By 1999, when Gorky 17 released, the genre of tactics games was definitely well trod. X-COM, Final Fantasy Tactics, Jagged Alliance - these were all heavy hitters, and many consider them to still be masterpieces to this day. But the Polish developers at Metropolis Software were not to be cowed, and set out to put their own spin on sequentially murdering monsters on rigid tiles.
Unlike other tactics games, this would be a short and tight game, clocking in at 10 hours. Unlike other tactics games, it took cues from survival horror games such as Resident Evil, both in presentation and in its seemingly strict resource management. Encounters were made immediately meaningful and challenging, and the notion of grinding to gain an advantage was almost entirely tossed away - a seemingly odd decision in what was ostensibly a tactics RPG.
But did these slavs bite off more than they could chew in trying to craft a tactics game in the shadow of what came before? Is it actually possible to balance the tight resource deprivation of survival horror with tactical manoeuvring? Or does Gorky 17 just play like a mish mash of different cliches, struggling to present anything unique to justify playing it?
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On this episode, we discuss:
Are the resources provided to the player over the course of the game well balanced? Or does Gorky 17 have a fundamental issue with its item economy that leads to radically different experiences from the early to late game?
Does the absolutely bizarre RPG progression systems in this game actually make sense, or are they as nonsensical as they appear? Does veterancy with weapons round out the base system?
How well constructed are the tactical battles of Gorky 17? Are there meaningful decisions to be made in your fights, or are these combat puzzles too easy to solve?
We answer these questions and many more on the 89th episode of the Retro Spectives Podcast!
Intro Music: KieLoBot - Tanzen K
Outro Music: Rockit Maxx - One point to another
Gorky 17 OST: Adam Skorupa
Are the sequels to Gorky 17 actually any good, or were we slagging them off for good reason? What other tactics games are worth our time to play? Should games be able to be effectively bricked if you make too many wrong decisions? Come let us know what you think on our community discord server!
