I really enjoyed DREDGE earlier this year. It was a near-perfect indie experience that felt smartly designed to get the most out of a limited budget without wasting my time. I’ve been looking for an excuse to go back and wrap up a few achievements – but playing through The Pale Reach expansion was both satisfying and disappointing. It is more DREDGE – which is a good thing – but it also left me concerned about future expansions if they don’t (or can’t) shake up the mechanics and gameplay structure significantly.
In brief, The Pale Reach expansion exists to provide more of what DREDGE already did well. It couples simple but satisfying fishing and dredging mini-games with a rewarding progression system – ensuring you’ll rarely play for more than an hour without improving your ship, fishing equipment, or passive skills in some way. You sail out at the break of dawn to maximise your exploration and fishing time, then dash back to shelter once the sun sets in order to avoid cosmic horrors that plague the open seas after dark. Despite the stylised, cartoonish visuals and soothing soundtrack, there’s a constant sense of lingering dread in what is typically a relaxed genre.
The Pale Reach provides a new icy biome to explore, with a substantial secondary quest, new equipment to craft or purchase, and new sea life – with several gruesome abhorrent species, of course. A visiting photographer provides an incentive to sail south, but she only serves to reveal an angry Narwhal that roams the frigid waters. The meat of the story involves discovering the fate of an old expedition – a task that’ll force you to dredge up parts for an ice breaker – and prevent the awakening of yet another slumbering monstrosity.
Mechanically and structurally, the expansion plays out exactly like any of the existing island biomes you visit in the base game – albeit a suitably low-risk option that you can tackle early with only a hull upgrade or two recommended. NPCs will ask you to catch fish or dredge old parts to craft new gear; tattered journals will recount the fate of the prior expedition and update your goals; ancient shrines will hint at the true nature of the threat; and the aforementioned Narwhal will alternate between chasing you and conveniently destroying ice barriers if tempted with enough fish.
There are some useful rewards that have application outside of the icy biome – like the ability to create ice blocks that keep your haul fresh for longer or a mysterious anchor that creates a two-way portal to Blackstone Isle – but if I had been playing DREDGE for the first time and someone installed the expansion without me knowing, I doubt I’d have realised it was post-launch content.
As a consequence, I’m torn on how to rate The Pale Reach expansion. If you skipped DREDGE at launch and wanted to play it; or if you wanted to return to complete fishing challenges, boat upgrades, and check other free post-launch content; DREDGE: The Pale Reach is a well-priced excuse that slightly bulks up an already excellent game. If, on the other hand, you’ve 100%-ed DREDGE and were hoping to see what else could be done to shake up the gameplay formula, getting more of the same might disappoint.
Pros:
A smart and respectful remaster that preserves System Shock 2’s timeless qualities and a few flaws
The updated textures, ambient lighting, and new weapon models don’t gel with the original designs
Competent gamepad controls and a multi-plat release improves accessibility
There’s only one cyberspace section at the end (which I guess some might consider a negative)
Cons:
It ultimately looks and plays just like the late ‘90s early 3D FPS-RPG hybrid it is
Some laborious objectives remain unaltered and can drag down the pacing
Robocop: Rogue City is quality 7-out-of-10 fare – one of those games that lack the production values of an “objectively” higher-scoring “AAA” title but are often way more fun to play. As such, how much you enjoy it will depend on what you’re willing to forgive to finally play a good game based on an underutilised IP. It shares many of the same highs and lows as Terminator: Resistance, demonstrating a lot of passion and an obvious love of the IP. However, some great character interactions, solid shooting, an authentic sense of style, and a flashy new engine can’t obscure the disjointed campaign flow, limited mechanical depth, dated character models, and awful cutscenes.
If you’ve watched the 1987 film recently, it’s easy to argue Robocop: Rogue City retreads too many themes. What makes us human and who gets to decide? Is the rigid application of laws truly just? Is there no end to corporate greed and the collateral damage it causes? Repetition, sure, but these themes make for some of the best interactions between Robocop and the supporting cast and they tie into a narrative role-playing mechanic that influences the fate of several characters and Old Detroit. That said, it’s no subversive masterpiece. Robocop guns down hundreds of gang members with no consideration for the socio-economic manipulation that pushed them into that life, and there’s no shortage of real-world examples that demonstrate trying to resolve violence with violence begets more violence.
The events of Robocop: Rogue City take place after the second film, with resurgent gangs, an ongoing Nuke drug problem, and the OCP still looking for any excuse to replace the police force with robots and level Old Detroit to make way for their Delta City project. Robocop experiences more glitches during an attack on the Channel 9 building, so OCP inserts a chip to monitor his performance (tying into the progression mechanics) and assigns him mandatory therapy sessions (used to define, question, and reinforce your role-playing choices). He’s then let off the leash to investigate “the new guy in town”, a mysterious villain whom several gangs and mercenaries are vying to work for.
This kicks off an interesting but poorly paced story that revolves around Robocop in more ways than one. A good chunk of the opening half is spent shooting through several gangs to interrogate their leaders; destroying more dysfunctional ED-209s; dealing with OCP’s ongoing efforts to undermine the existing police force; avoiding or engaging with mayoral election campaigns intent on using him for political goals; and uncovering an even deeper conspiracy within OCP that leads into a drawn out finale and a bizarre final boss that, I guess, is was somewhat foreshadowed. I know this is both a video game and Robocop is satirical sci-fi, but the plot is still full of contrivances, inconsistent logic, and sudden deviations that make it feel as though the script was written on the fly.
That said, if you focus instead on optional missions and smaller moments between Robocop and Lewis, his fellow officers, the citizens of Old Detroit, and even the antagonists, you’ll find much better writing, unexpectedly touching moments, and get the chance to explore lovingly recreated spaces like the Metro West Police Station. Peter Weller’s voice and delivery add instant authenticity and, with the notable exception of OCP’s CEO “the Old Man”, the rest of the voice cast give it their all – even if most performances aren’t going to win any awards. During many of these moments, you choose Robocop’s response or actions, which don’t drastically alter the events you experience, but they do change how he perceives himself and how the cast interacts with him down the line.
The problem is no matter how good Robocop: Rogue City looks – with incredibly detailed environments, destruction physics, realistic lighting, and exaggerated gore – the vast majority of character models look dated and stiffly animated, lip-syncing is all over the place, and the cutscene direction feels crude: think simplistic framing, awkward cuts, poor dialogue delivery, and shifting sound levels. Robocop’s model looks great, Weller’s delivery is perfect, and the soundtrack variations of the original theme are brilliant – but all that can’t stop many cutscenes robbing the game of the emotional impact the writers clearly intended.
Now I’ve got this far without discussing the gameplay in-depth, and I’d argue that’s because there’s not a lot of depth – well, at least not enough when tackling all the primary and secondary missions takes almost 20 hours, alternating between corridor shooting galleries and repeat visits to a hub-like Old Detroit that evolves over time. Mechanically, Robocop: Rogue City is another RPG-shooter hybrid like Terminator: Resistance – albeit with less looting, crafting, and upgrading gear and a greater focus on satisfying gunplay based around Robocop’s iconic Auto-9 and his incredible resilience. There are simple dialogue and scanning-based investigations, but while some larger chapters and the Old Detroit hub often reminded me of Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex games, Robocop is no Adam Jenson. Even if a mission starts off peaceful, it’s guaranteed to end in a gunfight.
Thankfully, the shooting is solid, and Robocop: Rogue City nails the sensation of being half-man and half-machine, with the durability and manoeuvrability of a tank. I’d always laugh when yet another gang member or mercenary threatened Robocop and pulled out a handgun or rifle, as only high calibre rounds and explosives pose a significant threat. From the moment Robocop thuds into the Channel 9 building, draws his iconic Auto-9, and the classic theme kicks in, you’ll spend most of your time shooting enemies in the head, in the groin if they’re armoured, or in weak points if they’re robotic. Although you can carry another weapon in reserve, the customisable Auto-9 with unlimited ammo is your workhorse tool and clearly received the most attention.
