SOF: Enemy from the future Review Summary

Engaging gameplay, great atmosphere: The game is consistently praised for its engaging gameplay, pleasant graphics, and immersive atmosphere. Many reviewers found the game enjoyable and addictive, highlighting the overall positive experience.

Surprisingly good for free-to-play: The fact that the game is free-to-play is seen as a significant positive, especially considering the perceived quality and potential of the game. Many reviewers were surprised by the game's quality given its free availability.

Diverse missions and customization: The game offers diverse missions, unique fighter abilities, and interesting inventory/looting systems. Players appreciate the ability to customize their squad and experiment with different approaches.

Few bugs, actively updated: Reviewers note the game is relatively bug-free and has received updates to address issues. This indicates ongoing development and a commitment to improving the player experience.

Captivating and intriguing plot: The game's plot is described as captivating and intriguing, keeping players engaged throughout the experience. Character interactions are also noted as enhancing the plot and making it more fascinating.

Unbalanced and artificial difficulty: Reviewers found the game's difficulty unbalanced, with enemies becoming overly tanky and some missions proving excessively challenging. Inaccurate hit percentages, strange enemy spawning, and a lack of clear feedback on character actions contribute to this frustrating experience.

Numerous bugs and technical issues: Numerous reviewers reported encountering bugs, including animation glitches, hit detection problems, and game-breaking issues that force restarts. These technical issues significantly detract from the gameplay experience and indicate a lack of polish.

Game feels unfinished, lacks content: The game is frequently described as unfinished, unpolished, and lacking content. Many reviewers mention the short campaign length (5 missions + prologue) and express a need for further development to justify the price. This suggests the game was released prematurely.

Lacks manual/mid-mission saves: The absence of manual or mid-mission saves is a recurring complaint. This lack of a save system makes mistakes highly punishing, forcing players to repeat entire missions upon failure and leading to frustration.

Poorly implemented game mechanics: The game's mechanics, such as the cover system and grenade throwing, are poorly implemented. Reviewers note issues with cover effectiveness, awkward grenade angles, and a lack of destructible environments, hindering tactical gameplay.

Limited squad customization, classes: The game's squad composition is restricted to four pre-defined classes, limiting perk selection and weapon choices. Reviewers suggest a need for more specialist types, equipment, and soldiers on the map to enhance tactical options and squad customization.

Resource management, backpack mechanic: The game incorporates an interesting backpack mechanic that requires players to manage ammo consumption and loot for supplies. It also features a unique inventory system for item exchange between characters, adding a layer of resource management to the tactical gameplay.

Improve feedback, movement system: Reviewers suggest improvements to the game's feedback mechanisms and movement system. Specifically, they propose showing individual bullet hits with damage values and hit animations, and adjusting action point sections for more fluid movement and shooting.

Restricted soldier movement options: Soldiers are unable to crouch or climb on roofs, which restricts the tactical options available to the player during combat scenarios. This limitation impacts strategic positioning and maneuverability on the battlefield.

Good performance on low-end PCs: The game exhibits good performance, running smoothly even on older or less powerful PCs. Reviewers specifically praised the balance between graphical quality and framerate, noting that the game remains undemanding on system resources.

Optimize settings on Steam Deck: Steam Deck users suggest lowering graphical settings to improve battery life. One user found that a frame rate of 40 FPS provided a comfortable gameplay experience on the device.

Small game file size: The game has a small file size, which is convenient for players with limited storage space.

Anticipation for future content: A significant number of reviewers express anticipation for future updates, sequels, or the full release of the game. This indicates a positive outlook and a desire to see the game evolve and expand, suggesting a solid foundation despite current shortcomings.

Good potential, worth trying free: Many reviewers acknowledge the game's potential, especially considering it's often free or in beta. They recommend trying it, particularly for fans of the genre, while recognizing it needs further development. The 'free' aspect lowers the barrier to entry and expectations.

Need saves and final testing: The lack of saves and the need for a final testing phase were mentioned. Removing saves can frustrate players, especially when encountering bugs, and a thorough testing phase is essential for polishing the game before release.

Perfect score (review bombing?): The reviewer gives the game a perfect score of 10/10. This point shows signs of review bombing, as it is an extreme outlier compared to other reviews.

Not recommended currently: The game is not recommended at the moment. This point is too general and lacks specific details.

Free-to-play with paid DLC: The base game is free to play, but additional content, such as more missions, is available through paid DLC. Players appreciate the free base game but are aware of the DLC purchase options.

Limited voiceover languages: The game has limited voiceover language options, with Russian being the only available language in some instances. This may be a barrier for players who do not understand Russian.

Anticipation for future DLC: Players are already anticipating and looking forward to the release of future DLC content. This indicates a positive reception to the existing DLC and a desire for more content.

Unenjoyable escort missions: Some players dislike escort missions, particularly those where they must protect an uncontrollable caravan. These missions can be frustrating due to the lack of control over the escorted unit.

Uncertainty about price: There is uncertainty regarding the price of the second part of the game. This could be a concern for players who are considering purchasing the full game or additional content.