Coming into this game as a massive David Bowie fan, I was rather sceptical of what was said in negative reviews. However what I was met with, was an - at the time of it's release - a game so full of ambition, bundled together with a story about a revolution that I found fascinating.
Besides having to change the awful default controls of the hand-to-hand combat (which, even then, its gameplay was... Not good), I managed pretty well with the rest of the controls and the general gameplay. Exploration as a whole felt rather nostalgic, made better with how much I liked the futuristic aesthetics (which are later joined with a sort of medieval fantasy aesthetic) and atmosphere of Omikron city.
I feel as though I need to mention The Dreamers, which, in retrospect aren't too impressive if you happen to be a David Bowie fan, since you've probably already heard 'hours...'. However as a way to add to the oppressive setting, a sort of "collectable", this too I enjoy.
So, what issues *did* I have with the title, besides the hand-to-hand combat? A lack of direction at times for one and I can't for the life of me figure out if *I* was the problem, or if at times the game was just *that* bad at telling me what to do, and in a few cases- Go. Another one is the respawn feature during gun fights, as it respawns every enemy in the level, but does not bring back any item, health or otherwise, which during some levels you might as well load a save! Oh, and speaking of...
I actually didn't have too much of an issue with the save mechanic - a mechanic which asks you to have at least *one* ring in order to save your game - which is something I've been conflicted for a while, however at a point you receive generous amounts of magic rings. Could the game have lived without this? For sure, but as it stands, it isn't as bad as people make it out to be, personally.
Overall I found this game to be a bit of a treat, a "blast from the past" of sorts. I would very much recommend it, *if* you can handle the controls, again I could, but in the "worst case scenario", another reviewer brought up Xpadder as a possible fix, alongside downloading a patch which a handy-dandy Steam guide lists.
Two more notes:
- If you find yourself dying of nothingness in one specific shootout section, the solution seems to be to not stop shooting;
- And for the love of... Everything, do NOT change your drivers, you *will* brick the game.
