The Technomancer – Mass Effect Wannabe Can’t Sell Life On Mars

With several years between Bioware games, there’s a real need for more story-heavy RPGs featuring companions, romance options and moral choices. You might be tempted to pick up The Technomancer to fill this void, but it’s the equivalent of munching on a soggy petrol station steak slice when you’re craving a juicy sirloin.

Everything you’d expect from a third-person RPG is in here, including (pretty limited) character creation. You’re Zachariah, a newly graduated Technomancer, which is to say an electrically powered Jedi Knight unravelling a conspiracy on post-apocalyptic Mars. As a protagonist, Zachariah is as engaging as a cardboard cutout of Hayden Christensen, while you’re not given enough customisation options to really add your own personal touch.

There are quests, equipment and crafting materials to find, plus a fairly large world to explore. It’s a pretty intriguing world, too, thanks to an interesting premise and nice environmental art direction. The stultifying writing and voice acting, however, make it hard to stay engaged.

This is where The Technomancer differs from, say, Alpha Protocol, another Bioware-like that feels similarly shonky and unsatisfying.

Obsidian’s excellent writing papered over Protocol’s cracks, but Spiders’ game lacks that get-out clause. There’s a ton of options to the combat, including three different fighting styles (four if you include your electricity powers), along with roguish traps and tools – but fighting needed another polishing pass to stop it feeling like a bunch of marionettes weightlessly slapping each other around.

Playing Dead

The Technomancer’s main moral choice is whether to finish off your (human) enemies, or leave them unconscious on the ground. They look dead in either case, but killing them grants slightly more of a resource you’ll have plenty of anyway – it’s hardly a compelling decision.

It’s great that another RPG of such ambition exists on PS4, but there’s no glue tying its systems together. Many similarly scrappy games, such as the Risen titles, win you over with atmosphere or quirky charm, but under its wonky surface, The Technomancer is as dry as a board.

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