What is The Technomancer? This is the question that no one is asking because, if you look around, not much is being said about this game. In this edition of hard-hitting games journalism, I look to change that and open the Pandora’s Box that is The Technomancer.
In all honesty, people are talking about The Technomancer, just not enough of them. The build up for the game was pretty lean, with no real marketing and not much hype, which is a massive shame because this game is a really interesting mix of game styles and ideas. It isn’t perfect but it is interesting, and for me “interesting” is what makes a game really worth trying.
Set on Mars, The Technomancer is a science-fiction RPG where you play as the titular Technomancer; a soldier with the ability to generate and control electricity. This power allows you to charge up your weapons with electricity and also allows you to augment the gear you have, making it better and stronger and, on top of that, you can use it directly with electric-based attacks against enemies. The story tasks you with passing your initiation which leads to you learning new information and subsequently sets you off on a mission to save mankind… pretty standard RPG stuff.
The first thing you’ll notice as you start up Technomancer is the B-movie feel to the whole thing. Voice acting is weirdly awkward, the graphics of the game look out of date, the music that plays in the background has that 80s synth feel to it and even the movement itself feels off, like you’re not fully in control. As you get more into the game you notice that even though there’s a heavy emphasis on crafting new equipment, most of the weapons feel the same and the combat, though varied with multiple styles, feels clunky, leaving you unsure if it’s you that’s bad at the game or the game that’s bad at the game. It does have fantastic backgrounds, they’re huge and the level of intricate detail is phenomenal, but at the same time, locations feel empty with no life or atmosphere to them and NPCs are just kind of there, not offering anything. Even the ones that do acknowledge your existence don’t react to you once they’ve said their one line of dialogue.
This all sounds like Technomancer could be one of the worst games around, but instead it feels like a surrealist mock of the whole idea of RPGs, and even though it is really difficult to play (expect to save a lot!) I still find myself drawn to it, wanting to spend another few hours traipsing though the Blade Runner-like world of Mars.
So the real question is “is The Technomancer good?” and honestly, I don’t think there’s an answer to such a question. In a world where most people want their games to be polished and perfect with everything right, this game just doesn’t fit in. But that doesn’t mean it’s a bad game – the amount of work and ideas that went into this game give it reason to be played.
So in my humble opinion, The Technomancer is a game that you should pick up, maybe not to buy, but to borrow or rent. The vast scale of the project alone makes it interesting, and the first few hours you play will give you mixed feelings of joy, confusion, and anger. After that, I wouldn’t blame you if you stopped and went back to a better sci-fi RPG like the Mass Effect series, but for me, there’s something strangely compelling about this shambles of a game that makes me enjoy it and keep wanting to play it.
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Author: Hal, Plymouth store
