Damnation Review

By Dan Whitehead Published 19 May, 2009

The clue's in the name.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Contrary to popular opinion, we critics are not a pinch-faced brood of grinchy old killjoys, no longer able to recognise the simple notion of "fun" as we hungrily plot to eviscerate the next hapless game that crosses our path. Quite the opposite. When you spend much of your working life playing games, you can't help but look for the best in everything, trying to find that glimmer of worth to justify the investment of time and money each game demands of our shared audience.

It's not always easy.

Case in point: Damnation, a steampunk third-person shooter that has swaggered into town, kicked open the swinging doors of the saloon and making bold claims of revolutionising its genre with acrobatic "vertical" gameplay. It does nothing of the sort, of course, but unfortunately puffed-up PR promises are far from the worst sins committed here.

Our hero is Hamilton Rourke. He's a disgraced soldier turned rebel, trying to live down a disastrous defeat that left his men slaughtered. He's battling against the evil Prescott, figurehead of the dictatorial and technologically advanced New America, a crude "conquer the world" plot that he plans to bring about using an army of mechanical men. They look a lot like the robo-skeletons from The Terminator and, just in case you don't make the connection, the soundtrack shamelessly apes Brad Fiedel's iconic throbbing movie theme as well.

You're accompanied by a posse of frankly baffling characters, each of which is groaning under the weight of the sort of florid back-story that even Resident Evil would reject for being too convoluted and improbable. A fruity English professor with an evil cyborg daughter. A flamboyant, vengeful Spaniard. A feisty Native American squaw who, somewhat inevitably, uses blue glowing magic while struggling to contain her heaving norks in a tiny leather bikini top. All are on hand to clog up the interminable cut-scenes with mind-numbing melodrama and throw repetitive quips your way during gameplay.

Gameplay. I should probably bite the bullet and tackle that thorny issue.

'Damnation' Screenshot 1

Damnation takes place in a world where people presumably have to go to the shops by scaling a three storey building before sliding down a zipwire.

Almost immediately, it becomes clear that Damnation isn't going to justify its mould-breaking hype. Far from turning the third-person shooter upside down, requiring gamers to master new ways of playing as they acrobatically make their way through the dizzying heights of the levels, there's absolutely nothing here that hasn't been done in hundreds of 3D platformers. A little game called Tomb Raider was built on the exact same foundations over a decade ago. You can hang from ledges, pull yourself up onto surfaces, slide down zipwires, clamber up ropes and perform wall-jumps to ping-pong up to out of reach areas. That you're carrying a gun while doing so hardly makes it a feature worthy of note.

It's not as if your arsenal is anything to write home about either, since every weapon feels pathetically ineffectual. Guns sputter and hiss, but there's no feeling that you're actually doing any real damage. Spray bullets in the right direction for long enough and enemies keel over, in woeful ragdoll fashion, but the game struggles to convey the sense of solidity, weight and mass that a shooter needs. This intangibility means that there's precious little immersion, and precious little engagement with the rote tasks the game demands of you.

What really sinks this uninspiring experience, however, is the skittish control, which never becomes as intuitive or fluid as it needs to be in order to sell the daredevil aspect. A nudge on the stick sends Rourke lurching forwards, making precision movements problematic. Scenery snags are depressingly common, and there's a weird judder when you leap, as the game seems to hurriedly adjust your location to match up with the landing animation on whatever ledge you're aiming for. Those clichéd AI companions are a hindrance more than a help, too, blundering into your line of sight during shootouts or simply charging ahead like angry wasps and getting incapacitated for their trouble. It's no secret that the game began life as an amateur Unreal mod, but whatever attempts have been made to bring it up to professional standard haven't had the desired effect.

Even the much-vaunted vertical levels do little to compensate for the flakiness. True, each level does have multiple routes, but that's just because as long as you keep moving in the right direction you really can't go wrong. Progress feels inevitable rather than something to be earned through ingenuity or hard work. Few are the moments where you'll need to actually plot a path through the game but, since there's no map and no objective indicators, when you do get turned around by the procession of identical buildings and rocks, the odds of getting back on course are slim.

'Damnation' Screenshot 2

Yes, we has m0t0rb1k35!