Firefights are dynamic and evolve to a degree, just not enough to sustain a campaign twice the length of the classic FPS that inspired it. Enemies with more armour, bigger guns, or special abilities are slowly introduced; environments are full of hazards you can throw at enemies, or throw enemies into; most secondary weapons are useful in specific situations; there are offensive and defensive skills you can put points into for incremental buffs and perks; and you can upgrade the Auto-9 using “PCB” omni boards and chips that feels like a less-intuitive variation of what we got in Terminator: Resistance.
The problem is it takes hours to get impactful perks if you don’t take a min-max approach – think deadly ricochet shots, bullet-deflecting armour, and bursts of slow-motion actually long enough to be useful – while there’s a steady increase in the number of tank-ish enemies that offset their impact and drag out firefights. As I was blasting through an end-game gauntlet, about 18 hours in, I realised I was just going through the same motions on autopilot: pull the left trigger, smile as the CRT effect and targeting outlines appeared, pull the right trigger, watch heads or groins explode. Considered in isolation, most scripted firefights are entertaining, but there are a lot of them, and they all blur together over time.
Now despite ending on a low note, Teyon still deserves plenty of praise for creating the best Robocop video game available, just as they did for the Terminator IP, and that makes this a must-play for fans of Terminator: Resistance. For those not part of that crowd, Robocop: Rogue City can still be a lot of fun if you’re heavily invested in the IP and can look past inconsistent production values or underdeveloped systems. It somewhat outstays its welcome but provides a unique opportunity to role-play a conflicted Robocop, violently prosecuting justice through a CRT filter, to a fantastic soundtrack. If nothing else, it might also convince you the IP could work in a dedicated narrative-adventure game.
Pros:
Great interactions between Robocop and the secondary cast that revisit themes from the 1987 film
Recreated locations from the films and classic Robocop lines delivered by Peter Weller himself
A customisable and immensely satisfying Auto-9 that explodes heads, hands, and groins alike
A progression system that (eventually) unlocks some overpowered perks
Cons:
Weird campaign pacing and contrivances
The emotional impact of many encounters is undermined by crude cutscenes and character models
Not enough mechanical depth to sustain a 15-20 hour campaign
No permanent CRT filter option and no New Game Plus
ADORE is an intriguing “hands-off” action-RPG from Brazilian developer Cadabra Games. The focus is on capturing, upgrading, and synergising creatures that function as your attack abilities – a feat you’ll achieve by grinding procedurally-generated maps for said creatures and a myriad of upgrade resources. With real-time, isometric combat exclusively using summons, it feels novel at first, but progression begins to feel repetitive, unrewarding, and even frustrating at times.
Starting with the good, ADORE has an interesting premise. Your protagonist has been cohabited by the spirit of “Draknar”, the god of creatures, who was slain by his brother “Ixer”. Ixer’s betrayal has resulted in a curse spreading across the land, corrupting once-peaceful creatures, and leaving it up to Lukha and a hidden village of fellow Adorers to try to set things right.
ADORE gets off to a slow start but the combat and upgrade mechanics are surprisingly deep. At first, you only need to consider the type of creature – think beast, mystic, nature, or arcane – and their attack patterns.
Some dash forward for a flurry of quick attacks; some waddle along before dealing a sweeping AoE attack; others have to charge up for a few seconds before dealing a devastating high-damage attack. With up to four creatures assigned to the face buttons (or keys), picking the right attack behaviour is essential, and so too is using the correct damage type to counter armour. You also have a limited, recharging stamina pool to manage, so you can’t just spam all of them at once.
That’s only the basics, however. Creatures charge up special attacks you can selectively trigger; they can develop synergies with other creature types to unlock new abilities; they can gain experience from Shrines of Draknar to unlock new traits and level existing ones; upgradeable artefacts carried by Lukha add useful triggered abilities; while equipped runes provide him varying levels of passive buffs if you have the points to invest. On top of that, you can collect ingredients and cook meals to heal and buff your team mid-mission.
You set out from a central hub and slowly unlock five regions on a world map. There’s a string of plot-related missions – most of which are just item or creature hunts before a battle against another Adorer or puzzle-like encounter with Ixer – and there’s a constantly refreshing list of optional missions.
You jump through a portal in the Adorer village into simplistic maps made up of interconnected segments, each with a handful of hostile creatures to capture or defeat, a mini-mission or two –think activating switches or guiding floating orbs while under attack – and, hopefully, a useful item spawn like the “Particles of Gaterdrik” used to capture creatures, cooking or crafting materials, and upgrade shrines.
With 39 creatures to capture, managing their upgrades, synergies, and constantly shuffling them in and out of your active party can be fiddly with a gamepad, but there’s a lot of fun to be had in slowly creating a diverse and powerful menagerie. So too is mastering the deceptively simple-looking isometric combat, which forces Lukha to stay mobile and dodge attacks, summon creatures when you spot a gap or first-strike opportunity, and quickly recall them before enemies can land a counter – potentially knocking them out of action for a mission if their health hits zero.
Unfortunately, moving the plot forward, capturing new creatures, and obtaining resources for upgrades involves grinding short missions and longer excursions; to the point progression feels repetitive and unrewarding, undermining the overall experience.
To ADORE’s credit, it always indicates what challenges you might face – like a legendary creature – and what resources are available on any given mission. The problem is how quickly the resource costs escalate. Activating one or two runes, levelling your creatures up two to three times, and enhancing an artefact once; are all manageable in the opening hours but as your roster grows, you’ll be forced to tackle the longest multi-map excursions or multiple short missions to achieve any significant progress.
As fun and tactical as the combat may be, and as stylish as the character designs and environment first appear, it doesn’t take long before your brain settles into a monotonous routine and both the vibrant backdrops – which already suffer from that “made in Unity” look – blur together.
Of course, grinding to upgrade your party is hardly a novel idea in video games, but the gameplay loop falls flat here due to a few annoying design choices. The first issue is that you have to manually pick up most rewards and they’re prone to falling out of the playable area or hidden behind chunks of the environment.
The second issue is how death results in dropping most of your currency and crystal shards – essential for purchasing and upgrading artefacts, or expanding rune slots and rune activation points. Both simply add a degree of frustration to an already grindy progression system.
Now ADORE should entertain those that love collecting and upgrading creatures for battles, with no shortage of upgrade mechanics to engage with and satisfyingly tactical real-time combat. It’s the mission and progression structure that leaves me conflicted. On one hand, it’s a smart way to get more mileage out of limited assets, gives you plenty of time to engage with the mechanics, and its a good fit for short sessions on the Switch or Steam Deck. On the other hand, the longer you play, the less rewarding the progression system feels, and the more formulaic and repetitive the gameplay loop feels.
Pros:
A novel, hands-off, summons-based combat system
Plenty of mechanical depth when it comes to upgrading and synergising your party
Perfect for shorter sessions on the Switch or Steam Deck
Cons:
The progression system feels increasingly unrewarding and repetitive
The rogue-like punishment for death adds nothing but frustration
Score: 7/10
ADORE was reviewed on Nintendo Switch using a code provided to gameblur by the publisher. It is also available on PC, Xbox One/Series S|X, and PlayStation 4/5.
As a point-and-click adventure originally released on PC in 2002, it’s easy to criticise elements of Syberia’s gameplay, but replaying it for the third time on the Nintendo Switch – the best console port by far – I’m still impressed by its relatable protagonist, timeless artistic vision, and serenely melancholic atmosphere.
Kate goes adrift
Syberia wastes no time setting the scene and offering a tantalising glimpse of what awaits Kate Walker, a young and idealistic lawyer from New York, sent to the moribund town of Valadilene in the French Alps to conclude the sale of an ageing automaton factory.
