The Elder Geek reviewed Mars: War Logs and found it a worthwhile game.

Mars: War Logs is once again on sale for 75% Off on Steam. This is the perfect time to buy the game for only $3.74. So what are you waiting for?

An Intense Cyberpunk Rpg On the Red Planet!

Mars War Logs takes you to Mars, nearly a century after the cataclysm that threw the planet and its colonists into chaos. Water has become the most precious resource on the arid red planet, with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control.

In the middle of this struggle, play as Roy, a renegade with multiple talents who finds himself dragged in an epic story where every choice counts. Develop your character and your combat style by choosing among many skills and perks: melee, ranged combat, stealth, or the devastating Technomants powers.

Craft armors and weapons, recruit companions to help you in your quest, and plunge in a thrilling adventure offering a huge variety of quests. In dynamic, real-time combat, face formidable opponents and the most fearsome creatures of Mars. The fate of all colonies of Mars now lies in your hands…

You can once again buy Mars: War Logs on Steam for 75% for the next two days.

An Intense Cyberpunk Rpg On the Red Planet!

Mars War Logs takes you to Mars, nearly a century after the cataclysm that threw the planet and its colonists into chaos. Water has become the most precious resource on the arid red planet, with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control.

In the middle of this struggle, play as Roy, a renegade with multiple talents who finds himself dragged in an epic story where every choice counts. Develop your character and your combat style by choosing among many skills and perks: melee, ranged combat, stealth, or the devastating Technomants powers.

Craft armors and weapons, recruit companions to help you in your quest, and plunge in a thrilling adventure offering a huge variety of quests. In dynamic, real-time combat, face formidable opponents and the most fearsome creatures of Mars. The fate of all colonies of Mars now lies in your hands…

Steam announces that you can buy Mars: War Logs for 66% off as part of it's midweek madness sale. If you were holding off playing the game to get it on a cheap sale now is the time.

Save 66% on Mars: War Logs during this week's Midweek Madness*!

Mars War Logs takes you to Mars, nearly a century after the cataclysm that threw the planet and its colonists into chaos. Water has become the most precious resource on the arid red planet, with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control.

Craft armor and weapons, recruit companions to help you in your quest, and plunge in a thrilling adventure offering a huge variety of quests. In dynamic, real-time combat, face formidable opponents and the most fearsome creatures of Mars. The fate of all colonies of Mars now lies in your hands…

Thanks go to sakichop for this newsbit.

Borcanu has notified me that Spiders Studios has released the Mars: War Logs soundtrack for free.

Mars: War Logs

After a lot of demands from the community, Mars: War Logs’ original soundtrack is now available to download for free!

Discover 44 dark, gritty and spellbinding themes created by Sylvain Prunier!

>> http://bit.ly/1bRnY8Y <<

We hope you’ll enjoy them!

Polygon takes a look at Mars: War Logs. The article goes into detail about the games translation and dialogue.

Spiders, the French developer that created Mars: War Logs, certainly wanted to create an abiding impression of fear and helplessness. In video games, rape scenes are rare. It's a bold thing to include in a game, not least with dialogue that directly references the details of an assault.

In its original French version, the scene had played out as a deeply unpleasant encounter with a big house archetype. But here it was, translated into English, rendered as something approaching slapstick.

The men had been asked by Spiders CEO Jehanne Rousseau to sit down and watch the intro and play the game. Rousseau told them that, following the English-language launch of the game, the message coming back from reviewers and gamers in North America and the U.K. was that the dialog stunk. She was concerned.

Although both men had plenty of work on their schedules, Rousseau asked if they might be able to rewrite the translation, get into the studio and re-record all the voice-overs

The lesson is a timely one, because there's a bigger issue at play here. Words have never been as important as they are now in video games. A $15 RPG includes as many words as a reasonably sized novel. Audience expectations about the quality of writing and acting in games are much greater than in the past.

This is what drew McClung and Mackenzie to the project.

"The thing we had to do was reassure Jehanne and the team that we weren't going to make a Hollywood game," says McClung. "We weren't going to water it down. We wanted to respect what they tried to do. When I read the script, I thought that this game deserves to have a proper localization, deserves the extra time to make it happen."

Found two more reviews for Mars War Logs, with one being somewhat more positive than the other.

