The Repopulation

About

The Repopulation is a Science Fiction Sandbox MMORPG in Late Alpha Testing, offering a variety of roles and activities with a focus on player-driven actions. Despite being in an early stage, it provides a vast game world for players who are okay with bugs, possible service interruptions, and fluctuating features. This game is for those who enjoy massively multiplayer experiences and are willing to put in the effort for grinding and overcoming numerous bugs.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

50%

Audience ScoreBased on 785 reviews

story15 positive mentions

gameplay15 negative mentions

The game has a lot of potential and offers a complex crafting system that is rewarding for players who invest time in it.
It captures the essence of classic sandbox MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies, allowing for a high degree of player freedom and customization.
The community is generally helpful and supportive, making it easier for new players to learn the game.

The game is still in alpha, which means it is riddled with bugs and performance issues that can hinder gameplay.
The crafting system is overly complicated, making it difficult for new players to understand and engage with.
The graphics and user interface are outdated and unpolished, detracting from the overall experience.

story
168 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
83%
8%
The game's story and quest system have received significant criticism for being vague, repetitive, and poorly designed, with many players expressing frustration over unclear objectives and buggy mechanics. While there is potential for a rich sandbox experience with diverse mission types and social activities, the lack of a cohesive narrative and the overwhelming number of issues detract from the overall experience. Many reviewers feel that the game is not worth its current price, citing the need for substantial improvements before it can be considered a complete product.
- “What this game does well is truly allow you to be whatever you want, without a scripted story or class system getting in the way.”
- “Each area has its own quest type and story, providing a unique experience for players.”
- “The quests are not spoon-fed to you; you have to really pick your battles, and your decisions when talking to NPCs matter significantly.”
- “All other problems aside, this game just doesn't have the story to match all the game mechanics and flashiness.”
- “Generated missions are repetitive and have no real story to them.”
- “The mission system is the same, repeat, repeat, repeat, with most missions just running back and forth for very little reward.”
graphics
133 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
15%
71%
14%
The graphics of the game have received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many users describing them as outdated, amateurish, and reminiscent of early 2000s titles. Players report significant performance issues, including lag and graphical glitches, even on high-end systems, which detracts from the overall experience. While some appreciate the art style and potential for improvement, the consensus is that the graphics need substantial work to meet modern standards.
- “A truly immersive sci-fi MMORPG with a unique system, great graphics, and a phenomenal community!”
- “Graphics: 8 ~ lighting effects is where this game really shines (literally). Though everything does have a sort of stylized-realism, it fits the overall feel of the game well, and I have no personal complaints.”
- “Loving the art style.”
- “The graphics feel like an unmodded Fallout New Vegas, somewhat better than Oblivion.”
- “The graphics are a bit sketchy yet, had some ugly lag/frame stutter but still such huge potential.”
- “The graphics are dated, the textures are muddy, it looks quite horrible.”
gameplay
98 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
14%
70%
15%
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its depth and unique mechanics, particularly in crafting and character development, while others criticize its clunky controls, long load times, and numerous bugs. Many users note that the game feels outdated and grindy, reminiscent of older MMOs like Star Wars Galaxies, but with potential for improvement if the developers address performance issues and refine the mechanics. Overall, while some find the gameplay engaging and complex, others feel it lacks polish and accessibility, making it a challenging experience for new players.
- “It has interesting mechanics and a lot of depth when it comes to crafting and character development.”
- “Gameplay: 9/10. This game scratches an itch I've had for a long time that lies somewhere in the space between EVE Online, Ultima Online, and Star Wars Galaxies.”
- “Great gameplay: the gameplay is amazing and the random generated quests don't stop, always something to do.”
- “My gameplay experience was a long load time and tons of lag and frame drops, despite being on reduced settings.”
- “Terrible graphics, gameplay is extremely clunky, it's an early access game that has been in 'development' for ages now and as far as I can tell 0 work has been done to it since it 'early access' launched on Steam.”
- “The game has overly complex, poorly implemented, and poorly defined game mechanics.”
stability
71 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and crashes that significantly hinder gameplay. Common issues include visual anomalies, unresponsive quests, and frequent freezes, making it difficult for players to immerse themselves in the experience. While some acknowledge the game's potential, many recommend waiting for further development before investing, as it is currently in an unstable alpha state.
- “You simply can't get immersed in a game this buggy and crashes so abundant at the moment.”
- “Game still buggy as hell, combat doesn't work 50% of the time, quests and NPCs have improved along with a lot of graphical errors being fixed... still needs a lot of work to be worth the price tag.”
- “I get this game is still in alpha but when the game is constantly switching me into combat mode and suffering from game-breaking glitches that leave me with no choice but to restart, it's hard to give this game a good review.”
optimization
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
60%
33%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with users reporting severe performance issues, including lag, stuttering, and low frame rates, even on high-end systems. Many players express frustration over poorly optimized assets and a lack of effective updates from the developers, leading to a frustrating gameplay experience. While some acknowledge minor improvements, the consensus is that significant optimization work is still needed for the game to be enjoyable.
- “I am glad to see that there have been updates and optimizations; the core game is pretty awesome though a bit overwhelming.”
- “This has been addressed on their forums many times, and they've stated that they plan on further upgrading the engine to provide better optimizations and general fluidity in gameplay.”
- “Edit: the game is much better than when I made my first review (back on Steam launch); optimization is much better, skills are better, mobs are better.”
- “Game was extremely janky and unoptimized.”
