Review Paradise Cracked brings home the bacon at ESCMag

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Paradise Cracked

<a href="http://www.escmag.com/">ESCMag</a> has posted <A href="http://www.escmag.com/v5/reviews/review.cfm?rv=352">their review</a> of <a href="http://www.buka.com/game/Game_15.htm">Paradise Cracked</a>, comparing it to both <a href="http://www.interplay.com/fallout">Fallout</a> and <i>X-Com</i>, which is pretty positive. Of course, there are complaints in the thing as well, but here's a positive clip:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote>What's interesting is that Paradise Cracked is a turn-based strategy RPG very reminiscent of the X-COM games. At a time when real-time rules over all, you've got to give credit to any company willing to remind folks just why turn-based games are fun. You can't just rush into battle - you have to plan shots, open lanes of fire, find places to hide between turns. Why all the emphasis on combat actions? Well, Paradise Cracked is heavy on the combat.
<br>
<br>
Very heavy. Missions generally involve fighting to a certain location, killing someone and fighting back. Even delivery missions mean blasting through waves of hostiles. That's sort of a shame. I was hoping for more William Gibson than Road Warrior, with frequent trips into cyberspace, that sort of thing.
<br>
<br>
Still, Paradise Cracked is a lot of fun. I find myself with "one more turn" syndrome, where one more turn becomes 10 and then hours pass. </blockquote>
<br>
<br>
I'd call that rather positive, wouldn't you?
<br>
<br>
Spotted this at <A href="Http:/www.shacknews.com">Shack News</a>.
<br>

 

[EEVIAC]

I was surprised at the lack of a cyberpunk feel. Don't get me wrong; you've got your perpetual-night cityscapes and your blasted urban wastelands. But the overall feel is more Fallout (post-nuclear civilization held together with found items) than William Gibson (with sleek, omnipresent computers).

I'd guessed as much from screenshots but I don't understand why future worlds always need to be falling apart and in decay. I've always preferred "shiny" sci-fi to sci-fi that looks like Johnny Mnemonic. I'm not totally averse to worn down areas (I grew up in a town with a population of 7000 people and it had a bonafide slum) but I just think they should include more areas that are developed, and well, shiny...

Another important aspect of cyberpunk that hasn't been mentioned in any p/reviews I've read for Restricted Area or Paradise Cracked is the propensity for the word lozenge. Everything was a lozenge in Neuromancer, the decks were lozenges, the ice were lozenges, the city lights were lozenges, Molly's eyes, drugs, gun flashes, everything. Like Mondrian going wild with neon.