Cortex Command

 PC
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 138 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 89 out of 138
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 138
  3. Negative: 28 out of 138

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. TheFenianChief
    Nov 27, 2012
    5
    Is this a good game? Yes. Is it everything it said it'd be? Hell no. I don't understand the reviews of 0 and 1, because despite it's flaws, it's a fun game. Although it does get very boring after the first hour. No matter how large you make the campaign, I always end up doing the same things for attack and defense. For defense, simply place four AntiAir bots around the map and the enemyIs this a good game? Yes. Is it everything it said it'd be? Hell no. I don't understand the reviews of 0 and 1, because despite it's flaws, it's a fun game. Although it does get very boring after the first hour. No matter how large you make the campaign, I always end up doing the same things for attack and defense. For defense, simply place four AntiAir bots around the map and the enemy will never be able to land. For attacking, drop in a single trooper, dig down underground to the enemy brain's safe room, dig through the walls, and blam: Game Over, You Win, Please Insert Coin to Play Again.

    What's more, the game has some very inexcusable flaws. First and foremost, I'm told that I can hit Alt + Enter to go to Fullscreen mode. Except I can't do that. A lot of the game's art work features units like large two-legged mechs, but they aren't actually in the game. If the game was eleven years in the making, they must've spent ten of those years sitting around trying to think of a witty name.

    Over all, I'd recommend waiting a while for the developers to get their act together and pump more assets into the game before you buy it. It's going for just under     … Expand
  2. maxxy3000
    Nov 5, 2012
    7
    Yes, the game still needs ALOT of work; but to be honest I'm actually having great fun with this game.
    The action is fast-paced and exciting, the physics are amazing, and the gameplay is just right.
    However, they still need to improve: the controls, the walking, the AI, and the overall smoothness.
    Otherwise, this is a great game :)
  3. Jounk33
    Mar 17, 2013
    6
    This game has a very unusual concept. In deed, I've never played a game like this before. Unfortunately, Cortex Command feels absolutely unfinished and unclean. Okay, I've be warned, this game is not yet finished, but after 11 years development, I've expected more. The game control is cumbersome and fuzzy. The AI is disastrous stupid... is mostly unimaginative and never adapts to theThis game has a very unusual concept. In deed, I've never played a game like this before. Unfortunately, Cortex Command feels absolutely unfinished and unclean. Okay, I've be warned, this game is not yet finished, but after 11 years development, I've expected more. The game control is cumbersome and fuzzy. The AI is disastrous stupid... is mostly unimaginative and never adapts to the game. The campaign makes fun, if we ignore the stupid AI. It turns out to be a kind of tower defense and action-sidescroller mixture that can be a lot of fun.
    The different factions are designed very lovingly and original.
    There is also no lack of weapon variety and equipment for the troops.
    And I like the grafic. But the low content, much bugs, and the bad game control, detract the good expectations and impression of this unusual game immense.
    It hurts when such a good concept after 11 years of development has been so poorly implemented.
    There is no consolation too about the many modifications made ​​by long-time fans for Cortex Command. All in all, and with modifications the game has just tied me up for a week, unfortunately.    … Expand
  4. Patches
    Oct 2, 2012
    5
    When I purchase this game, I though I would bought a Terraria with easier ressource gathering/building and more action and battle... It's somewhat true, but Cortex Command definitely lack the polish Terraria has...
    Got to admit I have a love/Hate relationship with this one...
    Hate: Tutorial... Probably one of the few tutorial in my life I managed to fail... It show you what you can do    When I purchase this game, I though I would bought a Terraria with easier ressource gathering/building and more action and battle... It's somewhat true, but Cortex Command definitely lack the polish Terraria has...
    Got to admit I have a love/Hate relationship with this one...

