Mars: War Logs panned by RPS

Spiders Studios, known for the Testament of Sherlock Holmes and Of Orcs and Men, is bringing its sci-fi horror Mars: War Logs to gamers, and while the game has been getting some attention for looking interesting, international online publication Rock Paper Shotgun were less than ecstatic after playing it.

“It’s also very clear that War Logs aims to be a lot more than it was ever going to achieve,” says RPS’ John Walker.

Walker found that the game gets off on the wrong foot from the get-go, and things don’t get any better than that.

“Nonsense writing, with clearly no voice direction from those involved with the script (so many lines are delivered badly that it becomes a game to guess how it was meant to be interpreted), rarely puts the player in a confident mood. That the game’s first main scene is then a prison shower rape attempt pitches things a little lower.”

Walker goes on to explain the monotonous nature of the opening segments, giving players little more to do than a straight “run here-do that” structure.

“You’re given a bunch of main and side quests, which all involve running to a point on the dreadful map (the prison is in many sections, but you’re only ever allowed to see the map of the bit you’re currently in) and talking to a person, or killing some stuff, then running back. Then running there again. Then running back. And so on. The backtracking is really quite impressive,” says Walker.

“Ultimately this is picking over details in a game that’s just not worth the time. It’s so intrinsically dreary, infested with a dullness that doesn’t let any of its notions scrabble to the surface to become intriguing.”

On the plus side, Walker does explain that the combat system in the game is very interesting, and that he wishes that he could “medivac the combat out of this game, and put it in something else, something that deserves the challenge.”

What were your initial impressions of Mars: War Logs? Will you still give Spider Studios’ new endeavour a chance?