Return NULL - Episode 1

Ознакомиться с прохождением Episode 1 можно здесь: [url=https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4YTEfThnJOjOd4rWhzaXEVcXPhziCh5g]YouTube[/url]

1. The story overall is interesting enough, but left unfinished. 2. Gameplay itself is solid enough for what it is, but click to shoot is clunky. 3. Art is pretty good, but only in episode 1. I feel like Episode 2 (DLC) is a downgrade. Due to the unfinished state of the story I really can't recommend.

Nothing you know is real. Story: You play as Jack Drebin. In the future, the downtown area of the city is turned into a prison and as Jack you're a member of the local security force. However one faithful day, your pregnant wife is killed in an explosion by a terrorist group. While losing control of your life and losing your job you're contacted by the same terrorist group that killed your wife and it they reveal that nothing is as it seems. The story set up of Return NULL is pretty interesting and the story for the most part is pretty engaging and what's here on display is fine even though it does have some shoddy writing from time to time. However there is one big glaring issue with the entire experience and that is the fact that the game has been abandoned. The game is supposed to be a trilogy and Chapter 2 is the last piece of content that released for the game and it ends on a massive cliffhanger which is never going to be resolved. Graphics: Return NULL is best described as a motion comic and I use the word motion very lightly as it's more like watching still pictures and they change up the environments once in a while. The overall art style is decent, although very rough around the edges as the world feels like it's unfinished and there's not much to the world apart from Neon Lights. The character portraits are also decent, but feel a bit generic considering this game is going for a bit of a cyberpunk feel and yet everyone feels like generic main character with no real distinction. I think the biggest problem is that there's not much here in terms of a visual design. Audio: There's also not much in terms of audio design here either. The game is mostly mute as there's no voice acting, no sound effects nothing. There is music and that's about all the sound you get while playing which isn't particularly all to good either. I'm pretty certain all the music is stock and while they definitely could have picked much worse music to go along with the game, what's here isn't that great either. Gameplay: Return NULL is basically a point and click adventure game, where you click around your environments, pick up items and solve puzzles. There's really nothing special about Return NULL, it's a really basic and by the numbers adventure game and the gameplay is definitely not the saving grace. The puzzle design is usually what makes or breaks most adventure games and it's sad to say that it's not the saving grace of Return Null. Puzzles are usually either really simple or rather annoying purely because the actual pointing and clicking which is something that is hard to mess up (yet somehow happens frequently) is incredibly annoying. I don't think there's any puzzles here that are head scratching as it's simple enough on the surface, but there are moments where it's not clear where you need to get the item from. In one of the puzzles in Chapter 2 I couldn't find a particular item and had to scan with my mouse on locations I have missed, which is was probably the hardest moment in the game. Verdict: Return NULL is a game where the story carries everything and even that was left unfinished. I really can't recommend this game as what's here on display is a rather mediocre adventure game with an semi-engaging story that is never going to be finished. If you're really curious grab it on sale only. Final Rating: 5/10 Pros: + Story is pretty engaging + Gameplay works fine Cons: - Audio design is non-existent, apart from stock sounding music - Story ends on a massive cliffhanger and the developers abandoned it - Art style looks rather cheap - Puzzle design is rather weak If you liked this review please consider joining https://steamcommunity.com/groups/completingthebacklog and https://steamcommunity.com/groups/ImperialReviews

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Amazing atmosphere!

I need to get a couple of cons out of the way very first: There are a couple of segments that require you to do a couple of ridiculous things to move the plot forward - things very simple, but made no sense in context, that I got stuck on for 15 minutes at a time. And you'll know exactly what i'm talking about when you get there. The music just loops over and over again with like 3 or 4 different 20-30 second loops. So it's going to get tiring. Now with that out of the way, what I can tell you is that this was a very fun, neat, little futuristic sci-fi game. There are two episodes with the 3rd one TBA (Although at this point in time I don't know if it'll ever be made) and each episode will take anywhere from 30min to 1hr max. It's a point and click adventure game, and it tells the story through beautifully drawn anime-esk comic strips. There is no voice acting so you'll have to read everything, but that's ok. It works well. The story has a couple of "choice branching" options but nothing major or game changing. But it will change dialogue paths slightly. The story itself revovles around the planet, which is in chaos and is uninhabitable because of a past nuclear war - therefore everybody lives inside of a sealed dome to protect themselves from the outside air/radiation. You have the government who runs the "city" known as the LSF and then the resistance known as the Dissonant Octave. You join up with the resistance to bring freedom to the world, and end up uncovering a whole lot of conspiracies along the way. And that ending though, WHAT A TWIST. All in all It might be worth it at full price if you're really into point and click adventures, but i'd probably wait for a sale at which point it's definitely worth it!

A mediocre game that has been abonded and left without an ending. Dont waste your time.