If you can look past some of the rough edges, The Technomancer is a really solid action RPG in a great setting.
The Technomancer is actually a sequel to a little known role playing game called Mars: War Logs by the same small French development studio Spiders. They have been specializing in RPGs for quite a few years now, nearly always pretty low budget, and of varying quality. I always thought Mars : War Logs was their best game, until I played this. It still has it's problems but if the phrase "diamond in the rough" ever applied to a game, this one is it for me.
Set on Mars in the distant future you play the role of Zachariah Mancer. He is a Technomancer, rare people born with the talent to control and throw around lightning. In this time Mars is ruled by large cities known as corporations that have been fighting each other for many years to the point where contact with earth, as well as certain industry and knowledge of technology have been lost over time. Technomancers are at the forefront of the fighting, Zachariah being a newly ordained Technomancer has been put into the Abundance army who have been in a long war with the corporation Hope. However things in the war are not the only thing he has to worry about as Abundance is slowly becoming a paranoid military state who don't trust Technomancers, even their own...
The story is solid enough though at the start I believe it could have been put across a lot better. A lot of information isn't always too clear about what is going on as there isn't always enough exposition or character development compared with other games of the genre. It doesn't help that near the start of the game I got a cutscene with a character I'd never met acting like we had then two hours later stumbled on the scene I was meant to see first. After a certain point in the game however things open up quite a lot and you get to learn more about both Mars and your companions, both of which I found really pretty interesting, if anything I wanted more information on the game world Spiders has created. The corporations and Technomancers are pretty cool ideas in themselves but having a faction of humans suffering from mutations due to Mars's radiation as well as plant and animal life originally brought from Earth that have mutated into dangerous looking monsters makes the planet an interesting place. You will however have to dig a lot of information about these things as well as other characters by talking to characters to get the most out of it but I think it's worth it.
Zachariah's journey will see him gain companions that both fight with him and help in other ways. These companions much like many western role playing games have their own story quests for you to complete by getting to know them. These quests are some of the best in the game as some of them intertwine with each other and all of them have a place in the world Spiders created either personally or politically. It is a shame the main quests aren't as well thought out to be honest.
In combat you have several companions but you only actually fight using Zachariah with two companions as back up controlled by the AI. I have seen many reviews complain about the combat but you know what? it's pretty solid though not great. You have three different combat styles to choose from which you can swap between at will in battle:
- The Warrior - uses a two handed staff for decent damage, a good dodge with area attacks.
- The Rogue - uses a knife and pistol, the least damage but good range, poison attacks and a great dodge.
- The Guardian - uses a mace and shield for high damage and blocking attacks but awful dodge.
Each style has it's strengths depending on what enemies you fight though it is possible to use just the one you're most comfortable with. Combat in this game can be pretty tough if you just mash attack over and over, enemies will dodge your strikes and deal punishing damage while attacking in groups. If you are the kind of player that enjoys more tactical fighting like dodging, using disrupting attacks to stagger enemies then the combat should not be a problem. Each fighting style has skill trees that you can slowly unlock as Zachariah levels up allowing you to customize your style with special attacks and abilities. Every weapon and piece of armour you get can also be customized by crafting to give them boosts in certain directions and all this equipment can also be sorted out for all your companions though you have no control over their level ups and abilities.
Early in the game though, especially in chapter one there is a steep learning curve. This chapter was badly designed in my opinion giving too much too fast, I ended up getting beaten up by large gangs before I had any companions or a handle on crafting gear which was quite frustrating. It really starts to bloom past that chapter though with new areas and quests. The problem is most of these quests lead you to the same areas over and over, the amount of backtracking you do in maybe 10 game maps is ridiculous over 40 hours, especially without a fast travel option. I suspect Spiders budget just wouldn't stretch any further which is a real shame as the cyberpunk Mars dystopia they created is really interesting if only we could see more of it.
The visuals to the game will not impress but they aren't that bad either, they feel a bit like a PlayStation 3 game that has been ported over to the PlayStation 4, my biggest gripe is that faces in conversations display no emotion at all, like everyone on Mars has extreme Botox. It runs relatively smoothly but there are still some judders and frame skips here and there which make me feel their game engine "silk" has been named ironically. The art style is pretty good though, some really nice city, character, clothing and monster designs but we need to see more of it. The voice acting is a mixed bag, I rather liked most of it but then I am mainly comparing it with Spiders last game Bound by Flame which had some of the worst voice acting I can remember in a game. Ever. So this is a hundred times better. The soundtrack is excellent however, composed by the same man who did Remember Me's soundtrack for those that played it.
In conclusion I think The Technomancer is a hard game to quantify, it's a game that is simply better than the sum of it's parts. It has a lot of flaws that hold it back from being truly amazing yet it is fun, with an original setting and some unique ideas. If you don't mind some low budget presentation and want to try something a little different from a small relatively unknown developer I highly recommend giving The Technomancer a try.
+ The Mars setting is great.
+ Companion quests are excellent, fit with the world.
+ Art and music are great.
- Main story isn't told too well.
- Chapter one is not designed very well.
- Insane amount of backtracking, no fast travel.
