Mars: War Logs

Spiders have a history that a lot of game developers these days can relate to. They started out with an artistic vision of a game they want to make and a universe for players to explore, but after failing to find a publisher they were forced into working on other games and contract work.

In the case of Spiders and Mars: War Logs they started working on the universe and the game when the company was founded in 2008, but then had to turn to contract work helping other developers and porting various titles (including work on R.U.S.E. and Of Orcs and Men). They always wanted to revisit the red planet, and at Gamescom they were finally able to officially showcase Mars: War Logs - an action RPG set on a postapocalyptic Mars, where the human settlers last heard from Earth a century ago.

It sets the stage for a harsh world, where human life has a high value because of its scarcity, and a world where control of water affords you control over an entire planet. Technology has been lost, but there are still those capable of harnessing some of humanity's old technology - technomancers with almost God-like powers, power that corrupts and warps their minds. We did get to meet one of the female technomancers who will apparently join you on your quest later on in the game, and their implants help them harness the body's electricity into powerful electrical attacks. Apparently they are also very unpredictable, and borderline insane for the most part.

The main character Roy Temperance starts out the game as a prisoner (a nod to the Elder Scroll series) in a labour camp owned by one of the four rival water companies that struggle for control over Mars. The camp is a rather horrid place, in one corner I spot a dog with what appears to be a prawn-like head, and there's a mutant who's suffered too much exposure under the thin Mars atmosphere. These mutants are basically kept like slaves, and serve as a sub-human element in the game. Even if the game is heavy on problem solving, conversations, and exploration, there is going to be quite a bit of combat as well and by the looks of it, it will be of the hack n' slash variety. During the demo we faced off against some underground mutant moles, who were obviously causing a bit of problem as far as camp productivity goes. Meanwhile you're looking for a way to escape, and gather information and resources to that end.

Our main character will be joined by various followers, a total five different companions during the course of the adventure, and in the Gamescom demo we were introduced to the first one, a young boy who we saved as he was getting beaten up in the camp. The boy also serves as a narrator of sorts as he keeps a journal of the events in the game, a nice touch that offers a slightly different angle. Character progression is divided into three tech trees, Might that obviously focuses on physical attacks, Stealth which has more to do with sneaking and crafting and finally a third category, which seems to imply our main character will end up learning more about technology than your typical Mars based prison camp grunt.

The developers estimate the Mars: War Logs campaign to clock in around 15 hours - short for a RPG of this kind, but rather lengthy for a downloadable game targeted for Steam, PSN, and XBLA. There will smaller side quests to do, and exploration on the side of the main story, but the story looks like it may be the strong point of the game. The visuals may be a little crude at this point, but they did a nice job portraying the harshness of a postapolyptic Mars, where mankind has regressed in some ways, forgotten old technology and run out of the how know and resources to rebuild what has been lost. The combat seemed a bit simplistic in this very early part of the game, but hopefully it picks up when additional abilities unlock and you learn to harness you technological powers (equivalent of magic).

Mars: War Logs has the kind of setting and universe you just can't wait to explore and learn more about. It's got a Mad Max meets Pitch Black quality to it that peaks my interest. As a gamer with a busy schedule I don't mind the fact that this won't be an epic scale game, but more of a focus and condensed experience, and hopefully Spiders will nail the execution and deliver on the vision they had when the company was first founded five years on.