Forerunner

" Forerunner ", Of course, were one of the most ambitious projects not only in the post -Soviet space, but also by the standards of the game industry in general. Is it a joke – to combine a full -fledged shooter, RPG and space simulator with flights between planets and stellar systems as part of one game! Nobody is doing this scope today. IN Mass Effect there is a shooter and role -playing component, but there is no simulator. In the domestic " Parkan "And in the series Universal Derek Smart were space battles and battles on the surface of the planets, but there was no hint of a full -fledged RPG.

Probably somewhere deep in the soul, many would like to make such a game. But everyone obviously repelled the awareness of what amount of work needs to be carried out so that something at least some high-quality came out of the genre vinaigrette. All but Ukrainians from Deep Shadows , authors of slightly less ambitious dilogy Xenus. Another question is that the quality, apparently, was not among their priorities. At the end of the long -term development, the main development was to cross the finish ribbon, and how to do it – it was crawling, on the knees, backwards or forward – it does not matter.

Three in one

Formally, the task at Deep Shadows coped – they really managed to fit three very different genres in one game. The main events unfold on the surface of the planets. The “planetary” gameplay is based on the same Xenus, that is, a shooter with an open world, a role system and the ability to drive vehicles. The scheme is well familiar: we get plot tasks from key characters and side quests – from the suffering local residents (keep in mind that even the last farmer with a provincial plantation is ready to share their problems here). In addition, the work will almost certainly be offered in one of the seven warring factions (if you have not yet ruined the relationship with them). The method of solving any problem is simple: we are purchased by ammunition, body armor and stimulants, put new upgrades on weapons, siga in buggy and go to kill all disagreements.

Performing quests, we earn experience, get the levels and gradually grow up with perks. The skills system have not changed compared to Xenus 2: some open, for example, the ability to use heavy weapons, others give passive bonuses, discounts by merchants and so on, and others are responsible for dexterity in handling equipment.

Having decided all cases on the first planet, we get a personal starship in the property. And then the promised cosmic simulator in the style begins Frelancer and series X. The player can freely travel to ten star systems, each of which has several large planets and a couple of space stations. You can land on some planets, and there, of course, a heap of new quests awaits – the sequence of actions described in the paragraph before last.

As for the spacecraft, it is, as expected, equipped with energy shields, blasters, rocket launchers, as well as a slot for upgrades that are sold and installed at spacecraft. There you can also find out fresh galactic news, visit the bar (from the darkest corner to the hero, someone will certainly attack in the jumpsuit and with the next quest) and fill the hold of goods for sale. There are other ways to make money: the systems have a full of valuable asteroids, pirates and trading ships that can be robbed or, conversely, protect.

Cosmos without a director

In a word, everything seems to be in place-shooting, role-playing system, racing, space, trade … but somehow you can’t rejoice. Firstly, the “forerunners”, like Xenus, failed to go beyond the term “semi-professional game from the former USSR”: the game looks like talented, but not too skillful and experienced people. The main plot is striving to get lost against the backdrop of an incredible number of secondary quests, directing is absent as a class: rare primitive videos are supplemented by single -word missions in the style of “fly there, kill those, return back”. There are many quests, but most of them in their structure are very primitive. And also complemented by the branded “humor” from Deep Shadows, the central topics of which, like five years ago, are Odessa accent and table-alcoholic jokes from the arsenal “Humor FM”.

In addition, it is noticeable with the naked eye that the developers overestimated their strength: they were able to promise everything in the world, squeezing all this into one game, too, somehow managed, but to bring the concept to mind, they were no longer enough. The shooter, as in Xenus 2, turned out to be quite ridiculous. It is inconvenient to aim, it is inconvenient to shoot, it is inconvenient to even move, because physics here is also ridiculous. When trying to go to run, the character begins to move like a poorly controlled vat with borscht: it crashes into the walls, considers all the corners, falls from the bridge and hurts explosive barrels. Vehicles, as in previous games of Ukrainians, are rather annoying than they bring pleasure: unrealistic management, behavior of cars on the road is inadequate.

Many elements of the game look as if they had been forgotten there since the early alpha version. For example, trade: you can go through the whole game, never remembering an exciting opportunity to trade exotic fruits. There is no desire to transport goods from the station to the station, as well as to accompany the merchants, it does not arise – there is already enough money. It is possible to understand where and what prices are more profitable for, you can only poke the trading ship for half an hour of real time, most of which you will simply fly somewhere melancholy.

A full -fledged cosmic tramp from the "forerunner" also did not work out. Cosmos in this game is dead and lifeless in every sense: the news is practically not updated, in bars in the same places the same people sit in the same pose (the same story on the planets). The flight model is primitive, there is no feeling that you control the spaceship. Of course, we understand that in the conditions of zero gravity there are physical subtleties, but flying because of them is simply boring. Switching to the "simulator" mode in the game settings does not change the essence.

There are problems with the balance: some types of weapons are frankly more powerful and effective than others, and, as soon as you get them at your disposal (and this can happen on the second available planet), https://sister-site.org/raptor-wins/ the need to use something else will disappear.

Plus, of course, a heap of technical problems. Frequent flights to the desktop, unexpected brakes in some locations, unemployed scripts, rushing quests, graphic artifacts on the video cards of the ATI family – and now the first home -made fixes appear on the network, and the topic “Wishes for the first patch” opens on the official forum.

