Mars Vice

About

Mars Vice is a single player action game with drama, comedy and science fiction themes. It was developed by Rho Labyrinths GmbH and was released on March 6, 2025. It received overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

2184, the Martian city of Pavonis: the place to be on the partly terraformed red planet. The Martian population decided to take evolution on a whole new path and turn their once human bodies into a plethora of shapes and forms: fully custom-built bodies to take on the challenges of living on a harsh new planet. New Mars, with its subsidized transhumanism, would practically be a utopia if it wasn'…

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97%

Audience ScoreBased on 65 reviews

story22 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features gorgeous, stylized visuals combining 2D furry character art with immersive 3D environments and slick animated cutscenes.
Characters are charming, witty, and well-written with engaging dialogue and strong LGBTQ+ representation that feels natural and meaningful.
The worldbuilding and setting offer a compelling, fresh sci-fi/mars cop-comedy narrative with interesting lore and atmosphere that draws players in.

The story feels short and rushed, especially the ending, leaving many characters underdeveloped and unresolved plot points.
Gameplay can be repetitive with frequent backtracking and reused dialogue, and some mechanical aspects like the dialogue skip function are not smooth.
Limited replay value due to a single ending, linear narrative, and relatively brief runtime that may not justify the price for some players.

story
84 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
70%
4%
The story is a charming, visually striking buddy cop sci-fi adventure with engaging characters and thoughtful worldbuilding, ideal for a short, tight playthrough. However, many find the narrative rushed, especially in the third act, with underdeveloped characters and an abrupt ending that leaves some plot threads and potential unexplored. Overall, while enjoyable and well-crafted, the story feels incomplete and could benefit from additional content or a sequel.
- “Short and sweet, a gorgeously rendered adventure for when you want a nice tight story you can complete in an afternoon.”
- “Hilarious, witty, and visually striking with plenty of worldbuilding and environments to drink in with a fun story!”
- “A masterclass in how to write gay and trans characters into a story that isn't a romance or a coming out drama, while still making their identities essential to the story.”
- “The story felt like it was racing to the end once the end was near.”
- “Certain characters could have had more screentime and felt underutilized and underdeveloped, and the plot felt somewhat rushed in order to get that neat bow-tied ending.”
- “For instance, Derya, the brontosaurus, is a very interesting and unique character, but you only meet her once for about 10 minutes of interaction. It feels like a huge waste of an interesting character.”
graphics
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
52%
16%
The game's graphics are highly praised for their unique, stylized blend of polished 2D furry characters with 3D environments, creating a slick and visually striking aesthetic. Reviewers appreciate the cohesive and bold art style, including noir influences and cozy, fitting background visuals, which enhance the immersive atmosphere. Overall, the visuals stand out as the game's strongest aspect, contributing significantly to its charm and appeal.
- “The artwork is incredibly polished with many designs that are incredibly eye-catching.”
- “The art style mixes furry 2D characters with 3D environments and it all comes together to look really slick.”
- “The game is clearly a labour of love and has beautiful crisp art and a nice cohesive aesthetic.”
- “It is an accomplishment in terms of the visuals, but there needs to be more.”
- “The art style mixes furry 2d characters with 3d environments and it all comes together to look really slick.”
- “Huge fan of the mix of 2d/3d graphics.”
gameplay
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
55%
27%
The gameplay combines visual novel elements with first-person 3D exploration, offering enjoyable mini-games that serve more as achievements than core mechanics. While some mechanics like dialogue navigation can be repetitive and the skip function awkward, the overall high-quality mix of 2D and 3D, combined with engaging characters and humor, creates an appealing adventure experience. However, the gameplay is relatively simple and predictable, with limited depth in interaction.
- “Gameplay wise, it's an adventure/visual novel. If you're into that kind of thing, you'll be into this, because what you're getting is extremely high quality.”
- “Gameplay has you move around in first person 3D and interact with objects and people with the mouse.”
- “Mechanically, you may find yourself rereading or triggering the same dialogue over and over again and the skip button is not that smooth of a friend to use.”
- “The mini games like drumming, pizza throwing, and boxing were fun, but they mostly serve as achievements rather than core mechanics.”
- “The entire story is pretty simple; it's not really complex and is pretty predictable until a cool twist, but literally right as the twist happens you have like 10 more minutes of gameplay and then the ending.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for being hilarious, witty, and engaging, enhanced by clever character banter, charming dynamics, and excellent writing. It contributes significantly to the game's fun story and immersive world-building.
- “Hilarious, witty, and visually striking with plenty of worldbuilding and environments to drink in with a fun story!”
- “The character dynamics are funny and charming (with lots of puns and bickering around).”
- “That and the game is super funny with some excellent writing.”
music
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
57%
The music in the game is highly praised for its perfect fit with the mystery-solving Mars adventure, offering a cozy, chillhop vibe that complements each area well. Tracks are both engaging and unobtrusive, enhancing the atmosphere without overpowering dialogue, with standout songs like June Lalonde’s "Bootlicker" and a punk-infused end theme adding memorable flair.
- “And the music is perfectly suited for a mystery-solving Mars adventure.”
- “I also appreciated how bop-able the music was while still being able to let it fade into the background when focusing on the dialogue.”
- “The music accompanied with each area is very cozy and fitting, and the background visuals provided for Pavonis make it seem like one of the somewhat decent cities to live in.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
Character development in the game is present but limited, focusing mainly on moments of vindication for some characters rather than deep growth. The pacing ensures that character insights are delivered efficiently without dragging, complementing the well-designed world and distinctive art style. Overall, while not extensive, the character development is engaging and fits the game's brisk storytelling.
- “This is by far the best aspect of the game—arguably even better than the art style and the character designs.”
- “Pacing is really great so far, where the writing never belabors the point and is always giving the player interesting new bits of info and character development, but moves at a brisk pace compared to a lot of visual novel style experiences.”
- “The art is fabulous from the character designs to the fully animated action scenes.”
- “There's not really a ton of character development, it just feels like some characters got vindication and that's all the development that's there.”
- “Character designs seem out of cartoon fantasy, but in a 'b-movie' sci-fi setting, which clashes with the well-thought-out world.”
- “The character development is minimal and lacks depth, failing to provide meaningful growth or changes.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has low replayability, as it can be completed in a short time and features only one ending, offering little incentive to play again.
- “In 4 hours of playtime I was through with the game and given it only has one ending it's not really replayable and basically just done and aside.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game demonstrates excellent stability, running smoothly even on the Steam Deck without issues.