Far Out Man [Review: Out There]

Those human pilots! If they're so keen to make their way back to Earth, why do they keep getting themselves warped away from it?

Out There is a neat little space opera for Android and iPhone. You wake from cryosleep to discover your spaceship has been 2001'd into an unfamiliar galaxy. Hundreds of star systems away, you are aware of a particular star that may be important, but your first task is not to die. 

The game is turn-based and there's no combat. Well, that's not quite true. There is an enemy to discover and there is in fact a way to attack enemy fleets. But mostly, you choose the next planet or star, decide whether to land, whether to drill for resources, whether to meet the local species, whether to take over the abandoned spaceship etc. It plays a lot like a Fighting Fantasy gamebook - I have fond memories of Starship Traveller. It's also really, really hard. This is a survival-themed game - meaning you will die a lot. You can die by running out of hydrogen fuel, oxygen, or iron to patch up your hull, any of which is easy to do.

You stay alive by mining or scooping fuel, oxygen or iron from various worlds - along the way encountering aliens, discovering plans for technology to mod your ship, and experiencing random hazards and events. But as your ship only has limited storage space, and planets only yield a small amount of elements, it's hard to keep up stocks. If you've discovered a mod, you still need to mine the right elements to build it, and then it takes up even more of your hull space.

The map is random, as are many other game features, and when you die it's back to the start with a new map. However, if you're careful you can learn more about the game each time you die, and try out different strategies to survive for longer. As the game progresses, more "important" stars appear on the map, but so far I've only ever made it to one of them without dying. This is an extremely difficult game but one I've enjoyed exploring.

Dig For Victory [Review: Waking Mars]

"Amani, this is Liang. I've been exploring these Martian caverns for ten hours now and I'm reaching a conclusion about the nature of this game. The discovery of a smooth-walled vertical cavern running through many layers of the map confirms my hypothesis: this is not a naturally occurring structure but a tribute to the classic BBC Micro era game Exile."

Waking Mars is a game for mobiles, tablets etc. with impressive scope. As astronaut Liang, you explore a network of caves with your jetpack, searching for a missing robot and discovering an ancient ecosystem as you go. In order to progress, you'll need to understand the relationships between the different life forms (your computer assistant, ART, is keen to point out that they are not technically plants or animals), and use this knowledge to increase the biomass in each area.

Gameplay video by Youtube user 1Retrodroid

The gameplay area is huge, and after you've taken the first few steps the game becomes non-linear, allowing open exploration and free travel between areas of the map you've visited. There's something new to discover in most zones, and plenty of memorable moments. The non linear play also means it's possible to "complete" the game, reaching one of the alternate endings, without making all the possible discoveries, and different players will have different experiences. That said, in about 15-20 hours of play I think I was able to explore the entire map and as far as I know I have found all the discoveries and possible endings.

Physically the game plays like Exile in terms of exploring a 2D cave system by jetpack, avoiding hazards such as molten lava, rockfalls and some of the more vicious plants. However the game mechanism of solving puzzles through planting seeds and managing ecosystems - third person gardener? grow-em-up? - is perhaps unique. I love the fact that while some puzzles are scripted or set up, some arise naturally from your own actions and mistakes. You can introduce a species of plant to an area that rapidly colonises and kills other species, and regaining control can be hard work.

There's some decent characterisation too. Liang, your character is cynical and prone to silence. He is assisted from base by Amani who is much more chatty and open minded, leading to some great Mulder-and-Scully banter. ART provides a comic element - he communicates through smiles (a little like GERTY) and suffers from a malfunctioning language module, as well as a habit of stating the obvious.

For comparison, gameplay video of the original Exile (BBC Master version) with comments by YouTube user Lord Triax

It's good to see that epic computer games are still being made, even if mobile gaming as a whole is skewed towards casual games. Yes, Crossy Road, I'm talking to you. There have been other exceptions - I previously reviewed the excellent Deep: Submarine Odyssey here - and of course there are newer gameplay styles such as Minecraft that reward longer play in different ways.

New Brains For Old [Review: The Machine]

Military scientist McCarthy's (Toby Stephens) research into artificial brain implants is not going entirely to plan - recovered bionic soldiers become inexplicably mute a few weeks after surgery, and one experiment goes on a killing spree. To save his scientific bacon, McCarthy recruits quantum computer expert Ava (Caity Lotz) and together they work towards the creation of an android which, for dramatic or possibly budgetary reasons, bears a striking resemblance to Caity Lotz.

The Machine attempts to tell a complex and dark story - plot strands include McCarthy's motivation for his research, his relationship with the android as she awakens and discovers the world, as well as what appears to be a power struggle amongst the sinister bionics.

This film bears a superficial resemblance to Alex Garland's film
Ex Machina which will be released later this month, if the Ex Machina trailer is anything to go by. It also reminded me of Splice, as both deal with the twisted relationship between creator and created, as well as other recent films touching on the love between man and computer - Her, for example, or The Imitation Game.

I enjoyed this film, particularly Lotz' performance as both Ava and the android - a perfect Uncanny-Valley performance, neither clearly human nor inhuman.

Arco Warriors [Review: Cyberlords Arcology]

Cyberlords is a sci-fi RPG playable on mobile devices. Jesse, an inhabitant of the Asgard Arcology megacity, wakes up in a clinic owned by the sinister McCoy corporation. Is Doctor Who in charge of this dystopic future? Or perhaps it’s the crisps. For a moment I thought Jesse might even have lost his memory but thankfully the cliché police did not have to be called, and soon Jesse is receiving cryptic messages, from an artificial intelligence, that might help him to escape and contact the resistance. He can then tool up, recruit some thugs and hackers, and carry out a series of missions to uncover the secrets of the Arcology and the McCoy corporation’s sinister plans for its population.

I’m loving this game with it’s eight-bit style 2D graphics, simple colours and copious blood and guts, all reminiscent of the ancient classic Syndicate. As far as the RPG side goes, the playing area is large and divided into many zones and levels. You assemble a group of four player-characters, each with a little bit of personality and backstory. Sadly there’s no choice about who you recruit. There’s also a Deus Ex style system of cyber-upgrades - find the blueprint, bring it to the Resistance doctor for implantation, then trade your experience points for further upgrades. Implants might improve your stamina, speed or accuracy, or give you the ability to regenerate or hack into robot guards, but some are a bit too far fetched - one even allows a character to use both hands simultaneously!

There are story and side missions most of which are combat heavy, and some of which will send you across the playing area and back again. It helps that the control system is reasonably good with one-touch or two-touch routes to almost everything you want to do, although it’s slightly awkward if your four characters are too close together. Minor issues aside, Cyberlords is a stylish and satisfying RPG and another proof that complex gaming experiences can be provided on a mobile.