Connected Digital World, 3/5

This is a budget game which obviously presents certain limitations. Unfortunately, attempting to make something worth £100,000 with only £10 just isn’t possible. Unfortunately the scope of the game feels very limited by its own budget. It’s an ambitious project that had potential to prove that a budget title can be a great RPG without all the bells and whistles of AAA titles. Sadly it has gone further to prove that in fact the opposite is the case. The visuals and size of the game are not the problems holding it back.

The problem lies in its lack of imaginative characters, quests and story telling. Coupled with a potentially great combat system chained down by a sluggish feel MWL pushed for greatness but missed. There are features with grounds for a great RPG in MWL but they never materialise into anything significant. It’s definitely ambitious but unfortunately the budget can be felt at at every turn.

Action Radius, 6.5

Overall Mars: War Logs did impress me more than the expectations I started playing it with. The game’s dialogues and voice acting maybe bad but it itsn’t something which would make the gamer frustrate or unable to play the game. The game does have potential to attract you back till you finish it. If only the developers had put some more work on polishing it after completion rather than releasing it, then the results would have been far more promising. By no means this game is meant to challenge the likes of Mass Effect, and yet it does stand on its own two feet with its well developed quests and combat system and charming RPG implementation.

Focus Home and SPIDERS weren't entirely happy with the English localization for the PC version of Mars: War Logs. They decided to completely rewrite the English text/dialogue and re-record the game's voiceovers.

The update is available from Steam and other digital sites you may have bought the game from.

MARS WAR LOGS REWRITES THE STORY (IN ENGLISH)!

Mars War Logs was released in late April and, if most players who bought the Spiders Studio title liked the game itself, they were disappointed with the narrative element because the English version strayed too far from the original French. The general feeling was that the translation didn’t stick closely enough to the original French story and dialog.

Luc Heninger, Director of Production at Focus Home Interactive, explains:

"Mars contains a vast amount of dialog, even by RPG standards. The plot has numerous strands and the dialog often has many variants to mirror the hero’s changes in reputation. The tight deadlines between the game release dates meant that the initial English translation lacked depth and contained a number of errors; it was then sent to the recording studio, making the job of the actors extremely difficult.

The actual game was thoroughly tested and released with very few bugs on PC, but unfortunately the procedures for the audio and text QA failed and allowed many English localization issues to slip through. We realized the extent of the problem after seeing the first feedback from the press and gamers. The result was so far removed from what we usually produce that we took the decision to halt the submission process for the console version, which was due for release only weeks after the PC title.

We have re-written the game text and dialog and, of course, recorded the actors again, replacing the sections that weren’t true to the characters in Mars. All these problems will therefore be fixed in the console version. An update is now available for players with the PC game, and we have also incorporated the new audio in the PC versions on the various download sites."

Gamingbolt has an interview with ith Spiders Studio CEO Jehanne Rousseau to explore what went into developing the game.

Ravi Sinha: A lot of science fiction centered around Mars defines it as this other frontier for humanity, one that can represent hope and answers just as easily as it can bring to life man’s savagery. What tone does Mars War Logs go for when defining the Red Planet?

Jehanne Rousseau: Mars War Logs is a little grimmer and more pessimistic, as you realize that even after achieving space travel and colonization of Mars, humanity is still confronted with the very same issues and dangers, both globally and individually.

First you get some sort of crude reminder of our place in the universe in that whatever the faith, whatever the ambition or the technology of your civilization, all your efforts can be ruined in a flash by something that’s just completely out of your control.

Then you see private companies replacing governments completely, and using the people who depend on them as soldiers to fight for the control of whatever’s left of that destroyed new world. And as you dig deeper, you realize that despite the Science Fiction setting suggested by the time and place, there’s not much of a future left in a post-apocalyptic world like this.

Technology has made some serious steps backwards, while violence, fanaticism, racism, misery and despair are pretty much everywhere. There’s still hope, though. Since there’s still life. And it’s actually up to you, as a player, to decide if you wish to preserve it as much as possible, or let your anger and personal interests take priority over any ideal of rebuilding a more ‘civilized’ civilization.

Ravi Sinha: What kind of play-time are you looking for with the game? What kind of incentives will there be to replay it, besides the differing abilities?

