so many Sci-Fi-Gamers enjoy! Artificial Zen for the untrained masses, I know.
Old Man Me made it through several levels, and right now I found out that the Worms coming up through the ground on the Planet really make me run out of first aid kits. Still I had only one time running out of flamethrower ammunition at all. The trick is to know that the flamer needs much less ammunition than the firebolt. A MarkVIIa flamethrower is henceforth more my style than a Mark IIIa Firebolt.
The endless butchery on most levels does spoil some fun on occasion, but as mentioned above, it serves the purpose of making more character levels which will help in the long run.
I have never played Multiplayer, so I can't guide on that.
I reduced the rating from 10 to 7 due the summarized three main probs: 1. Dungeon Levels aka 'Maps' are one pestering dish of mazes filled with too many monsters - It is constant fighting.
2. Music could really be better in all games since the year 2000.
3. Companions come damn late in the game. That is, if the rumor is true, for I press on and on and still got none.
We do have the slightly buggy option of renaming her, but it is no must.
We can further decide, what 'character-class' or 'background-training' our chosen version of the heroine has. Each choice has a favored weapon, and different stats to start with. Typical for Action-RPG, but it may be worth testing out all styles, as I belong to those who failed with their first-choice class. ;-) If anything reminding the least bit of games like 'Diablo I or II', 'Baldurs Gate - Dark Alliance' or 'Champions of Norrath' is your gusto, then only the main drawback of the game remains: The levels can be complex, but are often prone to a boring monotony. It doesn't really matter much, if you must pull some switches, or reprogram some computers, all the way alien hordes storm against you, and the top-down graphics are sometimes a bit of a hindrance.
Not as bad, as with several Playstation 2 games though. ;-) True Action-Gamers already know: Make the best of it. Fight those alien hordes, then fight them again to score some bonus levels. It IS worth to raise the attributes and skills properly! And those skills unlock weapons and armor you can find, craft, or in an abstract way: Modify. It is possible to beat the game with any chosen class simply due optimizing the armor and weaponry.
The story is fitting, but reduced to minor scenes at start and end of missions. In example: When Aileen finally reaches the room of her husband, reads of his suicide idea, and then hears monstrous aliens storming into his room... she cries a second, shivers a second, and then reports back for duty aka more of the same routine.
The game's difficulty depends indeed on how much you optimize your gear and how well you choose your skills. Take one firearm and a melee aka close combat weapon. Better get good with that than being amateurish with each weapon.
A myth of the game: Best take the Seal (Survivor) class, for energy weapons can't run out of ammo, if you put two skill-points into ...
True, but I got creamed with that class. All classes ARE fully playable, and all weapons can find ammo, and you can salvage whatever found to craft ammo, first aid kits, armor, weapons, and so forth, too. It is in a simple menu, easily reached in SCARAB, means game is paused while you meddle there! And learning-by-doing you can use the first ten character levels to find out what works best with your own playing style.
What is a playing style: Well, the thought of charging into melee is still 100% my attitude, but my aging body is of the opinion that slow and casual rulez instead! ;-) Means I understand the attack, and what skills I need for it, but I am often too clumsy to win with it. Henceforth a 'Tank' focused on only melee would be a bad choice for me.
Same with a 'Demolitions Expert'. The idea of causing area-of-effect damage is great. Until it happens you are one of the eagerly playing fellows who get themselves into ground zero once too often. Oh, I liked 'Vasquez' in Alien II, but I found she died a bit too early.
Playing Style means the best possible compromise between the heroine you imagine and the figure which makes you beat the game! This includes the way you raise skills, and the way you craft and salvage armor and gear! The Music is a bit repetitive, but it has that daydreaming-effect, a bit like brainwashing, which so many Sci-Fi-Gamers enjoy! Artificial Zen for the untrained masses, I know.
Old Man Me made it through several levels, and right now I found out that the Worms coming up through the ground on the Planet really make me run out of first aid kits. Still I had only one time running out of flamethrower ammunition at all. The trick is to know that the flamer needs much less ammunition than the firebolt. A MarkVIIa flamethrower is henceforth more my style than a Mark IIIa Firebolt.
The endless butchery on most levels does spoil some fun on occasion, but as mentioned above, it serves the purpose of making more character levels which will help in the long run.
I have never played Multiplayer, so I can't guide on that.
I reduced the rating from 10 to 7 due the summarized three main probs: 1. Dungeon Levels aka 'Maps' are one pestering dish of mazes filled with too many monsters - It is constant fighting.
2. Music could really be better in all games since the year 2000.
3. Companions come damn late in the game. That is, if the rumor is true, for I press on and on and still got none.
