Shattered Horizon: a review.
I recently purchased the game Shattered Horizon, and I felt I needed to express my love and hate for this game!
So first off we have the menu
I believe the video playing in the background is a looping pre-rendered video, seeing as I run it at 90-100 fps, while I run the game itself at 30 fps.
Next, we have the server browser;
Just your standard server browser…
Now on to the real stuff. The game itself is based in space, and you are a soilder in a war between the ISA (good guys) and the MMC (bad guys who blow up the moon).
This has to be one of the first games I’ve ever played that’s entirely based in space that isn’t in a space ship. The game comes with 1 weapon, and SMG, and 4 grenades.
The grenades include ‘ice’ (smoke bomb), EMP (disables suit), and MPA (explosion), all of which are balanced.
Such as the ice bomb blocks your sight of the enemy and the radar, but it helps you find cover before they can find you.
The EMP disables the suit of anyone around it and constricts their movement, but they can still shoot you at full speed.
The MPA is a very small but powerful blast of explosion and can either kill your enemies or knock them far away.
The SMG is very limited to what it can do, the Devs of the game stated that the only reason they made one weapon (on release) is because of balance and realism. The gun has a very shaky scope when in mid air, but when you latch on to a surface it stabilizes. When you are scoped in, it fires 10 rounds per shot (out of 60) and it delivers a big piece of damage to your opponents.
Speaking of latching on to surfaces, you can press shift or F to start going down to a surface or forcefully turn to get on the surface. It turns of your jet light and your scope is more steady and it’s easier to snipe with. You can also walk on walls if you flip fast enough while staying latched on, which is perfect for camping at a flag.
This game is beautiful. Just look at these pictures.
Silent Running mode is super fun, you can go around un-noticed and slash open people’s suits without them hearing you. USUALLY you wouldn’t be able to hear anything besides your heart beat and breath, but there’s a bug in the new version where you can hear your gun shots and grenade shots very clearly. Which kinda ruins it for me, but meh.
I only played on Skirmish and 1 map for this review, because I don’t have enough time or effort to write a any longer review. I hope you want to buy this game! Because you know, you will probably never ever go into space in your life!
Graphics: 4.9/5
Gameplay: 4.0/5
Sound: 3.7/5 (voice acting is repetitive as FUCK)
Overall: 4.5/5
November 15, 2009 - 11:11 pm
I have a couple of things to say about your description, as it is more of a description than review (and considering you only played skirmish on one map it’s not a surprise it’s not very in depth), although I’m mainly disagreeing and correcting, I did find it interesting to read and I like your screenshots.
I don’t think the menu is a video because the detail of the rocks changes when you change the shadows & shaders setting, it must just be a really small map.
I don’t think it’s good guys vs bad guys, I was actually more on the side of the guys who blew up the moon, thinking it was either an accident or a resistance and now they’re fighting for their lives. But for the game’s sake, it’s blue vs yellow rather than good vs evil.
I think the gun is more of an assault rifle than an SMG, especially with the scope/firing mode change and grenade launcher, plus it’s a bit too long for an SMG if you were to see someone else holding it or see it floating away when you die.
The MPA doesn’t deal any damage, it just blasts people away and is highly effective against those with disabled suits either from silent running or affected by an EMP. It can also be used to boost yourself or a team mate, although I haven’t been able to do this effectively yet. Plus, I know that you meant to say there are 4 grenades to fire and 3 types, but it looks like you say there are 4 types of grenades and only list 3 of them.
If you like the game, you should play it more and put a bit more detail into your opinions and perhaps write about some experiences you’ve had where you teamed up with someone or got a really good kill etc. I think it’s also notable that the developers are listening to the community of this game and are taking suggestions for bug fixes and gameplay changes on their forums, aswell as there being an upcoming map pack that will be free, as there are only 4 maps at the moment.
At the moment I think this game feels more like a beta rather than a proper release, but a beta for a game that does look very promising when it will be finished.
November 16, 2009 - 6:24 pm
Well, thanks a bunch for correcting me Martz. I didn’t actually know the MPA didn’t deal any damage.
And ffff I meant to change it to 3 grenades after I corrected myself.
and yes, it is more like a assault rifle, I just forgot what the word was :<.
I probably will edit this post to be more in depth after I play more of it.
Thanks for the suggestions.