Jehanne Rousseau: One playthrough should take 12 to 15+ hours in medium difficulty depending on how much time you dedicate to exploring and finding out more about the game universe.

But there’s actually one particular major point in the main quest that will have you choose between two opposite sides… and then walk along two different paths through the whole final third of the game, along with different allies, a different extra (romanceable) companion and several different outcomes depending on some other important decisions to make. Also, when replaying through, you should notice many other smaller changes depending on the way you behaved or solved (or not) certain quests.

Gamebanshee has a five page review of Mars War Logs.

Conclusions

European low-budget role-playing games tend to be games of highs and lows, often incredibly unpolished, clunky and with some broken mechanics, but also laden with surprising details and secrets, neat, forward-thinking mechanics and a hardcore attitude that the big-budget productions have completely forgotten by now.

Mars: War Logs, however, is not that kind of game. It's a game of flat, even mediocrity, that might not sink quite as low and be as broken as those niche titles I mentioned earlier, but doesn't have any of their highs either. Sure, there are a few neat ideas, but it's not enough. Ultimately, Mars: War Logs is as dull and barren as the planet it takes places on. 

Well seems we have more reviews for Mars War Logs.

Nzgamer- 6.0/10

The annoying thing about Mars: WL is that Spiders have tried to do everything at once instead of delivering a smaller, more polished game. Everything feels half done. Environments look as though they were made at the start of the 360's life cycle, NPCs stand about in what seems like suspended animation, one of the main voices just wasn’t cast well, and the combat system is so clumsy and unresponsive that restarts and frustration are all but guaranteed. What makes all this so annoying is that the game has so much promise, and if there had been a bigger budget, or a smaller concept, it could have been something quite fantastic.

GamesReviews- 6.5/10

War Logs is very close to being a game that’s worthwhile, and a lot about it does work. The $20 price point certainly makes it more approachable, but the up-and-down storytelling, boring voice-acting and cluttered gameplay make it less appealing. It’s a good effort, though, and I’m more than interested in Spiders’ future projects.

ZTGD- 6.0/10

Mars: War Logs is one of the most confusing names for a game in recent memory. I don’t know how many times I have said it wrong. I mention this because it is a tell-tale description for the game. War Logs is a sci-fi RPG that never seems to get its feet on the ground in any area, but still retains enough good ideas to keep it afloat. This ten hour adventure is full of excellent concepts and the occasional moment of brilliance, all locked behind its mediocre exterior. It is the kind of game I wanted to love, the more I played it.

GamepPlanet- 4.5/10

It’s unfair to compare a small downloadable title with similar triple-A productions, but what can be said is that perhaps in crafting such an ambitious title, Spiders Studio simply bit off more than it could chew. While some aspects of Mars: War Logs are outstanding by any measure, it stumbles on the finer points of storytelling, character development, and overall polish. Perhaps more time or a larger budget would have made the difference here.

Mars: War Logs has big ambitions, but it feels like it was rushed out the door – perhaps due to budgetary constraints. The makings of an impressive game are here, unfortunately it just doesn't hold together particularly well.

Ups 

Excellent graphics, sound, and score. Meaningful decisions and dialogue lead to distinct endings.

Downs

There are camera issues, glitches, and a general lack of polish. The voice acting is terrible and the story predictable. Combat becomes frustrating quickly.

Here is a new mixed bag of reviews for Mars War Logs.

Gripyajoystick, 4.5/5

I have really enjoyed playing this game , the different control aspect and the gripping story line have made it a real joy to play and get addicted to. To get a good grasp of the game I was planning on doing the odd side quest while working through the main story. But in the end I was so gripped that I went through a lot of the side quests while I was going through the story line.

IGN, 5.5

While only the combat stands out as a true high-point, Mars: War Logs is at least an ambitious attempt at a budget RPG, in a much less overused setting than most. Silly Technomancers aside, it has all the pieces and ideas it needs to be something special – just not the writing chops or the raw resources needed to flesh them out to the level of the games it draws obvious inspiration from. The result is hard to recommend, with few diamonds to be found in the Martian rough. If you're willing to settle for occasional agate or topaz though, there are just enough sparkles here and there.

