It hooked me at first, but then it got too repetitive.

I've finally had some free time to play this game, and I'm excited to dive in and see what I've been missing. I've had it on my shelf for ages, but life got in the way – work, maternity leave, and my laptop breaking down, you know? I've bought a lot of games on sale, and I'm not even sure how much this one originally cost. I bought the base game without any additional packs, which don't really affect gameplay. It's currently available on Steam.

There are achievements, but no cards. That's okay, I guess – the ones I've unlocked so far are pretty cool, and there are a lot of them, so if you're a collector, you'll have to put in some work to get them all. Honestly, I'm not really in the mood for collecting right now; I just want to play through the game.

One thing I do want to mention is that this game is single-player only, which is clearly stated in both Steam and the game's menu.

As for settings, they're pretty minimal, but there is a nice option to separate keyboard and controller settings. I decided to play with the keyboard, as I've recently started getting used to it with other games, and I'm still getting used to playing with a controller.

Targeting monsters here is actually a bit better because they pop up unexpectedly, and they don't always come with a soundtrack, but most of the time they do. I've got two types of guns so far (I haven't upgraded yet), but as you upgrade, you get more variety and it's actually really useful, not just for guns, but for gear too. For example, you can increase your health from 100 to 120.

I'm actually pretty happy with the voice acting, even though it's only in English. The rest of the game is mostly in Russian, but the voice acting is actually really well done. Although, it's worth noting that the English version is only available on Steam. For some reason, I've got the Russian version, and it's got English voice acting, which is nice. It's not always present, but it's definitely a nice touch.

It's actually kind of cool that when you load up the game, you see that strip of zeros and ones like a normal computer system. Although, it's not entirely surprising – almost everything in the game is automated, robots and all that.Checking out the system requirements:

MINIMUM:OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7Processor: Intel Pentium 4 with a 2.5 GHz clock speed / AMD Athlon 64RAM: 2 GBHard Drive: 4 GB of free spaceGraphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GS / ATI Radeon HD 3870 with 512 MB of video memory or betterDirectX: 9.0cSound Card: any DirectX-compatible sound cardRECOMMENDED:OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7Processor: Intel Quad Core with a 2.3 GHz clock speed / AMD Phenom II x4 with a 2.5 GHz clock speedRAM: 3 GBHard Drive: 4 GB of free spaceGraphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT / ATI Radeon HD 4870 with 512 MB of video memory or betterDirectX: 9.0cSound Card: any DirectX-compatible sound cardHonestly, there's not much you can actually do in the game. Even the stuff that's highlighted is often just ads. And you can only move your hands in certain places – your legs are nowhere to be found.

One thing I appreciated was the abundance of tips and advice, especially for new players. While some tips might seem obvious to seasoned gamers, they're still worth reading, and you'll pick up on a lot of things intuitively.

One thing that caught my eye was the main hints on the IOP buttons. Trying to figure out the goal, what rewards and unknown records to collect was only clear in the process of playing. The images of the future, a war with machines, were quite interesting, but I have to agree that everyone wants to survive and these machines have their own plans. The scenery reminded me of the 5th element, Judge Dredd, and the Terminator, to be honest. Even the little details in the alleys, like the graffiti, sometimes looked a bit off, like objects falling in an unnatural way.

I've noticed that there are a lot of things that can blow up in the game, and it's actually kind of useful for combat, but not everything. And the explosion can affect not just robots, but other tech as well. So, even on easy mode, you should play carefully. Although, the further I got, the more I noticed that there were traps set up, and I ended up getting caught in one of them, like when I got stuck in a bathroom or a stroller on the upper floor the first time.

I've encountered places where it's tough to reach some areas, but that's rare. When it happens, it's not a big deal, since you won't be able to access the same level of progression and previously collected items.After each mission, they give you a statistics screen. It's super handy to see how well or poorly you've done. I personally had a tough time finding all the hidden items in my first playthrough – you can usually find them by blowing things up in the right spots.

The game also has these boss characters that you start to recognize and anticipate their positions, even before the action begins.

After an hour or so of playing, I started to get a bit bored. It's mainly because of the repetitive characters you have to kill, but there's some decent action and tension when someone suddenly jumps out at you.

I did get stuck on one tough spot in the game where I even asked my husband for help because I kept dying, but after a month, I managed to get through it on the third try. Changing my weapon made all the difference. Otherwise, the main boss wasn't that hard if you listen to the advice in the heat of battle.

I'm used to waiting for enemies from any angle, even from behind or near explosive charges. Sometimes they help you out, but other times they don't, so it's up to you to decide whether to take them out or leave them for the enemy.

In the end, the game's not bad and it's decent for a one-time playthrough. There's a storyline and it continues if you make it to the end, but I didn't want to play it for hours on end and it got a bit too repetitive for my taste.