Mars: War Logs, for xbox 360

Rating: 7.3/10; Good

Played: 2017

Worth playing for any action rpg fan, though get it on sale

Mars: War Logs is an action rpg with a 3rd person camera. Controls are fairly good, with each button on the controller being bound to a specific move (including a few open buttons that you can assign special moves or items to). Being more of a PC gamer, I have to say that this game plays better with a controller, as there is no aiming involved. The game features a pause mode, where you can choose abilities or items to use, adjust the camera, change combat mode of companions, and change your target, so there is no need for precision or twitch.

Combat is well made with a small variety of moves: attacking, guard breaking, dodging, blocking (with option to time blocks at the right moment for a free counter attack), and several items and special moves. Button mashing will get you killed; you must fight tactically and keep an eye on all opponents to know when to use each type of move, though this is much easier said than done! The basic attack serves as your main way of dealing damage, but you must alternate between attacks and guard breaks or enemies will block/evade your attacks. You also cannot hide behind blocking because enemies can guard break too. Combat is similar to games like Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning and the Fable series, though more difficult. I played through on difficulty 3 of 4 (Hard), and found the combat to be brutally difficult. I died many times and was forced to master the combat system, as well as take advantage of crafting to have the best gear I could get. I ended the game filthy rich, and barely used any items, so the hardest difficulty should not be frustrating; just use more items. I enjoyed the challenge of this game on Hard, and difficulty can be changed at any time to match your desired level of challenge.

Outside of combat is spent in fully voiced dialogue with npcs, with dialogue trees that reveal quests, allow alignment shifts, reveal background lore, start fights ,etc, like many Western rpgs. You also move around the area for a chapter (no backtracking between chapters) to find shops, quests, loot and fights, though the areas are generally small and linear. There is significant backtracking within each chapter, and enemies sometimes respawn, so you will have to fight the same battles. There is no character creation; you play as the same guy, though you can change his alignment and choose how to advance through the 3 combat trees (fighter, thief and mage). You will get enough points to max 1 tree and dabble in another, though you can divide between the trees as you see fit.

The crafting system is a highlight, being simple and effective. Enemies drop materials instead of money, and crafting is no more complex than you need 2 of X, 3 of Y, 1 of Z, all of which are looted, found or purchased. No fooling around with combining things that are needed to make other things. The story is entertaining enough, and I especially like the setting. The game is very dark and gritty, and reminds me of games like: Fallout, Stalker, Metro, Shadowrun, Doom, Mass Effec, Red Faction etc, though remember that this game does not play like any of those. Ultimately, the biggest flaw of this game is its short length; I would have loved to experience more of this setting and I hope this developer makes a sequel with more content.