- Faces have almost no expression.
The Technomancer is actually a sequel to a little known role playing game called Mars: War Logs by the same small French development studio Spiders. They have been specializing in RPGs for quite a few years now, nearly always pretty low budget, and of varying quality. I always thought Mars : War Logs was their best game, until I played this. It still has it's problems but if the phrase "diamond in the rough" ever applied to a game, this one is it for me.
Set on Mars in the distant future you play the role of Zachariah Mancer. He is a Technomancer, rare people born with the talent to control and throw around lightning. In this time Mars is ruled by large cities known as corporations that have been fighting each other for many years to the point where contact with earth, as well as certain industry and knowledge of technology have been lost over time. Technomancers are at the forefront of the fighting, Zachariah being a newly ordained Technomancer has been put into the Abundance army who have been in a long war with the corporation Hope. However things in the war are not the only thing he has to worry about as Abundance is slowly becoming a paranoid military state who don't trust Technomancers, even their own...
The story is solid enough though at the start I believe it could have been put across a lot better. A lot of information isn't always too clear about what is going on as there isn't always enough exposition or character development compared with other games of the genre. It doesn't help that near the start of the game I got a cutscene with a character I'd never met acting like we had then two hours later stumbled on the scene I was meant to see first. After a certain point in the game however things open up quite a lot and you get to learn more about both Mars and your companions, both of which I found really pretty interesting, if anything I wanted more information on the game world Spiders has created. The corporations and Technomancers are pretty cool ideas in themselves but having a faction of humans suffering from mutations due to Mars's radiation as well as plant and animal life originally brought from Earth that have mutated into dangerous looking monsters makes the planet an interesting place. You will however have to dig a lot of information about these things as well as other characters by talking to characters to get the most out of it but I think it's worth it.
Zachariah's journey will see him gain companions that both fight with him and help in other ways. These companions much like many western role playing games have their own story quests for you to complete by getting to know them. These quests are some of the best in the game as some of them intertwine with each other and all of them have a place in the world Spiders created either personally or politically. It is a shame the main quests aren't as well thought out to be honest.
In combat you have several companions but you only actually fight using Zachariah with two companions as back up controlled by the AI. I have seen many reviews complain about the combat but you know what? it's pretty solid though not great. You have three different combat styles to choose from which you can swap between at will in battle:
- The Warrior - uses a two handed staff for decent damage, a good dodge with area attacks.
- The Rogue - uses a knife and pistol, the least damage but good range, poison attacks and a great dodge.
- The Guardian - uses a mace and shield for high damage and blocking attacks but awful dodge.
Each style has it's strengths depending on what enemies you fight though it is possible to use just the one you're most comfortable with. Combat in this game can be pretty tough if you just mash attack over and over, enemies will dodge your strikes and deal punishing damage while attacking in groups. If you are the kind of player that enjoys more tactical fighting like dodging, using disrupting attacks to stagger enemies then the combat should not be a problem. Each fighting style has skill trees that you can slowly unlock as Zachariah levels up allowing you to customize your style with special attacks and abilities. Every weapon and piece of armour you get can also be customized by crafting to give them boosts in certain directions and all this equipment can also be sorted out for all your companions though you have no control over their level ups and abilities.
Early in the game though, especially in chapter one there is a steep learning curve. This chapter was badly designed in my opinion giving too much too fast, I ended up getting beaten up by large gangs before I had any companions or a handle on crafting gear which was quite frustrating. It really starts to bloom past that chapter though with new areas and quests. The problem is most of these quests lead you to the same areas over and over, the amount of backtracking you do in maybe 10 game maps is ridiculous over 40 hours, especially without a fast travel option. I suspect Spiders budget just wouldn't stretch any further which is a real shame as the cyberpunk Mars dystopia they created is really interesting if only we could see more of it.
The visuals to the game will not impress but they aren't that bad either, they feel a bit like a PlayStation 3 game that has been ported over to the PlayStation 4, my biggest gripe is that faces in conversations display no emotion at all, like everyone on Mars has extreme Botox. It runs relatively smoothly but there are still some judders and frame skips here and there which make me feel their game engine "silk" has been named ironically. The art style is pretty good though, some really nice city, character, clothing and monster designs but we need to see more of it. The voice acting is a mixed bag, I rather liked most of it but then I am mainly comparing it with Spiders last game Bound by Flame which had some of the worst voice acting I can remember in a game. Ever. So this is a hundred times better. The soundtrack is excellent however, composed by the same man who did Remember Me's soundtrack for those that played it.
In conclusion I think The Technomancer is a hard game to quantify, it's a game that is simply better than the sum of it's parts. It has a lot of flaws that hold it back from being truly amazing yet it is fun, with an original setting and some unique ideas. If you don't mind some low budget presentation and want to try something a little different from a small relatively unknown developer I highly recommend giving The Technomancer a try.
+ The Mars setting is great.
+ Companion quests are excellent, fit with the world.
+ Art and music are great.
- Main story isn't told too well.
- Chapter one is not designed very well.
- Insane amount of backtracking, no fast travel.
- Faces have almost no expression.