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The Red Solstice

The Red Solstice Game Cover
69%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
stability, grinding
69% User Score Based on 1,376 reviews

Platforms

PCWindows
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The Red Solstice Game Cover

About

The Red Solstice is a single player and multiplayer role playing shooter game with warfare and science fiction themes. It was developed by Ironward and was released on July 9, 2015. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"The Red Solstice" is a tactical, survival-focused game set in a sci-fi universe. Players explore an alien planet as a member of a marine squad, fighting off hordes of hostile creatures. The game features real-time with pause gameplay, allowing for strategic decisions during intense combat situations. Co-op multiplayer is supported for up to 8 players, promoting teamwork and communication.

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The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
The Red Solstice screenshot
+16
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69%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,376 reviews
story55 positive mentions
stability28 negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique blend of tactical gameplay and RPG elements, making it engaging for players who enjoy strategy.
  • Multiplayer mode shines with up to 8 players, encouraging teamwork and cooperation to survive against hordes of enemies.
  • The atmosphere and sound design create a tense and immersive experience, enhancing the overall gameplay.
  • The game has a steep learning curve, which can be frustrating for new players, especially without adequate tutorials.
  • Technical issues and bugs, such as crashes and poor AI behavior, detract from the overall experience.
  • The player base is small, making it difficult to find multiplayer matches, which limits the game's replayability.
  • story
    441 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is generally considered basic and uninspired, often described as a typical sci-fi narrative involving a squad of marines battling hordes of enemies on a Mars colony. While some players appreciate the environmental storytelling and character interactions, many find the plot predictable and lacking depth, with repetitive mission structures that can lead to a sense of monotony. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop for gameplay rather than a compelling narrative experience, with mixed opinions on its execution and engagement.

    • “From the beginning, the game positions itself as a high-pressure survival experience where every step forward feels risky and every decision can tilt a mission toward success or disaster.”
    • “Come for the over-the-top fights and spamming rocket launchers, stay for the surprisingly compelling story in a rich, lore-filled world.”
    • “The story itself isn't what drew me in to really like this game though.”
    • “After failing twice on mission 5, I stopped caring because the bland gameplay and scenery, a lackluster, practically non-existent story (at least in the first 5 missions) and the awful controls did nothing to hold my interest.”
    • “The story is not interesting because the introduction video failed to start a convincing storytelling.”
    • “The single player story is so damn boring that the game would have been better off without it.”
  • gameplay
    240 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "The Red Solstice" is characterized by its intense tactical mechanics and cooperative multiplayer experience, demanding constant awareness and strategic planning. While some players appreciate the depth and challenge, others criticize the repetitive nature and unclear objectives, leading to frustration. Overall, the game offers a mix of engaging cooperative gameplay and tactical elements, but suffers from bugs and a steep learning curve that may deter new players.

    • “Rather than relying on scripted spectacle, it builds its intensity through tight mechanics, overwhelming odds, and the constant threat of failure.”
    • “With intense tactical gameplay and the ability to team up with up to 8 players in co-op, the game keeps you on your toes as you fight to survive against deadly creatures and hostile locals.”
    • “Deep gameplay combined with teamwork make for an unparalleled experience.”
    • “Objectives unclear, mechanics unclear.”
    • “After failing twice on mission 5, I stopped caring, because the bland gameplay and scenery, a lackluster, practically non-existent story (at least in the first 5 missions) and the awful controls did nothing to hold my interest.”
    • “The gameplay itself is alright, nothing special.”
  • graphics
    107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the high-quality visuals and detailed environments, while others report significant issues, particularly with AMD graphics cards, leading to unplayable experiences. Many users note that while the graphics can be decent or stylized, they also exhibit glitches and outdated elements that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game's graphical performance varies widely depending on hardware compatibility, with older systems often faring better than newer ones.

