Damnation...is a TPS set in an alternate reality US where the civil war lasted decades, steam engines prevailed over combustion engines, natives have lay-on-hands healing powers, precognition (and
ridiculous outfits), an
evil industrialist fascist has taken over control of the nation, is working everyone to death aided by a green go-juice - which, when abused, turns people into berserking lobotomites - and where everything is just fuck-huge.
Many levels are set in mile-deep canyons. One features a 10-storey high golden statue as part of an aqueduct. Another a locomotive the size of a scyscaper laid onto train wheels. Artillery pieces with barrels the size of a coal plant's smoke-stacks. The only place that seems to have any green vegetation left (called Terra Verte
) looks like something out of the prequel trilogy, complete with a Poseidon statue guarding its harbour which would fit neatly into any old God of War game.
It can't escape the polished-turdness of PS360-era Unreal Engine 3, or the prevailing brownness of the era. The textures are muddy, animations too stiff, and post-processing effects overbearing, but its art is remarkable nonetheless. Perhaps the only thing that is remarkable about it.
With this grand scale comes a lot of verticality and some edge-grabbing, ledge-shimmying platforming and even the occasional light puzzles that would not feel out of place in a classic Tomb Raider game.
The weapons feel and sound awful, enemies are stupid, boring high speed bike-rides down empty tunnels, terrible turret sections, bad boss fights, uneven voice-acting, etc. All of which makes it a 'bad game', but I enjoyed my time clicking heads in Will Smith's Wild Wild 40K.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/12790/screenshots/Dark VoidAnother TPS. Another alternate reality. Not nearly as much scene-setting. You play as
Nolan North William, a cargo pilot whose next job re-unites him with his ex, Ava. Ava fails to mention that she is part of a secret society, or that their course over the Bermuda Triangle will see them crash land on and in the titular Void - a place 'in-between' - to join the fight against the
Goa'uld Locust Watchers. An alien race that was banished there by their own creations, but covertly manipulates events on earth to eventually fascilitate their escape.
Someone was chosen to stop their meddling and prevent their return. Nikola Tesla! You're protecting him. And using his toys. And you're the chosen, actually. Of course you are. You're also an "adept", because your plot armour needed an explanation that only raises more questions.
This one has a cover system, but with a twist. Chest-high walls - ...on the walls! At first, you can only 'take cover' at certain edges, i.e. you peer over to shoot, and descend very gracefully, one platform/cover at a time. But that is not this game's draw, no. It's the jet pack, which not only allows you climb chest-high cover, but also to fly not unlike a jet and get into dogfights with alien gyroscopes and even capture them.
The genre-blend works really well once you have your full capabilities. You might start in the sky, land on a structure, do some objectives inside, and then take to the skies again to shoot down more "hubcabs." Sadly, there are not many opportunities for this back and forth, as the game hurries toward its conclusion (ran out of money, I'm guessing), this structure is abandoned in favour of long stretches of boring indoor fighting, and a very long stretch of boring flying. Decent game nonetheless. They had something.
