Utopia City Reviews

Old Bad Game

A pretty fun deep-cut Y2K aesthetic fps, if you don't mind unpolished/janky games. This is one of my favourite eras for scifi aesthetics so I had to give this game a spin - sadly I wouldn't say it nails the vibe, but is has its cool moments! There's an energy management meta-game that adds a bit of depth to the gameplay too - instead of health and ammo pickups, everything regenerates over time, but you have to share a single power source for all your weapons, abilities and health - you can customise exactly what percentage everything gets allocated and I found myself needing to use this a lot to get through different scenarios. It's an immersive sim-esque touch that I appreciated - and once you're familiar with it, it can be satisfying in a similar way to Resident Evil's inventory system. The story is simple but effective and I like the way the gameplay systems are designed around it, making the experience feel cohesive. In a nutshell, it's your archetypal "destroy the mainframe" infiltration mission inside a digital world like the Matrix where most of humanity is trapped. Music - there is some interesting experimental dark electronic/industrial background music throughout Utopia City that felt genuinely ominous and oppressive, as well as a handful of the EDM club tracks that seem to be in every 00s scifi game. Good stuff. Combat - this is the least satisfying part of the game, although it is challenging and forced me to think about each encounter. But the actual gunplay and enemy variety are the weakest parts of the game. The rocket launcher enemies are overpowered as the rockets fly super fast and can one-shot you - however this may have been intentional as it forces the player to make use of non-combat abilities you could have otherwise ignored such as invisibility, speed boost, overshield and time freeze. Visual Design - there are some great moments, but Utopia City lacks a cohesive art style. The menu/UI and weapon designs are all really nice, with that glowy "cybercore" vibe combined with a touch of "biopunk". The guns remind me of the ones in Operation Matriarchy (which is an absolute design fever dream in the best way). Sadly, a lot of the environments and characters are less aesthetically pleasing - either through blandness or garish colour combinations. Final thoughts - an inventive game with a lot of cool elements. I feel like, with a little more focus or budget, this could have been developed into something really exciting in the vein of System Shock or Deus Ex. Utopia City's biggest mistake was identifying itself as an FPS - if there had been less action and more dialogue, exploration, some rpg elements - it would have been really great, as the handful of these touches are by far the strongest part of the game. It's worth a play for anyone who enjoys odd and obscure indie scifi.