The Technomancer

Last updated
The Technomancer
The Technomancer cover art.jpg
Developer(s) Spiders
Publisher(s) Focus Home Interactive
Composer(s) Olivier Deriviere
Engine PhyreEngine
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Release28 June 2016
Genre(s) Action role-playing
Mode(s) Single-player

The Technomancer is an action role-playing video game, developed by Spiders and published by Focus Home Interactive. The game is set within the same universe as Spiders' previously developed game, Mars: War Logs . Olivier Deriviere scored The Technomancer, a term previously derived from 1989 RPG "Shadowrun" for a decker who datajacks into the matrix using a VR controller. [1]

Contents

Plot

The game is set during the War of Water, 200 years after human colonization of Mars. [2] The protagonist is a rookie technomancer named Zachariah, [3] a former delinquent from Abundance, one of the powerful water guilds on the red planet. Soon after his initiation as a technomancer, Zachariah finds himself on the run from the guild's secret police. After fleeing the city of Ophir with a group of companions, he takes refuge in the hidden merchant city of Noctis, where he begins his search for a functioning communications beacon in order to reestablish contact with Earth. [4]

Gameplay

There are three styles of combat. The player can add companions to their party, who can then level up. [2] The player will also be able to improve their own combat abilities, and they can make different choices about how to solve each quest. [3] There are three different endings, and each is slightly modified by several major choices the player makes throughout the game. The player can craft their weapons and armor. There are four different skill trees. [5]

Development

The game was first announced on April 10, 2015. [6] Spiders wrote an open letter to PlayStation Blog accompanied by a new trailer for the game. [2] A 13-minute gameplay video was released on August 7, 2015, [3] and another five-minute video was released on June 21, 2015. [7]

In an April interview, CEO Jehanne Rousseau explained that "Mars is a lot bigger in The Technomancer compared to what you saw in Mars: War Logs." There will be several hubs and cities that can be unlocked. Rousseau estimated the main quest to be around 25 to 30 hours of play and "easily extended to around 50 hours with the inclusion of side quests." Overall there are around 4 times as many quests as there were in Bound by Flame. [8] In a second interview when asked about the possibility of DLC, Rousseau stated that the game would be a complete and finished product, and although they do not currently have plans for additional content after launch, Spiders "may consider it at a later date." [9] According to Spiders CEO and Creative Director, Jeanne Rousseau, the game is their largest and most expansive to date. [10]

Reception

The Technomancer received "mixed or average" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. [11] [12] [13] IGN stated the game "has all the moving parts of a mid-2000s BioWare game but lacks technical polish and storytelling finesse to a sometimes painful degree." Combat was heavily criticized for its lack of "flow or rhythm" and difficulty that depends on random chance, but they praised the setting. [15]

Related Research Articles

<i>PixelJunk Shooter</i> 2009 video game

PixelJunk Shooter is a video game developed by Q-Games for the PlayStation 3. It is the fourth major title in the PixelJunk series. It was released on the worldwide PlayStation Store in December 2009, and for Steam on November 11, 2013. A remastered version of the game, PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate, was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in June 2014, and for Microsoft Windows on October 21, 2015.

<i>Mars: War Logs</i> 2013 video game

Mars: War Logs is a cyberpunk role-playing video game developed by Spiders and published by Focus Home Interactive. The game is set on Mars and was released on April 26, 2013. It features a character who can specialize in stealth, combat or 'technomancy'. Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau has described the game as featuring a variety of companions and side-quests, as well as a world which reacts to the moral choices made by the player. On June 18, 2013 a new English localization was released for the game, containing rewritten game text and rerecorded dialog. A sequel, The Technomancer, was released on June 28, 2016.

<i>N++</i> 2015 video game

N++ is a platform video game developed and published by Metanet Software. It is the third and final installment of the N franchise, which started with the Adobe Flash game N. It is the sequel to N+. The game was initially released for the PlayStation 4 on July 28, 2015, in North America, and July 29, 2015, in Europe, and was later released for the Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems on August 25, 2016, and December 26, 2016, respectively. The Xbox One version was released on October 4, 2017. The Linux version of the game was released on May 31, 2018. An expansion to the game, entitled N++ Ultimate Edition, was released for the Windows version of the game on April 21, 2017, as a free update to the game. N++ Ultimate Edition was released for the Nintendo Switch on May 24, 2018.

