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What a disappointment

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: December 28, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The premise of this game is very promising - you control three characters, a rescue crew sent to investigate a mysterious calamity on a Martian base conducting an archeological dig. Some sort of alien virus has befallen the Martian base, and you must investigate the fate of the crew. The graphics are generally beautiful, though the base's decor is a bit odd, often more like a cheap hotel than a technologically advanced base. The game fails to deliver on an exciting premise, however. Gameplay is monotonous, as you battle the zombies the base's crew has become. The zombies can't be killed, only temporarily slowed, and you must fight them again, and again, and again... The controls for fighting are beyond awkward, and much of your frustration will come not from the difficulty of the battle, but from the inability to control your character effectively. This game delivers its scares through sudden attacks by gruesome and marionette-like zombies, accompanied by shreaking music, rather than through effective plot development. The puzzles are tedious, and there are no clues for how to solve them - just endless trial and error, often against a timeclock. Adding to the fun, you have a limited number of opportunities to save your game, all at specific save game points, so you will find yourself replaying vast sections of the game each time you die. Most of the game consists of shuttling items back and forth between crew members through a vacuum tube system. There isn't much action or adventure here, just endless tedium. Despite beautiful graphics and excellent voice acting, the plot is underdeveloped, and the gameplay among the worst I've ever seen. Save your money.

Martian Gothic is an excellent, original game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: August 16, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I can't understand the reviewers who are so down on this game. So Martian Gothic doesn't require the use of a mouse - so what? So you have to ration saves as part of the game strategy - so what? Martian Gothic is one of the very few original games around, with much more varied combat than Resident Evil. And as for one reviewer's comment that you can't outrun the Nondead (the possessed humans in this game are not zombies) - that is simply untrue: even the standard walk takes you clear of any Nondead, never mind the run. Martian Gothic is, in my view, a better game than any of the Resident Evil series that it's so often compared to.

Scary...but fun!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 06, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I don't understand all these idiot reviews: I was thrilled by the quality of this game! Lush, varied scenery, interesting characters, engrossing plot, and exciting, often frightening gameplay are but some of the perks to be found in Martian Gothic. True, the keyboard is your only means of control, but who cares? And, yes, it is a bit frustrating at times, but if you've got patience, a little brains, and want something more thought-provoking than a some shoot-em-up, you should enjoy this unique and thoroughly enjoyable game! I'm only about half of the way through, but it looks like it's only going to get better! NOTE: this does deserve it's M rating, but oh well, right?

This game is a pain...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: May 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

At first I saw an ad and couldn't wait to get the game.Now that I've got it I am very,very disappointed. The controls are terrible,for one thing.Another thing is that you can't outrun a zombie,a slow ZOMBIE standing in a corridor and then you reach an area where you can hardly progress through. So the speech and effects are nice,but the gameplay is so slow and complicated. I don't recommend this game at all.

This is Fun if you have LOTS of time to spare.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: July 23, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game looked pretty cool before i bought it! What happened. you get playing pretty scary stuff. Then the non-dead start wakin up again and again and again. The plots pretty cool but the controls and amount of time put into it [stinks]! I liked the environment, thought the music and dialougue was good but thats it. Other than the storyline this game [stinks]. Not to mention the Damn Trimorphs, critters, Mood, and the coumputer voice. And we all know how annoying it is when the non-dead keep attacking and never let go. If you don't mind spending money get this. If you want to save your money it would be a good idea. all in all this games ok.

Absolutely excellent!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: January 09, 2002
Author: Amazon User

If you're looking for someting different from the "RamboXVII" tie in, that's what's for you! And don't listen all those that do not understand the feeling of a real GOOD game! The story is really something, and the game play, originally (finally)! Be advised, patch it! It has some bugs on the retail version ;)
Enjoy!

