Info about The Red Solstice:

Official game description:
If you think you have what it takes to survive the onslaught, go forth, marine!
_The Red Solstice_ is a tactical, squad-based survival game set in the distant future on Mars, playable in single-player or with up to 8 players in cooperative online multiplayer.
Roam freely over huge maps, complete randomized objectives and deal with surprise events that keep you on the edge of your seat.
**Survive and conquer by any means necessary. Get stronger every time. Level up to unlock new weapons and abilities. Try to survive the storm.**
\[H2\]Key features\[/H2\]
*   **Take the Lead:** Issue commands and set waypoints and objectives for your friends as you outsmart and outgun your way through the derelict domiciles of Tharsis.
*   **Play Your Way, Together:** With support for 8-player co-op, play as one of 8 distinct, customizable classes, each with unique abilities and traits.
*   **Odd Jobs:** Tackle an onslaught of randomly generated events with just one hour to make your mark. From zone defense to supply retrieval, you’re never short of enemies to kill and objectives to complete.
*   **Earn and Learn:** Kill to earn experience points and unlock new abilities and classes. Heal allies, deploy turrets, launch grenades, set traps and much, much more.
*   **Tactical Single-Player:** Play on your own and lead a squad through a satisfying single-player campaign, and lead your squad through a wide variety of levels using The Red Solstice's Tactical Mode, which lets you issue commands while slowing down the action.
*   **Game NOT Over, Man:** Killing ain’t easy. Drive back untold Martian horrors in multiple modes, maps and difficulties and get stronger every time. Even if you perish.
\[/H2\]

Release date: 9 Jul, 2015

Categories: Tactical, Survival, Cooperative Multiplayer, Squad Management, Character Progression, Character Customization, Horde Combat, Real-time with Pause


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Engaging Tactical Co-op Gameplay (weight 0.99): Players consistently praise the game for its challenging yet rewarding tactical gameplay, especially in cooperative modes. The emphasis on teamwork, strategic planning, and adapting to diverse enemies creates a highly engaging and satisfying experience, leading to a strong sense of accomplishment.
- Deep Customization & Progression (weight 0.22): The game offers extensive customization options for characters, including skills, weapons, and classes, allowing players to tailor their playstyle. This variety, combined with a robust progression system, enhances replayability and strategic depth.
- Dedicated & Responsive Developers (weight 0.16): The development team is highly praised for their dedication, frequent updates, and responsiveness to community feedback. This consistent support, including new content and bug fixes, keeps the game fresh and balanced.
- Inspired by Classic Custom Maps (weight 0.12): Many players note the game's strong inspiration from classic Warcraft 3 custom maps like 'Night of the Dead' and 'Alien Swarm'. It successfully adapts and expands upon these concepts, offering a more refined and beginner-friendly experience.
- Welcoming Community (weight 0.08): The game boasts a friendly and welcoming community, particularly towards new players willing to learn and cooperate. This positive social environment enhances the multiplayer experience.
- Intriguing Single-Player Campaign (weight 0.07): The single-player campaign is highlighted for its intriguing sci-fi narrative and dynamic missions. It serves as a good introduction to the game's mechanics and provides a decent challenge.
- Helpful Tutorials & Onboarding (weight 0.05): The game includes helpful tutorials and explanations, along with a campaign designed to gradually introduce players to its various options and mechanics, making it accessible for newcomers.
- Excellent Atmospheric Soundtrack (weight 0.04): The game's soundtrack is consistently praised for being powerful and effectively setting the combat mood, contributing positively to the overall atmosphere.

