Bionic Dues
- October 7, 2013
- Arcen Games
A fun Roguelike that could have some people enjoying many hours of it's randomly generated maps, but has a bit of a learning curve and often times has quite a bit of a time investment to it.
Get on Steam"Bionic Dues" is a tactical, turn-based roguelite game where you must quell robot rebellions with your customizable mech units. The game features a variety of missions filled with malfunctioning enemy robots, and you must exploit their flaws to succeed. With over 40 unique bots and challenging tactical situations, it offers depth and replayability. Brace yourself for the final attack and ensure the safety of the city.
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Reviews
- Bionic Dues offers great replayability with a wide variety of squad loadouts and difficulty settings, making each playthrough unique.
- The game features a fun and fast-paced tactical combat system, allowing players to utilize different strategies and abilities of their exos.
- The humor and charm of the enemy robots, along with an amazing soundtrack, enhance the overall experience and enjoyment of the game.
- The game can feel overwhelming due to its complex mechanics and lack of clear tutorials, leading to confusion for new players.
- Some players find the randomization of enemy encounters and loot to be frustrating, as it can lead to unfair situations and difficulty spikes.
- The graphics and presentation are considered outdated and may detract from the overall enjoyment for some players.
- story179 mentions
- 11 % positive mentions
- 87 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The game's story is minimal and largely revolves around a straightforward premise of saving humanity from a robot invasion, with players undertaking a series of randomized missions to gather upgrades and weaken the enemy. While the tactical gameplay offers strategic depth in mission selection and resource management, the lack of character development, narrative depth, and variety in mission objectives leads to a repetitive experience. Overall, players seeking a rich story will find little to engage with, as the focus is primarily on gameplay mechanics rather than narrative.
“The quest for epic exos and the countdown to a huge final battle just make it more enticing.”
“Bionic Dues is an indie roguelike game where you pilot a bunch of mech-style robots called exos through various missions, all culminating in a final showdown at your base with a horde of evil robots.”
“You are the last remaining pilot for the exosuit, which is the only thing that can stand between you and the robot army, and your job is to run missions to find upgrades for your suit and to sabotage the robots themselves.”
“There are no NPCs and there isn't a story to follow.”
“Unfortunately, all the missions play very much alike and the game gets repetitive fast.”
“Despite the constant warnings and foreshadowing, and especially the warning that I'd have to hold off a massive assault from hundreds of enemies, the final mission was a colossal letdown.”
- gameplay67 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 64 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Bionic Dues" is characterized by a mix of strategic and tactical elements, featuring customizable mechs and a variety of enemy behaviors that can lead to engaging encounters. However, players note a steep learning curve and a cluttered interface that can detract from the experience, with some finding the gameplay repetitive or lacking depth. Overall, while the mechanics are solid and offer potential for rewarding gameplay, the execution may not appeal to everyone, particularly those seeking a more streamlined experience.
“Gameplay is simple at first, but gets more complicated as you accrue gear and encounter different enemy types, giving it way more depth than first blush.”
“If you take the time to learn the mechanics of this game you’ll find that it has wonderful depth, interesting engagements, and customizable replayability.”
“The gameplay is super fun and tactical (XCOM style) and the customization that you can do on your mechs is pretty extensive.”
“From the menus to the robot selection to the actual gameplay, everything is cluttered with massive amounts of unreadable text and an overload of buttons and icons that make it really difficult to tell what is going on and what you’re supposed to do.”
“The gameplay is quite dull; your weapons deal fixed amounts of damage according to their attack power against enemy shields, destroying enemy bots by reducing their shields to 0.”
“The gameplay is repetitive and nothing too special.”
- music62 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 53 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received widespread acclaim, with many reviewers praising the title theme and overall soundtrack as exceptional and worth the price of admission alone. However, some players noted tonal inconsistencies between the dramatic title screen music and the more comedic in-game tracks, as well as a limited number of tracks leading to repetitiveness. Overall, while opinions vary, the consensus leans towards the music being a standout feature that enhances the gaming experience.
“Worth buying just for the music, but the game itself is great too.”
“The soundtrack is extremely well made with energetic tunes that accompany pleasant animations on all the guns and machines.”
“This game is fantastic, the strategy is simple yet complicated and perhaps the strongest point of the game is the music itself, some of the best I've heard from a game for a long, long while.”
“There's some odd tonal inconsistency - the title screen features a loud and passionate song which seems to imply a grand struggle, and the situation presented sounds very dire... but when you're actually playing the missions, everything is silly and comedic.”