<i>Dex</i> (video game) 2015 video game

Dex is a side-scrolling action role-playing game developed and published by Dreadlocks Ltd. The game was crowdfunded on Kickstarter, and was released in 2015.

<i>Bound by Flame</i> 2014 video game

Bound by Flame is a fantasy-themed action role-playing game that was released in May 2014. Bound by Flame puts the player in the role of a victim of demonic possession, where it is necessary to choose between the evil powers that are offered or rejecting them in favor of developing heroic talents.

<i>MotoGP 14</i> 2014 video game

MotoGP 14 is a video game developed by Milestone.

<i>Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Trees Woe and the Blight Below</i> 2015 video game

Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below is a hack and slash game developed by Omega Force and published by Square Enix. It was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in Japan in February 2015, and in North America, Australia and Europe only for PlayStation 4 in October 2015. It was later released for Microsoft Windows in December 2015. The game received generally positive reviews, with a sequel Dragon Quest Heroes II being released in Japan during May 2016. Dragon Quest Heroes would later be released with the sequel in a compilation for Nintendo Switch in Japan.

<i>Dragon Quest Builders</i> 2016 video game

Dragon Quest Builders is a 2016 sandbox action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Android iOS, and Microsoft Windows and published by Nintendo for Nintendo Switch.

<i>Dragon Quest XI</i> 2017 video game

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age is a role-playing video game by Square Enix. The eleventh entry in the long-running Dragon Quest video game series, it was released in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation 4 in July 2017 and worldwide for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in September 2018. An enhanced version, Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition, was released for Nintendo Switch by Nintendo in September 2019; for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One in December 2020; and for Stadia in March 2021.

<i>Spider-Man</i> (video game series) Video game series developed by Insomniac Games

Marvel's Spider-Man is a series of action-adventure video games developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for PlayStation consoles and Windows. Based on characters appearing in Marvel Comics publications, the games are inspired by the long-running comic book lore, while additionally deriving from various adaptations in other media. The series principally follows protagonists Peter Parker and Miles Morales who fight crime in New York City as dual bearers of the eponymous superhero persona while dealing with the complications of their civilian lives.

<i>Steelrising</i> 2022 video game

Steelrising is an action role-playing video game developed by Spiders and published by Nacon. The game was released for Windows PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and Series S in September 2022.

References

  1. "Olivier Deriviere | Free Listening on SoundCloud". Soundcloud.com. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  2. 1 2 3 "The Technomancer Coming to PS4 – PlayStation.Blog". Blog.us.playstation.com. 6 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-09-05. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  3. 1 2 3 "The Technomancer Gamescom 2015 trailer". Gematsu.com. 6 August 2015. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  4. "Review: The Technomancer (PS4)". 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  5. "Spiders and Focus Home Interactive announce continued partnership for a new RPG: The Technomancer". Focus-home.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  6. Yin, Wesley (2015-04-10). "Bound by Flame dev announces cyberpunk RPG The Technomancer". Eurogamer.net. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  7. Sykes, Tom (21 June 2015). "Here's five minutes of The Technomancer, Spiders' Martian RPG". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2016-05-29. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  8. "Dev: The Technomancer Is Our Deepest & Richest Game to Date, Will Last Up to 50 Hours". Wccftech.com. 2016-04-08. Archived from the original on 2016-07-14. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  9. "The Technomancer Interview - Mars Calls RPG Fans Once Again". Wccftech.com. 2016-04-11. Archived from the original on 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  10. "New trailer shows PS4 RPG The Technomancer in action - PlayStation.Blog.Europe". Blog.eu.playstation.com. 19 April 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-06-05. Retrieved 2016-07-10.
  11. 1 2 "The Technomancer for PC Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  12. 1 2 "The Technomancer for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  13. 1 2 "The Technomancer for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 1 January 2024. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  14. D'Aprile, Jason (14 July 2016). "The Technomancer Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  15. 1 2 Hafer, TJ (28 June 2016). "The Technomancer Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  16. Birnbaum, Ian (15 July 2016). "The Technomancer review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2016.