Depth of Extinction
Developer: HOF Studios
Publisher: HOF Studios
Format: PC (Reviewed)
Release Date: 27 Sep 2018
Price: $19.99 – Available Here
Overview
In a futuristic world filled with violence, there is only one thing you can count on: a neverending horde of killer machines. There are probably some other things I’m missing such as overpopulation, pollution, food shortage but let’s focus on killer machines in this game. Let’s see what Depth of Extinction has to offer that we can’t find in other strategy RPGs. I’m hoping there more than just killer robots!
Story
As one might imagine, killer robots and murder and carnage are also a good opportunity to make a quick buck. Aside from murderous machines, you’ll encounter a couple of other factions, gear up with 115 different weapons and improve your characters through eight unique classes. The story is served in short bursts and it is as cliche as you might expect, something about you being the sole defender of humanity’s last standing government and saving the world before it’s too late. It’s a bit thin but what can you expect, I imagine the most meat of the game is in the next section.
Gameplay
GameplayYep. In these kinds of games, gameplay is what makes them or breaks them. With Depth of Extinction, gameplay is a tangled web of every turn-based strategy element thrown in for good measure. It’s all there but nothing really stands out enough to catch your attention. It is imperative to take note of the environment, use cover whenever possible, pick the best weapon for the situation and take note of permadeath since of course, the game would have it. Considering that last bit, one might expect that the game would be somewhat fast-paced and you wouldn’t wait for more than a minute to get back in the action after being wiped over and over and over again. What can I say, dying is something you’ll have to get used to here. After the first few levels, the difficulty cranks up and enemies are unforgiving. Every action needs to be carefully calculated, even though most of the time you’re just gambling and hoping for the best. So what’s the play incentive here? To be perfectly honest with you, it’s hard to find one. Soon enough you’ll notice the same old maps, only with shuffled rooms and different enemy positions. Everything takes too long, from moving around to shooting. Instead of the good old “just one more turn” feeling, it’s more of a “is it over already” scenario.
Visuals
VisualsIt’s clear that the game was made on a tight budget. The voice acting is passable at best and the level design is uninspiring. There is some variety with enemy designs and a whole lot of weapons at your disposal but all of that is lost through repetitive maps. And on a personal note, the UI design looks (and feels) like it was made for a future smartphone or a tablet port in mind. Playable characters look too much to one another that sometimes I had trouble telling them apart.
Audio
AudioOut of everything said so far, the biggest (and only positive) surprise so far came from the soundtrack. You are accompanied with some amazing synth tunes that lift up the overall score (but sadly, not enough to save it from mediocrity). After ten minutes or so, the first thing I did was to run to the Steam store page and see if there is maybe a link to the official soundtrack. Sadly, there wasn’t. Before all hope was lost, I did manage to find the whole OST on Soundcloud and I can say now that composer Kim Lightyear has a new fan.
Overall
While I was anything but impressed with Depth of Extinction, it is clear the game was a labor of love and made by devs who are big fans of X-COM series and FTL. But good intentions alone weren’t enough. I could only recommend this to the hardcore RPG strategists but even then, know that you’re entering an incredibly challenging and painfully slow experience.
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While it is true that a large number of these cars do end up feeling similar for the most part, players can add more customization to their cars through body adjustments that change the outward appearance of the car and adjust their stats, potentially unlocking new customization options as well, especially in regards to the tires since a large number of new options are available in this regard, though big adjustments can still be made through the tuning system that allows hardcore players to really make adjustments to their favorite vehicles and get the most out of their rides. The biggest difference between most vehicles comes into play when you begin to drive off-road or venture out during some of the rougher driving seasons in Forza Horizon 4.
Once players begin the game they will find themselves in an extended prologue of sorts that sees them go through each of the four seasons with each season requiring a certain amount of “influence” before advancing to the next one. Once this prologue is finished players will be given access to the core “Forzathon” world where seasons will instead pass at a weekly pace. Every week at a specific time the game will transition from one season to the next and bring along with it a number of new challenges that are specific to each season as well as brand new events that occur every hour. There are even a number of multiplayer specific events such as infection and other style events that pop up here and there throughout the world.
Of course if you want to play offline this option is available, though there is no real reason not to play online with others thanks to the aforementioned anti-griefing measures and the fact that every element of the game, including rewinding, finding hidden barns containing abandoned cars, smashing influence boards, racing through speed traps, drifting challenges, and more, are all available still while online. That being said, the game also will seamlessly flow players from an online mode to an offline mode if internet or server problems arise. Almost every race that players can take part in can be done solo where you race against AI drivatars taken from the world, against friends, or simply against others that want to partake in an event at the same time, allowing for players to race their way at any given time with no real limitations outside of the weather system.
The title also features a little bit of extra driver customization since players can choose from a number of standard characters that can then be equipped with various pieces of clothing that they can unlock while playing the game. These clothes don’t really have any effect on how you race, same in regards to special horn sounds you can unlock, but do allow for players to express themselves in an extra way, especially in regards to the various dance moves and poses that you can choose to have equipped and performed during the race load times and winner’s podium.
As for the cars themselves, players have numerous options for painting them as well as applying various livery designs to the outsides of them with the community already creating some stunning designs ranging from other video game themed to itasha style anime cars. Of course, the actual interiors of these cars are also lovingly recreated with a stunning attention to detail should players choose to drive from a cockpit point of view rather than from a third person angle.