    • “The graphics in the game are of high quality, and the details of the environment are worked out very well.”
    • “This game is suitable for those who want to experience a real challenge on Mars and enjoy high-quality graphics and gameplay.”
    • “The graphics are nice and I can't wait for further updates.”
    • “The game works on old hardware; however, a lot of gamers with newer graphics cards (2018 onwards) get lumped with a black screen with no fix from the devs.”
    • “I was really looking forward to this game, and when I started it up, I see that none of the textures load except for the background dust storm; everything is blacked out except for a 'dust storm' blowing away in the background underneath all the blacked out graphics.”
    • “Poor graphics optimization made the game nearly unplayable, with frame rates regularly reaching intolerable lows.”
  • music
    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players praising the soundtrack as a standout feature that enhances immersion and complements the gameplay. While some find the music atmospheric and engaging, others criticize it for being forgettable or falling into the background, overshadowed by gameplay elements. Overall, the soundtrack is often highlighted as one of the game's stronger aspects, despite some complaints about its inconsistency and accessibility issues.

    • “The soundtrack is possibly the best part of the game; it's well made and fits the game.”
    • “The music is amazing and does a spectacular job of immersing you in the action.”
    • “Hard, tense, with an atmospheric soundtrack, this one is equally good in single player and multiplayer.”
    • “The music falls into the background; there's no talking or any witty lines to keep you occupied, the guns are complete background noise, and the enemies have no atmosphere or build-up.”
    • “All other music is so without definition or instruments it'd be better off just not existing, because then you wouldn't be wasting file size on it.”
    • “Music that plays during the game only really picks up noticeably if you're heading for evac, if you even get there.”
  • stability
    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, and frustrating controls that detract from the overall experience. While some players acknowledge the potential of the game and appreciate the developers' responsiveness to feedback, many express significant frustration due to frequent crashes and desynchronization issues. Overall, the game is considered quite buggy, especially in its current early access state, leading to mixed feelings among users.

    • “The most complete, bug-free, and smooth early access and Steam Greenlit game I have played :) and the only one I am still playing.”
    • “In time, the game should hopefully be bug-free and play like a dream; we can hope at least.”
    • “Extremely frustrating and counterintuitive squad controls, which are also buggy.”
    • “The game left me with a large amount of frustration, not just because it was buggy and incomplete but because there is an amazing game behind all that grit.”
    • “In the current state, the game is quite buggy, crashes often (once every couple of games), desync causes many issues.”
  • atmosphere
    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere in "The Red Solstice" is widely praised for its tense, immersive quality, effectively capturing the chaos of a collapsing Martian colony. Players appreciate the game's gritty visuals and sound design, which contribute to a feeling of survival against alien threats. However, some reviews note inconsistencies, with a few players feeling the atmosphere lacks depth or engagement in certain aspects, such as storytelling and interface. Overall, it stands out as a compelling backdrop for cooperative gameplay.

    • “The Red Solstice is a tense, atmospheric blend of real-time action and tactical decision-making that drops you into the chaos of a collapsing Martian colony.”
    • “At its best, The Red Solstice is a masterclass in atmospheric tension and cooperative gameplay.”
    • “The game creates a threatening and tense atmosphere that makes players feel like real survivors in the world of alien creatures.”
    • “It turns out there was a reason that I forgot it; this game has no atmosphere.”
    • “The music falls into the background, there's no talking or any witty lines to keep you occupied, the guns are complete background noise, and the enemies have no atmosphere or build up.”
    • “Immersive game right from the start, with a tense atmosphere and a lot of potential, but terrible interface to manage it.”
  • replayability
    26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game boasts high replayability, primarily due to its engaging multiplayer co-op mode, randomized missions, and character progression across various classes. Players appreciate the challenge presented by difficult maps and the dynamic nature of gameplay, which encourages repeated playthroughs. Overall, the combination of deep mechanics and a variety of objectives ensures that players find significant value in replaying the game.

