I’ve had the game for awhile and this is my first time playing it. As a science fiction story, we’ve got Colonization of other planets, a Mad Scientist, and a what looks like a Dystopian society, though everyone is forcibly cheerful. Except the Marauders.

You’re rescued from an abandoned Colony Ship by a Mad Scientist, Phineas Vernon Welles.

70 years is too long to have been in suspended animation in this particular story. He rescues you and gives you a special cocktail of his own making to help you stay alive. Will you help him get the materials he needs to go back and rescue the other travelers?

If that is at all possible in the game, that will be what I live and die for. All those people…just left to sleep in space. (sniff).

There’s a contact on the planet Halcyon who will help you.

Oops, smooshed.

Hmm I wonder if I was supposed to loot his body. Tsk.

Halcyon is a pretty place.

In a cave, you meet an injured young man who perkily promotes the platitudes of the company he works for between gasps of pain.

When I offer to go get help, he gives me his pistol and his saber. I took points in both ranged and melee fighting just in case. I tried the gun on the marauders down the path, but it seemed like you had to shoot them too many times to get them down. While you were doing that, his friend popped you. It also seemed that the sound of gunfire brought fire from somewhere above.

Reloading the game, I wielded the saber instead. Using sprint to run up on the two guys, I whacked them with ease. A bit grisly that their limbs went flying about the area, but, they’re not going to come crawling after me, are they? That saber must be sharp.

Speaking of having to reload, the next two NPCs I saw, I ran up on and hacked up as is my way. It turned turned out they were “friendly”. Reload! Brought em back to life, no angry factions after me now, la la la.

Apparently the Lieutenant wants to get a hold of Hawthorne’s ship (my flattened rescuer), but there are four Marauders patrolling in front of the ship, and she’d rather have a nap than deal with them. Zzzzzz.

My first plan of attack was to run up on them and whack whack. One even walked a bit away from the others. Somehow I failed to de-limb her, and she ran back towards the others, and Game Over. I haven’t seen that phrase pop up in ages.

It may take me a few tries and strategies to get these down. Maybe a combination of pistol and saber. They have some awareness of your approach, I don’t know quite what triggers that. No actual stealth skill so far.

I love the ship design and the shape of the buildings that you can see. Definitely in my rotation for August and beyond.