She arrives just in time to witness the funeral precession for the late factory owner, Anna Voralberg, who revealed the existence of a living heir in her final correspondence. Given the importance of the deal, Kate is left with little choice but to track down Anna’s brother Hans – initially thought to have died decades before – and discover more about his troubled family and the legacy he left behind while traversing Eurasia with an automaton engineer named Oscar and a fantastical wind-up train of his design.
Oscar proves the perfect companion as his rigid protocols often frustrate Kate’s adventure… yet he frequently demonstrates hints of insight far beyond his supposed programming allows.
Despite her obvious commitment to the task, it’s clear from the outset that Kate isn’t comfortable in a rigid corporate environment. She marvels at the weird, wonderful, and sometimes terrifying things she encounters on her journey, but takes them all in her stride. She respects locals with quirky customs and is compassionate when helping others, but she also has a strong set of morals and won’t hesitate to call out scheming or dishonest behaviour – even if she’s willing to bend the rules a few times to progress.
In contrast, the people she left behind in New York are mostly brash, self-interested, morally flexible, and possess limited imagination. Her boss has no interest in her situation beyond her ability to seal the deal; her fiancé Dan seems unable to differentiate between their romantic and business dynamic, treating her more as an accessory to his ambitions; her mother frequently talks over her and uses guilt as leverage; while her friend Olivia seems has little passion for their profession beyond the lifestyle it allows.
There’s no shortage of flashbacks, lengthy journal entries, and conversations that reveal Hans Voralberg’s uplifting yet often tragic journey across Eurasia. As one of two disabled characters Kate encounters in the game, it’s worth noting some of the secondary cast is far from sympathetic, and I don’t know if that was deliberate or evidence of the writer’s views.
Kate frequently receives calls from them or calls them for assistance during her adventure, and they serve as useful foils that highlight Kate’s character development. Their lives are so ordinary they can barely comprehend what she’s describing and experiencing, while their desperate attempts to discourage Kate and bring her back home to re-establish the status quo border on self-destructive.
As a result, simply watching Kate discover who she really is – or maybe rediscover herself – is even more satisfying than the overarching narrative and circumventing the many roadblocks along the way.
The secondary cast is mostly recognisable cliches, but Kate’s rebellion against their narrow and unromantic worldview makes for great character development.
Artistic vision > technical prowess
Of course, a great protagonist and interesting premise still need a good setting, and Benoît Sokal’s creative vision ensures Syberia is one of the few games with legitimately timeless aesthetics.
Kate’s world is similar but not exactly our own, though it’s not hard to immerse yourself in it with many modern and historical parallels. There are European towns still dealing with the devastation of the Second World War on industry and families, while Russia – possibly still a Union of some sort – is full of ageing industrial and military complexes abandoned after a Cold War era.
Valadilene sports cobbled streets, art-deco houses, and an intricate automaton factory, but only a handful of people with nowhere else to go remain. The Barrockstadt University, with its massive mammoth exhibits and tropical aviary, is fading into obscurity, with a few lingering staff and fewer students, all surrounded by decade-old military fortifications and damaged houses that were never restored. The decrepit Komkolzgrad industrial complex and cosmodrome are inhabited by two solitary caretakers with unfulfilled dreams. The Aralbad resort is a refuge for faded stars, situated on the edge of a corrosive salt lake, full of rusted shipwrecks that hint at a more prosperous past.
The visual design and atmosphere of Aralbad are a perfect match for its inhabitants – an isolated hideaway for fading stars slowly wasting away.
Although most backdrops are beautiful and smartly framed static images, there are a handful of video-loop backdrops for more intricate structures, simple water shaders, and 3D character models that add life to many scenes. As a reward for solving more complex puzzles, there are several cutscenes that demonstrate Sokal’s intricate automaton designs in action or handle a few action-centric moments.
The visuals are complemented by an immersive ambient audio mix and a limited but evocative soundtrack themed around each location – but only sometimes. Syberia has moments of near silence, and I was never sure if it was by design or just audio bugs that have plagued prior releases to varying degrees.
So Syberia is not exactly subtle about using art and music to express its themes, but this does ensure Kate’s journey through forgotten places filled with forgotten people provides a strangely compelling combination of intricate beauty and haunting solitude.
Every backdrop – regardless of whether it features a puzzle or not – feels smartly framed, intricately detailed, and atmospheric.
Streamlined adventuring but dated designs still frustrate
When it comes to actually playing Syberia, well, it’s a traditional point-and-click experience that can feel anachronistic by modern standards – even if it’s more streamlined than many of its contemporaries.
To solve an assortment of contrived and often absurd puzzles, you’ll be conversing with the small secondary cast, making the odd phone call, collecting notes for clues, collecting key items to use on the appropriate object, and flicking switches and levers on intricate contraptions or control panels.
Advancing dialogue sequences usually require you to simply exhaust available options, but there’s plenty of optional details for those that want it.
To Syberia’s credit, there are only a handful of puzzles per location, and they all feel reasonably logical given the setting – aside from a late-game cocktail mixing contraption. They never require too many steps or items to solve; there are no red herrings; and there are only 2-4 significant NPCs in any location you need to interact with.
Furthermore, the puzzles and dialogue sequences are usually sequential and scripted, so you’ll never be overwhelmed trying to juggle multiple puzzles and inventory items. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean Syberia is devoid of classic point-and-click bullshit.
The infamous cocktail puzzle is probably the least logical and most contrived example in the game, and it’s not helped by the twitchy selection cursor when using a gamepad.
The first issue, spotting key items within detailed backdrops, can be resolved by enabling icon highlights in the assists menu, but the second issue is inherent to the design of the game – the size of each location and the impact that has on puzzles that force you to backtrack. Unlike many modern point-and-click adventures that feature fewer but denser locations, Syberia aims for an impressive sense of scale, with many of its beautiful backdrops serving as nothing but set-dressing you need to traverse repeatedly.
In Valadilene, your departure is interrupted when you have to trudge across town to forge a clearance certificate; in Barrockstadt, discovering the location of a rare plant species requires talking to several NPCs scattered across the university grounds repeatedly; in Aralbad, you’ll run up and down an unnecessarily long pier. These moments are compounded by Kate’s sedate pace, inconsistent screen transition triggers, and fixed camera angles that make it easy to mix up your inputs.
It’s not as bad as it sounds if you know where you’re going, but should you ever get confused, it makes aimless wondering a pain in the arse.
I spent an inordinate amount of time running around the cosmodrome looking for this nigh-invisible crank handle before discovering the assists menu.
Going off the rails, on the rails
So Syberia is not without flaws inherent in the genre but, on balance, I’d still recommend picking it up if you’ve got any interest in the history of point-and-click games; or if you’re willing to forgive a few anachronistic elements for an uplifting narrative that sees Kate grow as a person while journeying through a weird, melancholic, but wondrous world.
As for which versions to play – PC players who want a classic mouse-driven experience should stick to the GOG or Steam releases, both of which have been updated a few times for modern systems. It’s a tougher choice for console players as I’d only recommend the Nintendo Switch version that sports functional shaders, the ability to switch to the original 4:3 ratio, and even touch-screen play. At a push, the backwards-compatible Xbox 360 version – or PlayStation3 version if you’ve still got it plugged in – are fine but the backdrops and character models are stretched to fit that widescreen aspect ratio, the audio is even more buggy, and many backdrops feel completely static.
Survival games usually frustrate me, as I find many mechanically dull, to the point they’re incapable of obscuring their busywork structure. When it comes to The Riftbreaker, I’m always happy to sink another dozen hours into its satisfying hybrid gameplay loop. The new “Into the Dark” DLC is my latest excuse to return, and it provides more of that one-more-mission/building/upgrade loop – albeit with a few new challenges and some familiar technical issues.
