[Before I begin I would like to say that I have written this review in a fit of rage after a sort of "final straw" situation while playing the game. You can probably tell it is emotionally charged, so if some information isn't 100% accurate, I do apologize. With that out of the way-]
I don't think I've had a worst first impression with a game in awhile. Somehow, someway, everything is worse than the original game. Nerfs to things that didn't require it and mechanics that did not need to be added or were made too in-depth.
I understand wanting customization but understand that some people (Myself included!!) would like to just buy a better gun and better attachments. Don't get me wrong, I love the ability to mix-match things, but with how LITTLE money you have in the first place, how are you supposed to anyway? By the time you can afford to, you will have beaten the game and there's no point. Not to mention that 90% of the gear is locked behind high-security clearance, which ALSO is end-game. Where there's no point.
Speaking of which, the economy? In the first game it was bad enough, you BARELY had enough money for meds and whatnot after a run. It was acceptable, though, because this fit the tone of the game. You lived in a shipping container, times were tough.
And before you call it a skill issue, I would min-max the hell out of my days. The second the sun was up I was out there, I'd be over encumbered by at least 50 pounds and both hands full and all slots filled, walking back to my place once the sun was down. I like to consider myself decently skilled at VR combat, so I don't waste that much ammo or meds either! And yet after all of it, the money to repair my stuff, heal myself, buy back what I used, I BARELY have enough to buy new stuff. And it's even worse in the sequel, because now you have EVEN MORE that you have to focus on buying, like INDIVIDUAL ARMOR PLATES as opposed to just armor, different tiers of medicine, the insane amount of different gun parts. It's genuinely shocking. Also the probes! You have to buy probes ALL THE TIME because they decided to limit how many you have as opposed to only making you buy them if you died / lost yours. I get that it's more realistic, but this isn't exactly a realistic game. There's floating trees. Let me have a never-ending probe box, please.
The amount of changes feel so unnecessary. I'm okay with the modernization of everything given that it takes place AFTER the first game, but some things changed for the worse and it makes 0 sense. The tablet holding ALL the information on it in a (somehow) unorganized organized way rather than having a map and a journal separately threw me off as well. I get that it's nice for convenience but not when it's inconvenient to look at.
Also, inconsistency. Lets talk about that. For example, how many times I've loaded into a game and all my weapons are completely empty? My mags are all empty? Nothing has bullets except the ammo box in my bag, so I'm just down 800 dollars in ammo for no apparent reason. Inconsistent anomalies on top of that! In the first game, anomalies reset after each tide. Some would change places to somewhere else. Now they reset DAILY, with no way to learn exactly where the anomalies are. The tutorial doesn't teach you how to do anything except the basic controls, which is fine! The first game was similar! Except the first game taught you how the Radius worked OUTSIDE OF THE TUTORIAL, you could infer a lot of information or figure it out yourself through trial and error! But when I die to a spark anomaly and have NO WAY to learn how to avoid it, do you expect me to be happy about that? My probes do nothing, walking slowly does nothing, not crouching, standing up, sprinting, jumping, flashlight does nothing, shooting does nothing, everything you'd think to try does nothing. Look it up? Says to throw a probe. So what the hell. Watch a video, it's exactly what I've already tried. But it just does nothing. Works on other traps of the exact same type (yes I understand the different types, this isn't that) but not the one I NEED TO GET PAST to continue the story.
Speaking of the story, The dialogue? If you can call it that? Or any of this actually-
The first game was super compelling, had me hooked within seconds. Nothing was given, you had to look around and pry. It was interesting. The notes changes as you progressed, you got a feel for what the Radius actually was. And for some reason we've decided to ditch that and go the AAA approach. Literally the first ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cutscene tells you to "Go Into The Radius" and it cuts to the title. Most of the dialogue so far is corny and really feels like either Sony or Vivienne Medrano wrote it. I played hours upon hours upon hours of the first game and still haven't fully completed it, I've loved every second of it. The developers GENUINELY cooked so hard with that game, it's one of my all time favorites. I have no idea where the story picks up from where I left off because there's no way to guess! It's so in depth!
And yet in this game, I was able to correctly guess the entire plot within the first two missions based on the dialogue alone. Only AAA dialogue or terrible writing will do that to you, and I know the devs aren't bad at writing because the first game was amazing.
And lastly, the fact that it doesn't even feel like we're in full release. They need to re-mark it as early access because if this is what a 1.0 release looks like then I am truly appalled. Requires better hardware than the first game and yet runs worse with that better hardware. Looks worse, too. Just because you've updated to a better engine with cooler shadows and lighting doesn't mean the game looks good. Visually the style has changed SO MUCH that it feels like they were sitting in the office thinking "What CAN we change" instead of "What SHOULD we change". Some of the designs, mechanics, visuals, it all just was unnecessary. For example, the style in general. The models. All of it. The rustic "S.T.A.L.K.E.R adjacent" feel that the first game had has been completely stripped for a colorful apocalypse. It's not rustic anymore, it's way too modernized. It's kinda like the difference in vibe between Battlefield V and Battlefield 2042, where they went from "War is hell" to "Omg guys we're going to war x3". We've moved from "The radius is dangerous, people die. I am afraid for my life, despite the fact that I can respawn. I do not know who or where I am, or who I can trust" to "And Explorer? You just be Explorer. Together, we ARE the Radius!"
It just ruins the vibe that the first game was pushing us towards. I watched as the game progressed, I thought we'd just get an updated engine and models in terms of feel, but instead we got.. this. I can't even equate this to anything. This is a brand new low when it comes to modernization. (Edit; I would also like to point out that the devs admitted that they knew most of us wouldn't like the tonal shift, yet they did it anyway. Cmon man :/ )
Overall it's just.. disappointing. I REALLY wanted to like this game. I still do! I'm still going to give it a chance once I've calmed down. Despite how much I dislike it, I have faith that there's SOMETHING that can keep me going, surely! So I'm going to keep trying. And I suggest anyone that is dead set on playing to do the same! But if you've played the first game, you might not like this one. It is worse than the first. Might be a good game on it's own, as a standalone, but right now it fails as a sequel.
Other reviews have worded it way better than I, so you probably check those out. Like I said, my review is emotionally charged. While there are good points that I've made, and I stand by most of what I've said, I am still angry at the exact time of review.
Don't let my one negative review sway your decision on whether or not to buy the game, however. You should make your own decision.