This Game ...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 9
Date: November 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have been dying to get this game for a while and when I did i beaten it in one day and get this you kill zombies they'll get back up later. And when it said three will enter and two will leave everyone lives. The controls suck to. But this game deserves a star for the graphics. Kenzo sounds retarded and Karne breathes deep after each word. DO NOT GET THIS GAME NO MATTER WHAT EVERYONE SAYS you will regret it. Trust a true gamer and please do not spend ten bucks. THE PSX VERSION ... TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.thank you for your time

Sometimes game play is worth sacrificing for a good story

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Ever since the first Resident Evil popped its way on to TV screens, there were a lot of Resident Evil clones that were modeled after it, despite Resident Evil itself being a clone of Alone in the Dark. Oddly enough, a select few of these Resident Evil clones actually weren't half bad: there were a lot of cruddy, anti-atmospheric RE clones that were made after 1996, funny enough most of the least scariest ones being made by Capcom themselves, despite the fact some of them weren't even trying to be scary, but there were at least three of them that stood out from the crowd with their own ideas of originality and in some cases being better than their original source. Martian Gothic is one of these games.

The game isn't exactly perfect as the title suggests. It was made during a time when it didn't seem logical to make the game completely accessible on future consoles, so anyone planning to play this game on a PlayStation 2 is doomed to suffer from huge game bugs, but even if you do play it on the appropriate console (ie, a normal PlayStation) you'll run into some rather glaring design flaws.

Zombies will instantly jump on your back when their backs are towards you solely because they're close to you, the combat takes a very long time to get used to and the game has its share of 3D sprite break up which makes it feel like a Genesis shooter. There's also the oddity of how nailing a zombie to the floor with a nail gun doesn't actually keep them down and rather entices them to get up and enemies re-spawn like crazy. Plus it wasn't the best idea to be tactful about leaving your pal in certain places where they're prone to zombie attacks: every time you switch to play as another character, you leave the previous character exactly where you left them which leaves them vulnerable and they won't move or anything until you control them while a zombie is munching on their shoulders.

Also, it bugs me in survival horror games that most of the characters you play as hardly run fast at all. The Fatal Frame games were (and still are) the biggest offenders in this aspect by having you play as otherwise healthy, physically fit young people who tromp and waddle their way away from danger and Martian Gothic comes close, but I must say that this could be intentional: the characters in this game are on a Martian base after all, maybe there was a problem with the gravity.

Despite all this though, the game is surprisingly well made in almost every other aspect. For one, a good majority of your enemies are invincible and can only be knocked down for a little while which explains why you get so much bloody ammunition and managing inventory for all three of your pals stays pretty interesting especially when you have to figure out which items go where and who'll figure out puzzles better. The characters are actually quite well defined and they each have their individual quirks that make them stand out from each other (it's all about Matlock), but they do have their hubris and they tend to copy each other in making fun of everything they see. I will admit though, it was fun hearing them admit that they were talking to themselves too often. Some of the witty commentary does break up the atmosphere particularly with the super computer Mood who indeed is a very cryptic, non-existent character, but even her wit started killing the mood after awhile (no pun intended).

One thing I find interesting about survival horror games is that in most cases the less characters it has, the more interesting they are and Martian Gothic practically goes extra miles in demonstrating this; a part of me just didn't want any of the characters to die. Probably the strongest aspect about Martian Gothic however, especially in atmosphere, is its surprisingly unique plot. It starts out as basic as biscuits, but as you learn more about what's going on and what's really happening, you'll soon find yourself shuddering... a lot.

I suppose the biggest downer about this game though is that the ending is a total punch to the anus. Basically if beating games like Air Buster and Jericho (to be more recent) drove you insane, this one will swallow the key responsible for locking you in the crazy house. It's not the most pointless game ending in the world, but it is more pointless than shoes with no soles.

Overall, I liked Martian Gothic, it tried a lot of new and interesting things to the thousands of RE clones out there. It may not be the best Resident Evil clone ever made (cough, Deep Fear, cough), but it's definitely worth the budget price!

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