The problem is, appearances can be very deceiving. Mars: War Logs is not a great RPG. It’s not even a good RPG. It is, in every sense of the word, thoroughly mediocre. However, what it does have is ambition, lots of it, and a whole lot of potential too. Playing Mars: War Logs is an exercise in heartbreak, as you see so many great ideas, and just wish that the developer had had a bigger budget to be able to fully realize its vision.

Take, for example, the story of the game. Whereas the immediate narrative of the game is quite the collection of cliches, rife with prisoners of war, shady characters with ambiguous motives, and a giant organization you thought was good, but turns out to be evil, the actual lore of the game is brilliant. I would not mind reading a science fiction book set within this game’s universe, presuming it was well written, because the lore is just so imaginative and well thought out.

The game takes place on the surface of a war ravaged Mars. Some time in the past, there was a great, cataclysmic event referred to only as The Turmoil, which resulted in Mars being cut off from Earth. The planet’s population, now abandoned, lives in a state of perpetual warfare (or the potential of it), given the alarmingly dwindling scarce water resources of the planet, controller by four guilds. The guilds are at war with each other a lot (including during the game, when Aurora, the guild the main character comes from, is at war with Abundance, the oldest water guild on the planet).

It’s an interesting setting, and an interesting idea. Nothing here is new, of course, per se, but this specific amalgamation of ideas is certainly something that hasn’t been seen before. It also opens up a world of exciting possibilities for storytelling, with a lot of political intrigue and exposition to boot. The sad part, then, is, that the game itself never actually delivers on the promise of its initial ideas. What we are left with is a rather run of the mill story of trying to take down an organization once thought benevolent, but revealed to be evil.

It’s not like the characters themselves are any better either. Roy, the main character, feels like a derivative of Marcus Fenix, a prisoner of war with a mysterious past, while Innocence, his NPC companion and the narrator of the titular War Logs (referred to in game as War Diaries), lives up this name, and again, recalls Japanese character archetypes.

Bafflingly enough, these JRPG stereotypes are completely at odds with a game that is trying to be as ‘western’ as possible, in everything from its dialog, its insistence on explosions, a story that is trying to shock the player using twists that are supposed to make the player think, and the battle system itself.

The battle system… the combat at the heart of this game is brilliant, another of those sparks of genuine greatness in this game. The battles are heavily reliant on melee, which is just as well, because it feels great, and every attack feels like it has the sufficient amount of heft and weight behind it. This great melee, and the game’s inclusion of some staple RPG conventions like a Tactics menu, and of course, a set of Dungeons and Dragons inspired Feats, leads to battles feeling pretty good.

They’re promoted from being ‘pretty good’ to ‘a whole lot of fun’ because of Technomancy. Technomancy is this game’s stand in for magic. Roy, the main character, was once a Technomancer, and a whole lot of your enemies are Technomancers too. They can use a full range of Star Wars like electric attacks, that bring on the pain, and they can even put on melee blocking shields, that require a  change of tactics. The enemies are also pretty brutal and ruthless, incessantly making your life difficult, and making you roll your way around, trying to dodge attacks and land in a blow. You get access to Technomancy yourself, although it is not available to you from the get go.

As hectic as things can get in battles, and as harsh as the enemy AI can be, it’s pretty good then that you don’t have to look after your NPC companions. They don’t die in battle, they are just knocked out and return fully recovered once the battle has ended. This means that that’s one thing less you need to worry about, and you can just focus on the battles without worrying about the companion AI dragging you down.

Combat genuinely feels visceral and fun, and it gets better, as you craft increasingly better (and more and more improbably makeshift) weapons, by bolting on parts on top of your base weapons. The combat has heft to it, it has genuine weight, and it just feels great.

It’s just as well then, that most of the game is combat. A large part of the time will be spent just battling enemies, although if you ever do get tired, stealth is a (not altogether viable) alternative.

There’s a genuine spark of greatness in Mars: War Logs, but the game as a whole is let down by its poor story and characterization, by its confusing morality system that is altogether ineffective, and on the whole, by a budget that clearly wasn’t enough to do the game’s vision justice. Whereas casual players should probably stay away from this one, RPG veterans should check the game out and give it a spin, if only to see the genuinely brilliant ideas at the game’s core. Mars: War Logs isn’t exactly a good game, but I have hopes that the next one, if there is a next one, given more time and a bigger budget, will be able to realize all the potential and promise oat the heart of this game.

This game was reviewed on PC.

The action RPG explores a future of humanity engulfed in civil war, despite technological advancements and inter-planetary colonization. We sat down with Spiders Studio CEO Jehanne Rousseau to explore what went into developing the game, and similarities in systems from the Mass Effect series.

Ravi Sinha: What prompted the decision to go with a digital release via Xbox Live, PSN and Steam? Wouldn’t something of this scale benefit more from a moiretail release?