Indie Game Insider, 6.8

For all my nuances with the game, I think Mars: War Logs’ most redeeming feature lies in its aesthetics. The animations, graphics, and overall visual style look and feel great for a game with low production values, a testament to Spiders’ artistic skill. At a glance, it would be easy to mistake this title for a AAA game. While the lip synching animations could use some definite work,  the game as a whole has a visual polish to it the developers should be proud of.

Kaboom Shark, 3.5/5

Mars: War Logs is a classic case of a game whose ambitions overreached its budget. The game has more cut corner than an OCD kid’s sandwich, ranging from spotty voice acting, underdeveloped gameplay features, and rushed story progression, all of which constantly remind you of the unfulfilled dreams of a dev team that simply didn’t have the time and money to make their lofty vision a reality.

But you know what? I was captivated nonetheless. A truly charming game, Mars: War Logs is so unabashedly confident in its goals and brimming with genuine effort that it’s easy to overlook its stumbles and focus on what it does well, namely its fleshed out world, endearing characters and fluid combat. It’s a completely playable and enjoyable game, one that I fervently recommend to anyone interested in the premise and which I hope will see its rich setting continually explored in future games. It may be rough around the edges, but bite through that crust and you’ll find a warm, gooey center within that will suck you in like one of Mars’ tornadoes.

Well after reading the reviews for Mars War Logs, and your still interested read on. Koch Media has announced Mars: War Logs is avaible at retail stores following an earlier digital release.

Koch Media today announced that Mars War Logs, the PC sci-fi role-playing game from Spiders Studio and Focus Home Interactive, is now available at UK retail following an earlier digital release. To celebrate, an impressive launch trailer is now available, immersing players in the game’s rich universe.

Mars War Logs takes you to Mars, nearly a century after a huge cataclysm that threw Mars and its colonies into chaos. You play as Roy, a renegade caught in the middle of a civil war, while different corporations fight over the most precious resource, water.

Follow an immense main quest in which every choice counts, develop your character and your combat style by choosing among many different talents and skills. In dynamic, real-time combat, face fearsome opponents including some of the most terrifying creatures of Mars. The craft system lets you create and modify your equipment, your weapons and your armor.

Your behaviour during dialogues, as well as your choices and decisions will influence your companions and the fate of the people who will cross your path… and maybe the fate of all the colonies on Mars.

Mars War Logs is now available on PC and retails for £14.99. Mars War Logs will be available to download very soon on Xbox LIVE® and PlayStation®Network.

Here is a collection of reviews for Mars War Logs.

A video review at HaasGaming:

PCGMedia, 4/5

Graphically, I was impressed. The animations and lighting look great for the most part – there are a few clothing and background textures that look quite poor and while some of the action sequences have great looking motion capture, others have really awkward animations and camera angle choices. The art style is moody and pronounced, but not quite fitting of the cyberpunk genre because it looks more like a post-apocalyptic story (it’s very Red Faction). I was wholly impressed with the sound and music, though, which stayed steadily strong throughout my experience; from the sounds of bashing different armors and hides of different materials to the subtle score that plays while walking around the different areas really added to the experience.

Examiner

Though the dialog comes across a little goofy sometimes, the overall story of Mars War Logs is an interesting one, and does offer some replay value with a few major decisions and a simple reputation system at play. While I would have loved to see more of just about every element in the game, more weapons and armor, more Technomancer abilities, and more branching paths, Mars War Logs wraps up at around the ten hour mark; just the right time for its price point and level of depth.

Mars War Logs is a fun and interesting take on Mars as a setting, and pays homage to the classics while adding a bit of its own flavor. While the game forgets itself at times, the non-linear and optional nature of the quests offer lot of reasons to replay the game at least once. Mars War Logs isn’t perfect but if you’re looking for a short and sweet Action RPG experience, go grab it now.

The Bitbag

Most of us at one point have thought about making a dream game, that epic adventure game with a bunch of our favourite genres crammed into one game. Mars: War Logs tries to be many things at once, trying to be a mesh of recent favourites like Assassin’s Creed, Mass Effect and Dragon Age but it failed in execution and could have benefited greatly with more time for polish. It felt rushed and all of the parts doesn’t make it a whole but more like a shoddy glue job. It doesn’t deliver any of its promises. Although the game is only $20 and can make for a budget RPG experience, I can only recommend it if it’s on sale for at least half its price. Until then, stay away.