The guide is true

If you believe the official FAQ list on the game website, it will take about 20 hours to pass the “forerunner”. During this time, the player will shoot, travel between planets and communicate with various characters. According to the calculations of the editorial office of "Gambling", the same impressions can be obtained in much less time, while doing similar things

What? Partially organic weapons in need of food.

How to replace? Pintball – a team game using manual pneumatic weapons – is not only popular among office clerks, but is also used to train personnel for the army in several countries of the world. The main attribute of any player in paintball is a marker: partially organic (its design includes plastic, which has an organic origin) weapon, which regularly has to “feed” with fresh balls – also organic (their shell is made of gelatin).

Time 4 hours

What? A huge number of various enemies.

How to replace? State Culture Institution of the city of Moscow "Museum-Panorama" Battle ". The basis of this memorial complex is a panorama completed by Franz Alekseevich Rubo in 1912 by the centenary of the battle of the same name. It is reported that on September 7, 1812, a huge number of various enemies were opposed by the village of Borodin Army of the Russian Empire – according to various sources, from 130 to 150 thousand French soldiers and officers, as well as 587 guns.

Time 2 hours

What? Real opportunity to visit various planets.

How to replace? To choose from-a network of restaurants "Planet Sushi", Kerling Club "Planet Ice" (European cuisine, business lunch), sports equipment store "Planet of Sports", restaurant "Planet Cosmos" (Russian, Italian, European cuisine, Wi-Fi ), antique store "Planet Antik" and a network of fitness centers "Planet Fitness".

Time 3 hours

What? Interaction with hundreds of NPCs of various enemy races.

How to replace? Moscow Metro was opened on May 15, 1935. Today it contains 12 lines, 177 stations and almost 10 thousand trains, which are transported daily about 7 million passengers. Among them, you can find representatives of most of the RAS known to science, the editorial office of Gamery warns – although not all of them are hostile, be careful and careful!

Time 4 hours

Its own truth

Nevertheless, the “forerunner” has several undeniable advantages. The game world, provided that you agree to play the rules invented by the developers and do not ask unnecessary questions, are saturated with events. You fly to a new planet, solve some problems of the local race, immediately you take this batch of spices to a certain aristocrat, take a random fellow traveler on board, beat off from the pirates, fly on one wing, load the goods, and someone is already knocking You are asking you on the shoulder and tearful about something-to sit idle and admire the sunset decisively.

Where there are not enough directing and high -quality dialogs, the authors take the number and concentration of events. The quests are primitive, but there are a lot of them, while some of them can be solved in different ways: for example, there is an option to just kill an old manner in order to steal copies of a unique plant, but no one forbids you to build a conversation correctly, and he will give them away by himself. And exploring huge spaces here is sometimes even more interesting than in Far Cry 2 , Borderlands , Red Faction: Guerrilla and many other Sandbox games. Simply because the authors filled the planets with optional, but cute hearts: for example, on the way from the city to the bandit camp, you can accidentally stumble upon an old cannibal who will ask the hero to come closer, because Cannibal’s strengths are not on his own and devour it independently and devour he cannot player.

Causes respect and elaboration of the world. Yes, in some places the gaming universe looks like a fan imitation of Dune and Star Wars, but at the same time the authors managed to create almost a dozen really different planets with their own flora and fauna, peculiar races and even unique riding animals.

Almost every “against” “forerunner” has its own “pros”. The shooter seems glow, but the player’s successes largely depend on how he pumped the hero: after all, “forerunners” is a role-playing game. Physics throws a knee, but even the smallest details are taken into account: how many you saw the action in which you have to change the wheel shot by someone? The plot is banal, but non -linear: spoiled relations with one faction can deprive you of the masses of unique quests, and in the course of the game the scriptwriters will ask to make a fateful choice a couple of times, on which the subsequent set of plot tasks and locations will be sent to which you will be sent to you. True, those who can master the story of the game to the end are awaiting an unpleasant surprise. One gets the impression that either money or patience among the authors ended right in the middle of the next working day, so the plot ends literally during the next dialogue.

* * *

“Baptists” is a real dinosaur, farewell greetings to the domestic gaming industry of the late nineties – the beginning of the two thousandths. At the time when the project was just announced, many Russian developers and players still believed in miracles: for example, that the forces of their own creative genius can create a huge “game of dreams” from scratch, in which everything will be like in the West, only Better and "with races".

Today, it seems, it is already obvious to everyone that one talent and ambitions are not enough, and the quality of the game is by no means determined by the length of its ficher leaf. Everyone who survived thought (even GSC Game World , Despite the deafening success S.T.A.L.K.E.R. , They quit experimenting to the second add-on), but Deep Shadows bent their line stubbornly of all and, in spite of everything, managed to finish the work on Xenus 2 and the “forerunners”. For fidelity to the ideals, of course, they deserve the assessments “excellent”, but in terms of execution – they froze at the mark “satisfactory”. “Baptist” is an interesting game in its own way, it can even play on the warm-up of Mass Effect 2. But did we dream about this five years ago?

Reigracy – Yes

Cool plot – No

Originality – Yes

Easy to master – Yes

Evidence of expectations: 60%

Gameplay: 7

Graphics: 6

Sound and music: 6

Interface and management: 6

Waited? “Baptists” seems to offer the player everything he can only dream of: a shooter, an impressive park of controlled technology, elements of role -playing game and space simulator. Unfortunately, most of the playing components look attractive only on paper – in real “forerunners” the player often will have to be exhausted from boredom and wander around the empty world.

Mania rating: 6.0

"Above the average"