It's an ugly game in appearance as well, with boxy character models, horrific frame-rate and a generally unfinished air to proceedings. Apart from a reasonably impressive draw distance, necessary to show off those artificially elongated chasms, there's not much in the way of passable eye candy. Characters pop in and out of existence or glitch through solid objects as they try to navigate the crude geometries of the gameworld. The camera is awkwardly passive, pointing lazily in whatever direction you last looked until you wrestle it back into line yourself. Needless to say, as you leap this way and that you're often left struggling to see where you're going. In a game based around a need for nimble navigation, it's yet another example of the many ways Damnation fails to deliver on even the most basic fundamentals of modern gaming.

Crackdown, Prince of Persia and Mirror's Edge all delivered on the vertical gaming premise far more successfully than Damnation ever manages, and all are vastly more polished and enjoyable to boot. The best Damnation can offer to alleviate its woes is a spread of multiplayer modes and a drop-in co-op option. Both are welcome inclusions, but are still rendered pointless by the grim game engine. Who wants to share such a clumsy experience with a friend? It's not even as if Damnation benefits from co-operative play. With levels that confuse sheer size for shrewd design and enemies that will happily stand six feet away from you without attacking, there's no real need for team play. You're just running around the same giant, hollow playground at the same time.

'Damnation' Screenshot 3

Well that's just impractical.

The game does feature numerous vehicle sections, in which you race chunky motorbikes and trikes over ramps and along sheer walls, and this does at least allow one player to steer while the other shoots. Since you're always moving too fast for any enemies to prove a problem, there's absolutely no reason to do this, but at least the thought is there.

Even after looking for a glimmer of quality, hoping that there'd be some redeeming feature to balance out this avalanche of weary criticism, Damnation offers little to which to cling. At best, it's a functional third-person platformer that sometimes acts like a shooter. At worst, it's an astonishing collection of poor design decisions, half-hearted implementation and mindless narrative clutter that will only lead to buyer's remorse in all who decide to give it a try.

3 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Dan.

About Dan Whitehead

Dan has been writing for Eurogamer since 2006 and specialises in RPGs, shooters and games for children. His bestest game ever is Julian Gollop's Chaos.

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Whitehead archive page.

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Comments (58) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • gohda #1 3 years ago

    first

  • JayeM #2 3 years ago

    Oh no, I was hoping this would game of the year. Damn.

  • asphaltcowboy #3 3 years ago

    ouch. not even underboob can save it!

  • Slabbathepave #4 3 years ago

    Underboob can save anything.

  • coastal #5 3 years ago

    damn it. now i want to play a good steampunk game. can't think of anything beyond Bitmap Brothers' Chaos Engine

  • Triggerhappytel #6 3 years ago

    Shame, I was hoping this might turn out good, but I found out earlier today that it was being released on Friday and alarm bells started ringing.

    And so Codemasters' descent into utter mediocrity continues. I remember when they were one of the most consistent and dependable publishers.

  • El_MUERkO #7 3 years ago

    3/10. Better than Darkfall!

  • paketep #8 3 years ago

    Damn, I had high hopes for this! :(

  • mkreku #9 3 years ago

    I don't want to buy it but that underboob is forcing my hand :(

  • Waldo #10 3 years ago

    No invasion of the talkback thread by outraged fans yet?

    I'll check back later.

  • oxymoron #11 3 years ago

    whoah! colder than usual for this time of year....

  • penhalion #12 3 years ago

    I twigged at the lack of quality when this disappeared from the radar without anyone noticing. Oh well.

  • Chupakun #13 3 years ago

    @coastal: Edge of Twilight looks somewhat decent. It's got a steampunk vibe to it.

  • Genji #14 3 years ago

    The underboob makes a nice change from your usual topboob. Eventually, after much experimentation, I think games will be able to take it to the next level.... boob.

  • Royal Fool #15 3 years ago

    I kinda suspected this game would end up being rather mediocre, but a 3 is quite low. Ouch.

    For a game that might actually end up delivering on the "vertical combat" promise, see Dark Void.

  • Reihn #16 3 years ago

    I really liked Mirror's Edge . . now I'm itching to play it again.

  • beckyh #17 3 years ago

    Its a good job I cancelled my order for this (for other reasons) yesterday then. I shall put it on my list of games to rent.

  • Tonka #18 3 years ago

    Anonther shit HD game.

  • Maykael #19 3 years ago

    @Royal Fool

    Yeah I felt the smell of mediocrity stinging from the videos, but never suspected it's this shite.Still no good current gen steampunk game for us. I do hope someone will do an RPG though.