Their budget for writing and voice acting must be huge
If you played through the base game or the Metal Terror DLC, the basic structure of this expansion won’t come as much of a surprise. A massive earthquake followed by a powerful neutrino emission rocks your primary HQ region, which sets Ashley and Mr Riggs on another multi-stage adventure to discover the source of a not-so-new threat to Galatea 37.
They’ll discover anomalous growths guarded by crystal-infused wildlife and lumbering bipeds capable of summoning new forces; they’ll explore a surface region to triangulate the position of a massive underground creature; they’ll research new technology to breach, explore, and survive in a massive crystalline cavern system below the surface; and they’ll fend off waves of creatures so large and so frequently, the reproduction and maturation rate of Galatea 37’s wildlife is probably the least believable sci-fi concept.
While The Riftbreaker is ultimately a mechanics- and systems-focused game, Into the Dark uses its narrative elements to delve into Ashley’s failed Orion expedition she references in the base game. The “new” threat appears to be a familiar one and, once again, Ashley and Mr Riggs spend an inordinate amount of time discussing what they’ve observed, generating wild hypotheses, and experiencing several “eureka” moments that feel utterly detached from the player’s actions.
They’re still a likeable pair of protagonists but I’m forever amazed at the amount of recorded dialogue in this game and the constant disconnect between Ashley’s intentions to preserve the planet’s ecosystem, while periodically murdering thousands of its denizens to pave the way for human colonisation.
A slow start leads to a chaotic finish
Ignoring the narrative dissonance, The Riftbreaker remains as mechanically engaging and complex as ever – even if Into the Dark feels more about adapting existing tools to a new biome, rather than managing an entirely new resource and dependent technologies we got in the Metal Terror DLC.
The opening missions above ground and within a maze of canyons feel unremarkable. The introduction of summoner-type creatures and mobs with a limited self-revive ability complicates combat and pushes out beyond your walls, but you’ll still be going through that familiar loop of exploring, scanning objects of interest, establishing outposts, and fortifying them against waves of enemies.
Things get interesting about a third of the way through the new campaign when you finally construct a drilling craft and descend into the unexpectedly vibrant and colourful caverns below. The caverns offer a mix of solid formations and soft limestone you can drill through, so below ground, base building and combat take on a new spatial dimension, especially when objectives force you to build and hold several distant outposts.
The caverns offer abundant construction resources that you’ll have to drill to uncover, but extremely limited wind and sunlight complicate power generation if you’ve been investing in green energy and storage solutions, while a lack of standing water and fluids requires workarounds for advanced base structures.
I found myself scrambling to make use of carbonium power plants and abundant plant and animal biomass, while investing in new regenerating defensive structures, automated resource gatherers, and, most significantly, technologies that allowed for the direct transmission of power and other resources to distant outposts without laying vulnerable cable or pipe networks.
When it comes to base defence and combat, careful drilling and planning your perimeter around solid rock pillars can make defence feel easier at first, but several powerful towers are unavailable below ground and periodic earthquakes can damage multiple structures simultaneously (though at least you can rebuild from ruins now). There are a few massive creatures that’ll bore through soft limestone and beeline towards your base, but kiting is much easier for common mobs. The downside – or maybe the upside if you enjoy combat – is that Into the Dark throws a lot of enemies at you from the get-go.
Circle-strafing and dodging around enemies are rarely viable tactics underground, so backing up into a dead end while exploring is usually fatal. When hunkered behind your walls, massive hordes are often forced to converge and throw themselves at your defences for what feels like minutes at a time. Deeper, smartly-designed, multi-layered defences are essential – especially when protecting distant outposts operating on a local grid – and I finally came to appreciate the incredible combination of repair towers with minefields and new traps.
If you’re partial to twin-stick combat, there’s no shortage of it. Into the Dark feels relentless from the start, with bigger hordes crammed into smaller spaces, and fewer chances to intercept them before they hit your defensive lines. To help you survive the increased challenge and two arcade-like boss fights, there are, of course, new elementally-themed towers, traps, and weapon technologies to research.
They’re coming outta the goddamn walls!
The Into the Dark DLC easily consumed another dozen hours and is just as expansive and feature-rich as the Metal Terror DLC, offering a ton of new or reworked content at a low price.
Some elements – like the incessant, lengthy conversations and revelations about Ashley’s past mission – can feel underwhelming, while the opening missions above ground are familiar fare. However, once you finally head below ground, you’ll quickly come to appreciate the unique base-building, defence, and energy-generating challenges, and experience the thrill of overcoming them with new technologies and smart planning.
Playing Return to Grace had me thinking back to when so-called “walking simulators” were still a divisive topic. Video games like Dear Esther, Gone Home, or Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture – in which the narrative, characters, atmosphere, and audiovisual experience take precedence over mechanical complexity.
On one hand, it’s a design that benefits Return to Grace, making for an immersive experience focused on the narrative pay-off. On the other, I was reminded of how fine a line this genre walks between compelling and boring if the pacing and length are even slightly off the mark.
Return to Grace is a first-person narrative adventure that places you in the environmental suit of Adie Ito – an archaeologist exploring a frozen and stormy Ganymede in 3820 AD, searching for an ancient AI “Grace”, held in god-like reverence.
She was an AI that led humanity into a golden age of peace and expansion across the solar system before her disappearance, a thousand years before, triggered a new dark age with many technological innovations and record keeping lost.
This is a genre that thrives on strong storytelling and Return to Grace, despite retreading some familiar ideas, offers up an intriguing setting, quirky cast, a briskly paced mystery to unravel, and plenty of optional environmental storytelling and world-building.
Times have clearly changed since Grace was the caretaker of humanity. Travel throughout the solar system is no longer commonplace as Adie has taken a risky, 300-day journey to get to Ganymede. It’s a one-way trip but she claims everything of value to her on Earth is gone. Record keeping from a thousand years prior is so limited she had to rely on centuries of oral histories to pinpoint the location.
Even before I appreciated the divergent nature of the narrative, I was already sold on the setting, and I wanted to discover more about its take on the future of humanity.
Thankfully, that “future history” element is integral to the present investigation-based story; it comes up when Adie comments on the technology she witnesses in the spire; and it often features in her conversations with an entertaining selection of AI personalities she discovers on her journey.
Shortly after arrival, she awakens “Logic” who – alongside “Control” and “Empathy” – form core components of Grace’s identity. The problem is they’re old back-ups that have little knowledge of what led to Grace’s shutdown, what happened to the people that maintained the spire, or how her interactions with humanity evolved over time.
What they do have is unique personalities, system permissions, and thoughts on how Adie should proceed. As she pushes on, they create amusing hybrid personalities – for whom Adie picks some choice names – that help her circumvent new obstacles.
It’s not obvious at first but Return to Grace‘s most significant narrative mechanic is how it tracks your decisions. The consequences can feel a little rushed given the 3–4-hour runtime, but there are a few key moments where Adie can push forward instead of exploring, take risky shortcuts instead of the safer path, or allow the AI to perform certain tasks for her. These decisions feed into evolving AI responses and (if we exclude one obviously bad ending) lead to minor ending variations that felt appropriate for my choices.
Return to Grace‘s biggest issue – and this is one shared by all games in this genre – is what you’re doing mechanically is rarely that engaging.
You explore and move at whatever pace the game dictates; you sit around listening to lengthy conversations that block your ability to interact with anything until they’re finished; you push or mash a single button to trigger scripted traversal moves or optional commentary; and sometimes you engage in pattern- or memory-based puzzles that require little mental effort. Crossing balance beams, briefly controlling a crane, and melting ice with a flame-thrower is about as wild as it gets.
Thankfully, Return to Grace’s brisk runtime – coupled with some choice comments from the AI if you do get stuck – make this less of an issue and the compelling world had me hacking every door and audio-log I could find for more details. That said, it didn’t make the process of trudging around larger areas, repeating door code inputs, and twirling Adie’s glove to line up sync points a dozen times feel any less repetitive or tedious.