Harcore Gamer, 3/5

As a whole, Mars: War Logs is a game well worth checking out for RPG fans and, at only twenty dollars, there’s no reason not to. Although frustrating at times, the developers’ ambition puts it above other indie RPGs which seem happy to settle for less considering their price. With a slightly bigger budget, Mars: War Logs could have been a great game, yet as it stands, it comes out as a mixed bag. There is great potential here for a franchise, however, and the only way to go is up as Spider Studios will hopefully iron out the flaws with the game for future releases. Flaws and all, there are worse ways to spend your money if Mars: War Logs has piqued your curiosity.

A video review by Elder Geek.

Rock Paper Shotgun

But ultimately this is picking over details in a game that’s just not worth the time. It’s so intrinsically dreary, infested with a dullness that doesn’t let any of its notions scrabble to the surface to become intrigue. And whatever its story wanted to be, the writing just can’t sustain it. When convincing a guard to help you out requires that you be rude to him, rather than confident in your plan, you know that there’s never going to be a moment where you can be aware you’re making the choices you want through the dialogue. And in the main, it’s just gruff sci-fi filler dialogue, with no peaks to warrant its endless trough.

The release of Mars War Logs came as a surprise. Shifting the release to an eartlier date and providing little to no marketing in advance must be a new marketing strategy that I haven't seen before.

Anyway, together with the ads campaign we got a review copy from Focus Home International and our new editor Fluent looked into what kind of game Mars War Logs really was and found some serious drawbacks, which he penned down in this review.

Another major disappointment I had was with the story. To put it mildly, “What story?” The game just wanders along without ever having any strong goals or meaningful intentions.  It also feels as though you are rushed along with not enough back-story to let you know what is happening. Many times I felt confused about the names the characters were throwing around, and you are treated as if you know these things well, even though it’s your first or second time hearing about them. The plot is both muddled and confusing, and just not very good.

Here are some reviews of Mars: War Logs, while ours is being formatted.

Capsule Computers

Despite the quirks and rough coat of paint, Mars: War Logs is still a worthy effort. Anyone who enjoys WRPGs like Mass Effect, The Witcher and Dragon Age will find something to take from here even if it’s all been done before. One thing that surprised me was the almost complete lack of bugs. Normally we find glitches and even game-breaking bugs in AAA titles, but War Logs is almost rock solid.

RPGFan, 70%

There are a few anomalies in the WRPG formula thanks to the game's futuristic setting. Although the technomancer powers may be nearly indistinguishable from magic, money comes in the form of "serum," which is a precious and rare commodity that can be drained from downed human enemies. Doing so kills them, however, which plays into the game's morality system. A few other small details, like the differences crafting makes on a weapon's appearance, made me pause and consider the game with a tad more favor.

Softpedia, 6/10

The Spiders team has managed to create an experience that’s solid in terms of graphics, but it fails to come anywhere near the leader in the field.

There are times when I wished that the team had more resources in order to improve the various textures, make characters more detailed and breathe more life into the Martian scenery that the game explored.

The audio design is also somewhat limited, with some of the voice actors unsuited to their roles and some weird phrasing at times, but the ambient elements, music and sounds are well implemented and manage to infuse the entire story with a sense of place.

TheControllerOnline has a review for Mars War Logs. I have also included a 15 minute gameplay video from RealgamerNewz. Hopefully the two help those still undecided on the game.

Combat in Mars War Logs follows a pretty standard third-person brawler formula where dodging, blocking, and countering are important if you want to succeed. Guns and a form of electricity control called Technomancy are secondary attacks that can augment your overall strategy, but most of the time you’ll be swinging a pipe or other improvised weapon. Sneaking around, setting traps, can make things interesting but you’ll never be too far out from having to brain a few bad guys.

Roy will be able to advance his skills in three different disciplines that boil down to combat, stealth, and shooting electricity from your hands. You won’t be forced into choosing one path over the other as you’ll end up with enough skill points to mix and match from all three skill trees. You’ll also be able to upgrade your weapons and armor through an extensive little crafting system. Upgrades don’t just translate into increased stat points, they’ll also change the look and style of your gear which is a neat touch.

