Eisenhorn: XENOS looked like my kind of game. I have longed for an inquisitor based game to add to the 40k video game genre and I love good stories. Whilst I have not read the Eisenhorn novels, the story telling done via the narrator makes the game feel like you are reading a novel and the setting is what I would expected from a grim dark future. That being said there are two main problems with this game which has resulted in me attempting to obtain a steam refund.

Animations
Firstly animations. A key component of any video game and unfortunately this game has very lazy animated animations. This especially noticeable with the talking animations, especially with Eisenhorn where half of his face raises as if pinched in the forehead and raised up and down as the line is played to imitate talking instead of having some basic lip sync. Whilst it is easy to pass off, this fact really disrupted the story telling of the game.
This was also the same with complicated cut scenes that used the in game engine, with actions such as reading a data slate and throwing a data slate appearing very inorganic, slow and disjointed. This may be due to complications caused by interacting components within the 3d space however should be easy to fix.

Simplistic gameplay
The second aspect was the simplistic gameplay. Whilst not an immediate set back, the lacklustre gameplay means this title relies heavily on the story and is not a reflection of a videogame adaptation in my mind. The game play from what I have encountered is a watered down version of THQ's Space Marine. Whilst not the worst combat system in existence, I was anticipating something more akin to Dark Heresy very heavy, mistakes get you killed gameplay. This gameplay means that you do not feel like you are achieving anything other than quickening the pace to the next cutscene.

Also on a final note
The gunshot noises in the first scene are appalling. The enemy boss firing at you with bb's rather than bullets makes for a comical note and rather breaks the dramatic sense of you closing the distance or some dirty heretic.

TL DR

Pros - good story, great environments, great narrator
Cons- animations, gameplay - pew pew noises of guns.
5/10 - I would recommend to those who can look past the fact that the game looks 5 years old and die hard 40k fans.

Eisenhorn: XENOS looked like my kind of game. I have longed for an inquisitor based game to add to the 40k video game genre and I love good stories. Whilst I have not read the Eisenhorn novels, the story telling done via the narrator makes the game feel like you are reading a novel and the setting is what I would expected from a grim dark future. That being said there are two main problems with this game which has resulted in me attempting to obtain a steam refund. Animations Firstly animations. A key component of any video game and unfortunately this game has very lazy animated animations. This especially noticeable with the talking animations, especially with Eisenhorn where half of his face raises as if pinched in the forehead and raised up and down as the line is played to imitate talking instead of having some basic lip sync. Whilst it is easy to pass off, this fact really disrupted the story telling of the game. This was also the same with complicated cut scenes that used the in game engine, with actions such as reading a data slate and throwing a data slate appearing very inorganic, slow and disjointed. This may be due to complications caused by interacting components within the 3d space however should be easy to fix. Simplistic gameplay The second aspect was the simplistic gameplay. Whilst not an immediate set back, the lacklustre gameplay means this title relies heavily on the story and is not a reflection of a videogame adaptation in my mind. The game play from what I have encountered is a watered down version of THQ's Space Marine. Whilst not the worst combat system in existence, I was anticipating something more akin to Dark Heresy very heavy, mistakes get you killed gameplay. This gameplay means that you do not feel like you are achieving anything other than quickening the pace to the next cutscene. Also on a final note The gunshot noises in the first scene are appalling. The enemy boss firing at you with bb's rather than bullets makes for a comical note and rather breaks the dramatic sense of you closing the distance or some dirty heretic. TL DR Pros - good story, great environments, great narrator Cons- animations, gameplay - pew pew noises of guns. 5/10 - I would recommend to those who can look past the fact that the game looks 5 years old and die hard 40k fans.