    Hate: Tutorial... Probably one of the few tutorial in my life I managed to fail... It show you what you can do when controlling a robot, then you're on your own, when the enemy AI sends it's bots to kill your Brain...
    Love: Dropship... So much Robot/weapons/tools/etc... combos you can buy and drop everywhere on the map... Although be careful or the enemy may shoot it down if you try to drop your stuff too close to him...
    Hate: AI... It sure don't know how to hunt enemies or mine gold properly... A few times I lost a robot to a suicide mission (like a bot with a digger gun shot down trying to dig the enemy base) or going beyond the edge of the map (usualy the bottom edge) meaning losing contact...
    Love: Same AI... It sure know how to shoot... Seeing a shootout between robots is a blast...
    Hate: Because of said AI, you have to control each and every one of your Robots, jumping from one to another all the time... Making a mission far more tedious than it should be... Add to that the slow pace your robots walks... And I challenge you not making Jetpacks your basic movement!...
    Love: Miscalculate a jetpack burst and you can end landing head first or even broken... Or in enemy line of fire... Hate: Robot control... For Robots, they're surely spineless and difficult to control... Try controlling a robot to climb a ladder that is incomplete or damaged... Or using a jetpack in a narrow corridor...
    Love: Robots, when shot, can lose arms (you can't use weapons) or legs (you can only jetpack to move, no walking) or if damaged badly, health can goes down 1 point per second, until it's destroyed...
    Hate: Campaign and missions are generally a mess... Massacre mission, for example, have no AI in it even if one is selected... You're alone. A good way to learn to control your robots, building a bunker, buying things, etc... though...
    Love: Terrain... One pixel = something 'living'... One dirt pixel will fall by gravity, changing the layout of the map... One gold pixel means 1$ if harvested by a digger gun... One cartridge ejected from a gun firing means one pixel you have to climb. And when a turret fires a lot, you'll have a little mountain of cartridge you'll have to climb, or clean with a digger gun... etc...
    Hate: Some Missions forcing you to have a LoS between your Brain and the sky, making impossible to put your brain deep into your bunker... You're usually forced to use a walking brain and walk him deep into your bunker... And hope the damn thing will not do stupid things like getting out of it's safe spot and try killing the enemy by itself or it's Game Over!... Maybe having the option of locking a door closed should be available... Love: When you win your 1st mission (Dummy Assault, in my case), all the frustration of a long battle seems to fade and satisfaction takes its place... Hate: No save games... So when you start a mission, you have to finish it... And Esc sometimes makes you quit the game entirely, without even a yes/no confirmation... In other word, don't touch ESC...

    An OK game, overall (when you spent enough time learning how the game works) but serious patching/tweaking needed to reach goodness or even greatness...    … Expand
  5. MBAustin
    Apr 26, 2013
    5
    I've been following Cortex Command's development for the past 2 years, ever since I pre-ordered the alpha. In that time, work on the game has progressed at a snail's pace. Considering it has been in development for ELEVEN years, one would expect a lot more polish even from a one-man developer. There's a great game buried in here, with some really interesting mechanics. However, theI've been following Cortex Command's development for the past 2 years, ever since I pre-ordered the alpha. In that time, work on the game has progressed at a snail's pace. Considering it has been in development for ELEVEN years, one would expect a lot more polish even from a one-man developer. There's a great game buried in here, with some really interesting mechanics. However, the abundance of rough edges and clunky gameplay makes it difficult to do more than just mess around with the destruction engine for a couple hours and ragequit when you get sick of, for instance, having to go all the way back out to the main menu if you want to restart a scenario. An interesting concept, executed in an extremely disappointing fashion.… Expand
  6. EnoE
    Jul 12, 2013
    5
    Wasted potential: the game.

    The premise is great and the physics WOULD BE good, if they weren't so unreliable. You'll find your character getting squished by the gun you spawned next to him when building your base. You'll find yourself unable to climb a ladder. The movement is awkward, which would fit the game if it didn't get awfully frustrating trying to do basic things. It has    Wasted potential: the game.

    The premise is great and the physics WOULD BE good, if they weren't so unreliable. You'll find your character getting squished by the gun you spawned next to him when building your base.
    You'll find yourself unable to climb a ladder. The movement is awkward, which would fit the game if it didn't get awfully frustrating trying to do basic things.

    It has its moments though. It's something special shooting out one of the engines from a ship and watching it crash into the soldiers it just dropped off, or having your grenade launcher fly out of your hands after a fragment of your own grenade flies into it. You can't help but chuckle when your human soldier ends up squishing into the ground after you lose control of his jetpack.

    With a lot of polish and tweaking this would be a great game.    … Expand
  7. Zomgman
    Nov 22, 2012
    7
    This game is really fun when played occasionally, I have a few problems with it: Bugs, Ressource demand(although that might be my computer), Lack of content, AI could be smarter, etc etc etc.

