Before the release of Restricted Area, it was a game of many promises (then again, what game didn't). It promised a powerful game engine, advanced AI, advanced combat system, complex role playing system, dynamic dialogues, unlimited computer generated side quests and so forth. That's a tall building to scale if it actually meets some of them. Well after finishing this game, as expected, it didn't meet those requirements however, and oddly enough, it was still enjoyable to say the least.
Restricted Area is based on the not-so-distant future – actually in 2083. Earth is now a dustbowl with pockets of giant mega cities dotted the landscape. Mutants and outlanders wander the wastelands while the rest of humanity lives in dome shape 'ecology' cities. Naturally the mega corps rules these cities and the government are just finger puppets. Mega Corps being mega corps are always looking out for freelancers to do their dirty work raiding other corps 'subterrestrial fortresses' (R&D) far out in the wastelands known as the 'restricted area' and this is where you come in – doing stuff for cash however dark secrets awaits.
The plot, even though it's heavily used in most 'cyber worlds', each of the four characters also have a unique background story to unravel. It's almost like playing four different games as they have different cut scenes in certain areas so it's a nice touch to override this overused main plot. So before setting off mowing down mutants and whatever else, you need to choose one of four characters being Johnson (weapons specialist), Kenji (melee), Victoria (psionic – a.k.a. mage) or Jessica (hacker).
And this is one of the strongest features of this game as all four do play remarkably different. Yes you can compare them with their 'fantasy' types (e.g. Kenji – melee; Victoria mage class; Jessica rogue and Johnson ranger) however they are all enjoyable to play. My favourites though are Victoria and Jessica and because of this, I completed the game twice. So developers Whiptail Interactive did place a lot of effect ensuring these characters play out differently and succeeded.
Being a role playing game (RPG), each character has fifteen skillsets tailored for that character and fifteen generic ones. And to gain experience is to finish off quests and killing foes – stock standard RPG stuff. Of course levelling up entitles you more points to allocate on your skills and attributes and if you make a mistake, you can pay a fee to the doctor to start fresh again.
Also there's a reputation score that every time you complete a mission, earns reputation points. The higher the reputation, the harder the missions and the rewards are bigger. Yet you can easily loose reputation by dying or simply going back to town during mid-mission to restock etc. I really like this as it saves 'town spamming' when things gets a little heated up thus makes the game a little more challenging. Also your final reputation score dictates your ranking at the end of the game.
Playing the game really feels like a Diablo clone from hell. The main town has all the characters that can easily compare to Diablo (e.g. Dee = Griswold). Heck it even has a town drunk that acts very similar to Diablo 1 however spits out the same dialogue over and over again instead of ramblings. Plays in isometric viewpoint the game engine do run quite fast (60fps) and can support decent resolutions (I played it at 1280 x 1024) and the overall look is quite decent filled with smoke effects, rain, fog, smoke, dust and all that good stuff.
If you are aiming to complete the game by just completing the main quest, it's not a really long game however you won't be able to do this as the levels near the finale will make your ride extremely difficult. To put it into perspective, your second last mission is based around level 18 characters and the final level 23. Yet there's no way you will advance five levels any main mission and to make matters worse, the game does not tell you the 'suggested level' until you are doing that mission. And to add salt to the wound, when you discover that mission is too difficult to complete, you can opt out however losing reputation in the process.
So this is where the side missions play its part. By talking to 'Mr Jones' he will assign you tasks based on your reputation level. So if you are a high level character with a low rep, prepare for some serious grinding as most mobs will be so low that a kill is worth close to nothing. Lucky for me, I had a decent rep therefore receiving missions where it's around three for four levels higher than me. However the painful thing is that the side missions are repetitive to the nth degree and I really mean that as each mission really feels and looks like the previous one. Lucky for me, I really enjoyed the two characters I chose to play however if I haven't, it will be one boring ride from hell.
And what's an action RPG without loot gathering. Restricted Area has a fantastic loot gathering system so while grinding can be a bore, the loot is reasonable yet doesn't overdue its usefulness (other words don't expect a legendary every time you kill a mutant). Loot can range from bio enchantments (great for Victoria and yes you can even change your brain) to cyber to programs (Jessica), weapons and so forth.
Note that every cyber / bio enhancements has a tolerance level so you cannot equip any willy-nilly item. Tolerance is based on strength and once you equip a cyber / bio enhancement, your tolerance level will decrease in accordance to that item. And if you play Victoria, she will lose energy (mana) when her tolerance is getting closer to zero. You can 'zero out' the tolerance level for any item by visiting the doctor for a massive price though as he 'fine tune' that item to your body. This is a fantastic feature in my eyes as you cannot just slot in the biggest and meanest item known to mankind without any sort of setback.
Another neat feature is that if you are confused what the best item for your character is, the computer can make a suggestion with a click of a button. However there's a nasty bug here that at times when I have done this, some of my items disappeared into the ether never to be returned. And oddly enough, it's mainly the central body ones as I lost some really powerful items that way. So a caveat here is that do this at your own peril.
And speaking of bugs, sadly this game has its fair share however (and thankfully so) nothing too game breaking. As mentioned above, there's that inventory bug (above) and another one I have encountered. There are quests bugs where my quest item just disappeared after reloading a saved game. Thankfully I managed to finish off however cut abruptly short. It could be that the game just confused itself so it regarded it as 'resolved'. I would've been peeved off if I have to go back to town to redo the quest again as this will result in lost reputation points.
Also there's an option to hotkey your skills however I have no idea how to hot key it. This would become helpful especially if you are a 'mage' or 'rogue' character but I still manage to complete the game. And about the AI react to your strength and weaknesses – well they all simply charge at you period (and the occasional flee when wounded). And lastly, those 'dynamic dialogue trees' are nothing more than just a myth.
As mentioned before, you cannot complete the game by just doing the main mission alone so prepare yourself for some repetitive grinding from hell. That said it falsely extends the gameplay time somewhat however, I loved the two characters I chose to play. Whilst the game has tonnes of potential (like tolerance levels for cyber enhancements and each characters plays out differently), everything else just falls flat. It's a total shame as I can see with a bit more spit and polish, this game could surely kick some serious ass.