Mars: War Logs is a solid action style RPG that costs $20. That right there should tell you a lot. It’s not going to break the bank and offers up plenty of gameplay to satisfy. It doesn’t offer the sprawling world and intricate character depth of an Elder Scrolls game, but it isn’t trying to. Instead developer Spiders and publisher Focus Home offer up a slice of gaming fun that has a specific goal in mind, telling a specific interactive story.
Let me get my problems with the game out of the way, because I really do like the game. First up is the camera. Yes, you can rotate it around, but there’s no option to pan it back. The field of vision is not optimal. Combat can be clunky as well. The simple mechanics are meant to be “streamlined” or whatever but it just doesn’t feel as developed as it should be. The difficulty of combat increases at a greater rate than the character’s abilities.
Despite these two (admittedly not small) issues, Mars: War Logs is enjoyable. The story starts off in a prison of war camp, on Mars, and is set after some indeterminate apocalyptical event. We don’t get to spend much time exploring much of the mythology of future Mars, and I would like to see another game set here that explores some of the bits that were brought up here.
The game features a number of nice touches, such as the way equipment changes in appearance as it is crafted. The world and characters look better than one would expect for a title such as this.
Players are offered choices, which for a $20 game is a sort of big deal. Previously we’ve been limited to the big budget AAA type released to offer up dialogue trees and moral choices to make. Now we get that with Mars: War Logs. Part of those choices come from actions, some from dialogue, and the script is a mixed bag. At times earnest and other times arbitrarily near incoherent, Mars: War Logs is better than I expected it to be.
Maybe that’s the key to the game. It’s a $20 RPG. It’s not trying to be Mass Effect. Go in with lowered expectations and you’ll probably enjoy it. I did.