Martian Gothic: Unification

by TalonSoft

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004T0QR
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,585 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Martian Gothic: Unification falls squarely into the increasingly popular "survival horror" genre, where players must guide characters through a creepy environment populated with zombies, ghosts, and other enemies that just won't die. The environment in this case is a spooky base on Mars where something has gone very wrong. The three characters sent to investigate the problem enter the base through separate airlocks, in accordance with the last order they received: "Stay alone, stay alive."

The use of three characters is Martian Gothic's hook. Since they can't get near one another, puzzles revolve around using one character to help the progress of their colleagues from afar. This is accomplished by using vacuum tubes to send items to distant locations, accessing computer systems that disable security in other areas, and radioing important information to the others. If one character dies the game ends, so you must shepherd each character through the various traps and monsters scattered throughout the base.

Unfortunately, we had a hard time dealing with the game's awkward interface, which is more suitable to a console system like the PlayStation than to a fully equipped PC. The mouse isn't used at all--instead the designers decided to force users to move their characters, interact with the environment, and rummage through their inventory using only keyboard commands.

Moving around is much harder than it should be. Characters should at least be able to outmaneuver a shambling zombie, but frequently that isn't the case. We wouldn't have minded so much if the game could be saved at any point, but in another concession to console game standards players can save only a limited number of times, and only when they access one of the computers in the game. If you can live with those faults, Martian Gothic serves up some unique puzzles wrapped in a fairly compelling plot that should entertain for quite a few evenings. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Decent voice acting
• Interesting story with an interesting gameplay twist
• Creepy environments

Cons:

• Control is terrible
• Interface is awkward

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Scary...but fun!, May 5, 2004

By 

Lynnette Davis (Salem, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martian Gothic: Unification (CD-ROM)

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?

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Martian Gothic is an excellent, original game, August 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Martian Gothic: Unification (CD-ROM)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sometimes game play is worth sacrificing for a good story, May 14, 2008

By 

Johnathan Doler - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Martian Gothic: Unification (CD-ROM)

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!