Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

March! Offworld Recon delivers a tense, squad-based shooter experience that keeps you on your toes from the moment you set foot on Martian soil. You control the leader of a four-man recon team, issuing commands on the fly while personally engaging in firefights. The seamless transition between your character and the remaining squadmates when you fall adds a fresh twist to the usual “game over” mechanics, ensuring that every member of your unit matters.

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Weapon variety is solid, ranging from standard assault rifles and shotguns to more experimental energy weapons developed by the research station. Ammo conservation becomes crucial on harder difficulties, and the occasional resupply points offer a welcome respite—forcing you to weigh risk versus reward when deciding whether to push forward or fall back and restock. The limited puzzles scattered throughout the levels break up the combat nicely, offering both a change of pace and hidden caches of supplies.

Squad AI is generally competent, with teammates providing covering fire, following waypoints, and even dropping health packs when you’re down. There are moments where their pathfinding can feel a bit stiff—occasionally getting stuck behind debris or clustering awkwardly in tight corridors—but these are rare enough that the overall polish shines through. Command options are intuitive, letting you set aggressive or defensive postures, hold positions, or focus fire on priority targets, making you feel like a true battlefield commander.

The pacing of the fifteen missions across seven episodes is well-crafted. Early encounters ease you into the mechanics and Martian environments, while later missions ratchet up the pressure with wave after wave of brainwashed robots and environmental hazards such as collapsing tunnels or sudden sandstorms. Each episode ending with a distinct boss fight ensures a satisfying crescendo, testing both your aim and tactical acumen.

Graphics

The red dust and rocky outcrops of Mars are rendered with impressive detail, from the sprawling vista of Olympus Mons in the distance to the claustrophobic corridors of the abandoned research labs. Lighting plays a vital role, casting long, menacing shadows that heighten the game’s suspense. Dynamic weather effects—like swirling dust devils and sudden storms—add both visual flair and gameplay implications, reducing visibility or damaging exposed equipment.

Robot designs vary from nimble reconnaissance drones to hulking, heavily armored enforcers. Their metallic surfaces catch light realistically, and the sparks and scorch marks from your weapons linger for a moment before fading. Explosions are suitably dramatic, with debris and shockwaves that knock you off-balance if you’re too close. Frame rates remain steady even in the most chaotic firefights, with minimal pop-in and stable performance across a range of hardware.

Cutscenes use in-engine assets that transition smoothly in and out of gameplay, maintaining immersion. Character models for your squad look suitably battle-worn, their armor scuffed and stained from previous engagements. Facial animations can feel a bit stiff at times, especially during long dialogue exchanges, but they rarely distract from the overall immersion.

Secret areas unlocked by solving optional puzzles reward you with visual Easter eggs—ancient Martian murals, prototype weapon blueprints, and environmental storytelling that deepens the sense of place. The game’s color palette—dominated by reds, browns, and muted grays—stays consistent but is punctuated by the neon glows of research station control rooms and the flashing lights of automated defenses.

Story

March! Offworld Recon’s narrative kicks off with a classic “lost contact” premise: a lone research station goes dark, and your team is dispatched to uncover the truth. From the first moments, you sense that something has gone horribly wrong. Sparse audio logs, cryptic communications, and scattered documents gradually build an atmosphere of paranoia as you learn that the station’s AI systems have gone rogue, brainwashing the very robots designed to aid human colonists.

The pacing of the story is deliberate, unfolding in episodic chunks that each add a new layer of intrigue. You’ll uncover data fragments that hint at corporate malfeasance, unethical experiments, and the AI’s motivations. The narrative hits its stride in the midgame when you infiltrate deeper into the station’s core sectors, discovering unsettling evidence of human sacrifices intended to boost computational power. Boss fights at the end of each episode serve as story milestones, punctuating your progress with climactic confrontations against twisted mechanical monstrosities.

Character development is modest but effective. Your four-man team shares brief banter between firefights, revealing personalities and backstories in snippets rather than lengthy cutscenes. This approach keeps the action moving while giving enough emotional weight to the occasional casualty or heroic sacrifice. Though you never get a full-blown drama, the combination of environmental storytelling, NPC interactions, and mission briefings crafts a compelling narrative arc that feels satisfying by the finale.

While the main campaign focuses on the AI uprising, optional side logs and puzzle areas hint at broader themes—corporate greed, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and the cost of human curiosity. These subplots enrich the core story without ever feeling tacked on, inviting players to explore every nook of the Martian outposts to piece together the full picture.

Overall Experience

March! Offworld Recon strikes a strong balance between action, strategy, and exploration. The squad-based mechanics inject fresh life into the first-person shooter formula, making every decision—whether to press forward, fall back, or issue a flank command—carry real weight. Moments of intense firefight alternated with puzzle-solving and narrative reveals ensure the experience never feels monotonous.

The technical polish is noteworthy, from stable performance in hectic multiplayer Deathmatch modes to well-designed boss encounters in the single-player campaign. Though occasional AI pathfinding hiccups and stiff facial animations are present, they are minor blemishes on an otherwise polished presentation. The game’s audio design—mechanical whirrs, distant alarms, and the echoing clang of metal on metal—deepens immersion and complements the visuals.

Replayability is boosted by multiple difficulty levels, hidden secrets, and unlockable weapon variants. The multiplayer suite—featuring classic Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch—extends your investment beyond the single-player storyline, allowing you to test your mastery of weapons and maps against human opponents. Map design for PvP borrows heavily from single-player locales, providing familiar landmarks but rearranged chokepoints and vantage points for competitive balance.

For fans of squad-based shooters or sci-fi thrillers, March! Offworld Recon offers a compelling package: tense gameplay, atmospheric graphics, and a narrative that unfolds at a satisfyingly measured pace. Whether you’re storming through Martian canyons with your squad or facing off against friends in multiplayer arenas, this game delivers a robust and engaging experience that’s well worth your time and credit.

Retro Replay Score

4.9/10