Fallen: A2P Protocol

[b]SHORT VERSION[/b] Short, unfinished, unbalanced, not well optimized, bugged and last but not least - abandoned (there are no more signs of life from devs at all since 2016-01-27) turn based tactic with very weak AI and a lot of weird stuff. Get it on sale for 5 bucks if you are really interested in such kind of games and don't mind to support a developer/publisher, who basically has thrown a "half baked" product out on market and disappeared after that. [b]LONG VERSION[/b] Discovered this title while in early access and went for it in October 2015 after it was officially released and got a couple of patches/updates. Now after 70 hours spent I am pretty sure that I have seen and done everything possible within this game, so for all those of you who ask yourself "should I get it or not?" I got an answer. The answer is - no, unless there is a discount like -80% or better. Now some of you may ask "hmm, but what's wrong with it? Trailer looks promising, screens are looking good... okay-okay there were some bugs, but devs are fixing it, right?" and this question is legitimate for sure. So let’s go deeper in detail: 1. The game itself is ridiculously short. It consists of ca. 12 main story missions, that’s all. Plus there are so called random encounter events, which are cycled through 4 or 5 predefined maps. Main story maps are predefined as well. The task is always the same - kill them all. In a couple of story missions you need to get to point X and pick up a data, but in order to get there you still need to kill them all. The complete walkthrough will take about 10 hours if you won't waste much time with random encounters. 2. The tactical phase is actually fun to play for a while. It plays pretty the same way like the new XCOM EU/EW. There is also a cover system, but the funny thing is that AI doesn't care about it at all - enemies are just rushing to you (no matter what weapons they have) or going in overwatch. It doesn't depend on difficulty you play - I've tested all possible difficulty settings - always the same behavior, no one takes cover. Furthermore enemies never retreat, never flank, never use medkits, never switch weapons (melee/ranged) and so on. Okay, they manage to use nades at least. But basically they are just dashing to you ignoring everything ready to die in the next turn. 3. The progressing is unbalanced. It is possible to get best available weaponry (gencorp rifles) right in the very beginning via random encounter. Once obtained you will literally r.a.p.e everyone. 4. Weapon setup is unbalanced. There are pretty many weapons and I've tried them all. Some (SMGs, flamethrowers, miniguns) are completely useless. Pistols, rifles and sniper rifles are OK. Shotguns and rocket launchers are too much overpowered. 5. The optimization is not good. The game runs not really smooth on my laptop (i7-4710HQ, 8GB RAM, GeForce GTX860M, Win7-64 Prof.) although it is far beyond the minimal requirements (2GHz Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, Intel HD 4000, Win7) 6. As for today (2015-12-05, v1.1.6) there are still minor bugs, glitches and other annoying things like steam achievements which are impossible to get. Check my reports - some of them are already solved, but latest were not even answered. I guess this game will be abandoned soon or maybe it is already. http://steamcommunity.com/app/325790/discussions/1/490125737478014134/ http://steamcommunity.com/app/325790/discussions/1/490125737478010454/ http://steamcommunity.com/app/325790/discussions/1/490125737478008483/ http://steamcommunity.com/app/325790/discussions/1/490125737478011420/ http://steamcommunity.com/app/325790/discussions/1/485622866441482029/ http://steamcommunity.com/app/325790/discussions/1/485622866441520810/ 7. I can just keep on going this way and mention tons of other stuff like: a) Mercenaries, which you can hire but not fire - the only dismiss option is to vanish them in combat. b) If you hire a merc his attributes will be spread in his skilltree randomly. However you can't see his skilltree before you hire him. If you got him and didn't like his perks selection for any reason - see 7a. c) Nothing to explore on the game map at all. d) Really confusing correlation between main and secondary stats. e) A hit/miss algorithm which is most likely broken. I experienced just too many misses with high-percentage shots like 3-4-5 misses in a row!!! with 80% to hit. On the other hand grenades will never miss, no matter what % is displayed. f) Caravan upgrades are pointless. There is no use for the most of those upgrades. g) Sometimes in random encounter missions enemies wont move at all, they will just stand there doing permanent overwatch turn after turn. Now in the conclusion I have to say that the primary idea/concept of the game isn't that bad at all. The visual art is ok, level design is ok, the story is ok, skill-tree is ok, weapon upgrade system is ok. But the whole rest construct around... it needs at least a massive polishing. It lacks some kind of deepness in this game as well. Something simple like a couple of side quests and explorable map would help a lot. I have a feeling that it was rushed in the very final stage of development. There was so much more potential inside this project, really sad to see what it became in the end. As I already said in the beginning - I can not recommend this game in its actual shape. The full price of 20$/€ is honestly a joke for this kind of content. Hovewer if you are looking for a short and unbalanced "XCOM-wannabe-clone" with incredibly dumb AI, glitches and a lot of weird things - this game is for you. PS: Dislikes are supposed to be invalid unless there is a proof about any single point in this review which is incorrect. Be aware - there are indeed fanboys denying any criticism and instantly disliking every negative review, simply because they get so much b.u.t.t.hurt by facing obvious facts. Read this thread for more information: http://steamcommunity.com/app/325790/discussions/0/485624149158912987/

