So, I'm a big fan of this game's sequel. But the couple times I've tried the original, I bailed within the first 30 minutes. This time I tried to give it a good spin.

I remember reading about this game in magazines, especially around the time the sequel came out. The narrative was: the first game was too buggy upon release, but by the time it got patched up, it had already failed to make a good impression. My question is: patched up where?

It's a buggy mess, but I'd be lying if I said it's not fun. It's one of those games that would make for a very entertaining youtube video. It's insanely ambitious, perhaps too ambitious for its budget. It tries to do a lot, but pretty much fails at everything.

Deus Ex seems to be the main inspiration (gameplay-wise), but unlike Deus Ex, Xenus is set in a believable open-world, not a few hub areas divided by loading screens. Imagine GTA, but with more realism, RPG elements and way way more interactivity. You can speak to any NPC, go wherever you want and do whatever you want. You can join the army or the cartel. You can get drunk and go to the jungle and fight snakes, and then you can sell those snakes at the gas station for some reason, lol.

But there is so much jank. For example, it's pretty common to see NPCs T-posing and clipping through objects, and cars constantly crashing into shit. The driving mechanics are bad too. The combat is just atrocious. Half the time my button-presses would just not register. The AI is very dumb, but its movement patterns and RnG make it pretty deadly.

The first mission I picked up required me to steal some documents from the army camp. I walked into the room with the documents, there was one guard in the room. I closed the door and shanked him in the head, killing him instantly. Somehow the entire camp had heard me. On my second attempt one of the guardsmen bugged out and started shooting me for no reason. Two times I made my way to the gate, and there was a button prompt saying "open", but the gate just wouldn't open.

Combat aside, the writing and dialogue chains are also pretty unpolished. For example, I go to see the mayor, here's the dialogue I had with his secretary:

• Do you have an appointment?
• Well, yes, I do.
• Hm... That's strange, I can't see it in the computer. Oh well, go ahead then.

I could walk in and shoot the mayor in the face. Literally, the game lets you do that.

Then I go to the newspaper editor to ask him about my missing daughter, here's the dialogue that ensues:

• Hello, can I help you?
• Where's my daughter, you scum?
• What is this?! Who are you?!
• Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself (proceeds to politely explain the situation)

I can't really say whether that's a flaw or a feature though. The game allows you to role-play an absolute maniac, and that's a lot of fun. I much prefer a flawed system like this than the more linear kind you see in a lot of polished RPGs. Keep in mind that all these dialogues are delivered with really bad voice-acting. I played the Russian version, but I doubt the English version is better because small projects like this tend to get small localization budgets.

If there's anything undoubtedly great about this game, it's the visuals. Pretty standard for 2005, but for the Post-Soviet space even being on par with most major releases of the year is impressive. And aesthetically it really captures the vibe of a tropical paradise. That being said, I didn't get a very good performance out of it. Can't say what exactly was the culprit, but I suspect it was either the tree detail or the grass density. Never got it to run perfectly smooth, but I did eventually land at a playable framerate.

I would've probably stuck it out with the game if it wasn't for the combat. I can pretty much tolerate everything else, and I was having fun until that army camp where I essentially got stuck. I know it's not my skill that's the problem. If the game worked properly, I would've gotten out of that camp alive.

Luckily there's a sequel that fixes damn-near all of its problems and tells a completely different story. Which means you don't have to play Xenus 1 at all to experience its magic.