Divided into three chapters, Mars War Logs shows off a flexible narrative and questing system that makes your choices really matter in the first chapter. Which side quests you choose to complete, and how you choose to complete them has actual impact on the events and how the conclusion of the chapter goes down. In the second and third chapter, however, you aren’t given the sense that the things you are doing are having the subtle effects they did in the first chapter. There are a few major decisions you have to make but they lack the grand scale shown off in the first chapter. Each chapter also relies heavily on backtracking, especially the second, so as long as you’re prepared for that you can still have a good time.

Though the dialog comes across a little goofy sometimes, the overall story of Mars War Logs is an interesting one, and does offer some replay value with a few major decisions and a simple reputation system at play. While I would have loved to see more of just about every element in the game, more weapons and armor, more Technomancer abilities, and more branching paths, Mars War Logs wraps up at around the ten hour mark; just the right time for its price point and level of depth.

Gamingnexus has an interview with the CEO Jehanne Rousseaun of Spiders Studio.

You’re calling “Mars: War Logs” a short story, what does that mean? Is that a comment on the length of the game or that it’s part of a much larger story?

When creating an RPG you can start with the idea of making a trilogy, or like the baldur's Gate series, a 100 hour game. We knew we didn't had the funds and means to do so, and we're not found of DLC adding some story part after part... So we tried to create a complete story, but a shorter one. The main quest is about 15 hours of gameplay, there are a lot of side quests and a big part of the game can be played again as the choice you'll have to make at the end of chapter 2 will completely modify the story. That's why we call it a short story, designed for downloadable platforms.

How deep of an RPG is Mars War Logs? What kind of attributes will players have to customize in the game?

The players can choose between a lot of different skills that will impact the way they will fight (stealth, melee, distance, technomancy), they'll be able to choose some feats too (that will more impact the social abilities and the craft), to craft their own equipment improvement, to choose their companions, and of course thanks to the dialog choices modifying the story itself.

Could you talk about the combat system in the game? Is it strictly weapon based or are there other abilities that players will get to use?

In Mars you shouldn't use always the same attacks, as your enemies will parry them more easily. You have plenty of possibilities, you should try them all : aside from the melee attacks, you can use a nailgun, you can sneak, create grenades and traps and later in the game you'll gain access to technomancy (lighting attacks, electric weapons etc).

Spiders Studios new  Action RPG game Mars War Logs is finally available for download on Steam and they have released a launch trailer.

Fasten your seat belts, taking off immediately for the Red Planet!

Mars War Logs, the sci-fi role-playing game from Spiders Studio, will be available today worldwide for download on PC! To celebrate this release, we invite you to watch an impressive launch trailer that immerses us in the game's universe. Please note that the game will be available very soon on Xbox LIVE® and PlayStation®Network.

Mars War Logs takes you to Mars, nearly a century after a huge cataclysm that threw Mars and its colonies into chaos. You play as Roy, a renegade caught in the middle of a civil war, while different corporations fight over the most precious resource, water.

Follow an immense main quest in which every choice counts, develop your character and your combat style by choosing among many different talents and skills. In dynamic, real-time combat, face fearsome opponents including some of the most terrifying creatures of Mars. The craft system lets you create and modify your equipment, your weapons and your armor.

Your behavior during dialogues, as well as your choices and decisions will influence your companions and the fate of the people who will cross your path... and maybe the fate of all the colonies on Mars.

Mars War Logs will be available today worldwide for download on PC. The game will be available very soon on Xbox LIVE® and PlayStation®Network.

Focus-Home the publishers of Mars War Logs have contacted us and let us know that Mars War Logs will be out tomorrow Friday the 26th of April, which is earlier than expected.

I'm no expert in marketing, but I don't think this is the best way to launch a game, so I expect much more 'focus' in the next days for this game.

Mars War Logs will be released for PC only for now. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will be released at a later time.

Focus Home publisher of Mars War Logs released a new trailer, and let buyers know the Game is being released in May.

Discover, with a special video, all there is to know about Mars War Logs, the sci-fi role-playing game developed by Spiders Studio.

Narrated by Jehanne Rousseau, CEO of Spiders Studio, this 2m40s video shows new gameplay sequences and tells us more about the game and its origins. We learn how Mars War Logs was born and how its talented and passionate developers gave a truly unique soul to this project they hold very dear.

