I think this is one of the best games I've ever played. I found it on the steam store page during the summer sale, and one glance at the preview video cemented it as something I had to buy, dlcs and all. I don't regret getting it, in fact, I'm still in shock I hadn't heard of this game sooner. Deus Ex-like gunplay? Open-ended gameplay, with (mostly) complete freedom of choice in how you want to complete the story? Voodoo (!) and cybernetics? A save system that lets you save scum but also gives you the thrill of permadeath by starving you of beds at times?

Listen chummer, you don't even know. If you like killing random characters in Morrowind, this is the game for you. The only thing that happens if you kill specific story characters (or make all the factions hostile) is the game preventing you from saving.
In some cases, you can even still complete the game, it's just nigh impossible since you can't save. The story is weird, but makes sense. The touch of madness that pervades the entire game just makes the Mexican post-apocalypse all the more engaging.

If you play games for fluid gameplay with well-balanced character builds, this isn't it. It's easy to die, but most enemies die really easy too. Most characters need at least 5 medicine (for bandage, since medkits are rare/expensive and food is also kind of expensive near the start of the game), and 10 charisma (for negotiator and detect motive, which pays for itself 3 times over by the end of the game). Most skills are useful for something or another, but some are better than others for certain people.
Having some shooting skill is useful for everyone (first playthrough, I recommend 11 points or so in pistol by 2nd chapter) but because bullets are lethal regardless it's not entirely necessary. Using melee in melee range is suicidal rock-em sock-em robots, but throwing things works fairly well and is renewable for the most part.
The crafting skills are so-so, since the inventory space you use carrying the crafting mats could be used for ammo, medkits, food, or rags instead. Grenades are extremely useful though, so I guess if you go hardware/chemistry you'd be using energy weapons (that you can craft) anyway which only have 1 ammo type. (blasting cap + tin can + chemical per nade. You could only carry caps and cans around since chemicals are scattered literally everywhere. But that's still a 1/4th of your inventory, and you gotta carry the grenades separate, plus a slot each for your 10mm mags, your magnum rounds, shells, your guns, medkits and rags, any knives or glaves, etc. Part of the game, I suppose.)

Companions are super useful, since they can carry an additional 8 items each, but they can get themselves killed really easy since the AI is... easily distracted. I usually just leave it on "Hold" and kill everything myself. The game is more than possible alone, especially since going full murderhobo locks you out of something like 3/4ths of the named companions.
You can still hire mercs/thugs (depending on who you side with) but those are expensive and money is better spent on chromewires or food (or juice, if you're spec'd into survival)

The only thing that's really bad about this game ('side from the occasional spike in difficulty) is that there's not an active modding community making maps and guns and epic retextures for it. There's only 2 survival maps but the game is practically built for an infinite wave survival mode. It has a ton of potential for total conversions or really, any kind of wacky story/gamemode you can think of.
The assets are really easy to work with if you know basically anything about coding (any language) and its scripting is surprisingly robust. Probably doesn't help that the workshop is hidden and can only be accessed through the community hub, but hey, I think the devkit has only been a thing for like 3 months. I gotta learn how to model 'n ♥♥♥♥ man, this game needs more mods.

This game is niche, but if you're into the same niche as the dev, it's gold all the way down.

I think this is one of the best games I've ever played. I found it on the steam store page during the summer sale, and one glance at the preview video cemented it as something I had to buy, dlcs and all. I don't regret getting it, in fact, I'm still in shock I hadn't heard of this game sooner. Deus Ex-like gunplay? Open-ended gameplay, with (mostly) complete freedom of choice in how you want to complete the story? Voodoo (!) and cybernetics? A save system that lets you save scum but also gives you the thrill of permadeath by starving you of beds at times? Listen chummer, you don't even know. If you like killing random characters in Morrowind, this is the game for you. The only thing that happens if you kill specific story characters (or make all the factions hostile) is the game preventing you from saving. In some cases, you can even still complete the game, it's just nigh impossible since you can't save. The story is weird, but makes sense. The touch of madness that pervades the entire game just makes the Mexican post-apocalypse all the more engaging. If you play games for fluid gameplay with well-balanced character builds, this isn't it. It's easy to die, but most enemies die really easy too. Most characters need at least 5 medicine (for bandage, since medkits are rare/expensive and food is also kind of expensive near the start of the game), and 10 charisma (for negotiator and detect motive, which pays for itself 3 times over by the end of the game). Most skills are useful for something or another, but some are better than others for certain people. Having some shooting skill is useful for everyone (first playthrough, I recommend 11 points or so in pistol by 2nd chapter) but because bullets are lethal regardless it's not entirely necessary. Using melee in melee range is suicidal rock-em sock-em robots, but throwing things works fairly well and is renewable for the most part. The crafting skills are so-so, since the inventory space you use carrying the crafting mats could be used for ammo, medkits, food, or rags instead. Grenades are extremely useful though, so I guess if you go hardware/chemistry you'd be using energy weapons (that you can craft) anyway which only have 1 ammo type. (blasting cap + tin can + chemical per nade. You could only carry caps and cans around since chemicals are scattered literally everywhere. But that's still a 1/4th of your inventory, and you gotta carry the grenades separate, plus a slot each for your 10mm mags, your magnum rounds, shells, your guns, medkits and rags, any knives or glaves, etc. Part of the game, I suppose.) Companions are super useful, since they can carry an additional 8 items each, but they can get themselves killed really easy since the AI is... easily distracted. I usually just leave it on "Hold" and kill everything myself. The game is more than possible alone, especially since going full murderhobo locks you out of something like 3/4ths of the named companions. You can still hire mercs/thugs (depending on who you side with) but those are expensive and money is better spent on chromewires or food (or juice, if you're spec'd into survival) The only thing that's really bad about this game ('side from the occasional spike in difficulty) is that there's not an active modding community making maps and guns and epic retextures for it. There's only 2 survival maps but the game is practically built for an infinite wave survival mode. It has a ton of potential for total conversions or really, any kind of wacky story/gamemode you can think of. The assets are really easy to work with if you know basically anything about coding (any language) and its scripting is surprisingly robust. Probably doesn't help that the workshop is hidden and can only be accessed through the community hub, but hey, I think the devkit has only been a thing for like 3 months. I gotta learn how to model 'n shit man, this game needs more mods. This game is niche, but if you're into the same niche as the dev, it's gold all the way down.