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Project Aftermath Review for PC

Project Aftermath Review for PC

Vive la Resistance

Games Faction, a tiny, independent developer with a staff of three released their first major title, Project Aftermath. Their creation is a solid RTS title in the vein of other great games such as Warcraft, StarCraft, and Dawn of War. The game has an interesting plot with squad-based combat, and it’s based in a futuristic world in a far away galaxy. The game is fun, engaging, and enjoyable. Though it is not without its problems, the game is well worth checking out by any RTS fan.

Project Aftermath screenshot

The story is presented in a very stylish and colorful manner, in a comic book format. The plot is simple: an evil race, the New Order, roamed the galaxy and conquered everything, and while conquering other races, they took captives and spliced their genes to create hybrid soldiers. However, the Morphid decided to stop them. They built an army, liberated the galaxy, and destroyed their soldiers. The freed races joined the Morphid and some even worshiped them. After a long and brutal war, the Morphid prevailed. So, the New Order’s high command gathered their best men and sent them to Damus (Morphid’s home world). They killed all the inhabitants and left the entire planet in ruins. When the resistance returned, they found their home world destroyed. Some stayed behind to repopulate the planet, while others headed for the stars to find the remaining packets of the New Order and destroy them.

Gameplay is founded on squad-based combat. The main objective of Project Aftermath is to command your troops to victory against the New Order. You can complete this task by eliminating all enemies, capturing obelisks, and rescuing hostages. You can command up to four squads with a maximum of five troopers with a hero leading each squad. The heroes become more powerful as they gain experience. There are four types of attacks: Physical, Energy, Biological, and Morphid Field. Energy attacks and armor are both color-coded to indicate their energy resistance. Red is Physical, blue is Energy-based, green is Biological, and yellow colored attacks are Morphid Field. Each attack is more powerful when used against the correct armor. For example, players who are wearing physical armor will take greater damage from energy-based attacks. If the attack and armor colors match, most of the attacks will be blocked. Melee weapons are available as well, and they give the units the ability to melee-boost, which allows them to move more quickly when attacking. Troopers may die during battle but will resurrect as soon as the hero resurrects. Before starting full missions, you will be able to choose your heroes’ armor, so players need to think carefully about what type of enemies they will be facing.

Project Aftermath screenshot

Project Aftermath is based on a point system called Goop aka Genetic Outfitting and Operational Plasma. Goop increases by killing enemies, collecting Goop pick-ups, and completing objectives. It decreases when field attacks are used or if you resurrect fallen heroes. If players are caught in the red, they will fail the mission, no experience will be gained, research points will not be awarded, and no missions will be unlocked. Gold, silver, or bronze medals are awarded if enough points are earned. Points can be used to boost a hero’s power; it affects health, speed, and field effects.

The controls are standard, and they work well for the most part. If players right-click an enemy, they can select how their heroes and squads attack. For example, you can choose a formation and what weapons to attack with. You can move the camera with the mouse or the WASD keys, rotate the camera by holding the scroll wheel while moving the mouse, and zoom the camera by using the scroll wheel. I was more comfortable using the keyboard. The mouse controls can be a bit difficult and frustrating, especially when rotating the camera; it was easier to rotate it using the keyboard. Unfortunately, you cannot modify the controls.

Project Aftermath screenshot

The most frustrating aspect of the game is that there is no quick save. Therefore, every time you play, you have to finish the level or else you will have to start all over. It is also difficult to keep the heroes alive, and without the quick save, it makes it even worse.

Project Aftermath screenshot

The graphics are clean, and the game looks okay, but the textures and environments are bland. The animations look awkward and stiff, especially when the troopers and grunts are running or dying. Obviously, the visuals will not win any awards. After all, the game requirements are rather low. That is fine though, because it does not take anything away from gameplay, and this way, more people can play the game and enjoy it equally. The game requires at least a 2 GHz CPU, 512MB of memory, and a Geforce 6 series or a Radeon 9600. If you meet these specifications, you should not have any trouble running the game.

The sound, on the other hand, is a mixed bag. There is not a large variety of sound effects. Most of the sound effects are generic and some of them are terrible. However, the music intensifies when the action heats up, and the voice acting is decent, which is rather surprising.

Project Aftermath is a massive accomplishment for such a small developer. The tiny, indie developer shows a lot of promise and talent. You can see that Games Faction put a lot of time and effort into this project. I really liked the story. I found it interesting, and I loved the use of the comic book format. The game runs well and the graphics look clean, though not excellent. Like I said before, the sound is definitely on the low end, but the voice work is decent. The game is available at Games Faction’s official website, gamesfaction.com, and on Valve’s online game distribution system, Steam. Project Aftermath retails for $19.99 – for that price, I highly recommend it to any RTS fan, because it is a good game and many of you will enjoy it as much as I did.

RATING OUT OF 5 RATING DESCRIPTION 3.0 Graphics
Graphics look clean, but environments look bland and the animations are awkward. 3.5 Control
Controls are standard. They work, though they can be a bit frustrating. 3.0 Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Sound is not this game’s strength. The sound effects can be terrible at times, but the voice work is decent. 4.0 Play Value
This game has a lot to offer. You can play through the campaign several times because you can approach the mission differently each time. 3.5 Overall Rating – Good
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

  • Experience ten missions of thrilling, fast-paced action on a mysterious alien world.
  • Command up to four Heroes and see them become more powerful as they gain experience.
  • Classless Heroes mean that you can equip your squad your way, using over 100 different items in thousands of combinations.
  • You decide how tough a mission is. Over or under equip your Heroes to blast your way through or to challenge the online high score tables.
  • Collect Honors for exceptional skill in battle.

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