REVIEW : Orange Cast: Sci-Fi Space Action Game (PC)
Orange Cast (OCA) is a third-person shooter set in a sci-fi world far in the future. Thanks to the discovery of a new fuel source, humanity managed to settle multiple solar systems. Players impersonate a “Uber-Unit”, one of the most exceptional Human prototype fighters that merge cutting edge military tech with superhuman abilities. After waking up from stasis and being contacted by a mysterious entity, the hero will embark in a journey into the heart of a galaxy-wide struggle.
OCA does a solid job in portraying a universe that truly feels alien, mysterious and unpredictable. From distant planets lush with extravagant flora and fauna to war-torn space outposts and cities, there is always a good sense of discovery in each location. The game also uses indirect narration to some extent, to outline details about each location (such as ruins and other objects of the environment) – from which players can make their conclusions and suppositions. A special mention is deserved for cutscenes, which are quite spectacular and decently directed.
Despite being a linear shooter this title does, to some extent, integrate side content in certain missions. For instance, helping out an engineer in need could result in an experimental weapon as a reward. There are similar side-quests and problems from time to time, which remunerate weapons, accomplishments or Easter eggs. The weapons obtained by such actions can be used in all future missions, some of them being notably useful and different from one another. A much-needed sense of variety to spice up the linear main story.
The storyline of OCA is challenging in terms of topics it mixes up. From galaxy-spanning feuds between mega-corporations to ancient civilizations and even astral mind travels, a LOT is going on. At times, the locations and more so the situations will seem more of an acid trip than anything else. Those who fancy mind-bending, complex narratives with a lot of implied meanings, the indirect narrative will be right at home with Orange Cast. If anything, I applaud the writers for the guts.
The story is complex as a baseline but becomes nigh-impossible to fully understand due to a poor English translation (from Russian). Dialogues range from a rarely acceptable level to some sentences that struggle to make any sense, while it’s not uncommon to find completely untranslated posters, writings or messages around the various maps’ walls. The voice-over is as well of subpar quality and only in Russian: in some scenes, the characters speak with a tone inappropriate for the situation currently unfolding (such as a calm tone during a battle, to name a case).
Performance randomly deteriorating to outrageous levels, clunky animations, inconsistent model quality, unwieldy aiming and poor AI are only some of the technical problems OCA faces. Despite using Unreal 4 which is, by all means, a good engine, the game needs much more polishing in various fields. It does work, but just barely – those who can’t stomach a high amount of jank will be disappointed.
Enemy AI rarely proves to be up to par in facing players. Normal opponents and even some bosses can randomly stop shooting for no reason, completely mistake pathfinding, and usually just rush to the player position without much thought. Sniping weapons prove devastating simply because enemies will not shoot or miss 90% of shots at medium-long ranges. Only in large quantities and close-range enemies prove critical, but apart from some late-game special enemies, most prove to be incompetent and easy to defeat.
Is performed on foot most of the time, though in some maps vehicles are also available. While exploring, Ammo and Grenade crates are some of the main things to look after, as they will restore all ammo and “black hole grenades” when used. While in an outpost or no-fight zones, usually it’s possible to talk with NPCs, some of them having more articulated dialogues than others, useful to know more about the lore. In combat-enabled locations, NPCs may give small quests in addition to the main one, which results in weapons or other things as a reward.
There are hidden weapon stashes, achievement areas and even mysteries to be discovered if one takes time to go off the main path and explore, some of these can be an important benefit in that level or the future, so it’s worth doing. Apart from unusual trivial content though, there isn’t much else to hunt for.
Plays out in the third person, and while sufficiently functional for a shooter, it also proves to be clunky and unwieldy most of the time. Grenade throwing, in specific, is an extremely weird animation more like a baseball throw that gives no clue about where the ordinance will end up. Precision weapons lack any kind of scope or additional zoom. still prove very effective particularly with headshots which of course deal extra damage to some opponents. Bosses are present and while some are deadly enough, some others can be easily cheesed or simply don’t work properly.
Players can carry 3 weapons, which can be modified at any outpost’s arsenal and have huge quantities of ammo for each. Some weapons are simply not worth using while a select few prove to be overpowered, this makes the variety less delightful than it should be.
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