The Technomancer Reviews
It�s far from great, but sometimes just being good really is good enough.
If you’re not a gigantic fan of the genre, I can’t really recommend The Technomancer.
The Technomancer is an ambitious sci-fi RPG limited by the realities of budgets. Fun and intriguing, but lacking polish and certain genre staples.
The Technomancer is the equivalent of a cheesy 90's sci-fi action flick mashup; think Steven Seagal's Under Siege meets Jesse Ventura's Abraxas: Guardian of the Universe all set in the dusty red planet of yesteryear's classics like Total Recall or Dune. For as grand as that sounds, fans of past Spiders titles may be a bit disappointed in the lack of varied gameplay between titles. Others that are new to the universe may be a bit let down by the lack of depth, yet carried along by a decent supporting cast, an interesting and fun if trope-y story, and stellar world-building. While Technomancer may not be deep, overly fulfilling, or entirely sophisticated, it does contain an abundance of charm. Charm not unlike your favorite campy films of years gone by.
The setting is great, but weak combat and limited choices stop this RPG from going anywhere fun.
The Technomancer is a jack of all RPG trades, master of none.
The Technomancer's big sci-fi ambition is marred by its lack of polish and botched execution in a couple of big areas. It won't win any awards on the presentation side of things, but the core gameplay nevertheless elevates it and delivers some fast and chaotic fun. It's just too bad that the overall package wasn't able to come together as well as it could have.
Spider has one of their biggest and best looking games and solid mechanics as well. Yet even with those elements in play, the rest of the game can’t keep up to that standard. I would recommend Technomancer only to those extremely interested in the setting and going into it full well knowing that this RPG has issues.
The Technomancer isn’t anything to write home about, but if you’re willing to overlook its flaws, this is Spiders’ most compelling world to date. Their vision of Mars is one that would be worth exploring even with its rough edges, if not for the sheer imbalance of a combat system that persistently drags the experience into the dregs of frustration. Spiders isn’t short on interesting ideas, it’s just the execution.
Technomancer is a great mid-tier Sci-Fi RPG. Those waiting patiently for Mass Effect: Andromeda might find their appetite satiated for the time being, but those wanting a flawless AAA experience will be left frustrated. The depth of the game is extremely admirable and well-handled, the influences are well placed without being beaten to death, and the game overall straddles the line between good and fine.
If you’re a fan of other action RPG’s such as The Witcher or even Dark Souls, then Techomancer may be just the game for you. Despite some rough edges, Technomancer does more good than harm, it just suffers from doing too much during certain elements and not enough with others. Despite that,the journey is very enjoyable and that’s all that matters in the end. Read more at The Outerhaven: The Technomancer Review (PC) http://www.theouterhaven.net/LHv94
The Technomancer has some interesting hooks but falls by the wayside. With more time, polish and a lot more heart, it could have been something more but this vacation to Mars is imminently uneventful and forgettable.
It’s hard to surmise whether The Technomancer and its faults come by way of financial or otherwise creative pitfalls, because there are some interesting and rather enjoyable moments to take out of both the game’s easy-to-access combat system and the rather nostalgic return of a colonized Mars seen through the eyes of an 80’s motion picture.
A true jack of all trades, The Tehnomancer's impressive visuals don't make up for its lack of engaging combat and inability to set itself apart from other games in the genre. It's a mashup of many other open-world RPGs that is produced by a smaller developer than any of them; it sets itself up for disappointment.
The Technomancer has frustrated me a lot over the last couple weeks, because I really enjoyed the world that Spiders created and wanted to get to know the characters more, but the constant choke points and combat inconsistencies make me want to stop playing. The story and certain characters make up for that in some way, and the romance dialogue that I pursued made up for some of the more disappointing characters. That said, I feel that with a little more work, a lot of my issues could have been fixed before launch.
Your enjoyment of The Technomancer is going to depend on whether you're willing to overlook the things it doesn't do so well. The story is fascinating, but you have to deal with characters that are dull and not worth remembering. The combat system is rather deep, but you'll have to be much more proficient due to the lack of intelligence displayed by your AI companions. Finally, overall dull look and bad audio choices detract from the elements that genuinely look good, such as the skin on each character. Like Spiders Studio's previous works, The Technomancer will find an audience among those who don't mind sampling from the ambitious French house, but others may want to play other available action RPGs before trying this title..
'The Technomancer' is not without its merits, but can’t quite find a place for itself in the RPG/action field. It is clear what Spiders was trying to do and I don’t fault them for it - their creation has the potential to be something special. In this current form that’s all it is though, just potential.
Although almost every aspect has been done in more depth elsewhere, its narrower scope allows the game to stand up well as a title for players to just sit back and enjoy without being overwhelmed like the big budget titles have the propensity to do.
With The Technomancer, we have a game trying to be a sprawling sci-fi adventure while paradoxically not trying much at all.
The Technomancer isn’t necessarily a bad game, it just isn’t a good one.