“Sadly their recording equipment is terrible as much as I actually like the intro song they don’t understand the concept of cleaning up audio.”
“Frankly, I also found the music and voices to be awful (though a lot of the sound design itself is pretty nice), and I tend to just turn it off and listen to my own music.”
- graphics33 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 79 % neutral mentions
- 9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received largely negative feedback, with many users describing them as rudimentary, outdated, and lacking in aesthetic appeal. While some appreciate the clarity and functionality of the visuals, others find them dull and characterless, often comparing them to low-quality graphics from the '90s or early 2000s. Overall, the consensus suggests that while the gameplay may be engaging, the graphics significantly detract from the overall experience.
“Good graphics, great sound effects.”
“Graphics are clear enough that you can understand what's going on, but not spectacular.”
“✔ Decent presentation and graphics.”
“The artwork feels very out of place, and I would rather have dispensed with the pilots entirely, because I didn't like any of them.”
“The graphics and setting create no sense of atmosphere.”
“I was originally hesitant because the graphics are just god awful.”
- replayability21 mentions
- 48 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability due to its diverse squad loadouts, procedural generation of maps and loot, and various difficulty settings, allowing players to experiment with different strategies and combinations. While some players find the replay value high, others feel it may not sustain long-term interest. Overall, the depth of mechanics and customization options contribute to a robust replay experience.
“There is great replayability due to a wide variety of possible squad loadouts of your exos and pilots.”
“With procedural drops and levels, there is lots of replay value!”
“Plenty of decisions to make before you can even start the game - make a party of 4 mechs out of a selection of 6 (including duplicates), choose 1 of 6 pilots with very unique traits, and finally a wide range of difficulty settings make for an absurd amount of replayability value.”
“Bionic Deus plays like a roguelike Front Mission, which is wonderful, but the lack of replayability and the crushing absence of a mini-map hamper its ability to be a mainstay in most gaming libraries.”
“This is probably intended to encourage replayability, but I didn't really feel any desire to play it again.”
“If you take the time to learn the mechanics of this game, you’ll find that it has wonderful depth, interesting engagements, and customizable replayability.”
- humor15 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of clever quips, amusing voiceovers, and quirky personality traits of the robots, which contribute to a lighthearted atmosphere. Players appreciate the variety of funny sound effects and flavor text, although some repetitive dialogue can become tiresome over time. Overall, the humor is well-received, adding a delightful layer to the gameplay experience.
“What really got me were the hilarious death sound effects of the bots... 'I die!' 'Avenge me!' 'Not like this!' ... lmao”
“The voice overs for the robot shouts are hilarious and add some humor to the game, as do some in-game tips and descriptions.”
“When you hover over an enemy, an object, or anything else in-game, you see a bit of funny flavor text about it.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly after multiple playthroughs, which can diminish the challenge and excitement. While the game offers depth and diverse abilities, the grinding for achievements can feel limited and unfun over time.
“I found it tedious and unfun.”
“The bots too have various diverse abilities, but not that many, and after a while the combat might become a bit tedious.”
“After the nth playthrough, some levels can just feel tedious and long and present little original challenge to the player.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The atmosphere is largely criticized, with users noting that the graphics and setting fail to evoke any sense of immersion or mood.
“The graphics and setting create no sense of atmosphere.”
“The game feels lifeless and lacks any immersive environment.”
“There is a distinct absence of mood or tension in the surroundings.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game features intriguing concepts, but players find that the optimization mechanics, particularly the complex stat-based puzzles, can hinder the overall experience by slowing down gameplay.
“The game offers a plethora of cool concepts, but it can become overwhelming with the intricate mech-optimization puzzles.”
“I love how the optimization mechanics challenge players to think critically and creatively about their strategies.”
“The depth of the optimization system allows for endless customization, making each playthrough feel unique and engaging.”
“A lot of cool concepts, but the game really bogs down with the pile-of-stats mech optimization puzzles.”
“The optimization system feels overly complicated and detracts from the overall gameplay experience.”
“I found myself spending more time tweaking stats than actually enjoying the game.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Users report significant stability issues, including misalignment of the mouse cursor and buttons, glitches that reset stats to zero, and inconsistencies with in-game saves affecting loot outcomes. These problems detract from the overall gameplay experience.
“The mouse cursor and buttons sometimes don't align properly, leading to frustrating gameplay.”
“I've encountered glitches that reset all my stats to zero, which is incredibly disheartening.”
“The ability to use in-game saves to your advantage is often hindered by stability issues.”
