I just played the Scourge Project for a few hours, and it's a pretty good Gears of War alternative for us Steam users...I mean, it's nearly identical! :shock: From gameplay (take cover, blind-fire, well you get the idea) to the annoying "walk" movement when teammates chat...but, it's not without some serious flaws...and by flaws, I mean these are ball-smashing frustrations! For one, enemies are friggin' tanks! Added with the insult that characters have their own "identity" by wearing half armors or not the full thing, it's borderline hilarious how easy it is to get downed...checkpoints have a nasty habit of saving right before an unskippable cutscene, not to mention way too far apart, and everytime I trigger a new level or checkpoint, my weapons are switched back to default (seriously, I hate the assault rifle...everytime I find a better weapon, it gets switched when I reload a checkpoint :x). And the AI...dear God, for those of you who are planning on picking up the game, PLAY WITH A FRIEND!! I cannot stress this enough...the AI is so brain-dead, it's unbelievable these guys are actually licenced to carry guns! One, I for the love of God, cannot get them to stay in the safety of cover...you know how many times I had to revive someone who decided to run all the way to the frontline?

Or when someone is downed, no one even bothers to help the poor guy out until I tell them to...and even then, they take their sweet time :roll:. Or even better, if three party members are down, the last one standing...well, stands. I kid you not. This game alone makes me pine for the good old days where teammates were invincible...I mean, I really wished when the main character was out, the game would end...it would really put me out of my misery and save me the trouble of waiting for the revive timer to go out, or manually reload a checkpoint :evil:.

Bottom line, a pretty good and value priced (about $20) for those PC-only gamers itching for a Gears of War game (because ironically, Games for Windows Live doesn't offer the game for sale on the marketplace...although you can "download the gameplay video." :?). Despite me having some fun with it, I really won't be suprised if Gamespot gives it a horrible score, much less blame them if they don't bother reviewing it :P. Otherwise, great graphics(it is using the Unreal Engine ;)), decent gameplay, all brought down by ass-bleeding difficulty and quite possibly the worst AI I've seen in games (I cannot express this enough...if you get the game, make sure you know at least two other people who will play the game with you!). Think of it as one of those suprisingly good budget games that appeared out of nowhere, but in serious need of fine tuning. Anyway, I'm not quite done with it yet, but I figured that a game I just bought for the hell of it (and the iresistable price for a gorgeous looking game) at least warrants a blog, even if it's a little bittersweet.