    And if Dan says the controls on the X360 are shoddy, I don't even want to know what goes on the PC.

  • Lummox #20 3 years ago

    "the evil Prescott" XD

    Did anyone else read this and have visions of a climactic boss battle against a certain suit-wearing fat bloke in a cowboy hat?

  • Olemak #21 3 years ago

    Underboobage or not, I tire of this. Give me the review of InFamous now!

  • muscleblade #22 3 years ago

    @Tonka

    I think we have a Wii fanboy in the comments thread. Looking at the sad Wii library i dont understand why you even bother.

  • Metalfish #23 3 years ago

    That is an astonishing garment she has there. A *ahem* closer look shows that the bizarrely bulbous appendages make her look like a post ops transexual. Real boobs aren't spherical.

    The game? Ah, who cares. Nice review; informative.

  • Quint2020 #24 3 years ago

    Ouch, I think we all saw this coming.

  • beckyh #25 3 years ago

    Eat Lead - I think I can safely say that was the worst game ever in the history of evers!

  • Chufty #26 3 years ago

    3 was a generous score after that review.

  • Byzanite #27 3 years ago

    @Genji
    Full boob did nothing for Funcom's Conan though.

  • ZuluHero #28 3 years ago

    It must be doing some good though, funcom announcing profits from it and all. I was always watching Damnation with mild interest, no big loss for me that it turns out to be this 'bad' (if that is indeed the case - yes i'm looking at you EG ;)

    You'll probably end up re-reviwing it by the end of today ;)

  • JayKwon #29 3 years ago

    Wow, I sensed mediocrity from the videos, but this review lowers even those expectations. Too bad, I kinda liked the idea.

    Nice underboob though. Not my style, but nice anyways.

    Oh and gotta hate those ugly Unreal 3 engine explosions.

    EDIT: Where are the angry fanboys?
    Edited by 1 at 20/05/09 @ 10:18

  • DrowJones #30 3 years ago

    So EG thinks this game will have a lot more fans than Darkfall? Are you serial?

  • neonxaos #31 3 years ago

    Needs more frontboob.

  • spidermanalf #32 3 years ago

    Glad I am not the only fan of underboob!

    One of the best parts of the boob*







    *on a nice pair of firm boobs not saggy things!

  • dingo75 #33 3 years ago

    Wow I had that on my watch list.
    Sounds like something to avoid like the plague...

    Wanna see some more reviews although usually at least to me EG is spot on.

    Terminator seems to be shit as well so yeah really dry season for action gamer right now.

  • metalangel #34 3 years ago

    Jericho had decent sideboob. But frankly, that's just mad. Even if she doesn't move they'd just fall down out of the top in their own time. And Conan was great hack slash boob fun!

  • Gnort #35 3 years ago

    @fightman9d

    I'm so sorry that the lack of AAA titles is causing havoc with your piracy schedule.

    Also, did you just call the people who allow the games industry to continue to exist "sad cunts"?

  • Rodafowa #36 3 years ago

    "A flamboyant, vengeful Spaniard."

    Is he left-handed?

  • jambo74 #37 3 years ago

    Need Know Star RM Pic?

  • Darren #38 3 years ago

    I'm surprised that I've never even heard of this game until I saw the review. Still that means I'm not in the slightest bit disappointed at the review score. :)

  • Plewt #39 3 years ago

    The hat made it obvious this would be shit.

  • Gnort #40 3 years ago

    Anyone else notice that this review isn't on the front page anymore, it's only listed under the recent features list?

    I'm sure conspiracy theorists can come up with something on that.

  • shotgun44 #41 3 years ago

    I noticed it had gone missing from the front page so I went and searched for it. Bad reviews are so much more fun than good ones. The UFC review was a snore-fest. Informative as it may be.

  • Machetazo #42 3 years ago

    /wants to see another Darkwatch

    If nothing else, the controls being essentially unfit for purpose, kills this stone dead.

  • geeza2020 #43 3 years ago

    instant buy

  • muscleblade #44 3 years ago

    @Darren

    You missed my argument with a couple of other posters about this game being better than Gears 2.
    Farfarer and Doctor What dont have crystal balls thats for sure.