    • “If you want meaningful co-op where every player matters, replayability, and a challenge, then this game is recommended.”
    • “The game has big replayability, randomized missions, locations, monster spawns, bosses, everything to make every single dollar spent on it worth it.”
    • “However, the replayability comes from this random element, as well as trying to beat the game's current most difficult map, military sector on Aetriden difficulty, which has currently only been beaten once!”
    • “The game has big replayability, with randomized missions, locations, monster spawns, bosses, and everything to make every single dollar spent on it worth it.”
    • “While each individual map is static in its layout, the missions can spawn in various places on the map, keeping the replayability and challenge high.”
  • grinding
    15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players have mixed feelings about the grinding aspect of the game. While some find the gameplay fast-paced and engaging, others describe it as tedious and overly grindy, particularly in single-player modes where endless waves of enemies can become monotonous. The need for extensive grinding to progress, especially in terms of leveling and unlocking classes, detracts from the overall experience for many users.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Grinding in this game is incredibly rewarding and keeps you engaged.”
    • “The grind is satisfying and offers a real sense of progression.”
    • “It's already gotten tedious.”
    • “Endless waves of enemies is tedious and combat in tactical mode or not are not satisfying.”
    • “Considering the number of classes there are and there are like 10 ranks in each suit, that is a lot of grinding.”
  • optimization
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization has been widely criticized, with many users reporting severe frame rate issues, stuttering, and long load times, particularly on non-SSD systems. While some players find the gameplay enjoyable despite these technical shortcomings, the overall consensus indicates that the game feels poorly optimized and resembles an unfinished product, necessitating significant improvements from the developers.

    • “The game is good and decently optimized.”
    • “Though there are a couple performance issues (namely clicks and keypresses not always registering when there is a full roster of players), the game is the only I've seen lately that delivers such an in-depth and tactical approach to multiplayer class-based combat.”
    • “There are some sound design problems and technical oversights with few optimization issues, but overall offers an enjoyable gameplay.”
    • “Poorly optimized, FPS stutter all over the place, unplayable.”
    • “Poor graphics optimization made the game nearly unplayable, with frame rates regularly reaching intolerable lows.”
    • “So to summarize, there are a lot of things to do for the developers because now it plays like a very badly optimized alpha version of the game.”
  • humor
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is described as a mix of intentional comedic writing and unintentional hilarity stemming from bugs and glitches, reminiscent of titles like "Goat Simulator." Players appreciate the absurdity of certain situations and dialogues, finding them both entertaining and bizarre, though some feel the humor can be overshadowed by frustration with gameplay issues. Overall, the game offers a unique blend of humor that resonates well with its indie charm.

    • “Enjoy the awesome indie writing, by which I mean hilarious, hamfisted dialog, and a bizarre obsession with Tyler Hunt.”
    • “Very funny game... for this price very positive...”
    • “Still has some 'goat simulator' quality bugs that make playing the game hilarious.”
  • monetization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy for the game has drawn criticism due to intrusive ads for its sequel, which disrupts gameplay and access to essential information. While players are generally accepting of microtransactions for customization, the overall management of advertisements and community engagement has been deemed poorly handled.

    • “Microtransactions for customization are something I could easily accept.”
    • “The monetization model is fair and doesn't feel intrusive.”
    • “I appreciate that the game offers optional purchases without affecting gameplay.”
    • “Also, with the upcoming sequel to this game, it's plagued by ads for the new game.”
    • “You can't even read the 'how to play' section because when you click on 'next', the advertisement/store page for their new game opens.”
    • “Microtransactions on customization is something I could easily accept.”
  • emotional
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game is largely criticized, with players finding the story boring and the voice acting subpar, leading to a lack of engagement. Sidequests are described as repetitive and uninspired, contributing to an overall feeling of disconnection from the narrative. While some acknowledge potential for improvement, the current experience leaves much to be desired in terms of emotional impact.

    • “Boring story, terrible controls, and awful voice acting.”
    • “For those who enjoyed the single-player mission from StarCraft with only the grunts, but with bad voice acting and a boring story, this is for you!”
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26h Median play time
118h Average play time
6-200h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 15 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The Red Solstice is a role playing shooter game with warfare and science fiction themes.

The Red Solstice is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 118 hours playing The Red Solstice.

The Red Solstice was released on July 9, 2015.

The Red Solstice was developed by Ironward.

The Red Solstice has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its stability.

The Red Solstice is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Red Solstice 2: Survivors, RUNNING WITH RIFLES, Aliens: Fireteam, Solstice Chronicles: MIA, Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide and others.