Abomination

The Good
Surely you've played this kind of games: With every step you take, every klick you make, you curse the developers for destroying a solid gameplay with grave mistakes in design. Abomination is a splendid example for this category. In this special case, the cause is the seemingly manic urge to make a game real-time, but mediocre, when it could have been great with turn-based combat. The gameplay is solid through and through; it's basically a clone of the X-COM series, set in an intriguing scenario. The slowly developing plot tied me to my chair. Graphics are well done, although the blood-red city map is rather insulting to my eyes (but then again, it may be style - who knows?).

The Bad
Considering the positive features mentioned above, it's a pity that Abomination spoils all the promising approaches by bad game design and balancing. Combat is always a gamble, as you've got no time to react to the situation -- you're surrounded by a throng of enemies as soon as you fire a single shot. You can pause the action any time; still, tactical decisions are fairly useless, as the silly interface makes them too complicated to execute; simple hit-and-rush tactics prove to be more successful, anyway. My soldiers kept dying too quickly, forcing me to retry the whole mission -- saving is not allowed. Combat is what this game is all about. Alas, the combat system is a failure.

The Bottom Line
Another fine game ruined by real-time combat. Gameplay's too tricky and frustrating to be enjoyable.