Common complaints:
- High difficulty, steep learning curve (weight 0.61): Players consistently report that the game is extremely difficult, especially for newcomers, with a steep learning curve and unbalanced difficulty settings. This makes the game frustrating and unwelcoming, particularly in multiplayer where new players struggle against veterans.
- Major technical issues and bugs (weight 0.39): The game is plagued by critical technical issues, including frequent crashes, unplayability on modern hardware (especially for AMD users with black screen issues), and general instability. Players feel these bugs are unaddressed by developers, leading to a broken experience.
- Clunky controls and UI (weight 0.31): The game suffers from poor and clunky controls, an unintuitive user interface, and awkward unit management. This makes basic gameplay actions frustrating and hinders strategic play, contributing to a generally unpolished feel.
- Lack of atmosphere and story (weight 0.27): The game lacks atmosphere, an engaging plot, and varied content, leading to a bland and uninspired experience. The story is poorly explained, and audio/visual elements fail to create an immersive or terrifying environment.
- Dead multiplayer community (weight 0.23): The multiplayer component is severely hampered by a very small and declining player base, making it difficult to find public matches or play with randoms. This forces players to rely on friends for co-op, limiting the game's longevity and appeal.
- Frustrating save/checkpoint system (weight 0.2): The save and checkpoint system is highly problematic, often resetting progress to the beginning of long missions or not saving at all. This, combined with overwhelming enemy numbers and random deaths, leads to significant frustration and wasted player time.
- Awkward tactical mode (weight 0.09): The tactical mode, while necessary for unit management, is cumbersome and disrupts the flow of gameplay. Players find themselves constantly switching modes, which is inconvenient and detracts from the overall experience.
- Missing language localizations (weight 0.07): The game lacks localization for several languages, including Spanish and Chinese. This is a significant barrier for non-English speaking players, especially given the game's high learning curve and emphasis on understanding mechanics.
- Underdeveloped class system (weight 0.06): The class system feels underdeveloped, with many classes failing to fulfill their intended roles due to game design choices. This diminishes strategic depth and makes most classes feel like generic damage dealers.
- Repetitive and boring gameplay (weight 0.05): The core gameplay loop quickly becomes repetitive and boring due to simple combat, endless enemy waves, and a lack of strategic depth. This makes the single-player campaign feel rote after a short period.

Gameplay feedback:
- Co-op Multiplayer Focus (weight 0.41): The game is primarily designed as an 8-player cooperative tactical survival experience, emphasizing teamwork and strategic coordination. While multiplayer is the core, a robust single-player mode with bot control is also available.
- Diverse Class System (weight 0.24): Players can choose from 8 distinct classes, each with unique weapons, skills, and roles (e.g., Tank, Healer, DPS). Classes level up independently, allowing for specialization and character individualization through skill points and unlocks.
- Isometric Tactical View (weight 0.18): The game features a top-down, isometric, or RTS-style camera view, distinguishing it from first-person shooters. It blends elements of tactical strategy, twin-stick shooters, and survival genres, drawing comparisons to games like X-COM and StarCraft.
- Challenging Difficulty Levels (weight 0.17): The game offers multiple difficulty levels (up to 4), which significantly impact enemy quantity, damage, and overall challenge. It is described as a hardcore and intense experience, requiring strategic thinking to survive.
- Auto-Aim Tactical Gameplay (weight 0.14): The game features an automatic firing system, allowing players to focus on tactical movement and ability usage. While auto-aim is default, manual aiming is possible and sometimes necessary for specific enemy types, adding a layer of complexity.
- Tactical Combat & Environment Use (weight 0.13): Players can utilize various tactical tools and environmental elements, including explosives (with friendly fire), mines, barricades, turrets, and C4. Strategic decision-making regarding combat engagement, retreats, and objective interaction is crucial.
- Randomized Missions & Replayability (weight 0.12): The game includes a 10-mission campaign, but its core replayability comes from dynamically generated missions in survival and multiplayer modes. Mission objectives, enemy spawns, and item placements are randomized.
- Endless Enemy Waves (weight 0.12): Players face an endless onslaught of enemies, with limited ammunition and health, creating a constant need for movement and resource management. The primary goal is survival against these infinite waves.
- Mars Zombie Apocalypse Setting (weight 0.09): The game's setting is a Martian colony overrun by zombies and other life forms due to a viral outbreak and internal conflicts. Players control space marines investigating the crisis and fighting for survival.

Performance notes:
- Optimized performance, large-scale battles (weight 0.09): The game generally performs well, even on older machines, and is optimized for large-scale enemy encounters due to its custom engine. However, an SSD is recommended for faster initial load times, and performance can be impacted by large waves and monster variations on less powerful systems.
- Decent graphics quality (weight 0.06): Many players found the game's graphics to be decent, even on older hardware. This indicates good optimization for visual quality across various systems.
- No game-breaking issues (weight 0.02): A significant portion of the feedback indicates that any issues encountered were minor and did not severely impact the gameplay experience. This suggests a relatively stable game.