Return to Grace’s brevity and strong storytelling are its saving grace. It kept me hooked over two evening sessions and I only started ruminating on the weaker elements just before the credits rolled.
I wanted to find out more about the past events by sifting through the deserted spire; I wanted to hear every one of Adie’s comments on the current state of humanity; I was fascinated by the AI personalities and their attempt to dissect her motivations; and there were moments of doubt that had me wondering if Adie’s quest was misguided.
If you’re in the mood for a brisk, immersive, thought-provoking adventure with a lightly divergent narrative, and you can accept the somewhat limited and repetitive gameplay loop, Return to Grace is a great addition to the genre.
Pros:
An intriguing setting and briskly-paced mystery to unravel
Thought-provoking conversations and ending variations based on your actions
A likeable cast with quality voice acting
Atmospheric environments and soundtrack
Cons:
An over-reliance on a handful of simple, repeated mechanics
The short length makes some AI relationships feel rushed
I love Vaporum and many of the classic games that inspired it, but it’s a difficult sell to newcomers. Clunky, archaic movement limitations and artificial grid-like environments – elements you might criticise in any other modern game – are core gameplay features and, if you buy into the nostalgic aspect, all part of the charm
Vaporum is a retro-inspired but infinitely more accessible modern “blobber” – think first-person dungeon-crawler, usually party-based, and with RPG elements. You trudge around labyrinthine grid-based levels, searching for keys, solving puzzles, hunting for secret areas, avoiding hazards, and defeating enemies to progress between floors. It’s a wonderfully contrived game world that makes little sense unless the primary purpose of the facility was to frustrate and/or kill its researchers.
Events take place entirely within a massive steampunk tower, in the midst of a raging and stormy sea, though figuring out who the protagonist is forms part of the early mystery. The ominous tower beckons them in and although they know they have some connection to it, everything else is a blur.
As you explore, a combination of written notes and scratchy audio logs spur on their memory, leading to revelatory monologues that slowly reveal the truth about their past and the present research into a mysterious substance known as “Fumium”. It’s a dated but effective approach that works in a game not particularly suited to conventional cinematics – though I wish there was a little more world-building to flesh out events beyond the tower.
Although many games in this sub-genre – from 1985’s The Bard’s Tale to 2017’s StarCrawlers – shift into turn-based combat when you encounter a foe, Vaporum uses the real-time approach first pioneered by 1987’s Dungeon Master and almost perfected by 2012’s Legend of Grimrock. Unlike many of its predecessors – and one of the reasons it received multiple console ports – is that is Vaporum is not “party-based” and doesn’t rely extensively on an emulated mouse cursor in combat.
You control a lumbering exoskeleton rig – a sensation not dissimilar to Delta in BioShock 2 – with four starting classes to pick from. These range from pure offence to pure defence, with a few unique perks and 10 gear slots that can be configured without restrictions. There are two offensive slots that can either handle one-handed maces, blades, or pistols combined with a shield, or a single but powerful two-handed weapon. You unlock up to four “gadget” slots that provide elemental damage or support abilities akin to spells, and there are four armour slots to mix and match attribute-boosting gear.
Fumium gained from destroyed enemies goes towards increasing your rig level, unlocking circuits to invest in a dozen linear skill trees that cover weapon types, energy generation for gadgets, elemental damage and resistance, and general survivability. Each point invested provides a useful but incremental upgrade, while the third level provides a minor perk, and the fifth a choice between two major perks.
On the whole, it’s a versatile and adaptable system that replaces multiple less-specialised party members. It also feels reasonably balanced given you can only max out 3 or 4 skill trees in a single playthrough. You could prioritise damage output to quickly remove threats; turn yourself into a physical and elementally resistant tank that reflects back a huge portion of damage; or pick a middle ground.
Whatever your choice, exploration, puzzling, and indeed the combat all hinge on understanding and navigating the grid-like environment, rather than simply increasing your level and gear quality – a design many seem to ignore when you consider the number of videos with players retreating into a corner to just trade blows with enemies.
Vaporum can look and sound great despite its relative simplicity. The throbbing, clanking, and hissing industrial-steampunk setting is a perfect match for the artificial grid-based world. That said, Vaporum is at its most boring when you’re plodding down claustrophobic corridors or backtracking to a locked door, moving past hundreds of near-identically-textured walls and floors.
You move block by block in any direction relative to your view, which you can swing 90 degrees at a time. Free-look is great to scan for nefariously-hidden switches and objects, and you’ll engage in some light inventory management and menu-ing to use key items.
Thankfully, what it lacks in fluidity, it makes up for with purpose.
When you’re forced to move quickly to hit switches, dodge floor traps, or engage in combat with multiple foes, you’ll come to appreciate the convoluted but engaging movement system that forces you to be actively aware of your position in grid space.
There are times you need to dash between multiple switches by picking the most effective route. Other times you’ll be dashing between safe spots to avoid fireballs or pit traps. Far too much time is spent shifting around large boxes around to open a path. No matter what you’re doing,
When it comes to secret hunting, the predictable and repetitive grid-like nature of the environment is both a blessing and a curse. A quick look at the map often reveals blank spaces that hide a secret room but opening them can mean hunting for the tiniest differences in a common texture. It’s worth the effort though, as powerful gear, consumables that permanently increase your basic attributes, rare upgrade circuits, and even revealing documents are common rewards.
Battling on a grid can feel a bit limited at first and, so long as you’re up against a single enemy and have a 2-by-2 grid space, it’s possible to simply shuffle around them and get in free hits as they transition or reorient. Vaporum attempts to spice things up by giving some enemies projectile attacks, quick strafes, area-of-effect attacks, knock-back attacks, and sideswipes, but one-on-one battles are always survivable if you’re patient.
In contrast, group battles – especially those with hazards thrown in – will quickly tax your powers of observation, planning, adaptability, and reflexes. Vaporum is perhaps too fond of locking you in rooms, resulting in combat that feels like an awkward dance as you avoid being boxed in, try not to strafe into a hazard or AoE attack, dodge crisscrossing projectiles (or lead enemies into them), clear space to trigger a repair kit, and line up priority targets.
It’s often chaotic and unpredictable but if you keep a clear head and have a decent sense of spatial awareness, it can be a lot of fun and you’ll often come out on top.
So, six years on from launch, and 36 years since Dungeon Master introduced real-time combat to the formula, Vaporum is an interesting mix of old designs with more modern sensibilities. The PC version feels most intuitive to play but the console ports are great, irrespective of which platform/s you own.
I strongly recommend it for dungeon-crawler and RPG fans, though I’d hazard a guess the audience will always be niche. That said, if you can wrap your brain around the grid-based structure, Vaporum provides a weirdly compelling mix of methodical exploration and secret hunting, plenty of mentally taxing spatial puzzles, and high-intensity combat that requires you simultaneously plan and react.
Initial reviews for Terminator: Resistance from traditional media were broadly negative but, within a few hours of launch, positive user reviews emerged. It didn’t take long before comment sections, Reddit threads, and several YouTube channels were full of positive sentiment – ranging from outright praise to cautious recommendations. As someone with a fondness for janky, mid-tier games that would never score higher than a seven, this piqued my interest.
Perhaps as a testament to its underdog popularity, it took a long time for Terminator: Resistance to hit a price point I deemed suitable for a low-risk purchase. I eventually picked up the Xbox One version to play on an Xbox Series S – the release day experience, I guess? – and while I don’t begrudge my purchase, I found it a staggeringly middling experience elevated by one standout element.