So close! What went wrong? Game-breaking bugs, UI design flaws and annoyances. If it were still in Early Access, I'd definitely recommend it, with bells on, as it's clearly got *so* much potential. But apparently they're calling it finished now. I just spent a few frustrating hours confirming that it really, really isn't. If the serious bugs are fixed, the UI is given a little touch-up, the flow of gameplay is better managed and some minor attention is paid to balance, then it's definitely worth purchasing particularly for fans of XCOM et al. But if there's no significant post "release" attention then the developers have sadly left this potential classic to whither on the vine. I'm sure they have their reasons.

Such a let down, this game needs an extreme polish and bug fix. Why release something shoddy that could be great with another month or two of work? I wouldn't buy this game yet, I'd recommend waiting to see what updates / fixes are posted for it.

I watched the trailers, and the thought that went through my mind was "Awwww Yeaahhhh, post-Apocalyptic X-Com!!". I waited for a while until it was on sale, because I'm a miser like that, and I got at at 75% off. Whoooo boy, that was probably the best decision I made. Quickie run down, Do I reccomend it? No. Also Yes, but then more No. Here is the thing. The mechanics work simlar to X-Com, maybe even slightly better because instead of 2 actions each round you may be able to run, shoot, and then run, or stab someone three times, or other options. Its actually a superior action point system in my mind. The graphics while not stunning are surpisingly good too. Then come the problems. The most notable, glaring issues are all related to the characters. Whoever wrote the dialogue for this game should be imprisoned. It's seriously that bad. Most games where people complain about the quality of the story, or the quality of voice acting and writing, I look at them and go "Well, it's really not THAT bad". The only way I managed to finish this game was to stick my fingers in my ears, cover up the text on the bottom of the screen and go "LA LA LA LA I CANT HEAR YOU". The dialogue doesn't match the subtext, and both of them are not only gramatically awful, but uninteresting at best and confusing at worst. The voice actors might as well have been reading the back of a cereal box. Hell, they were probably hired on Craig's List, because their 'performance' (If i can even be allowed to refer to it as such) was flat and emotionless, not to mention the voices definitely not matching faces. And the overall story was... well 'lacking' doesn't even begin to sum it up. Possibly the worst excuse for a game in these categories that I have ever seen. Gameplay you say? Well there were a bunch of different kinds of maps I guess.... but the game started out being atrociously hard, and ended up being laughably easy, and all because of the same weapon. Grenades. The single most important weapon in the game is grenades. If you do buy this game just remember that grenades are god. Your low HP characters will be blasted apart by them early game, but then late game when they barely scratch you, don't worry; the enemies will continue throwing them at you even when you are standing right next to them and they set themselves on fire. Oh, and they take up like no space and are the most valuable things in the game. Good news, pretty much every enemy carries two of them. Grab a sniper and just pick off your enemies and grab them for easy cash. Probably don't buy this game. It was just okay enough that I finished it, but I almost always complete campaigns. You have been warned, I cannot express accurately how horrible the writing and voice acting are.