Recommendations:
- Mixed or Negative Recommendation (weight 0.24): Many players express hesitation or outright refusal to recommend the game, often citing issues like frequent crashes, the existence of better free alternatives, or the game not being suitable for everyone. Some suggest waiting for improvements or a sequel.
- Co-op Play with Friends (weight 0.23): The game is highly recommended for cooperative play, especially with friends. Players emphasize that playing with a pre-made group significantly enhances the experience and is crucial for enjoyment and success, particularly due to the game's complexity.
- Niche Genre Appeal (weight 0.11): The game appeals to fans of specific genres, particularly tactical simulators, isometric shooters, and zombie-themed games with an emphasis on strategy and teamwork. It's noted for its demanding tactical depth and chaotic yet ordered gameplay.
- Good Value for Price (weight 0.1): A significant number of reviews indicate that the game offers good value for its price, especially when on sale. Many consider it a worthwhile purchase for its challenging gameplay and action elements.
- Challenging and Hardcore (weight 0.09): The game is consistently described as challenging and not for casual players. It requires patience and persistence, with a high difficulty curve that can be frustrating for some but rewarding for those seeking a hardcore experience.
- Learn Game Mechanics First (weight 0.05): Players are advised to familiarize themselves with the game's mechanics, items, and skills, often suggesting starting with single-player or bot teammates to learn before engaging with others. Reading guides is also recommended.
- Consider Mods or Sales (weight 0.05): Some reviewers suggest trying mods that inspired the game or waiting for a significant sale before purchasing. This indicates a perception of the game's current state or price point.
- Anticipation for Sequel (weight 0.03): There is anticipation for a sequel, with some players suggesting this game as preparation. This indicates a desire for continued development or improvement in future iterations.