The storytelling is dated but it adheres to the canon
Although the storytelling feels last, last-gen, one of Terminator: Resistance’s unexpected strengths is its strict adherence to the canon of the original timeline from the first two Terminator films. The date Skynet acquired sentience; Judgement Day; the formation of the human resistance; the emergence of Terminator Infiltrator models; the Time Displacement Equipment; the endless cycle of diverging futures – all these plot threads are accounted for a worked into its narrative.
I had assumed Terminator: Resistance was going to avoid messing with canon by telling a stand-alone story set during the Future War but, by the midpoint of a 13-hour casual playthrough, it became clear Teyon developed it as a prologue to the films. John Conner makes an appearance (and Kyle Reese in the Annihilation Line expansion), there are references to other important figures in dialogue, and the protagonist – Jacob Rivers – participates in significant events that lead into the opening of both 1984’s The Terminator and 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
The story itself is fine, with a few highlights whenever the game ditches the open-zone approach for more linear set-piece-style sequences, but the entire middle portion drags – especially if you’re tackling side missions. The tightly controlled opening sees Rivers saved from a Skynet ambush by a suspiciously knowledgeable stranger, who guides him towards a ragtag group of survivors that – after a few hours of hunting for clues – finally put him in contact with the local resistance. If you can tolerate the assortment of clichéd character archetypes, the opening provides several tense set pieces and some rapid relationship-building.
The primary missions see you search through abandoned resistance outposts, sneak through a Skynet-controlled hospital to free some captured resistance soldiers, come face to face with the Terminator Infiltrator that has been tracking Rivers, take down an HK-Tank, and storm the central core. The more open zones offer no shortage of rudimentary fetch quests to raise the trust level of the civilian survivors that, in turn, reveal more of their backstory and the current state of the world.
It’s a dated but familiar structure, however, the dialogue- and choice-driven role-playing elements feel half-baked. Regardless of the choices you make, or whether you complete or ignore side missions, 90% of the experience plays out in exactly the same way. There’s always an easy alternative as to why events can still occur as the central narrative and ending sequence is beholden to the first two Terminator movies.
The longer you play, the more obvious it is that the civilian survivors are irrelevant to the overarching plot – yet account for the bulk of the role-playing moments. Any significant changes to their fate are mostly relegated to a narrated montage, while the system feels so transparent that it’s easy to get the “best” ending. When in doubt, be nice and always follow the stranger’s advice.
Ultimately, they felt like an excuse to add “depth” to an incredibly basic choice-and-consequence system and the in-game impact is minimal. Two optional survivors you can save during the prologue just hang around in corners doing nothing. Completing a mission to find a puppy or chalk for the young survivor Patrick leads to a few visual changes in the shelter, but primarily serves to notch up the trust meter of his sister Jennifer. The same logic applies to the doctor, Erin, and mechanic, Ryan – with higher trust levels from completing side missions making it easier to influence their fate leading into the finale.
Of course, no RPG is complete without romance options and both Jessica and resistance leader Baron fall neatly into the “damaged woman looking for a strong man” archetype. Your trust meter is also your ticket to potential romance – with one or both of them, Terminator: Resistance doesn’t judge. If you’re foolish enough to select the dialogue options with a heart next to it, you’ll be treated to some spectacularly bad first-person sex scenes – featuring music and moaning straight out of vintage pornography – serving as a reminder that fade-to-black is always the right choice in video games.
A bit of this, a bit of that, all of it average
So I’ve had a dig at the storytelling and limited choice-driven outcomes, but it’s the traditional gameplay mechanics that make and eventually break Terminator: Resistance. The best way to describe it is a scaled-back Fallout 4 set in the Terminator universe.
It’s no open world but you explore smaller open zones sequentially as the story plays out and the situation evolves. You’ll interact with minor characters and even fight alongside small groups of resistance soldiers – typically impervious to harm until the plot decides otherwise. It features similarly janky shooting that never feels as responsive or precise as a dedicated FPS, at odds with the ability to hit weak spots to inflict critical damage. It’s competent enough – and maybe better when using a mouse and keyboard – but the focus is clearly on upgrading Rivers’ abilities and arsenal to produce bigger damage numbers.
I feel part of that initial post-launch positivity has a lot to do with the opening hours. You’re stuck with an assortment of conventional human firearms that are fine for spider scouts and drones, but larger robots force you to get an angle on their weakspots to do significant damage. Although encounters are rare and heavily scripted at first, the hulking Series-800 Terminators are invulnerable to standard firearms and need to be stealthed past or, if you’re flush with crafting resources, pipe-bombed.
If you up the default difficulty a notch to make all mistakes potentially fatal, the opening hours force you to explore the semi-open environments carefully, use the rudimentary stealth system to get a good angle before attacking, engage in hit-and-run tactics against groups of foes, and scavenge continuously to craft explosives and healing items. It feels like the kind battle resistance fighter would be waging and the Terminators prove a particularly terrifying enemy that, as a bonus, requires no complex AI. Once detected, they march doggedly towards you at a brisk yet unhurried pace, their red eyes and plasma shots emerging from the distant gloom.
Of course, Terminator: Resistance has RPG-lite mechanics integrated into the gameplay too, so you’re constantly earning XP towards new levels and investing skill points into three branching but straightforward tech-trees (Combat, Science, and Survival). There are some powerful abilities at the end of each branch – think health regeneration or the ability to use Terminator weapons – but most are just incremental upgrades to damage done with weapons and explosives, increased toughness, more effective stealth, and improved efficiency when crafting, lockpicking, and hacking.
In theory, this gives you some control over your character build but it doesn’t pan out that way. Firstly, skill upgrades are level-gated so you can’t super-specialise early on. Secondly, while you can prioritise your point distribution within these level brackets, there’s more than enough XP to unlock all but one or two skills by the finale. You become a powerful all-rounder irrespective of your preferences.
Another unbalanced mechanic is the ability to upgrade plasma weapons by creating a sequence of three circuits, which offer buffs like increased damage, clip size, and fire rate. They come in different rarities, and the connector types you need to line up is randomised, but you can eventually loot or buy dozens of them, letting you tear through many Terminator types with ease by the mid-game.
If I wanted to be harsh, I’d describe Terminator: Resistance’s mechanics as wide as an ocean but deep as a puddle. However, that relative simplicity in tandem with the short runtime work in its favour. Although the mid-game drags on for too long and returns you to the same regions too often, it remains a more-ish experience. Every outing means XP for new skills, access to new weapons, and a few new upgrades.
The importance of looking the part
So far, so six out of ten – but Terminator: Resistance has a trump card.
Even accounting for the increased resolution and texture quality offered on PC, Terminator: Resistance is not a technically impressive or beautiful game – but it does have some style. I earlier compared it to a scaled-back Fallout 4 and that holds true for the visuals. The environments look dated and lack fine geometric details but the overblown volumetric lighting and depth-of-field are used to create an oppressive atmosphere and mask many limitations, like distant scenery.
Although missions set during the day can look flat and washed out, most of your excursions are after nightfall when the world is drenched in shades of cold blue, lit by the harsh glare of fires, piercing spotlights, neon plasma colours, and glowing Terminator eyes.
Character models are not particularly well-animated or expressive, but humans look suitably detailed and, most importantly, a lot of attention has been placed on recreating the iconic Series-800 Terminators, other recognisable machines like the HK-Aerial and HK-Tank, and the Resistance weapons.
The soundtrack – unfortunately not available officially – is the true star of Terminator: Resistance. It feels like a diverse original score, not just a reworking of Brad Fiedel’s iconic themes, and could have been a perfect fit for the 1984 original or the sequel. It’s one part electronic rock, one part marching band drum beat, one part moody synthwave, and consistently incredible – well, aside from during the aforementioned sex scenes.
It elevates almost every moment, regardless of whether you’re skulking through ruins hiding from the spotlight of an HK-Aerial; circling around the world’s least competent HK-Tank in an otherwise dull boss fight; or charging the defences around Skynet’s Time Displacement Equipment with a reprogrammed HK-Tank, dozens of resistance fighters, and neon plasma bursts crisscrossing overhead.