As of v0.5 (Alpha): Fallen: A2P Protocol is a turn-based strategy game with RPG elements set in post-apocalyptic world. If I would to compare it to existing games, I’d say it’s a combination of Fallout with new XCOM. Even though at the moment the game is in early alpha (not all mechanics are there, the game’s very rough around the edges, some models are missing, textures are low-res, etc), you can pretty much already see what the game will be once it’s done. If you’d enjoyed a tactical gameplay of XCOM, you’ll probably like the Fallen take on it. It offers slightly different experience than XCOM because in addition to keeping your team alive, you also have to manage your limited resource - bullets and medkits do not magically refill on missions end here, you’ll actually have to scavenge or trade to get those. The RPG element comes into play with team management - all of your caravan members have levels, stats (that are raised automatically) and skills (that you have to assign on your own). Skills are basically the way to specialize your team members into being a melee attacker, ranged assault, medic or some weird mix of all. Since stats are leveled up automatically (at least in current builds), some characters are going to be more fit for some roles. The game currently features a couple of pre-made story and side-missions. They have a pretty amusing dialogues, but a lot of things are not quite clear because of the obvious gaps in the storytelling. But that’s something that’ll come later for sure. Downsides right now: Since this is alpha, there’s a lot of placeholders and things that are very rough around the edges A lot of placeholders everywhere UI is quite dodgy in places at the moment Quite a lot of times UI does not properly communicates the stats (which is quite important for TBS in my opinion) A lot of placeholders everywhere - most of the models are same (I wasn’t joking before) Some of the textures are quite low-res and can be painful to look at in high res But all of those downsides are very much things in progress and will surely be fixed. If you can put those aside, you’ll find a pretty fun (albeit raw) turn-based strategy experience. If you think those are a bit too much for you, then wait a bit until beta. You can watch a bit more in-depth look at the game here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V39abxADtvw

This game makes me sad. It should not have been released from Early Access is the state it is in. While the Dev had made a lot of bug fixes and some UI improvements since launch, there is still a long way to go until it is a game worth spending your time and money on. As for my 1.6 hours of playtime, it has given me enough experience with the game to know that it is not worth my time to keep playing it as it is. I am willing to give it another try if more improvements are made, but as it is they may be the second game I have ever used Steam Refund on. My main problems with the game so far have been- No customizing your character. You start with Herk, add some poorly defined stats, and you can choose from 4 different coats and add a face mask or glasses to your Character. That is it for Character Customization. You will always play the man named Herk. The UI is terrible. This is still true even after the update that did make some improvements, but it is still ugly and requires more clicks than it should to get a simple task done. such as searching a location for items you know are there. Example. If I am next to an item on the ground, and I press the Hot Key to pick it up, there should be no need to confirm that yes, I really would like to pick up said item. Combat UI needs a lot of improvement. When you chose to attack, a circle showing your attack range for the equipped weapon and % to hit for anything you move the cursor over. The main problem is trying to aim past somebody to fire a long range weapon, ignore the to hit % as it is a complete lie, and more than once I am unable to use a melee attack on somebody standing right next to be because of "reasons". Caravan map needs improvement. The way to travel from location is through the map screen, and there are several problems with it. First is drilling for items. You can purchase "Rumors" of treasure buried out in the wasteland. The problems with this, is you have to find the exact pixel that contains the coordinates of the "rumored" treasure, so get ready to have fun as you click around the map looking for this pixel. Add to this the incredible problem of traffic in the Barren Wastelands, the game feels more like a trip to Walmart on Black Friday rather than a post-apocalyptic world. There are roving caravans everywhere. This game has other problems, but I don't feel like listing them all and the Dev has been active in forums and has released 2 patches since release that have fixed many bugs and made some UI improvements. This game has a lot of potential to be a really good turn-based game, but it just isn't there yet and the rushing of the game through Early Access is an act of desperation that makes me think that maybe this game will never receive the attention it needs to be a great game. I hope I am wrong about this, and the Dev continues to work on the game making the necessary improvements to make the game enjoyable.

Devs bailed after marking the game as complete, Yes the end content is there however many bugs some of which will trap your save file due to what I consider poor coding. My most common save killing bug is that when you fire a rocket launcher at a target and the splash damage damages a hidden something/barrel/unit, the game auto saves and awaits for imput of which you can't give because its trying to play a combat animation. Most missions can be auto completed if you kill every enemy, so there are some missions "get x to point x" types where its actually a game of hunt for the unit that doesn't spawn until your right next to their tile game, prepare for frustration.