    [link url=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/damnat ion-slips-to-early-2009/comments
    ]http://ww w.eurogamer.net/articles/damnat...[/link]
    Edited by 2 at 20/05/09 @ 17:51

  • Reihn #45 3 years ago


    what a disappointment.

    there's been no good games out for months, what the fuck is going on. i know its always quiet this time of year, but this has been the worst post xmas game release schedule ever.

    fucking joke. and all ive got pencilled in to download over the next month or so is tiger woods and virtua tennis - both just fucking updates.

    still, at least the sad cunts that actually pay for games are saving some cash.

    Surely hateful, profanity filled comments which attempt to glorify game piracy and call those who support game developers 'sad cunts' will get you banned . . . right, EG mods??

    I mean, if not this then what??

  • Reihn #46 3 years ago

    @ Byzanite

    Conan on the 360 is a great fun! It's a solid brawler, with very satisfying combat and loads of boobs and gore. Plus it had Ron Perlman and Claudia Black supplying suitably gruff and acerbic b-movie vocals.

    It's one of the few games this gen I've played through multiple times. : )

  • Royal Fool #47 3 years ago

    Well, okay then. It's your time you're wasting, so feel free to sign up as many times as you like. In the meantime, ignored!

    Keep fighting the good fight!
    Edited by 1 at 21/05/09 @ 02:25

  • NegativeZero #48 3 years ago

    Well that's disappointing. Not unexpected, but disappointing.

  • toa_boa #49 3 years ago

    @fightman9d -> dev/null (waves)

  • TheBlackBandit #50 3 years ago

    Hear hear Reihn, and Royal Fool. Fightman is an idiot, and I've ignored him too.

    Anyway, I was really disappointed. This could have been so good, and as far as it sounds, it's entirely blown in. Ah, well.

    I'll get Red Faction: Guerrilla instead.

  • Milbe #51 3 years ago

    +1 vote for the hi-res Chaos Engine remake

  • Andreas2402 #52 3 years ago

    When I came to the last part of the review I knew it would be a 3. Not a total desaster and not close to average either. Great comments on this one.

  • Slipstream #53 3 years ago

    I've been playing the game and it really is as bad as this review states.
    I cannot stand the melodramatic acting it really is teeth grating! The poor controls are unacceptable too, you feel like you're sprinting and jumping around on ice where one attempt to correct yourself as approach a jumpy will 7 times out of 10 lead to disaster, the same could be said for the aiming, it doesn't have a meaty sense of axis working with it, you literaly have to tap the analogue stick to get the damn thing to respond it's ridiculous.

    The acrobatics aren't all that bad though nothing new that's for sure, but I find it responsive onnce once you start scaling buildings.

    But the script is hilarious, really, in one even as you're making your way through mines the Spanish guy attempts to compliment the girl, and she gets all sarcy and replies with "Oh well if that's a compliment then your aiming is bad, aswell as your choice of words" then he says something like, "I will shoot you in the face"..."But you are a tough one!" Written by 13 year olds and voiced by their parents for sure.
    It's just so random, and the way the scenes are cut? lol No fading no nesassary pauses, hell the characters even talk over each other sometimes because the scenes switch so damn fast.

    If you really must play this game then only play it if you can get hold of it for Free. I've been playing it because my line of work enables this, I was also playing it on Co-op, my friend and I had many chuckles at this game...thing...

    Wow, far too many words wasted on this lol.


  • frazzl #54 3 years ago

    The following line:

    "A fruity English professor with an evil cyborg daughter. A flamboyant, vengeful Spaniard. A feisty Native American squaw who, somewhat inevitably, uses blue glowing magic while struggling to contain her heaving norks in a tiny leather bikini top."

    really makes me want to pick up the game when it goes cheap :p.

  • smelly #55 3 years ago

    @Reihn: Oh come on.. i have the tw@ on ignore so i dont have to read that stuff.. then you come along and copy & paste it so i can!

    Bah!

    *smile*

  • juuken #56 3 years ago

    Ouch.

    I was interested in this game too.

  • i_saw_dasein #57 3 years ago

    Dan,

    Just so you know, the term "squaw" is considered really offensive by First Nations in North America. Calling someone a squaw is like calling them a negress or a Jewess. I don't mean to be overly PC, and I'm sure you didn't intend to cause offense, but I think a better choice of words would be advisable.

    Thanks

  • DanWhitehead #58 3 years ago

    No, I realise that the word "squaw" is now considered offensive, but the character is firmly in the realms of the barely-clothed, highly sexualised portrayal of Native American women that spawned the phrase.