Recent reviews by karlssonstefan1

OK, being a one-man show has it's perks and it's quirks!

Perk and quirk 1:
This game throws you headfirst into the shoes of Jeb Rockwell, exmilitary, deserter and traitor turned smuggler, bountyhunter and trader on his very own transport airship. Before you even have had time to remove the shoes you were thrown into from your head, you find an enemy navalfleet in a place it shouldn't be! Time suddenly seems to have caught up with Jeb as he now has to struggle to solve this mystery while his own past unravels and comes to haunt him.

Perk and quirk 2:
You're stuck in what is basically a freighter! You can add armor/hulls but its main function is still the same. A transport, against warships and sky-pirates, bounty hunters and strange unknown automatons.
But a lot can be improved, your steamengine is used to power your weapons, sensors and much else. A direct hit on your engine can prove fatal, as can using it too much as it is liable to overheat and blow up! Weapons include cannons, machineguns, flamethrowers, long sniperlike rifles and whatnots, all with their own advantages. Sensors can be focused on accuracy, piercing armor, dodging etc, all can be powered just so far before they fizzle and become useless. Improve your wings to generally improve your odds!

Perk and quirk 3:
Trade, bountyhunt, run errands or solve mysteries! Quests can see you hauling ancient technology one day and a kids favourite chicken the next! A steady stream of wierd and wonderful requests will keep you busy, at least at first. Later on quests will force you to return to the country you betrayed, sneak into enemy territory and even explore a land filled with the ghosts of the past.

Perk and quirk 4:
The Wild Wild West, meets steampunk, meets Pirates of the Caribbean and a LOT of airships. Mechanic arms, huge cannons, flying fortresses and cities covered in smoke from coal and smog, all add up to a world that feel very thought through, and feel logical (well, as far as steampunk feels logical).

Perk and quirk 5:
The one man show (?).
As a captain you need stand alone while still be caring about your crewmates. A bit like the developer of the game. It has some spelling errors here and there in dialogues, and a few bugs, but the overall experience is that it is a stable game with a dedicated developer behind it, who is fully into improving it as well as open about suggestions/fixing anything that seem off/buggy.

As a whole, if you're into westerns you might want to try it, if you like airships you might to as well, if you want to experience some steampunk look no further and if you have a lively imagination you might become obsessed with Age of Grit.

What could have been, never was and an ending in confusion.

A rts/rpg combo, with high-fantasy, ought to appeal to many players, who just love kicking evil butt and making the world a better place. This game nails it in some aspects, others are glaringly lacking. Here is my 2 cents about a game that hopefully (with patching) will end up a good way to spend some time.

* This game aims high, very high. 3 playable races, really strong heroes which, if you want, you can make into what would amount to demi-gods. Build up your army with blueprints to make them stronger.
The intro/tutorial is about how and why you came to be a soldier, as well as getting a firsthand peek of a powerful hero.
-Not much to say about these bits, except maybe it would have been nice to be able to skip it once you've done it once.

* Skilltree. It is rather extensive, with many branches unique to each follower. Still, some powers are very OP:ed, and might end up ruining the whole experience, at least on normal setting. Also, one lacks ANY type of introduction, the affinity-meter.
-Needs some serious tweaking, and information (!) about what to do. Also, some aspects of your character stats, move rate are missing from the infosheet.

* Quests! Now, these are more or less essential in a game like this, and they are there, and in good enough numbers. But, gosh, many are broken or lack information/hints. Some even lack text (!), you get to choose from line 1 or 2, but there nothing to indicate what the choices are! This might be one of the most glaring errors in this release. Quests also won't always update properly either, making some impossible to solve. Also, a lot of quests would be a lot greater of they continued later on, as they become loose ends otherwise, never to be tied up. Many are memorable, inspired even, but you never know what happens to the characters involved. The developers loose many great follow-up stories here! For instance, there is this guy trying to protect his friend/ward by hiding in a cave in fear of others. You end up finding them reprieve with the mages-guild but you'd REALLY like to see where it all end up.
-Another area in need of some serious fixing.

