Satellite Reign - More Reviews

[Myrthos]

Here are two more reviews, that were spotted by Eye.

GamingTrend, 8.5:

If there is one thing that surprised me quite a bit, it’s the sheer magnitude of this Satellite Reign. The massive downtown area is just one of the four major hubs, with a fifth smaller area hanging in the wings. The massive play space is filled with subtle nods to other games, both new and old. For example, Hertzog and Zwei Streets intersect, referencing an early Sega RTS that predated genre-defining Dune II by three years. You’ll also see clear influences from Blade Runner, The Matrix, Neuromancer, and other cyberpunk games and media. Each area feels different as well – I just wish the citizens were more than mobile clone meat.

GameRevolution, 4.5/5

If you remember the original Syndicate games, then I should imagine that purchasing Satellite Reign would be a no-brainer, but even for newcomers to the series such as myself, this is a highly recommended purchase. Through its wonderfully dynamic gameplay which mixes methodical forward-planning with glorious, chaotic scrambles out of dodge, Satellite Reign has taught me that being a perfectionist is actually dull—the real fun begins when you make a mistake.

More information.

 

[FunktionJCB]

Destructoid posted their review a couple of days ago (an 8):
http://www.destructoid.com/review-satellite-reign-307082.phtml

 

[borcanu]

seems weird to me, how games focusing on gameplay get so much from the critics.
i mean, ok i get it, you are a game critic, not a book / movie critic, but i feel like gameplay is highly overestimated, as a gaming experience.

 

[SirJames]

seems weird to me, how games focusing on gameplay get so much from the critics.
i mean, ok i get it, you are a game critic, not a book / movie critic, but i feel like gameplay is highly overestimated, as a gaming experience.

reviewing a game, not a book /movie

 

[ChienAboyeur]

seems weird to me, how games focusing on gameplay get so much from the critics.
i mean, ok i get it, you are a game critic, not a book / movie critic, but i feel like gameplay is highly overestimated, as a gaming experience.

If only that was the case...

Satellite reign has not much to offer apart from gameplay as material for an article.

Writers are somehow compelled to try to write about gameplay. No other option here, it is not like the story was overwhelming.

The second article reads like the author played another game, managed to try to convince people that SR is sort of intense and challenging.
As information, most heists can be completed by

Spoiler

merely running in up to the objective, run out and sit out of a sight for seconds

All it takes is one finger to click, click, click.

The first article seems to be written by a 'ugoigo' player. The complaint about pathfinding and pcs unable to figure out by themselves that their path cross the path of patrols.
It fails to exhibit how a large gameworld has any gameplay value. Yes, the gameworld is large but what does it mean in terms of gameplay? The feature has no gameplay value.

Both articles were written with no concern for gameplay. A feat as it is written about a game for which gameplay is by far the dominant dimension.

 

[ChienAboyeur]

The police of Satellite Reign take a very Grand Theft Auto approach to your criminal behavior, which is less surprising when you consider that 5 Lives Studios’ members worked on GTAIV.

Not surprising. The studio copied GTA series base design. It could have happened another way, without them working on a GTA episode.

Sectors opened after carrying out missions, a large open world used to diminish profiles etc

Except that GTA succeeds in building a gameplay on the assets, the large open world has gameplay value. The large open world is required to put distance between the PC and chasers.
This also confirms that the whole cloning thing was supposed to work as an equivalent of the GTA car paint shop.
Once a clone had grown too hot, the solution was supposed to transfer the consciousness in a new clone.

The video game industry require the Chinese to step in. The chinese are told to be able of copy alone, but at least, they are able to copy well.

This SR crowdfunded project was unable of an original design, let alone copying well.

 

[PegasusOrgans]

That wonderful feeling when you view a post of someone you blocked and instantly see the reason why you initially blocked them in the first place. Ahhh, satisfaction. Anyway. One should try to remember that Syndicate wasn't exactly perfect. The A.I. was absurdly simple, much of the fun came from the freedom to destroy and subjugate the populace more than story, the overall strategy element or graphical quality. Sure, all the games people refer to when bashing new spiritual successors seem like they were perfect, but that's nostalgic rose-coloured glasses talking. The best result would be to take someone that loves RPGs/strategy games and have them play the Syndicate games and SR (and tell them to ignore the former's age-related failings) and we'd see a more proper comparison.

I still love the Syndicate games but they were not deep… at all.