After giving us a few details about the setting of this game that presents the Red Planet as we have never seen it before, we learn why Mars War Logs is a fully-fledged RPG, in which player choices leave their mark on the story and its unfolding. Spiders Studio really wanted to offer total freedom to the players who will have to face the consequences of their decisions through dialogues, through choosing their skills, with their behaviour toward their companions, or even through the equipment and upgrades they decide to craft. Players will be forced to take responsibility for their actions: for example, slaying human opponents after a battle will be an advantagous source of income... but will also make many characters wary of you!

Get ready for your trip to Mars, in May on PC, and very soon on Xbox LIVE® and PlayStation®Network.

Strategy Informer has a preview of Mars War Logs.

It’s fair to say at the moment that unless you’re a AAA-funded project, supported by a well-known publisher or even a smaller budgeted indie title with a crazy idea, things get a little tricky for you in terms of what you can do, and how well you might be received.

The ‘middle-ground’ is a dangerous place to be, publishers and developers are being forced to develop new ways of thinking to tackle this problem. Take Mars War Logs for example – a gritty, post-apocalyptic sci-fi RPG set on Mars. It’s got everything you’d expect from an ‘epic’ RPG – companions, crafting, quests, mystery, levelling systems, combat & skills… but it’s only 15 hours long. And releasing over digital platforms only.

This is probably a result of developer Spiders Studios being a smaller team than what may be required for something like an RPG’s scale, but also because of the limited resources available to them. Even with Focus Home Interactive (who are more known for Strategy/Simulation games anyway), there’s every danger that if War Logs had been a 40+ hour epic, the quality wouldn’t be there and it would be largely ignored because of the other big-hitters.

But the best franchises, especially science-fiction franchises, start by giving you bite-sized chunks of the world, about hinting at what may or may not be, and Spiders Strategy of doing that here with a short view into the world of Mars War Logs (and the intention is to develop more, similar length titles to form part of a larger franchise) could be one that pays of greatly. We hope it does well, as what we’ve seen so far seems intriguing, to say the least.

We have four new screenshots for Mars War Logs for your viewing pleasure. Just click on the screenshot for a larger view.

Mars War Logs: a hero hunted down in screenshots!

Mars War Logs, the cyberpunk role-playing game from Spiders Studio, unveils a bit more through 4 new screenshots.

On these images, we discover once more Roy, the hero of this sci-fi RPG planned for PC in May 2013 and for PlayStation Network and Xbox LIVE in Q3 2013, in yet another tricky situation. On one hand, Roy is hunted by Aurora's army and their fanatic Technomants, who would love to make an example of him. On the other hand, the Resistance is wary of him, because of his origins. Roy finds himself in the middle of a fierce civil war, in which he will have, sooner or later, to take a side.

We can also notice in these screenshots another important character of the story: Devotion Chase, dangerous beauty and right hand of the general of Aurora's army, Honour Grant. She's on the hunt for the renegade Roy, in the working class areas of Shadowlair. While her intentions toward Roy are still mysterious, it is certain she has both resources and the will to find him.

And as far as who Roy will eventually choose to side with, in the civil war that tears Aurora in two... it will all come down to you!

Mars War Logs will be released on PC in May 2013, and on Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network in Q3 2013.

The official site for Mars War Logs has launched which you can find here.
In addition there are 5 new screens released (click on one of the images below to browse through them).

RPGFan has written a preview of Mars: War Logs.

Not everything is about combat, though. With a wide variety of folks to interact with and quests to undertake, Mars War Logs is rife with dialogue choices and decisions to make. Decisions that could very well shape the future of Mars. Play your cards right, and you'll be able to recruit others to your cause, such as Innocence, a young prisoner of war that helps Roy escape the Abundance work camp.

The journey will lead you to several locales, including Roy's former home. Overrun with the mysterious Technomants and under control of the oppressive water company Aurora, the area now known as Shadowlair is a hostile land – not exactly "home sweet home" anymore.

We also received a press release on the combat trailer that has been released for Mars War Logs.

Over the past few weeks, Mars War Logs, the cyberpunk role-playing game by Spiders Studio, has unveiled part of its universe and characters through screenshots and videos. Today, we are proud to present its combat system through a brand new video.

