The
boring but accurate way to think about Massive Chalice is that it’s a
fantasy-flavoured XCOM reboot, one that trades UFOs for a demon-spawning
blight and Mission Control for a gigantic, self-aware goblet who sounds a bit
like Femshep and a bit like Jonathan Pryce.
As
in Julian Gollop’s exercise in stargazer’s paranoia, a gradual build-up of
troops, resources and facilities is bruisingly punctuated by turn-based tussles
over regional maps, with the threat of character permadeath never far away. The
tug of war between immediate tactical considerations and broader strategic
objectives is always on your mind—constructing a Crucible training facility
rather than researching a new armour type might cost you the next battle, for
instance, but win you the one after, as the quality of new recruits improves.
There’s
more, however, to Double Fine’s latest than what it gleans from XCOM, which is
just as well given that it doesn’t quite glean enough to be a serious rival. In
a nutshell, it’s all about the perils of badly organised sex.
To
illustrate that, allow me to present Exhibit A: Clan Fausbore, a cornerstone of
my empire for around a century. Once upon a time the Fausbores were a family of
nimble, supremely fertile Trickshots (think “archer class” plus explosions),
but roughly 40 years ago the household head had a nasty falling-out with her
husband. Approached for counsel—the campaign randomly serves up scripted
dilemmas like this to keep you on your toes—I naturally advised that the couple
tough it out for the sake of the realm.
Mrs.
and Mr. Fausbore agreed, grudgingly, but acquired the “Passionless” personality
trait in the process, dramatically reducing their odds of further offspring.
This then rubbed off on the lion’s share of their existing children, and the
result is that my kingdom’s future now lies mostly in the hands of pissy old
snipers who refuse to breed.
The
neighbouring Saetres aren’t as inhibited. They’re at it like rabbits, bless
‘em—near-sighted rabbits who drink too much. My solution to the resulting
population explosion is, I feel, highly elegant: I’m signing up every Saetre I
can to the Sagewright’s Guild, whose members practice lifelong celibacy. This
will speed the researching of a fancy flask, which teleports its thrower to the
impact site. More importantly, it’ll mean that future generations of humanity’s
finest won’t show up to every other scuffle with a stat-crippling hangover.
Massive
Chalice’s handling of character genetics is its strongest feature by far.
There’s something both ugly and beautiful about how the game perverts one of
XCOM’s staple sensations: the fondness players build up for the troops under
their charge. As your 300-year (15-20 hour) reign wears on, you’ll come to look
at heroes not with affection but the brisk eye of a cattle trader. Is it worth
marrying this spindly greyhair to a 16-year-old, in hopes that he’ll crank out
one last sproglet before the reaper arrives? Or should you pack him off to the
front lines to raise his level and thus the odds that he’ll spawn a
powerful Relic on meeting his end?
If
only the combat were as visionary—it’s well-executed but insubstantial.
Visibility and cover are factors, but there are no flanking or elevation
variables and only a handful of enemy categories, though the offerings there
are novel. Most memorably, you’ll clash with Wrinklers that rapidly age whoever
they manage to hit, and hulking Twitchers who teleport-swap places with the
first opponent they see.
The
AI isn’t sparkling, either. Enemies sometimes ignore the arrow-filled corpses
of their comrades, and pathfinding is an issue (often to your advantage) on the
more labyrinthine maps. Still, the mix of abilities, traits and terrain types
captures enough of XCOM’s magic to stave off boredom for the majority of a
playthrough. Among other tricks, you’ll use a Caberjack’s ram to smash a
self-detonating Rupture in amongst its allies, and deploy arrow types that
leave a trail of camouflaging foliage.
Another,
more subjective niggle is that the game is a little too easy once you’ve gotten
through the early stage of the campaign, when hero bloodlines are in their
infancy. Quality of heroes may vary, but manpower itself isn't really a
worry—once you've appointed a regent and partner, regional keeps spawn hero
trainees at a decent rate, who level up automatically in accordance with their
parents' stats till ready for battle.
Judged
as a spiritual child of XCOM, Massive Chalice is more of a brainy second son
than an all-conquering firstborn. It turns in some clever twists, but doesn’t
offer enough baseline complexity to support the kind of dazzling reversals the
other franchise is celebrated for. It feels like the start of a promising
bloodline, however. Perhaps one of its descendants will rise to greatness.
Need To Know
Reviewed on: i5, GTX460M, 4GB
RAM
Play it on: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz, 4GB RAM, 512 MB GeForce 220
Alternatively: XCOM: Enemy Within (85)
Copy protection: Steam
Source : PC Gamer
Play it on: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz, 4GB RAM, 512 MB GeForce 220
Alternatively: XCOM: Enemy Within (85)
Copy protection: Steam
Source : PC Gamer
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