Comment from Developer “By the way — you can spawn your own miniships by building a “miniship vendor” block, new in v2.17.2+”
“Also, the “alternative” start option is for people who want to get into the game quicker, usually after a first playthrough. First players will likely die at the start, giving them that first, fresh game. Second time around, or after some research, a player may sneak by the Demons to get into the action faster. Some people like getting right into the action, while others want to start fresh… unfortunate that you saw providing the player with this option as a negative”
My journey in 3079 began with me as a lone soldier, floating way above the clouds of a planet that I knew nothing about. I floated around, unsure of what was expected of me when suddenly I realised I was being dragged in by a transparent red demon. I shot round after round from my sniper rifle directly at its face but it took no damage. Eventually I accepted my fate and allowed the demon to supposedly devour me a thousand feet up in the air. I awoke on the surface, with no idea of what my mission was or where I should go. Just outside the constantly assaulted compound that I found myself in a war raged between two factions, humanoid aliens, and beastlike aliens. I could not take part in the war that was blazing all around me but I was forced to scrounge weapons from the carcasses, I needed these weapons for the chance to carve my name into the history of this inhospitable alien planet. This, is how a real RPG should play, coming up from nothing and becoming a force to be feared.
Just when I thought every penny had been squeezed out of the Lego simulator Minecraft, Indie developer phr00t brings out a game that initially surprises me in how faithful it is to its Sci-Fi RPG roots, however these initial feelings were sadly misplaced. When I started my second character after accidentally causing my allies to turn against me by repeated pick-pocketing attempts, I realised how most other players being their journeys in 3079, as lone soldiers, floating way above the clouds of a planet that they knew nothing about, pressing Z and dropping to the planet’s surface with all their weapons and credits, hopping the wall with their anti-grav pack and proceeding to mercilessly slaughter any beings with more than two legs. This, is not how an RPG should play and I was reasonably disappointed.
Dying and losing all of your weapons and armour is a brilliant but hugely cliché way to begin an RPG. Getting a taste for the power that could be yours again if you just fight all these bosses is an effective incentive for the player to bother killing all the mindless creatures that throw themselves at your sword after seeing you slaughter their comrades 5 feet away. I was overjoyed when I realised this was how 3079 was going to play out and for the couple of hours I spent on my first character I was really having a great time despite not having a good weapon and anti-grav unit.
3079 really came close to getting me hooked. If I had never restarted my first game and realised that you could easily keep your starting gear which hugely outclassed anything you would find for a few hours, I would be giving this game a glowing review for really get my nostalgia juices flowing for the original Deus Ex. There are many features that really interested me, an energy system that serves as both your weapons ammunition and power for your anti-grav and stealth systems. The main enemies the mysterious transparent red demons can only be killed by special demon slaying weapons. I was impressed with the thought and creativity that went into developing 3079 and though the stealth and pickpocketing systems are uninspiring but it really gave me that sense that I was having to survive on just my wits. The weapons and their attributes are randomly generated meaning thousands of different swords, snipers, pistols, bazookas, LMGs and assault rifles each with their own attributes and power. If you want to take an attribute from another weapon and attune it to another one there is an item that allows you to do so that you can either find or buy from a merchant for a hefty price.
There is very little challenge within the game due to the poor AI of the basic enemies. However the flying mother ships and the smaller attack planes that dog-fight up in the clouds seem to have far more advanced AI, coupled with their insta-kill damage they make for a fearsome foe. You can hijack the attack planes which is great fun providing you get lucky and don’t fail in the attempt or get instantly shot down by the enemy. If they added some way to spawn your own vehicle and upgrade that along with actually being able to land instead of just jumping out and watching it crash to the ground.
I recommend trying out the free demo on Desura and while I have given it a three out of five, I hope that the feverish determination coming from developer phr00t in the form of an almost constant stream of updates will form the game into the engrossing challenge it is so close to being, instead of letting it fall into obscurity like so many other indie games.
Disclaimer:All scores given within our reviews are based on the artist’s personal opinion; this should in no way impede your decision to purchase the game.
