RPG: Necrotech [by Spectre Software]

Game: NecroTech
Release: November 20, 2002
Genre: RolePlaying
Website:  Game Thoughts
Requirements: P2-450mhz Processor, DirectX 7, 800x600 capable monitor, 64MB of RAM
Price: $12

Screenshots!

NecroTech is a futuristic roleplaying game whose game play involves many of the elements of traditional roleplaying games. You explore the world, build a party (you can hire 2 mercenaries for a party size of up to 3) and a solid main character, talk to people in conversation and in trade, solve quests, and fight out random encounters to collect experience and items.

Initially, you are presented with the premise and storyline. The setup is "It is AD 2502 and the millennia old battle between science and religion has ruined a once-great society. The line between human and machine grows thinner as people walk the streets of Metapolis "enhanced" by cybernetic technologies. The city of Metapolis has been sealed off, its government missing. Anarchy reigns supreme and the only winners are those with the deepest pockets and the biggest guns. Just what this means to you, you haven't yet determined. Your brother is lost and you will do whatever it takes to find him. Just be careful you don't lose your soul in the process... "

You are presented with a series of menus that will determine your character-stats like "strength" are randomly determined and displayed for your approval-if you dislike, you can "reroll" until a suitable character is found. An amazing array of unique skills, all with useful implementation in the game itself are presented for you to choose from, from computer hacking to stealth. ("Deus Ex" come to mind?) Even gender has an effect on how your character's stats turn out. NecroTech, therefore, has much playability and replayability. After your character is created, you begin in tavern and are asked by the owner to find bandits who robbed him and return his money. You must do this before you can proceed to the rest of the city. This serves as a smooth introduction to the game, allowing the player to adapt to the interface and gameplay before being thrust into the main game.

As you play NecroTech, you'll solve quests as you travel through locations in the city such as taverns, gambling halls, prisons, stores, warehouses, and factories : all locations you'd expect to see in a futuristic industrial city. While the enemies you encounter in the streets early on, such as droids, bandits, and dogs may not be the most original enemies you'll ever see in a game, combat is simply fun. Diversifying the action are many unique weapons, from melee weapons to miniguns to phaser weapons. Eventually, you are presented with the option to equip your characters with cybernetic upgrades, adding more diversity. While not remarkably deep, the storyline and plot are enough to keep the player immersed in the gameworld.

As immersive, addictive, and *fun* as this game is, there are a few areas with room for improvement. The one that stands out the most is the setting : often the city is mazelike and slow to navigate, partly due to lack of texture and architectural variation in areas. Presentation is another area that could be improved-I found that the character sprites for combat sometimes had very few frames of animation and always used the same graphic, so every enemy of one type looks identical to another.

Graphics : 8
Technically, the game is of high quality. Specular effects, rain, fogging, and detailed texture maps are some of the eye candy you'll see in this game. The prerendered characters are quite stylized and add an almost "Fallout"-esque flair to this game. However, when I ran the game on my 3DFX Voodoo 3 2000 card, many of the features were missing and the game ran quite sluggishly. The only complaint I have with the graphics is the sometimes flat and unvaried level design; much of the city is textured similarly, with same-height rows of buildings, which sometimes can be disorienting without the map updating to show your position.

Sound : 8
The sound is serviceable, and the music sets pace and atmosphere, providing more personality to the game.

Gameplay : 8
NecroTech has a small learning curve for some, but is highly addictive and will consume many hours of playtime.

Options : 10
Necrotech has multiple ways to access the game control-wise, allows you to customize the level of graphical
detail, as well as other non-gameplay configurations. In-game, you can choose to approach each situaion
differently, talk to people differently, develop your party differently each time you play, allowing each
game of NecroTech to be unique.

Concept: 8
NecroTech takes established roleplaying conventions, adds its own personality, and delivers an excellently
presented and executed game.

Fun: 9
Through excellent execution and presentation this game becomes a very fun alternative to games like "Fallout"
for futuristic roleplaying.

Overall: 8
NecroTech is more than worth the money for the full version. Great Job, GameThoughts.Added: February 2nd 2003
Reviewer: Christopher Pugh
Score:
Related Link: Necrotech Screenshots
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Language: english