Game: Dex Enhanced Edition

Developer: Dreadlocks Limited

Publisher: Dreadlocks Limited/Badlands

PlatformPlayed: PC

Purchased on Gog

Author’s Note: No images are my own.

Background: An open world, sidescrolling, cyberpunk rpg you say? Yes, please! This sounded good. It was immersive, it was interesting, it was a neat take on side scrollers, the story was full of tropes and it hurt a little due to that. I wanted to like this, but I didn’t like redoing the hacking mini game over and over and over. That’s not my cup of tea. The developers got some things right, but they really made the role-playing element artificial by making hacking too important. I didn’t bother finishing and I didn’t bother getting Dex augmented.

What They Got Right: The concept of a cyperpunk female protagonist is a cool one. The environment of Harbor Prime will remind you of Blade Runner or Chiba City. The aesthetics and environments are great. The story is interesting. The characters are intriguing, the story of the game is okay. The melee combat seems incomplete.Yet it just wasn’t for me in the long term. The flaws in this game are pronouced to me and I just couldn’t continue. Don’t dream of electric sheep just yet.

What They Got Wrong: The ranged combat is horrible. The aiming device just didn’t work well with either my gamepad or keyboard, and the worst part of the whole affair was the hacking mini game. I don’t understand why the developers thought a Galaga-like space shooter was the answer to hacking.

Since so many of the objectives in the main quest were contingent on successful hacks I had to focus on building the hacking skill only to find myself still coming so close to my objectives in the hacking mini game only to be defeated by the smallest red viruses. This game was becoming a time waster. Finally, I turned it off and decided that this game needed some work.

Final Analysis: I cannot say this was for me. Maybe it can be for you? Give it a shot or perhaps you too will find the timed hacking mini game to be a pain? It is hard to say. See for yourself.