Hard to be a God Review

Game Industry News has done a review of Hard to be a God, feeling the true strength of the game is in the story and giving it 3.5/5.

The developers don’t help matters any on this front because they don’t give you any into movie to explain what the heck is happening. I guess they expect all of us to be well versed in 1964 sci-fi novels, and that is a big mistake that will hurt their sales, though this only marginally affects their review.

The plot of the game is that you are an agent for imperial intelligence in a medieval society on a planet called Arkanar. But there are also explorers from a technologically advanced Earth visiting in disguise. You end up working for them, but don’t know it at first so the game seems completely medieval. Those who buy the game expecting guns and cool sci-fi elements are going to be disappointed as you don’t get your first glimpse of advanced technology until after about six hours, and even then it’s given out in drips and drabs. Don’t expect this to be a new version of Fallout 2.

Speaking of Fallout 2, Hard to be a God follows this type of top-down interface. In a sense the game looks a lot like Neverwinter Nights, and in fact tops it. The graphics seem to be hand drawn, and a ton of detail went into everything. Cities especially are presented realistically, with trash strewn about (sometimes hiding treasure) and lot of NPC going about their business. The NPCs will sometimes fight you and sometimes come to your aid, depending on the circumstances.
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The true strength of the game is the storyline, which is pretty amazing. Perhaps it’s not as hard hitting as the book itself, but you will be drawn in by the story and will want to continue playing for hours on end to see what happens next. There are even several twists and turns that I don’t think you will see coming, and lots of moments when it will be difficult to figure out who you should trust given that the Earthmen are used to lying to keep their secrets, and everyone else seems to lie simply to advance their own agendas. You will even become a true medieval lord at one point, which means more responsibilities and problems as you defend your land and your peasants.

Spotted on RPGDot.