Titan: XCIX is a first person adventure that takes place aboard the ill fated star ship of the same name. When an accident rips apart a lone ship on a routine mission, the crew find themselves fighting for survival and each other in a unique Single Player experience that's been in the making for the past two years. --------------- ATROPHY: XCIX is a first person action horror adventure that takes place in an abandoned hospital in the north of England. You will play as a high ranking officer supervising a patrol on the outskirts of a small town. Developed single-handedly by Robin "IZaNaGI" Molde (TITAN: XCIX, Jailbreak!: Source, Survival Mod II for JK:JA), Players will face many challenges that will test their brains rather than their trigger fingers. Requires Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Titan: XCIX
Graphics: 8/10
Sounds and Voice Overs: 7/10
Story: 6/10
Puzzles: Easy
Playability: Moderate
Replayability: Low
Fun: Average
After you've started the game, the story takes a little while to pick up, and the worst part of it all is when your friend Mag dies--not because he didn't see it coming, not because he didn't have time to respond, but because the story didn't allow for it so he just does. After that, things begin to improve as you help the entertaining-yet-annoying Lizzard (that's his last name), and puzzles start being of more or less the Dues Ex variety (except there's only one way to solve them). When the game really outdoes itself and kicks *** is when you have to protect a power cell from falling into water. That, combined with a unique boss fight, and a space walk that shows the nearby moon and does a great deal of atmospheric build up, made me finally start to get immersed in the game. Then, it ended with a cutscene that I hope will be converted into being an actually playable segment.
The nitpick-you don't necessarily have to read this:
The "help" system that explains what different things are often times actually distracts you early on to things that aren't even necessary (Why do I need to have you tell me a pipe is a pipe? And why do I need to be told that I shouldn't be messing with a server room or need to be explained that a piece of equipment hanging half-way out of the wall is malfunctioning). Also, the weird smiley-face messages from "the ship" break immersion almost always. Yes the smiley-face messages are helpful when you're stuck, but if you want to offer help could it be via the ship's AI giving you suggestions or from the character himself (who's already clearly got a voice actor). Invisible walls pop far too often early on and break the immersion further (let us die every once and a while, it's an adventure game) Lastly -- let us carry more than one tool at one time