Okay, I have read some of the reviews posted about the game so far, and I feel like most of them are just meant to be mean-spirited and not actually reflect a fair critique of the game. So I am going to try to do that here.
[i]Revolution 60[/i] is, to me, more of an interactive sci-fi adventure than a game in the traditional sense of the word. Like story-heavy games such as [i]Analogue: A Hate Story[/i] or [i]Hate Plus[/i], your interaction with the game world is relatively limited. The bulk of the game is quick-time events, but they are structured a bit differently than you may be used to. Instead of just hitting buttons at the right time or aiming a targeting cursor, you either need to hit arrows on the keyboard or actually use the mouse to reconstruct a pattern on the screen. This takes a decent amount of coordination, though the game is fairly flexible in how imperfect you can be and still win the event. This applies both to story elements and combat, which we'll discuss in a moment.
As far as the game world itself, it's linear. By clicking on green circles, you can advance the story; clicking on yellow ones, however, allows you to explore different areas in search of items such as Medical Kits and data files. Your overall path through the narrative, however, doesn't really deviate at all except for these brief detours. On one hand, this allows you to see what's next pretty quickly; on the other, you may be disappointed that you can't explore more freely.
Combat is somewhat similar to both an RPG and an RTS in that you can level up Holiday and her attacks, but you move and attack in real time. The combat system can be a little quirky, but it mostly works once you get used to it. To move, you click on squares you want to step to. Attacking requires clicking a button off to the right of the battlefield, and, depending on your range, you will either fire your weapon or execute a melee strike. Hitting the enemy enough times fills a special combo meter at the bottom of the screen; when it reaches Level 1, 2, or 3, stunning the opponent will allow you to launch into a flurry of attacks to inflict more significant damage. These combos are controlled, however, by a series of quick-time events, so you need to be accurate if you don't want to be repelled by the enemy and sent back to the battlefield. It takes some getting used to, but the game literally tells you how to win the first battle so that you can begin learning the system. This will help when you confront more powerful enemies late in the game who can launch AOE attacks.
Graphically, most of the game looks good. I especially loved the detail put into the space station. The colors are extremely vibrant, and there are a lot of nuances to make it look like a fully-functioning piece of space tech. I don't particularly care for the character models, though. They look a little too doll-like to me; I think something in more of an anime style might have worked better here, but this is probably more of a personal preference on my part. They are detailed pretty well and don't look bad per se, but they aren't really my style artistically for video game characters.
The game is pretty good for the most part, but it does have its quirks. One of my only true gripes is that the QTE animations tend to appear all over the place on the screen. This is more suited to the portable devices from which the game was ported, but in 1080p on a large monitor, you can practically lose the QTE before you find the marker. There were several times, particularly on the events with short timers, where I couldn't even start it before it was almost over, because I had to locate the graphic and move the mouse pointer to it, eating valuable time. For me, this wasn't a frequent enough occurrence to truly impede my progress, but it was annoying in certain situations. I feel that most of the QTE interfaces should be positioned in roughly the same region of the screen throughout the game to make them easier with using the mouse.
Additionally, there are a few QTEs which have such short timers as to essentially be impossible to complete with the mouse. Again, these are probably easier on a smaller, portable screen, but attempting to complete them with the mouse on a larger screen was pointless in my playthrough. I feel that a bit more testing of these with a mouse and adjusting their duration somewhat would resolve this problem. The precision required for these events might also make the game much more difficult to play on a laptop without an external mouse.
However, the game is very stable; it did not crash once on my during my run. I did have some brief moments where trying to proceed through the story caused it to pause for several seconds. This may be in part due to the Unreal Engine--my computers have always had some degree of performance issues with most Unreal-crafted games--but it was a little concerning until the game resumed. It's not a major issue but is worth mentioning. There were also a couple of instances where dialogue and voice acting were out of sync, and several sections where captions did not appear at all. I also found a few minor typos in the captions. In all, these are pretty minor issues and don't detract too much from the overall experience, but do keep them in mind.
You also unlock skills as you progress. Defeating enemies fills your XP bar, and when it fills, you gain a level and can choose a skill bonus. Bonuses include extra health, extra damage boosts, and a double-shot which effectively doubles your long-range damage output. As the game is fairly short, though, you can only reach Level 9 before you max out, so be careful with what you choose.
The game also sports multiple endings, which I intend at some point to explore. The ending you reach seems to depend on who you personally trust the most in your decisions during the story, as well as your overall success at navigating all the QTEs; an in-game loading screen tips says that some dialogues options only appear once your proficiency reaches a certain point.
As far as difficulty, some of the enemies are quite tough, but as you progress, Holiday can definitely take some punishment. In fact, I never failed a single battle during the run, and I never even had to use a Medical Kit. The game is fairly well balanced in that regard. One gripe, though, is that it's not clear how to use a Medical Kit, though another in-game hint suggests that they may be automatic should you lose all your energy during a battle. As I never died in battle, I cannot be 100% sure, however.
What it all comes down to is that [i]Revolution 60[/i] may not be the right game for certain types of players. Think of it as somewhat like a sci-fi visual novel with quick-time events and minor exploration; if you like story-driven games, then you're probably going to like it. If you are more of a pure action buff, you probably won't. But for what it is, it's a solid effort. It's not perfect and has some flaws as far as its conversion to the PC, but I do recommend it if you're the type of gamer who likes stories and don't mind coming along for the ride. There's enough interaction to keep you engaged, and the story is fun and interesting. Don't write it off just because of the Steam reviews that have been posted so far; play it and judge for yourself.
7.0 out of 10
