The SF-MMORPG Project Genom is currently in Early Access. We are stopping by for a little test. How far along is the game?
In the past few days, Project Genom has stirred quite a bit of dust: a dispute within the development team even caused Project Genom to disappear from Steam for a short time. But the brief mudslinging is over. Developer studio NeuronHaze and the programmer have come to an out-of-court agreement. And so the Alpha of the sci-fi MMO is once again listed on Steam.
Although the economic friction in the background garnered a lot of attention, ultimately my curiosity as a player lies with the game. Project Genom has been on my wishlist for quite some time. Time to take a look.
Project Genom: Character Creation – Half-Naked in a Spacesuit
For me, it is time to dust off the spacesuit and check in the Alpha. Well, the spacesuit is a bit tight around the midsection. I think I last wore it in Mass Effect 3. Here and there, it has one or two minor holes; will that be a problem? Oh well, let’s go without it. Brave, I throw myself half-naked into the game to give myself and you a brief insight into what awaits us in Project Genom.
After a short download of 3.3 GB, I find myself in the character editor of Project Genom. This is currently praised as “relatively clear”. After all, this is an alpha version; one should not forget that. At least I am informed that they are working on character customization options.
For now, the choice is limited to the gender of the Russian underwear model with the abs of a Tibetan martial monk and the build of a swimming world champion. So, I don’t have to worry about physical fitness in the digital world.
And So It Begins
Long introductions are probably not the strength of the Russian developers, and I stand, still half-naked, in a corridor without any drama. Everything starts quite calmly. But not with Commander Chancellor!
I have seen too many sci-fi movies not to know that something is not right here! Well, the corpse next to me strengthens this feeling and could corroborate my initial intuition. Whatever! Moving on. It quickly becomes clear that I have awoken from hypersleep. A colleague is still sitting in a cryo chamber to my left. Why he was allowed to keep his spacesuit while I was frozen in just my underwear remains a mystery for now. I feel a bit reminded of Alien. And Dead Space, and Stasis, and Doom, and about 173 other games.
Before I delve further into this mysterious world, let’s take a look around first. Project Genom is being developed on Unreal Engine 4, so a lot should be possible graphically. I indulge myself the liberty to set all graphics settings to “Epic” in the options.
Unfortunately, the result does not impress me. Honestly, I am even disappointed. The Unreal Engine is known for its ability to implement impressive sci-fi games, and even the official trailer is much more impressive than what is displayed on my screen.
If I were to compare the graphics to a current game, the 2013 release Defiance would probably be the closest to what Project Genom currently offers. Unfortunately, the graphics of Defiance at the game’s release was not exactly “state of the art”. So, there is still a lot of room for Project Genom to improve before it looks like it does in the trailer with the “engine footage.” The trailer was deliberately not referred to as in-game footage.
Moreover, synchronization and localization are still in strong need of optimization. While the English voice acting with a Russian accent has its charm, the emotions are conveyed as appropriately as if you were having a Russian amateur porn read to you by Google Translate. That all quest texts are already available in English is nice, but I wish the key bindings in the menu were not in Cyrillic.
So, how is the gameplay?
So, back to the cool corridor, where my character is still standing half-naked and freezing their nipples off. Maybe I should take a look around and find some clothes. There should be a weapon lying around here somewhere. Bingo, at least a pair of pants and a sidearm are quickly found.
Minor weaknesses are already showing here as well. It is not enough to click on an item in the inventory to equip it; it has to be dragged and dropped. The fact that the pants are both in my inventory and right in front of me on the ground is strange but bearable.
If you throw a weapon at my feet, there likely won’t be a delicious breakfast waiting for me in the next room with fresh Belgian waffles and a latte macchiato. It seems to me that there is an insect problem on this station. However, thanks to the energy weapon, this can be solved, even if the creatures are a bit too sturdy for my taste. But that’s alright; intelligence was clearly exchanged for stability here.
Let’s speed things up a bit, as the beginning drags on. I find myself on a station on a foreign planet. Fortunately, I am not alone. Why nobody cares when corpses are rotting in the corridors remains a mystery for now. The insect problem, however, is well-known. I am quickly assigned various mundane quests. Turn on fans, collect flowers, and chat with people about trivialities, go to the pub, and check out vehicles.
HEY! CORPSES! … back there in the tunnel… seriously!
Tension arc? Probably coming in an update. And while we are at it, a bit more quest guidance would be nice. If I am supposed to talk to an NPC on the station, it is nerve-wracking to have to talk to everyone. Yes, I know, Erzi the old softy MMOer, back when “we still drew the maps ourselves!” I have also drawn maps myself, but the value of gaming enjoyment in running around the station for hours trying to remember all the names has not become clear to me.
Skill Tree with Branching Abilities
After the first hours in Project Genom, one senses the great goals that were once scribbled on Russian whiteboards. The most obvious evidence of this is certainly the skill tree, which can be discovered in the game with a little effort. Dozens of branching abilities are anchored there and show what potential character development could have.
Everything about this alpha gives the impression that big plans are in place. However, what is shown so far does not correspond to this concept and highlights how much work the developers still have ahead of them. The planet surface that the game eventually releases me onto leaves a rather mediocre impression on me. Here, textures of varying quality can be found, to put it mildly.
Conclusion: Great things are being built here, but for now, it is still a construction site
Much like the various textures, my overall impression of the current state is this: a lot of things that are really good in principle and pointing in the right direction, but currently, it often indicates a very long way still to go. Genom currently reminds me of the early days of the MMO genre.
The monsters are as dumb as a half-meter East Saxon country road. The quests are simple, and at every corner, you encounter construction sites, such as invisible barriers that should not be there. That is okay; nobody should expect a finished game when buying an alpha version. Whether such a state of development should be brought into Early Access is another matter.
And so, the current Early Access price of just under 20 euros should not be understood as a “purchase” but as supporting a vision, a dream. The developer NeuronHaze faces a huge task. Although that was also the case with a certain Chris Roberts when he started his Kickstarter campaign for Star Citizen, NeuronHaze is unlikely to receive similar support.
Project Genom is one of those ambitious projects that could either become a surprise success or forever remain stuck in Early Access, then quietly and secretly released half-finished. I doubt that NeuronHaze can implement the vision in the foreseeable future. One almost wishes for a financially strong publisher to take on this idea.
For now, my purchasing recommendation is therefore only for enthusiasts. Those who find the setting and gameplay interesting should check out Defiance, as it currently offers more scope and fun for free.
What do you think about Early Access? Should it be a realistically implementable interim status of a game? Is just an idea enough for you? Or do early alpha versions have no business being in Early Access?
This text comes from our reader Chancellor. More from Chancellor can be found on his blog.
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