Mars is an hostile planet, where many dangers lurk. Mutants, fanatical survivors, fearsome native creatures from Mars and huge, meters-long creatures are some of the dangerous enemies you will have to face in dynamic and intense battles. This 2 minute and a half video is a true survival guide, explaining in detail the combat system of Mars and the possibilities it opens to the player.

To vanquish your opponents, you will have a choice of skills. Choose from melee or ranged attacks, furtivity or Technomant arts, adopt the combat style fitting the situation and the enemies you are fighting. As a true RPG, Mars will let you distribute earned experience points (gained through combat or completed quests) in 3 skill trees, which are unveiled in this video. Players will then be able to specialize, for example in melee or ranged combat.

Weapons are precious and rare on Mars and give you an edge over your opponents: find and scavenge items and components, in order to improve your weapons and armors thanks to the craft system of the game. Finally, today's video also shows some of the powerful Technomants' powers. Choosing this path will let you unleash energy waves, lightnings, or create energy shields and electrify your weapons to make them even more lethal!

Mars War Logs will be released in Spring 2013 on Xbox LIVE®, PlayStation®Network and PC.

VG247 has four new screens from Spiders' Mars: War Logs.

If you recall Mars: War Logs from Spiders (Of Orcs and Men), the official site has some new screens. 

Roy continues to make his way through Mars' wastelands. In these 5 new screenshots, we invite you to follow him along his journey through the cyberpunk universe of Mars War Logs, the new RPG from Spiders.

This leg of his trip leads him to Shadowlair. The capital city of Aurora (the fledgling water company that emerged quite quickly thanks to its near-endless supply of Technomants) is not as welcoming as it had been in the past. Roy's former home is now a hostile land, fallen under the control of these mysterious Technomants.

Hunted, Roy will have to fight once again. He can count on the help of various companions, Innocence being one of them. Innocence is the young prisoner of war that helped him escape the Abundance work camp and will be Roy's first follower. He'll meet many more interesting people during his quest and some of them might even embrace his cause...that is, if he manages to persuade them!

Mars War Logs plunges you into a thrilling cyberpunk RPG on the Red Planet. You will develop Roy and his combat style by choosing from dozens of skills and perks. Pick from pure combat, stealth and trickery, or fierce Technomancer powers. The choice is yours! The real-time combat system requires both reflexes and tactics while you battle fearsome opponents and Mars' most terrifying creatures in dynamic combat. The crafting system lets you create and modify equipment to maintain an edge over your enemies. Dialogue choices as well as your actions will influence the destiny of everyone Roy crosses paths with...and perhaps the fate of all the colonies on Mars.

Mars War Logs will be released in Spring 2013 on Xbox Live, PlayStation Network and PC.

Remember Mars, the action/RPG from Spiders (Of Orcs and Men)? We haven't heard anything about it since 2009 but a new teaser video has been released, along wth a new title: Mars - War Logs.

Mars: War Logs, the action RPG developed by Spiders for Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network and PC download, has been unveiled today in video! Mars: War Logs offers a wide variety of quests, tactical dynamic combat, and extensive character specialization through different skill trees and a complete craft system.

The Silk Engine, the powerful graphics engine built by Spiders, breathes life into the Red Planet. The in-game sequences in today's video give a glimpse of the exciting quest that awaits players on Mars in 2013! Mars: War Logs will be presented at Gamescom 2012 in Cologne next week at the Focus booth in the business area (Hall 4.2, Stand I-050a), alongside another undisclosed game from Spiders that will be unveiled for the first time.

Mars: War Logs takes you to the red planet over a century after the catastrophe that threw the planet and its colonists into chaos. Water has become the most precious resource on the arid planet with a few companies fighting a perpetual war for its control. In the middle of this struggle,
players take on the role of Roy Temperance, a renegade with multiple talents, and plunge into a thrilling cyberpunk RPG on the Red Planet!
Players develop Roy and his combat style by choosing among dozens of skills
and perks, and fight for his life in dynamic real-time combat against the fearsome creatures of Mars. The crafting system lets players create and modify equipment to maintain an edge over enemies. Dialogue choices as well as actions and decisions made will influence the destiny of the people Roy
crosses paths with...and perhaps the fate of all colonies on Mars.

Worthplaying has nine screens from Spiders' scifi hack'n'slasher, Mars.