On March 30, Time of Troubles was unexpectedly released – this is a short demo version of Troubles, which will be released on April 4. We quickly rushed to try the discussed action game from the Russian developers of the Cyberia Nova studio so that we could share our impressions with everyone.
“Problems”: information about the game
Name: “Clouds” Platforms: personal computer Developer: Ciberia Nova Editor: Ciberia Nova Release date: April 4, 2024 Gender: action adventure Launch in Russia: officially released
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Everything you need to know about the Problems
“Problems” exist and have bright prospects
Yes, this seemingly absurd fact must be periodically repeated when talking about new games from Russian developers (as was the case a few months before the release of Atomic Heart). But the most important thing is that Troubles exists and you can now play it in some way.
“Time of Troubles” is a very short introduction to the next game, where you will be able to walk around Moscow in the 17th century and learn various details of that time (where the archers lived, what the boyar status gave, how it was possible to trade in the plaza, as foreigners were called).
Bridge
Photo: Cyberia Nova
For those interested in the game, Time of Troubles allows you to take a first-hand look at Time of Troubles in real time: what it looks like (surprisingly good), how it works (surprisingly bad), and what everything is like. generally managed (with questions).
The environment, details, overall image quality and lighting are above all praise: houses, fences, dirt and puddles look very good. And here not only the excellent quality of the objects themselves plays in their favor, but also surprisingly advanced lighting: owners of powerful video cards can even use “Lumens” for this (advanced technology of Unreal Engine 5).
Yes, it looks beautiful
Photo: Cyberia Nova
True, everything that moves in the frame no longer evokes such positive emotions: in “The Troubles” there is a noticeable contrast between the almost standard environment and the very inferior people in the frame. They are beautifully drawn, but the animations betray the lack of budget. It’s too early to talk about voice acting; In the demo we almost only hear Klim Zhukov as a tour guide.
Local Moscow is most beautiful in moments when the main character stands still, because when he moves, the grain (the details of objects depending on the player’s distance from them) go crazy. Five meters away, the hut may not even have a door, and when you approach it, two steps towards it, everything magically appears (when you step back, everything disappears again). This really takes away the atmosphere and happens in absolutely every frame, both with objects nearby and behind. Even in the scenes, when the Moscow walls are sometimes more detailed, sometimes less, the shadows also “jump”.
A hut without a door
Photo: Cyberia Nova
The cabin already has a door (the hero took a step forward)
Photo: Cyberia Nova
Even after a tour of Moscow, which can even be done on horseback (by the way, everything is controlled and looks surprisingly good, although the horse appears out of nowhere and runs away), you are given a brief test of what I heard , after which the most interesting thing opens – a training battle, where you can evaluate the battles.
Vague battles
Combat is obviously a controversial area of the Troubles, as it feels cumbersome and the hero himself isn’t very responsive. He feels like the entire battle is playing out in some kind of jelly. Perhaps the developers are trying to achieve that theatrical effect, but playing this game, to put it mildly, is not very exciting. However, now I’m just sharing my first impressions of the mechanics after a battle.
It is also worth talking about performance: everything is going wrong here. I have an AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and an RTX 4070 Ti, and Time of Troubles runs worse than any other modern game, even worse than Dragon’s Dogma 2. The CPU utilization is constantly at 100% and the frame rate rarely exceeds 50FPS. If such problems arise even on such a powerful system and no simulations or physics are observed, it is scary to imagine what will happen on more popular computers.
Images from “The Problems”
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
“Clouds”
Photo: Cyberia Nova
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