Satellite Reign (PC) Review

Satellite Reign introduces a fairly familiar future. Life is cheap, the corporations control everything and the weather forecast is Blade Runner. It's the sort of corporate-led dystopia that crops up regularly in science fiction, possibly because it always seems like a "future next door" - one that doesn't depend on big apocalypses or aliens showing up, but, rather, just the steadily increasing dominance of a handful of companies over citizens' lives.

In this particular corporate future, immortality has been invented for those that can afford it, and the company that controls it effectively controls everything else. Naturally enough, that company should be brought down a peg or two, and small team is given control of to do just that.

After a short opening tutorial, Satellite Reign opens up to allow full exploration of the first city area, and missions can be taken on as they are discovered or put off till later. The initial choice is somewhat overwhelming, but in a good way. What to prioritise? What targets to go after first? Is getting more people a good first step, or is it better to try to establish a decent flow of money?

As well as the physical exploration, a lot is offered in the way of exploring options. Various loadouts are possible for the team - both by giving them equipment and weapons, and by fitting them with various cybernetic augmentations. Can't reach those vents? Well, maybe some new legs would help.

The only real restriction is the city being broken up into a few sectors, with passes needing to be acquired to open up the later sections. This gives the game its only real structure - just enough to help divide difficulty, as the later sections of the city generally have harder challenges.

The environment is gorgeously modelled and textured, with various filters used to thoroughly drench the player in what is essentially a neon-soaked hell hole of a city.

While this dystopian city might not be very original in style or concept, it's hard to deny its atmosphere. The rain, smog and lighting all contribute to a very effective oppressive feeling. In many ways, it might be too effective - the uniformly depressing nature of the environment making the player wish for the light. Given the fairly large scale of the city, maybe the richer districts could have had an artificial beach or forest, just as a contrast to how miserable everywhere else is.

The missions dotted about the city can be short or long, with, normally, a wide range of tactics possible. Some long missions require going deep into an enemy compound, requiring a lot of planning and careful observation to find the safe spots, as saving midway into this missions isn't allowed. Sometimes there is an auto-save after a sub-mission is completed, however.

If a team member gets caught in a compound they can either be escorted out - effectively setting them back at square one - quickly run away and hope they can find a good spot to hide, or take part in an increasingly hard firefight. Given the game can't be saved when in a compound or in danger, failure can be frustrating, but Satellite Reign's structure encourages looking around and taking a different approach the next time - rather than many games that force dying over and over again, while incremental progress is made doing the same thing.

In some cases, getting caught in a compound may even be helpful - if one team member is captured and escorted out, it might distract the guards long enough to help a different team member. Satellite Reign is excellent for these sorts of "emergent gameplay." That is, tactics the game allows to be pulled off because of the well set up and deep environment, rather than specific coding on the developer's part.

The story is delivered via terminals scattered about the city that the hacker on the team can scan (provided no one in authority is watching). These present the plot via bulletin posts and emails. In some ways, it's akin to how Metroid delivers its story.

It's interesting enough, too - a twisty tale of double crosses and brain swaps. Attention needs to be paid occasionally as to who's really who. Fans of TV shows like "Doll House" or "Dark Matter" might have a heads-up here on what to expect.

It's perhaps only a shame the story is delivered purely in this data-log form. While it makes sense for Samus to get her information from abandoned terminals in areas devoid of intelligent life, in a city full of life like this, it seems somewhat a shame there isn't a single real conversation in the game. Even when bribing scientists or informants, no conversation is seen - a log simply pops up confirming what just happened. It's a missed opportunity, as having a more personal interaction with the city's inhabitants could have helped flesh the world out further.

One other flaw for some might be that while almost all missions can be done non-violently, there is a few that require killing someone. The final mission especially makes it impossible to avoid combat, which might come as a shock if any offensive capabilities hadn't been invested in up to that point. Fortunately, it is possible to go back and re-rob some places if desired, giving the team a bit more experience or money if needed.