The Technomancer review

Spiders knows how to dream big. From combat systems you can flip between on the fly, to a sci-fi story that tries to tackle the concept of burying the truth to protect the greater good, the dev wants you to know just how exciting its brainstorming sessions were when The Technomancer was born. In execution, this action-RPG romp isn’t quite so grand. Spend any amount of time in its dystopian Martian setting, where society has been divided thanks to a monopoly of a scarce water supply, and you’ll find yourself walking streets and following story missions you’ve tackled in a hundred other science fiction settings. Much like the game it serves as a sequel of sorts to – 2013’s forgettable Mars: War Logs – The Technomancer is a series of hopeful glimmers drowning in a sea of undercooked and overused ideas.

As an action-RPG in 2016, it offers all the mod cons you’d expect from the genre – skill trees, customisable weapons and crafting and NPC-filled squads are in attendance, but none of them offer anything new or innovative. Being able to upgrade and recycle components from weapons is a neat touch, but it’s hardly going to give even last generation’s Mass Effect a run for its credits. Morality never feels that important, either – a direct result of the game often failing to present a tangible impact of your choices or actions – thus you never feel truly invested in your contribution to the future of Mars. A fact made all the more frustrating by the cumbersome script and clichéd story that practically baits you to skip its wooden dialogue.

There are moments of success that give us hope, though – however well hidden – placing you in the shoes of the previous game’s antagonists offers a chance to see a larger slice of the Martian conflict. Operating within the elitist world of the upper class Abundance adds an intriguing spin on the universe Spiders is trying to create, but its story beats are so familiar (powerful toffs have all the power, rebels fight back, main character rubs chin while pondering his allegiance) you can almost hear the voice actors sighing after each line.

Despite its lacklustre story and painful script, The Technomancer does have one area that it shines in: combat. Taking the triple stance system from its previous game, Bound By Flame, Spiders gives the electrical melee brawls of Mars a supercharge. Being able to flit between all three (Rogue for guerrilla attacks, Guardian for CQC and Warrior for crowd control) and electrify your weapons to boot makes each fight a blast. You can see Spiders wants to create something grand in The Technomancer, but the execution still feels very much like a last-gen offering. It’s by no means a terrible game, but rather an over-ambitious title whose lofty goals are hampered by a limited budget and a small planet’s worth of clichéd ideas.