PC Game Review - Terrawars: NY Invasion

PC Game Review - Terrawars: NY Invasion
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Screenshots

I met this nice alien girl at a bar last night

Hard to tell the difference between the aliens and the citizens

New York city has had better days

Pros (1 out of 5)

Terrawars: NY Invasion only sells for $20 USD, which still might be a little pricey if you compare it to the entertainment value of other titles with about the same qualities.

If you just want a kill everything action game for a few hours of mindless game play then this title will give you everything you’re looking for, but it really isn’t a game with any depth or replay value.

Needs Improvement (1 out of 5)

Although there were always lots of aliens to kill the environments lacked content in the form of material objects to look at and interact with, it didn’t feel sufficiently populated.

The weapon effects were weak and underpowered both visually and audibly, which didn’t help the already limited depth in game play options.

The story line is really weak and shows signs of being poorly written in concept and execution, it shows absolutely no coherent consistency in plot or context.

Bad collision detection of the platforming meant I got stuck on ledges or would continually miss a necessary move across rickety floors or jump across a barrier and hit some unseen barrier.

Graphics (2 out of 5)

Looks and feels like a game from the late nineties, with dated visual presentation, noticeable frame rate problems anytime the action really gets intense on the screen, not that it happens that often, and a slew of visual bugs that take you right out of any immersive ability the game might have.

The color palette appears to be a little shallow, many of the colors look pale and dull, and the details are sparse and average. The visual effects are partially obscured by this weird fog that exists on the screens; they must have thought it would save on time and money on putting details and textures into the scenes, when it really just annoys the player.

Sound Effects and Music (2 out of 5)

The sound effects of the weapons and all the environmental effects were dull and lacklustre with no real audible power to them and they certainly didn’t inspire my senses or have emotional content. The aliens grunt and make the occasional weak dying noise that you probably won’t hear.

The voice acting was just bad, totally uninspiring and lacking any intelligent lines or thoughts. It didn’t produce any emotion in me at all, which was very disappointing. They even sounded like they were non-English actors with bad English accents, really poor effort.

The music score was basically non-existent and what there was sounded-bad, and had absolutely no entertainment value.

Plot (2 out of 5)

You play a character called John Stewart, a medical student whose part of the New York City National Guard. When aliens invade New York, he steps forward to meet the threat using heavy weapons that include heavy machine guns, sniper rifles, and even rocket launchers.

Play Through Value and Replay Value (2 out of 5)

You will play through twelve levels of mundane game play, shooting and dispatching aliens, who all look the same on all the levels, accept for color changes. The levels do have objectives for you to complete, but they’re limited to simple ‘find the injured combatants’ or ‘secure a map location’ within New York. All you need to do is kill all the aliens to be successful, which isn’t very hard or challenging.

They do have the option for online play, but I couldn’t find a server to play on, and anyway the single player was so bad, I am having nightmares about actually trying the online multiplayer option.

A predictable game that has no replay value for me, as the game is just easily dispatching hordes of weak and ineffectual aliens.

Final Verdict (2 out of 5)

Terrawars is not a game I would recommend, unless you just want to try a few minutes of mindless killing, with no real objective or challenge, then this game will do. Far too many inexcusable bugs and problems exist in this game for the entertainment value to be more then a short affair at best. If you haven’t played any of the other games developed lately, you might think this is a good game, otherwise you’ll be throwing it in a drawer somewhere to be forgotten.

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