Jehanne Rousseau: We did want to produce or at least co-produce our own game, but we are an independent studio and releasing a retail game requires thea kind of budget we simply didn’t have. Mars is a new franchise with some mature content that no publisher this side of the solar system would be willing to invest gazillions in without taking control of everything in the project.

This was not an option, so we preferred to do our thing with a lower budget and the support of a publisher who respected our perspective. 

Ravi Sinha: Tell us more about the dialogue and decision making system. How does it differ from games like Mass Effect?

Jehanne Rousseau: Both obviously have spiritual ancestors in common, as we’ve been playing Bioware’s RPGs (among others) since the Baldur’s Gate eratimes, way before Spiders Games was founded. Dialogues in Mars: War Logs naturally build on that gaming experience, as well as on the experience we gained from our own previous works.

So you still get to pick your lines depending on the kind of attitude you wish to show, the way you plan to deal with every single issue in the game or just depending on how much more you want to learn from the person you’re talking to [One thing is, besides the necessary tutorial stuff, we didn’t want to hold players’ hands  by the hand too much, so whenever they’re curious to know more about the background, somehow they will actually have to role-play ‘curious’ and ask the friendlier (or not) NPCs that are around – while unlocking codex entries that will let them know even more].

"Combat is meant to be dynamic, but tactics do remain essential, or you will find yourself surrounded and your companions knocked down unconscious pretty quickly."

The decisions you make throughout the game will then affect the story – sometimes quite dramatically – and the outcome of various quests, but also your reputation and how your companions or other NPCs will see you. Or even ‘touch’ you, for some of them.

On the other hand, and because of the importance of your choices, we wanted to make sure these choices were as clear as possible. So we eventually left the (Mass Effect style) dialogue wheel and “key-word” system that we had in our previous games, and got back to actual sentences that leave little doubt as to what your character will be saying or doing once you’ve picked your reply.

In the end, we’d should we compare the dialogue system in Mars with other RPGs, games like Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins or more recently The Witcher 2 would probably feel closer rather than Mass Effect.

Ravi Sinha: The combat is pushing for different styles and abilities, but how will these abilities affect other areas outside of the game like exploration and puzzles? Will there be multiple ways to approach a problem using the skills you have?

Jehanne Rousseau: There definitely are multiple ways to approach a problem, but for the very most part they rely on the choices you make in dialogues. Some of the Feats you can develop throughout your character progression may increase your chance of looting interesting stuff, or improve your crafting skills (so you can make better upgrades for your equipment) for instance, but in the end your abilities remain dedicated to increasing your chance of survival in a post-apocalyptic setting that will have you getting  you into a lot of fights.

Now, of course, if said problem actually IS a tough fight, some abilities can help you win the battle before it even starts, or make sure it doesn’t happen at all.

Ravi Sinha: Is combat meant to be more tactical and less twitchy? Even moves like dodging and fighting seem more calculated than the twitch-happy nature of most action RPGs these days.

Jehanne Rousseau: Combat is meant to be dynamic, but tactics do remain essential, or you will find yourself surrounded and your companions knocked down unconscious pretty quickly… and then things will probably get lethally twitchy on you too eventually! So you need to analyze and adapt. Just dodging and rolling around until you get a clear shot can do the trick for some time if you’re lucky, but this mostly suggests that you had just better hit the Tactics Menu command and take the time to rethink the situation.

Mars is said to be a difficult game, especially as the main character Roy and his allies are just human beings and can only take so many hits before they die… But actually it’s all about taking advantage of every option you have. Every single skill, item or upgrade – whether skill or equipment – is useful and can make a major difference in battle when used properly.

Once you’ve understood the mechanics and tools at your disposal best suited to your playing style AND the kind of enemy you are fighting, then combat should get that satisfyingactory ‘almost too easy’ feeling even on the higher difficulty levels… and becoming the most dangerous guy on the planet feels all the more rewarding.

"Technology has made some serious steps backwards, while violence, fanaticism, racism, misery and despair are pretty much everywhere. There’s still hope, though. Since there’s still life."

Ravi Sinha: A lot of science fiction centered around Mars defines it as this other frontier for humanity, one that can represent hope and answers just as easily as it can bring to life man’s savagery. What tone does Mars War Logs go for when defining the Red Planet?

Jehanne Rousseau: Mars War Logs is a little grimmer and more pessimistic, as you realize that even after achieving space travel and colonization of Mars, humanity is still confronted with the very same issues and dangers, both globally and individually.

First you get some sort of crude reminder of our place in the universe in that whatever the faith, whatever the ambition or the technology of your civilization, all your efforts can be ruined in a flash by something that’s just completely out of your control.

Then you see private companies replacing governments completely, and using the people who depend on them as soldiers to fight for the control of whatever’s left of that destroyed new world. And as you dig deeper, you realize that despite the Science Fiction setting suggested by the time and place, there’s not much of a future left in a post-apocalyptic world like this.