*Areas/Maps. Now, every map is really loaded with hidden chests/items and if you want to find everything, then you might end up sitting for hours on end going through each one. They are well thought through and opens up for a number of tactics, when playing with only heroes or the whole army both. Still, a few doors/openings etc don't work, aren't implemented properly. But the main map! Its Huge! Garguantic! And promise SO much when it comes to battlefields, quest areas and exploration. Large mountain-ranges, a lot of open plains and forests, keeps, castles, abbeys, large bodies of water! But it can't keep it's promise as all the areas are clustered around the middle, forcing us to revisit areas several times instead of exploring new ones. This is glaringly obvious in the latter half of the game.
-More areas filling out this map are needed. The few battlefields in comparison to the huge map left me feeling, well, cheated. But if good quests, reasons to go to new areas are added, this just might be a great bonus.

* Companions. Now this is a motley crew indeed. Mages of all varieties and types, elf, dwarf, human and orc. They are powerful, and colorful, enough to want to explore them more in depth. Too bad you never get the chance. No companion quests in sight, the few new lines to ask them comes very far apart, and the AI has a tendency to forget you've already talked to them, several times, since that last big hurdle, making them ask, for a fifth time, if everythings alright. Oh, and no loyalty factor whatsoever either, making you sit dumbfounded when one of them just announces that it is furious with you and leaves.
-More script needed, bug fixing and more, a lot more, work on background and loyalty checks. It sometime feels as if all wasn't there when it was launched. Texts missing, the companion that left suddenly talks in a conversation much later, but is not present, and a bunch of unresolved issues. But the characters are interesting, so you want to know more if you get the chance.

*NPCs. These come, naturally, in all shapes and sizes. Some good, some bad and all in chracter with the game. But they lack basic communication skills, and can hardly tell you want they want you to do, much less explain it so the player has ANY chance of solving the quest without checking the maps for a !, signifying an important item or person to talk to.
-Again; lack of information and bugs prevent players from fully enjoying the experience.

* Items/equipment and artifacts. There are plenty of stuff to find and collect. Powerful armors and weapons, potions, blueprints and more! Quest items don't disappear though, littering the inventory, sell them once the quest is complete. If you dare that is, as some never seem to be included in any quest at all, maybe to be implemented at a later date. Artifact pieces can be found on most maps, hinting of awesome equipment. If you EVER find out how many pieces there is to each artifact and how to assemble them! No info was ever given on this subject. I won't spoil how to do it, but it is very frustrating.
-Yet again, another part of the game which could use a serious upgrade. Possibly a lot of this will get better once fully implemented.

* Combat/RTS. The armies themselves are roughly equal, with good and bad units, multiple supports and ranged fighters. Towers are relatively weak once you start getting somewhere (they can hardly ever kill a unit, but have very high hp), but are effective roadblocks vs the AI. But it is nothing compared to what the heroes can do...
Once combat starts however, controlling your heroes effectively is a pain in the proverbial buttocks as each hero only have 3 slots for talents on each setup which there are 4 of, making a total of 12 useable talents (if you don't go via the spellbook and replace them mid-combat). Change the setup and all 4 of them switch to new talents, instead of just the one you needed that particular spell from. This aside, the heroes quickly become tanks/killing machines. The orc spellcaster, for instance, gets two large damage-over-time/area spells, which can decimate any army to pulp in seconds. Tanky characters just plant their feet and become next to unbeatable with invulnerabilities and healing/regeneration. They are grossly overpowered and can literally run straight in to the centre of the enemy army and shrug off everything as they decimate the HQ, thus ending the battle.
-A lot of balancing issues army vs heroes. Nuff said.

*Overall. Scenery and music are nice, but it is very hard sometimes to control the camera. Could be better, could be much worse as well. Hard sometimes to tell if and area has a particular type of resource, or to spot that very faint glimmer from a moldy skeleton on the ground, containing an artifact-piece.
- Music: 7. Art/scenery/graphics: 7. Gameplay: 6. Frustration level: really high. Too many minor bugs and fails as it is right now.

So... in conclusion: It was released too soon in my opinion, but if worked upon more, the bugs and other issues fixed, quests and conversations added and the main map expanded, rather heavily, with more areas/battles this might go very far indeed. A game with a lot of potential and promise, that don't *quite* deliver yet. At it's current state it is worth it if you can cope with it's inconsistencies, otherwise it would be worth waiting a while until it is updated.

Thank you for your time.