- “The new development team has not fixed much and the game is still unbelievably poorly optimized.”
- “It was as if development had no focus towards optimization at all, and the animations were choppy, insanely simplistic, the control layout sucked, the emotes were dry or stupid, the walking to foot movement speed ratio was off significantly, and the questing and interface interactions were sour.”
grinding
33 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
3%
88%
The grinding aspect of the game is heavily criticized, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, particularly in crafting and skill leveling. While some appreciate the lack of forced grinding and the freedom to explore, the overwhelming amount of mindless grinding for skill points and crafting materials detracts from the overall enjoyment. Overall, players express frustration with the grind-heavy mechanics, which often feel unfulfilling and convoluted.
- “This means no forced questline, no grinding dungeons or instances for the best loot or character level.”
- “You're not grinding levels per se; you're grinding skill points—thousands and thousands of skill points—just to do what?”
- “I wanted to find a game where making something is meaningful, not grinding through harvesting and crafting worthless items just to create end-game items, making everything you crafted before that feel pointless after leveling up a few times.”
- “There is a lot of grinding to level individual skills.”
- “Every activity is super grindy; you will have to spend dozens of hours searching and gathering before you can make even simple items.”
- “I wanted to find a game where making something is meaningful, not grinding harvesting and crafting by making worthless items just so you can make the end-game items, and any items you made before that are pointless and garbage after you level up a few times.”
music
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
65%
15%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the soundtrack while others criticize its implementation and technical issues, such as abrupt cuts and volume inconsistencies. Many feel that the audio design needs significant improvement, particularly in blending tracks and addressing bugs that disrupt the experience. Overall, while the music has potential, it currently detracts from the gameplay for some users.
- “Decent audio design & soundtrack.”
- “Music in this game takes you deep into the game <3.”
- “Connection finally established, and I'm able to get in game; the music was a bit loud for me at first, but that's personal preference. I like it; it's good music all the same.”
- “Other than gunfire, the odd sentence from my character, and background music, there is little sound, and the world feels empty and dead.”
- “Music and sound effects are buggy, raising in volume despite the in-game settings.”
- “The music stutters most of the time, and the game doesn't seem to handle multiple cores.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the humor in the game to be a mix of intentional and unintentional moments, with amusing bugs and quirky mechanics, such as dual-wielding pistols leading to funny visual glitches. The game's names and features, like "freedomtown" and the sandbox concept, also contribute to its comedic charm. Overall, while some players express frustration, many appreciate the lighthearted elements that add to the experience.
- “But it's very playable and the bugs are actually more funny than disturbing.”
- “Oh, and dual wielding pistols is really funky... you hold both pistols in the same physical location, leading to some funny clipping stuff.”
- “This time I found my way out of the starting area and made it to my first destination: Freedomtown, the name of which I found hilarious.”
character development
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
Character development in the game is noted for its depth and engaging mechanics, which are crucial for player retention. However, some players find the character design unappealing and feel that the customization options create a superficial sense of development rather than meaningful growth.
- “It has interesting mechanics and a lot of depth when it comes to crafting and character development.”
- “Endless character development options, open PvP, and a wealth of customization choices.”
- “Character design is ultimately unappealing, so you better like wearing your helmet.”
- “They just create a fake sense of character development.”
- “Character development is key in keeping players.”
monetization
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The monetization model has been positively received for lacking subscriptions or microtransactions, but there is significant frustration regarding the game's development delays and the potential introduction of microtransactions in the future. Players feel misled by the advertising and are disappointed with the current state of the game, especially after investing in early access.
- “No subscription or microtransactions!”
- “Future possibility of microtransactions.”
- “What I am unhappy about is the development of the single player/LAN game based on this concept, which has caused them to shelve the MMO for a year and possibly longer before working on the game that they have been advertising and collecting capital for.”
- “Now the servers are offline and they're advertising a new title that is supposed to be a 'prequel' while they hope to port it to a new engine one day?”
- “When I saw early access on Steam, I opened my wallet and decided to give it a go... it took me a single session of frustration to realize what a mistake I had made and what a lie the advertising has been.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express mixed feelings about the game's replayability, noting improvements in playability over time but indicating a desire to revisit it after future updates. Some users plan to uninstall temporarily, hoping for further enhancements that could enhance their experience. Overall, the potential for increased replayability exists, contingent on ongoing development.
- “It looks nice for sure, but at this point, I will uninstall again and check back in a few updates later down the line. Hopefully, it will get to a decent point again, because it was a lot more playable in the past.”
- “I'll check back in a few weeks to see if it is more playable at that point.”
- “The game is now much more playable than it used to be.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its immersive blend of anarchy, open-world exploration, and engaging mechanics, reminiscent of classic titles like SWG and Ultima Online. Players feel it creates a compelling environment that enhances the overall gaming experience.
- “The atmosphere of Anarchy Online, the game mechanics of SWG, and the open world of Ultima Online (later the PvP rule set) create just the game we have all been waiting for.”
- “The whole atmosphere of the game is very immersive and engaging.”
- “The game's atmosphere perfectly captures the essence of exploration and adventure.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is highlighted as profoundly impactful, with users describing it as the most heartbreaking sandbox MMO that never reached release, suggesting a deep sense of loss and longing for what could have been.
- “The most heartbreaking sandbox MMO to ever not come out.”