Other player notes:
- Familiar gameplay, like StarCraft (weight 0.18): Many players compare the game to classic RTS and top-down shooter titles like StarCraft, Warcraft 3 custom maps (especially 'Night of the Dead'), Alien Swarm, Alien Shooter, and Helldivers. This suggests a familiar yet distinct tactical, squad-based action experience.
- Great game, high difficulty (weight 0.09): Despite not being a AAA title and potentially niche, many players find the game to be great with solid mechanics. Some negative reviews are attributed to the game's high difficulty, which is seen as a feature by others.
- Localization and server issues (weight 0.07): There are known issues with Chinese character support due to an old game engine. Players can manually change Steam servers to improve connectivity, and high ping can lead to being kicked from games.
- Accessible with veteran players (weight 0.06): Playing at higher difficulties with veteran players is manageable, even for beginners, as long as they can follow instructions and understand basic English. Voice communication is helpful but not strictly required if players can listen.
- Low first mission completion (weight 0.06): A significant observation is the low completion rate for the first campaign mission (only 16% of players). This highlights a potential difficulty spike or engagement barrier early in the game.
- Story is not crucial (weight 0.05): The game's story and lore are generally considered secondary or not particularly impactful to the overall experience. Some find the lore reminiscent of 90s sci-fi movies.
- Free giveaway boosted players (weight 0.04): The game was recently given away for free on Humble Bundle, leading to a significant surge in player numbers.
- Negative reviews due to difficulty (weight 0.04): Some negative reviews are perceived as stemming from player frustration with the game's difficulty or misunderstanding of multiplayer aspects, rather than fundamental flaws.
- Supportive community for new players (weight 0.03): The community is willing to arrange training missions and patiently teach new players, highlighting a supportive player base.
- Graphics and sound are fine (weight 0.03): The graphics and sound quality are described as adequate, neither exceptionally good nor bad. They serve their purpose without standing out.
- Future content planned (weight 0.02): The author plans to add more content, including smaller maps for various player counts, new game modes, and soldier customization.
- Still in alpha state (weight 0.02): The game is still considered to be in an alpha state, implying it's rough around the edges and undergoing active development.
- No dedicated single-player (weight 0.02): Currently, there is no dedicated single-player mode, which might make it challenging for players who prefer to play alone.
- Black screen issue acknowledged (weight 0.02): A 'blacked out screen' is a known technical issue that developers are actively working to resolve.
- Allies can resurrect/call dropship (weight 0.02): Allies have the ability to resurrect fallen players or call in dropships for reinforcements, indicating key cooperative mechanics.
- Suggests D/deaf tester (weight 0.02): A specific suggestion was made for the developer to hire a D/deaf tester, indicating potential accessibility issues related to sound.
- Inventory capacity bug (weight 0.02): There's a reported bug where inventory capacity can be over-exploited, allowing players to carry more items than intended.
- Typical match length: 35-45 min (weight 0.02): A typical multiplayer match lasts between 35 to 45 minutes, providing an expectation for session length.
- Request for turret ability (weight 0.02): A player expressed a desire for a class or ability to place turrets, similar to a feature found in Alien Swarm, indicating a potential gameplay addition.
- No demo available (weight 0.02): Neither the game nor its sequel offers a demo, which might deter potential players from trying it out before purchase.
- Game is a time sink (weight 0.02): The game is considered a significant time investment, implying deep gameplay or a long learning curve.
- Not a grind-focused game (weight 0.02): The game is not focused on grinding through ranks, suggesting a different progression system or emphasis on skill.
- Erratic preloading progress bar (weight 0.01): There's a specific technical issue reported where the preloading progress bar behaves erratically, jumping between percentages.
- Game worked fine previously (weight 0.01): A player noted that the game functioned correctly when they purchased it a year prior, suggesting recent issues might be new.
- Persevere for deeper experience (weight 0.01): A player suggests that perseverance, specifically 200 hours of gameplay, will reveal a deeper, more rewarding experience.
- Lore compared to Dead Space (weight 0.01): The game's lore or enemy type ('The Strol') is compared to 'The Marker' from Dead Space, suggesting a similar horror or existential threat theme.
- Built on in-house engine (weight 0.01): The game is built on an in-house engine, which can impact development flexibility and potential issues.
- Hopes for more attention (weight 0.01): A player expresses hope that the game receives the attention it deserves, indicating a belief in its quality.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.28): Players experienced significant frustration due to a multitude of technical issues, including frequent crashes, unplayable states on specific hardware (especially AMD), and game-breaking bugs like invisible cursors or black screens. Additionally, poor game design elements such as awkward controls, unbalanced difficulty, ineffective AI, and a lack of in-mission saves contributed heavily to player annoyance. Community issues like toxicity, long wait times, and hostility towards new players also caused considerable frustration.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.23): Satisfaction stemmed from rewarding gameplay experiences, particularly when playing with friends and achieving goals through teamwork. Players appreciated the tactical depth, immersive atmosphere, and dynamic, challenging missions. The game's overall quality, replayability, and responsive developer updates also contributed to a positive and satisfying experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.2): Disappointment arose from a combination of technical problems, including unplayable states and persistent bugs, and core gameplay issues such as boring, repetitive, or bland mechanics. Players also expressed disappointment with a dead or toxic multiplayer community, lack of content, and developer abandonment, leading to a feeling that the game did not meet expectations or reach its full potential.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Excitement was generated by the game's engaging co-op gameplay, tactical depth, and the chaotic, intense atmosphere. Players enjoyed the challenging situations, variety of missions, and the overall quality of the game, especially when playing with friends and experiencing the hardcore, survival-oriented teamplay.
- Appreciation (weight 0.02): Players showed appreciation for the developers' passion, consistent support, and frequent updates. The responsiveness of the development team and their ongoing content additions were highly valued by the community.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.02): Enjoyment was derived from the fun gameplay, customization options, and the rewarding experience of coordinating effectively in co-op. Players found the game to be a sweet strategy experience that they were happy to recommend.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Boredom was primarily caused by the game's slow pace, repetitive gameplay loop, and lack of engaging events. Players found the theme, progression, and auto-fire mechanics to be stale and uninteresting.
- Anger (weight 0.02): Anger was a strong emotion triggered by game-breaking bugs, perceived developer inaction on critical issues, and the overall poor quality of the game. A toxic community also contributed to player anger.
- Challenge (weight 0.02): Players found the game challenging due to its hardcore simulation aspects, steep learning curve, and high difficulty. This challenge was often seen as rewarding, particularly through progression and mastering the game's mechanics.
- Joy (weight 0.01): Joy was experienced through the overall fun factor of the game and the positive social interactions, particularly the opportunity to play with international players.
- Informative (weight 0.01): Reviews were considered informative when they provided detailed explanations of game mechanics, genre, and structured pros and cons. They also helped clarify localization issues and the current player base status.
- Love (weight 0.01): Love for the game stemmed from its overall appeal, quality, and how it resonated with players from their first impression, often drawing inspiration from other beloved titles.
- Addiction (weight 0.01): The game's addictive nature was a key cause, indicating that players found themselves continuously drawn back to play.
- Caution (weight 0.01): Players expressed caution by warning others about the game's high difficulty and the behavior of its community, sometimes leading to a recommendation against purchasing the game.
- Analytical (weight 0.01): Reviews were analytical when they provided a detailed breakdown of the game's genre, core gameplay, and specific features, offering a structured evaluation.
- Annoyance (weight 0.01): Annoyance was specifically caused by negative interactions with rude moderators and general problematic community behavior.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Confusion arose from the game's complexity, especially for beginners, and the overwhelming number of items without sufficient time or guidance to understand them.
- Anticipation (weight 0.01): Anticipation was driven by the developers' dedication and the exciting prospect of future single-player content being added to the game.
- Neutral (weight 0): Reviews were neutral when they primarily focused on describing gameplay mechanics without expressing strong positive or negative sentiment.
- Regret (weight 0): Regret was expressed by players who felt they had made a poor decision in purchasing the game.}