Technology has made some serious steps backwards, while violence, fanaticism, racism, misery and despair are pretty much everywhere. There’s still hope, though. Since there’s still life. And it’s actually up to you, as a player, to decide if you wish to preserve it as much as possible, or let your anger and personal interests take priority over any ideal of rebuilding a more ‘civilized’ civilization.

Ravi Sinha: What kind of play-time are you looking for with the game? What kind of incentives will there be to replay it, besides the differing abilities?

Jehanne Rousseau: One playthrough should take 12 to 15+ hours in medium difficulty depending on how much time you dedicate to exploring and finding out more about the game universe.

But there’s actually one particular major point in the main quest that will have you choose between two opposite sides… and then walk along two different paths through the whole final third of the game, along with different allies, a different extra (romanceable) companion and several different outcomes depending on some other important decisions to make. Also, when replaying through, you should notice many other smaller changes depending on the way you behaved or solved (or not) certain quests.

Mars War Logs – Launch Trailer is here ladies and gentlemen. And for some reason this another version of the original launch trailer we had reported a couple of days back.

Mars War Logs is a third-person action RPG. In the game, the player plays a role of Roy Temperance who is a man seeking to save the planet from the mass catastrophe that devastated the planet almost a century ago. You will be taking on quests, participating in dialogue choices and decisions, crafting and modyifing your weapons and of course slaying the terrifying monsters that roam planet Mars.

Mars War Logs is developed by Spiders studios for PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and PC. The game will feature a big variety of dynamic quests, high-quality character specializations and multiple skill trees and a full fledged crafting system.

Launch Trailer:

Interested in Mars War Logs and want to know how well this action RPG Mars adventure turns out? Stay tuned on GamingBolt for our review. Please post any comments or opinions you have down below in the comment section.

The sci-fi action role-playing game takes place on Mars after a cataclysmic event shook the surface 100 years ago. Playing as the renegade Roy, you must survive in a civil war among different factions and groups warring for water. You’ll be faced with choices and decisions that will determine your ultimate fate but the player is free to choose as seen fit.

Roy will be able to specialize in three different skill trees to become either a brawler, thief or to use different “spells” to take out enemies. Each skill tree has its own unique advantages, and will aid the player in real time combat against both the armies and creatures that Mars presents. You can also use the crafting system to create and upgrade weapons, armor and equipment.

Spiders Studio has released a new video for Mars: War Logs. The video is an overview one and shows the origins of the game.

The game is an RPG in which player choices leave their mark on the story and its unfolding.

“Spiders Studio really wanted to offer total freedom to the players who will have to face the consequences of their decisions through dialogues, through choosing their skills, with their behaviour toward their companions, or even through the equipment and upgrades they decide to craft,” the press release reads.

“Players will be forced to take responsibility for their actions: for example, slaying human opponents after a battle will be an advantagous source of income… but will also make many characters wary of you!”

Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

The screenshots showcase a new character, namely the Technomant army general’s right hand Devotion Chase, who hunts Roy in Shadowlair for her own ends. As for those purposes, well, that’s the mystery.

Stay tuned for more details as Mars War Logs nears release for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Spiders promises a lot more new artwork for the new site and has also shared the new developer’s blog which will update regularly with exclusive information on the game.

Mars War Logs will apparently be releasing this Spring – the new website and developer blog at least build some anticipation towards the official date, which is still TBA.

The trailer looks at the Fighter tree, which lets you use different dodges and a variety of weapons to go with your melee and ranged strikes; Renegade tree, a stealth skill set that emphasizes sneaking, setting traps and distractions; and the Technomancer tree, where all the lightning and spells reside.

It’s a decent mix though the animation looks oddly stiff. Hopefully the overall flow of the combat will help even it out and make it more compelling.

Mars War Logs is set on the red planet itself in the midst of a civil war that threatens to shatter everything. It will be releasing this year for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 via digital download, PSN and Xbox Live.

You’ll be playing as Roy, a human with his own set of skills, as he attempts to survive his journey on Mars and hopefully discover just what happened 200 odd years ago to make things so shitty.

Calling it right now: NASA. All because of NASA.

Mars War Logs will reportedly offer a plethora of choices for how you want to shape your character, along with real time combat and a crafting system for weapons. Check it out when it hits this Spring for Xbox Live, PSN and PC.

Spiders released some new screenshots for the game today, showing us…well, gameplay moments we assume. It’s hard to tell who’s the antagonist and protagonist in the screens, which showcase the typical RIOT gear cops and the strange electrical powers viewed in a previous trailer.

But for an indie effort, it looks good. Not drop-dead gorgeous, but a very interesting graphical take that paints Mars in a new light.

Will this motivate you to pick up the game when it releases? Check out the Mars: War Logs trailer below for some dramatic moments and story-telling (we think).