Style over substance?
Wrapping up, I can now appreciate how Terminator: Resistance has cultivated a modest but vocal fanbase, especially among fans of the original timeline movies. Hell, I’m even tempted to pick up the PC version at some point – though damn you Teyon for making that a requirement to play the Annihilation Line expansion.
Terminator: Resistance reaffirmed my belief the audiovisual experience can’t carry a game, but it sure can elevate it. Sadly, in this case, it’s from a middling six-out-of-ten game to a mildly entertaining seven-out-of-ten – the sort of game that’ll always find an appreciative fanbase that might keep it popular enough to warrant a better sequel at some point.
Between its adherence to events in the original timeline, neon-soaked colour palette, and satisfyingly authentic soundtrack, it’s by far the best Terminator game – or at least the best FPS Terminator game if you’ve got a soft spot for the 8- and 16-bit crossover titles. However, if you’ve got no nostalgic hook or limited playtime that you’d rather fill with only quality titles, you can easily give it a skip.
When I returned to The Riftbreaker to tackle the new Metal Terror DLC, the experience was both familiar and refreshing. I enjoyed the initial release on console, though the gamepad support needed work and the campaign felt padded out by lengthy research times.
Thankfully, Metal Terror is a more compact and cohesive experience that entertained me but also reminded me why I stopped playing. An hour each night between other games quickly turned into nightly sessions, and then entire weekend mornings disappeared. The Riftbreaker’s compelling blend of base-building, juggling resource allocation, tower defence elements, and twin-stick combat make for a more-ish experience.
A competing coloniser?
The Metal Terror DLC can be accessed fairly early in the campaign after you’ve built a few core structures – namely the Rift Station Foundation, Orbital Scanner, and Alien Research Lab – and undertaken at least two reconnaissance missions.
A meteor comes hurtling past your HQ – a common enough sight in the game – but this time Mr Riggs informs Ashley it was not following a natural trajectory from the nearby asteroid belt. After studying the unusual metallic composition of the debris, a scan for similar deposits reveal a new region on Galatea 37 that looks nothing like you’ve seen before.
Now while The Riftbreaker has an interesting premise, tons of dialogue between Ashley and Mr Riggs, and a never-ending codex, storytelling was never a strong point. The same holds true for the Metal Terror DLC, but the shorter, focused string of missions, with several instantaneous research rewards, make for much better pacing.
An early encounter with biomechanical lifeforms and the ruins of an alien starship kicks off a back-and-forth quest to discover the fate of another colonisation gone awry. At first, it seems you may just be dealing with the remnants of an expedition but it soon becomes apparent they may still have a presence in orbit and control over parts of the planet. The mini-narrative does its job of bouncing you between locations and escalating sieges, but also fits nicely with the existing themes of reckless colonisation.
Less waiting about and better base locations
For returning players, you can consider the Metal Terror DLC a chance to unlock some situationally useful new structures, a few new weapons and gear, and a new branch on the Alien research tree. For newcomers, or those starting a new run for the DLC, it’s compact enough that it doesn’t interfere with the flow of the main campaign. It also gives you something more interesting to do while waiting on major research projects.
The mission flow is similar to that of the core game: you arrive in a new location, scout the terrain, investigate an important location, and typically establish a fortified outpost to hold out against a new roster of particularly dangerous foes – dubbed “exo-morphs”. The exo-morphs fill the same basic functions as Galatea 37’s insane flora and fauna, but there are new complications that make outpost defence more challenging and force you to rethink your layout.
As an example, swarms of metallic dragonflies function as basic rushers, but they can fly over terrain and attack from any angle. Rolling cube-like forms are easy to kite and destroy on foot but they explode on contact with walls, making it essential to have multiple layers of defence to avoid a sudden breach. The biggest foes are lumbering bipedal mechs that combine devastating close-range attacks with an artillery-like plasma launcher. Of course, there are some new and weird, non-hostile flora and fauna to encounter.
To make matter worse, events escalate quickly across the Metal-Terror mini-campaign so you’ll be fighting large hordes early on. The upside is that most locations you need to secure are far more forgiving in their layout, with more natural chokepoints and a higher density of basic resources – think carbonium, ironiom, and cobalt – within a defensible perimeter. Sure, it’s beneficial to have invested some research into defensive structures but sieges are never impossible, especially as the mission research rewards are primarily focused on defence and power generation.
The power of Morphium
Introduced quickly in the first new region you visit, “Morphium” liquid is found in pools around the metallic biome and is used to power unique structures. In the opening missions, you’ll first run pipes to existing Morphium towers to clear a path into alien ruins, but those soon become a part of your arsenal. These provide an effective area-of-denial tower that modifies the surrounding terrain – exceptional against the aforementioned rolling cubes – and they only require piped Morphium to function. Similarly, the Morphium powerplant, especially once upgraded to level-3, is highly efficient given the low construction cost and minimal Morphium consumption cost.
These structures are particularly useful when quickly establishing, powering, and defending an outpost in the metallic biome, as all you need to find is a pool of Morphium. That said, there are new layout challenges as the aboveground piping system is far less efficient than simply dropping energy nodes everywhere (which can connect beneath structures).
More of the same but still compelling
If you’ve been playing The Riftbreaker frequently since launch, the Metal Terror DLC might feel a little light on new structures, gear, or game-changing technologies. The narrative detour is entertaining enough and expands on the universe (possibly providing a sequel hook), and slightly alters the existing end-game scenario depending on your final choice. For new players, it’s smartly integrated and feels like a natural part of the overarching questline.
What I appreciated just as much – and this is a free update for all players now – is the ongoing quality-of-life updates. Make no mistake, building defences and running power nodes while under pressure is still tough on a gamepad, but it’s easier now with smarter automatic placement and default behaviours. There are also updates like placing new turrets on top of your existing defence structures (with an automatic refund for the original structure), and the ability to toggle the selection box size for quick repairs or mass upgrades.
If you’ve not returned to The Riftbreaker in a while, the Metal Terror DLC is a cheap and entertaining excuse to lose a few more weeks to its compelling gameplay loop. If you’ve never tried The Riftbreaker, consider this a reminder it’s a lot of fun, well-priced, and still part of the Xbox Game Pass service on both PC and Xbox Series consoles.
At first glance, you might think The Riftbreaker – developed and published by EXOR Studios – is a simple hybrid of twin-stick shooter and base-building/tower-defence game. To an extent, that’s true, and a skilled player could always draw aggro away from their base and limit the need for extensive defensive structures. However, The Riftbreaker also packs unexpected depth, with hundreds of research options, dozens of building and player upgrades, and the ever-present need to expand and protect resource-generating operations. The Riftbreaker provides plenty of entertainment in short-bursts but can also feel unforgiving and tedious when you mess up and need to recover.
Story
The narrative, outside of a flashy opening cutscene, is minimal and stretched thinly over hours of playtime. You take control of captain Ashley Nowak, a “Riftbreaker” – think scientist/commando hybrid – in an AI-powered mecha-Suit called “Mr. Riggs” as they emerge from a one-way jump to the lush world of Galatea 37. Earth is barely liveable, and humans are rift-jumping to distant planets to find resources and establish new colonies. She’s tasked with securing a foothold and building a massive “Rift Station” that will allow two-way travel between Earth and Galatea 37. Of course, things are never easy, and the native species are not happy with the intrusion. Aside from infrequent banter between Ashley and Mr. Riggs, which fleshes out Ashley’s ideologies and past a little more, this overarching objective and the need for rare resources to construct the Rift Station is all the context you’ll get to push forward.
Galatea 37 is a massive, procedurally-generated world full of potential resources and danger – from both the environment and local lifeforms. Early on, you’ll gain the ability to perform short-range jumps to scout and set up new outposts, but you always need to maintain your starting HQ.
