EMPYRE: Dukes of the Far Frontier

Review by Gaming Masterpieces - The greatest games of all time on Steam.
Is this game a masterpiece? No. Most people have to meet a lot of people until they find the love of their life. And it seems I have to play a lot of role-playing games until I will again find such a masterpiece like Baldur's Gate or Pillars of Eternity.
Games like Black Geyser, Solasta and Encased at least came close, but the new EMPYRE: Dukes of the Far Frontier is something very special... some may like it, but many will succumb to it's many strange design decisions. I had high hopes, because I somehow enjoyed the older and rather obscure EMPYRE: Lords of the Sea Gates, and I assumed they must have improved on the sub-par user interface or at least written a better story. Unfortunately, they did not. You will suffer if you play Empyre, no matter if you play the older or the new one.
You arrive at the entrance of a futuristic city by train, an entry ticket to the beautiful city, completely run by robots, in your hand. Then the ticket is stolen by a corrupt border guard, and you enter the slums. there are no robots, and actualy not much else to interact with. (Nearly) no hotspots, no inhabitants. Everybody believes you carry valuable blueprints with you, but unfortunately they also seem to have been stolen from you. You really have a problem with thieves. This doesn't help you, though, because hunters come from all directions and try to get your blueprints (and kill you in the process). If you don't add your first party member very soon, you have no chance to survive. When you are two, it becomes playable and you can run from waypoint to waypoint. The game takes you by the hand and shows you were you have to go. Actually, there is not really much to do at the beginning but to go from point to point, talk to this guy and than to that guy, fight a few bad guys on the way... Combat is real-time, but pausable. Give your orders (move, attack or reload, maybe drink a vial), press space and watch what happens. After you have killed all enemies, wait until the combat is over (can take some time...) and you can move freely again (or until you find the hidden enemy that prevents combat from ending). Then you run to the next waypoint, or maybe a trader to buy some equipment. The story revolves around Bolsheviks from Belarus, the local mobsters and Bolivians trying to get the blueprints, and maybe someone else actually having them. And your aim is just to survive... and get a ticket out of the slums and into the futuristic city above. The visuals are not bad, but the world feels empty, buildings obstruct your view and the only reason you don't get lost all the time is the minimap. Handling the inventory is clunky, talking to NPCs cumbersome and when you die, I hope you have a manual save, the game doesn't save for you.
Conclusion:
Classic role-playing game in an alternate history with turn-based combat (actually, pausable real-time) and quite a few rough edges. Recommended only for fans of the genre.

I would recommend it to fans of adventure RPG games. It has a similar feel to Fallout 1-2/Tactics, more modern but less polished though it has charm and intrigue. Other games you may also enjoy include Gamedec, Arcanum, Shadowrun Returns, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Temple of Elemental Evil.
+Options for character creation and levelup
+Steampunk atmosphere
+Story, adventure elements
+Responsive developer (thanks for black screen fix!)
+Some key rebinding
+Manual and autosaving
+XCOM cover system
-Dated visuals
-Dialogue is not voiced, music does not always play
-Male and female symbols are reversed in creation
-Clunky
-Party involvement is limited
-Unclear/cannot split item stacks
-Unclear goal/direction at times
-Old objectives sometimes stay stuck on screen
-Some awkward controls cannot be rebound

I am really enjoying this game. The combat is really fun. It is fast and loose with lots of control. It's real time with pause. When the game is paused you can queue up a bunch of commands and then execute in real time. I saw some other comments about combat here. I think they may refer to the Hunter combat. It's a special combat where you are being hunted. Every time you are spotted by the enemy combat starts. You need to either escape or kill the enemy for combat to stop. It can get intense but in a good fun way. It also has only occurred in the first map. Not the later maps.
The story is also pretty interesting. Not a real spoiler because it occurs in the first five minutes but you lose your city ticket right away. On top of that, a rumor quickly spreads that you are in possession of a set of valuable blueprints. So the first level becomes a pretty hostile place. You are, actually, being hunted. Hence the hunting combat. From there the story keeps moving at a pretty brisk pace. It kept me engaged and interested.
The controls are pretty easy to manage. Right click to move/interact/attack etc. You can also use the keyboard including buttons to operate the camera. I've been playing RPGs for a long time and there is nothing here that is difficult. If you don't really know how to control a videogame you could have difficulty. Otherwise, it's pretty easy to pick up and run with it.
I'm checking out the game some more. Doing a second play through. There appear to be multiple paths through the slums. Meeting different people and going to some new places. So there is some replayability so far. From what I saw in my first playthrough, there appears to be multiple paths in other areas of the game as well.

This game rocks! It's steampunk! It's a unique setting! I haven't played anything like this before. If you are into exploring something new and interesting, this game will scratch that itch. It's got a city built by robots for crying out loud.
But if you only like your fireballs and goblins and dwarves stick with other games.
I've read some of the other reviews here. There are some negative ones. I would talk about the issues that they had. But they're so nonsensical I don't even understand them. What does "combat is bad" mean? What "glitches" did you see.
Instead I'll base this on my own impressions and not comment on what was said in other reviews.
Combat: It's fast and loose. You can move freely, you can plan attacks and queue up actions. I like turn based games. I like to plan out my actions. This "queue action" system that they have in place let me plan out my moves in advance. I could plan out the following: Guy #1 ran to cover, threw a grenade, then ducked behind cover. Meanwhile. guy #2 stayed behind cover and gunned down an approaching melee enemy. Guy #3 laid down cover fire (while guy #1 was on the move).
Story: It hits hard from the beginning. You run into unforeseen trouble right away. And you're on the run from the get go. There were also interesting NPCs to meet. I felt bad for the bartender whose wife ran off to the city with another fella. There are choices to be made in dialogs and social skills were needed in many cases.
Graphics: There were some places where the graphics looked a little rough. But overall what they did came out well. The city has got some very interesting ideas in it that you shouldn't miss.
Overall: It's worth the money you pay for it. I am enjoying it a lot. There is quite a lot that happens in this game. Enough to keep you entertained.
Edit: Just finished. It ends up in a surprising and cool place. Nice ending to the game. Didn't see that coming. ;)

This has one of the coolest intros I have seen in a long time. The game is an isometric rpg with some reasonable writing and a great premise. It is also apparently a sequel but it didn't seem that relevant to have played the first one. I really want it to have an autosave and lock the screen. I was also a little lost on some of the initial quests because the dialogue was a little unclear. Definitely wait for a sale but this is very cool.

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This is an indie game, with all its cons. BUT... It is interesting to play, very atmospheric, the combat system is well done, there are several ways to solve quests, character creation is amazing. And it`s Isometric Steampunk CRPG. If you are not too demanding, you can have a lot of fun.
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