Pro

• Good vs evil morality system with concrete benefits and penalties for each
• Combat vs humans is non lethal, and you have the option to finish off enemies after battle for evil points and more money
• Good story, setting, atmosphere, dialogue, voice acting
• The 3 skill trees are all useful, and rather than giving many new abilities focus on improving the base abilities you get. It is also easy to see what every point does and requires
• Additional perk points that can be spent separately from skills. Most of the perks are entirely optional and serve to make the game indirectly easier, while others boost combat
• Interesting inventory and crafting system. Weapons are simple rods that can be upgraded with a variety of handles and heads to create maces, hammers, axes and blades (and this is all visually represented). Armor can be upgraded with pauldrons, kneepads and armguards (again, with each changing the look of the armor). Different upgrades offer different stat boosts for a variety of playstyles such that no one upgrade is the best. Loot from the environment and enemies is used for upgrades, while also used to craft useful items like grenades and health/mana syringes
• Equipment can be recycled to get back some components, and it shows you what you will get before you do, so you can compare the cost of selling the item vs the parts you would get to see if it is really worth it
• Fairly good combat system with good variety of moves and pause to access ability menu. There are 2 basic types of attacks (one that does damage and one that breaks guard), and they must both be used or the enemies will predict which you will use and avoid damage. Dodge rolling and blocking are for defense with the option of timing a block perfectly to do a ripost. In addition you can throw sand to blind enemies that do not have eye protection, and use 6 different magic spells that cost time and mana. Knowing when to use each move is important, as enemy attacks hurt and stagger you (which prevents attacking)
• Status effects (stun, blind, wound) are very useful because they negate the need to use guard breaks as the enemy will no longer block or dodge. Stagger and knockdown do the same, but do not last long
• Traps, grenades and the nailgun are very powerful and useful in combat, and are balanced by costing money
• Stealth can be used to sneak past fights or to get an advantage in combat (though only specialists in the renegade tree can take full advantage)
• Can buy a variety of better weapons and armor (though you can get good weapons and armor as loot if you want to wait)
• At no point in this game will your stats be so high (from either levels or gear) that enemies become trivial. Every fight is a challenge and requires tactical use of your abilities
• Can adjust difficulty on the fly
• There are boss fights which are significantly different from regular enemies, but not different enough to be a different genre of game or making them too difficult to figure out on the first try
• Infinite inventory
• Friendly fire. Enemies can hurt each other with area attacks (though this can work against you with your companion; especially Mary)
• Lootable objects are easily seen, and shops, people and quest markers show on the map
• Simple branching storyline with 2 options, and ability to save just before the choice to experience both
• Cinematic opening of doors and ladders (can be skipped)
• The diary which recaps the story is readable and is shown as handwritten pages rather than just text, and includes pictures
• Can save anywhere (outside combat), and useful autosaves

Con

• Level design is largely linear crampt spaces (though this is understandable considering the outside is inhospitable). It is predictable where treasure is hidden and where enemies will be
• Game is fairly short and could have had a lot more; more content, more base weapon/armor types (the best weapon is a steel rod, and the best armor is leather), more damage types (there is only physical and electrical), more enemies etc.
• Camera can sometimes be difficult to use in combat (especially when an enemy is locked on), though this is partially negated by the ability to pause in battle and move the camera, change targets etc.
• Woefully inadequate companion system for combat. Cannot change their equipment, they do not level up, cannot tell them to do specific moves or move to a specific place. You can only take one, and there is very little tactics involved because you are vastly outnumbered in most fights and enemies will automatically split between you and the companion. I found the only use for them was to be in defensive stance to just hold off some enemies so I did not have to fight too many at once
• Vastly outnumbered in most fights, which makes it difficult to pull off many of the game's moves (especially when the enemies are off camera)
• You can buy soldier armor for lots of money, but it cannot be upgraded and thus is vastly inferior to other armors
• Enemies sometimes respawn (or get back up to fight again with new loot). I am not sure if finishing off enemies has any effect on this. It is annoying to fight the same fights over and over again, and infinite xp and loot is not needed in this game
• Not able to take weapons and armor from enemies
• Serious bug with Serenity the drug dealer. Talking to him kept putting me into the void and I had to reload several times
• Can craft in battle, which is unrealistic
• No ability to respec skills
• No ability to upgrade the nail gun, or get better guns (such as the rifles some enemies use)
• No head armor, and enemies do not use sand throw
• Women's cleavage graphics are particularly bad
• Animation frames of people during conversation sometimes jump wildly (as if each recorded line is linked to a certain animation, but dialogue is non linear)
• Enemies do not use grenades or traps
• Buffs (combat trance, charged weapon, energy shield) do not last very long and are pretty much useless without upgrading their duration
• Little atmosphere in town areas. Only a few npcs can be spoken to; most npcs do not even speak and just walk around
• Some atmospheric npcs have no animation and are as still as statues. This is particularly bad for the mutants in the first chapter because I thought they were corpses lying around
• Your grenades do not hurt you, which is unrealistic and does not vibe with the rest of the friendly fire
• Menu screens are not opaque, which can make them difficult to read against certain backgrounds