Bland. Bad voice acting, very basic missions, so-so tactics. On top of that, there are some glaring bugs that just make playing this annoying. Chief among them is the games propensity to hang if an enemy kills itself during its action. Since you can't save during missions, any hang of the program forces you to redo the entire level. I could ignore some of the issues I have with this game, but 12 hours into it I have had the program hang on 5 separate missions. I don't have the patience to cope with that. Also, I absolutely hate how it will close random encounters when the last enemy dies. Looting that critical sniper ammo becomes a chore and a half because the sniper has to die and be looted before the last enemy falls. All in all, very disappointing.

Despite the bad reviews i bought this game on special and for the most part enjoyed playing it. That is not to say it doesnt have huge flaws, the biggest being that the story doesnt end with the last mission as if the game was cut short or they expected to make a part two. This makes the player who has devoted many hours feel cheated and completely detached from the character. That said there are also things to enjoy as the combat is quite well managed and x-com ish There are still some bugs and the voice acting is still terrible (imagine elementary school xmas play) but if yuo can get it very cheap and you have a few hours to spare and enjoy turn based battles then its still worth a try Breakdown is as follows:- Graphics 5/10 Battles 7/10 AI 4/10 Story 5/10 Voice acting 1/10 Stability 5/10 replayability 2/10 Overall 4/10 - only suitable if on budget special price

This game is like xcom meets mad max. first off i skimmed the other reviews and some of the issues they talk about have been addressed though it does still have issues. it seems the devs though gone now did do some updates after leaving early access. i'm not sure it's $20 good but i got this on sale for $5 and i'm happy with it though it does feel incomplete. i would only really recommend this to someone looking for a game with the xcom feel and is willing to overlook some things. there is a caravan mechanic though cute just serves as a base. its main use is from the map screen where there will be towns and locations that you can drive to. there will be random cars appearing on the map and if you meet them you'll have to fight or get a chance to trade. you can also drill anywhere on the map for items by using resources(you also use this for moving on the map). you can upgrade it to make it move faster, add inventory space, get discount on shops you meet, better drilling inventory&loot, ect +ammo is scarce but not so much its nonexistent but it will become a factor in some fights. +enemies have x ammo/nads and the game counts how much they use before they die and they will have that much left when looted. +you can drill for stuff anywhere. they have location you can buy in town that yield more stuff and yes its no longer i pixel hunt. +xcom/2d fallout like cover system. +action points over xcom's 2 moves system. ex. say you have 12AP, and your weapon uses 5AP per attack, you can shoot, shoot, then move 2 spaces. there will also be 2 color movement indicators so you know when moving cuts into making an attack with your current weapon. =permadeath (just a fyi) there are defibrillators but sometimes they will just not have the option to rez. i'm not sure if its how they die (?fire/explosives/crit?) or what. =attacking brings up a radius circle for your attacks. think parasite eve 1. =max 6 characters per fight =enemies don't exist until you see them. in xcom enemies you don't see can still move but not here. they will also take cover as soon as they come into sight like xcom. =there is only 1 skill tree type (you get a max of 20 points and you can't respec). the skill tree has survive ability, melee stuff and some basic weapon stuff (crit up and the such). =no saving during combat. from other reviews i think its cause of a bug so between fixing or removing, guess what they did. =only 2 races (humans & mutas) they can have different looks and have male/female versions but with only 1 skill tree what does it matter. =characters will not step out of cover to fire and will instead shoot through it. -character creation though better than nothing is very lacking. -story is forgettable and voice acting makes the old resident evils look good. -some of the board blocks seeing your people if they are under it. -multiple floors are hard to navigate. in xcom you could scroll up/down for floors, here its really hard to get the floor to show up until you character can walk on it. -loot on bodies are turned to credits after fights and you can not pick through it first. for a scavenger game i don't get why this is even a thing. -weapons seem to default to your melee when you loot in fights. i don't think it takes an action to swap but still annoying. -dumb AI. they ignore cover and frag team mates. -when you get new characters they randomly fill their skill tree and you can't look at it before they join. -you can't remove characters from your convoy. not sure if i'm overlooking something but i was sending them on suicide runs to get rid of ones i didn't want. -no confirmation or take backs. you miss-click and move, well your stuck there, mistakenly click your guy when aiming well hes gonna get shot. -no side missions (you can fight other wandering caravans though) -after 12 missions the game strands your characters then rolls credits (if i kickstarted this i'ed be upset but after paying $5 i can deal) though they do at lest explain whats going on. its an ending just not a good one.