Gameplay
Controlling Ashley in her mecha-suit is a breeze, with a familiar twin-stick movement and aiming setup. This makes early exploration an enjoyable foray into the unknown, but you’ll eventually have to decide on the location of your HQ and engage with the base-building, resource-generation, and horde-defence mechanics. The world is filled with finite resource pockets – some immediately apparent, several uncovered through research and scanning – and the continuous generation of these resources is essential to making progress. Carbonium is your basic building material used to craft new structures and gear. Ironium is needed for defensive structures and, most importantly, ammunition production. Cobalt, Palladium, Titanium, and Uranium are rare resources needed for advanced structures, crafting designs, and – in huge amounts – your ultimate goal, the Rift Station. Liquid resources, like water and magma, are essential to the functioning of advanced structures, which can, in turn, produce artificial resources, like coolant and plasma, for even more advanced structures.
All the basic, advanced, and defensive structures you can build require considerable power, which can be produced using solar panels and wind turbines (susceptible to environmental conditions), Carbonium powerplants, biomass generators, geothermal power, and even nuclear reactors. Of course, the ability to build advanced base structures, upgrade them for greater efficiency, or craft and equip the multitude of weapon and mech-suit upgrades, requires researching your way through three massive, multi-tier technology trees. Research speed becomes a major obstacle to progress and can feel painfully slow at times – unless you can support multiple power-guzzling Communication Hubs. Naturally, all these structures require space, and making more space means your walls and defensive network is spread thinner (an HQ location with some natural barriers is a must). You’ll quickly discover the need to run power nodes to distant resource-producing outposts, which are then more vulnerable to horde attacks. You could surround them with walls and powerful, specialised turrets but that means more power, AI cores, and resource-hungry ammunition factories.
So many structures and so little space! Thankfully, most structures can be upgraded to make them more efficient, but you’ll still need a sizeable base, with a strong defensive perimeter, packing dozens of power-producing structures, refining and beneficiating resources for advanced structures to complete the Rift Station.
If this is all starting to sound overwhelming, it can be. Although not as granular or deep as games like Factorio or Satisfactory, I can’t help but feel The Riftbreaker has been untruthful in its marketing campaign. Resource production and beneficiation, coupled with power generation, underpin everything you do. As a result, it’s possible to get it very wrong and find yourself struggling to recover. As an example, an early push for automated Repair Towers seemed like a great idea, until I realised they were chewing through my resources faster than I could replace destroyed structures and defences, forcing me to run about manually disabling them. This frequent need to repair and upgrade structures also highlighted the variable gamepad support. Exploration, combat, and menu navigation are solid with a gamepad, but the precision placement of structures or trying to mass select them for upgrades is problematic (and nigh-impossible under pressure). The base building feels more intuitive using a mouse and keyboard, and this is an option for console players if they have the hardware.
Having hopefully conveyed the complexity of resource production, construction, and research, you’ll be relieved to know exploration and twin-stick combat is far simpler and instantly gratifying. Movement and shooting feel great, making it easy to kite hordes, dash out the way of larger creatures, and thin the alien ranks before they break upon your walls. The mecha-suit can handle three swappable weapons per arm – ranging from swords to chain guns, flamethrowers to rocket launchers – which can be upgraded to higher tiers or modded for extra elemental damage. There are passive equipment slots and active abilities to enhance your combat skills and survivability, all of which can be crafted with the right research and sufficient resources. If you’re after a more hands-on approach to base defence, you can prioritise the weapon technology tree and create a walking tank. Many of the upgrades in the alien technology tree become essential once you’ve constructed the Orbital Scanner and begin away-missions to secure rare resources in hostile environments (think heat, radiation, volcanism, and corrosive clouds). Given the ceaseless demands of your primary base, these away-missions to explore and establish distant outposts are paradoxically stressful and relaxing.
So many things to research, so few communication Hubs, and constant power shortages… Waiting on research feels like an excuse to go out and explore more, but there’s only so much entertainment to be gleaned from clearing respawning alien mobs from the local area for upwards of 15-minutes at a time.
When the environment isn’t trying to kill you – and there is an inordinate number of natural phenomena on Galatea 37, from calm moon phases to damaging hailstorms – it’s the myriad of alien species. These range from basic Zerg-style cannon fodder to lumbering organic artillery and – sticking with the StarCraft analogies – seemingly advanced, cloaked and bladed warriors. Each environment – lush jungle, scorched desert, icy tundra, or volcanic waste – has several unique lifeforms (not all hostile) but they fill similar roles when it comes to assaulting you or your base. Despite Ashley’s apparent desire to study and conserve Galatea 37’s original environment, frequent hordes and respawning alien clusters ensure she butchers hundreds of them on any given day. Combat is less stressful than resource production and base management to be sure, but it’s frequent enough that you’re rarely able to explore for more than a minute without shooting something. On the upside, it’s a great way to hoover up biomass, uncover hidden resources using a scanner, find new species for the alien technology tree, and several unique power or gear designs.
Presentation
When it comes to the presentation, The Riftbreaker looks and sound great for most of the experience. The world feels ridiculously detailed, vibrant, and packed with moving and reactive parts – think foliage, liquid pools, and destructible terrain. Firefights against large hordes in forests are a particular highlight, with projectiles tearing through vegetation, while explosions send shockwaves through trees and grass. That said, it can be easy to lose track of Ashley’s mecha-suit in busier scenes. The Riftbreaker can buckle during massive horde attacks but proved scalable on PC and even performed well on the budget Xbox Series S, about 95% of the time. The audio is also a highlight, with loud and impactful combat and a catchy soundtrack that starts serenely before escalating based on nearby threats. With only two voiced characters, Ashely and Mr. Riggs have plenty of exchanges, often cheesy and overwrought. Thankfully, the voice-acting is not too bad and you don’t hear it all that often.
The Riftbreaker’s environments are vibrant, detailed, and reactive but it’s easy to get lost in the visual chaos. Large hordes can drag down the framerate on PC and console, but the experience was smooth for the bulk of my playtime.
Notable issues
A lot is going on in The Riftbreaker at any given moment and you’re rarely given any downtime (even after delving into the heavily customisable difficulty settings). This ensures the world of Galatea 37 is less a mysterious space to explore, and more of a pretty canvas on which to build and murder things. On one hand, the procedural generation ensures each new location – be that a permanent outpost or once-off scouting mission – can throw up new challenges and sights. On the other hand, I wish there was a little more structure to the narrative and lore, rather than needing to read hundreds of journal entries. Maybe some handcrafted scenarios to test your construction and combat skills, as in the They Are Billions campaign. Other irritations include the aforementioned gamepad support and the need to manually upgrade structures once you’ve researched new tiers (a thousand wall segments being a prime example).
Conclusions
Considering each mechanic in isolation, The Riftbreaker is packed with interesting systems but the learning curve, balance, and pacing often feel off. It’s a game in which you’re constantly hitting roadblocks – some of which present an engaging challenge, while others simply require you to sit around until you have enough resources or research completes. It’s possible to find yourself desperately reconfiguring your base to balance power supply, resource production, and resource consumption, while constantly stopping to fend off hordes and likely racking up more damages. There is an audience for this sort of challenge and, despite pointing out these challenges, I could not stop playing. However, I think there’s an even larger audience who’ll pick up The Riftbreaker looking for a twin-stick shooter with streamlined base-building elements, only to find themselves bogged down in base micromanagement and making little progress. That said, The Riftbreaker can be a ton of stressful fun – just so long as you know what you’re getting into.
Pros:
Fluid and responsive twin-stick shooting
Tons of research, buildings, gear, and upgrades to unlock
A lengthy, involved campaign across a procedurally-generated world
Visually stunning with decent performance on PC and Xbox Series consoles
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