    I gave it a 7 because there are 2 things that practically overpower the bad stuff, First of all, I really enjoy building the bunkers, sometimes I spend an hour building an insane base to just close    This game is really fun when played occasionally, I have a few problems with it: Bugs, Ressource demand(although that might be my computer), Lack of content, AI could be smarter, etc etc etc.

    I gave it a 7 because there are 2 things that practically overpower the bad stuff, First of all, I really enjoy building the bunkers, sometimes I spend an hour building an insane base to just close the game since I don't feel like fighting and then there's simply the fact that I had so much fun with the game, there's so many epic moments that make me smile for the next hour that I just play it for that.

    This is with mods though, game is something else entirely when you add mods, it's still fun without them though.    … Expand
  8. MrScouter
    Nov 18, 2012
    6
    The game is pretty fun for an hour or two, but after a while the various bugs make it hard to play, it also almost solely becomes dependant on mods to keep it fun and interesting, sadly the Mods also make it crash even more. If the Dev's make more content for it and fix the bugs it might be worth the cost. For now, go play something else like Skyrim or something.
  9. apexearth
    Apr 6, 2014
    7
    As a child I had always dreamed of a game like this. As an adult, I fully appreciate it. Even in a somewhat unfinished state I consider it a fun game. I don't find that it can satisfy me for endless hours, but I can give it a couple hours of enjoyable mayhem. If it was better, that'd be great, but as it stands I still think it's alright. Mostly because it is my kind of thing. I will sayAs a child I had always dreamed of a game like this. As an adult, I fully appreciate it. Even in a somewhat unfinished state I consider it a fun game. I don't find that it can satisfy me for endless hours, but I can give it a couple hours of enjoyable mayhem. If it was better, that'd be great, but as it stands I still think it's alright. Mostly because it is my kind of thing. I will say the AI can be a bit too quick to react considering the difficult controls for us humans.… Expand
  10. chickenman158
    Jan 11, 2014
    7
    Minecraft got a 93 while this got a 44? Bah. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

    This game has been playable on any machine for me. Sure, considering it is designed for single core machines, it is a lot slower than it should be, but multi-core processors were a big thing in the early 2000s or late 1990's, and weren't available commercially. When you design an engine, it is really hard to go back    Minecraft got a 93 while this got a 44? Bah. Hypocrisy at it's finest.

    This game has been playable on any machine for me. Sure, considering it is designed for single core machines, it is a lot slower than it should be, but multi-core processors were a big thing in the early 2000s or late 1990's, and weren't available commercially. When you design an engine, it is really hard to go back and fix it. In fact, to be able to support a multi-core processor, you need to completely redesign the engine. They are a pain to have a program utilize.

    As for gameplay, the metagame gets old really fast, but I find lots of the senario battles are fun, as you can find different ways to solve a problem. The game truly depends on user generated content, but, then again, so do a huge amount of the crap indie games out there.

    I can accept bad graphics in this case, as each pixel can be physics object, therefore, HD gameplay would make the lag worse than it already is.

    As for multiplayer, there was a mod adding multiplayer, but it was not the easiest thing to make, or update. I would

    As for the developer insulting and leaving the community, there are reasons. Justifiable reasons. You treated him as if he was a corporate entity. You expected everything to be fixed on the spot. He made the game to make the game, not to listen to your **** It's his game after all, your choice if you wanted to buy it. Also, he has a job, and a life.

    The learning curve is a bit like, I dunno, a challenge? The amount of games who are actually hard is incredibly small. Don't expect to be able to pickup and play like COD, this is a RTS, not some silly run around shooting people and swearing over the internet. (Ok, maybe it is silly.)

    I would say play it before you buy it. If you like it, you can then buy it, and fool around. If you can't figure it out, you didn't waste any money.    … Expand
  11. kifli
    Feb 13, 2014
    5
    this game is fun but as said in IGN review it is a bunch of cool ideas tied together , no on-line? I am ok whit that but whit out a good campaign and more missions it have the punctuation that it deserve.
  12. luyt
    Oct 3, 2022
    6
    it was ok fun at first but getting tiring a bit too fast. for a low cost game it is ok though

Awards & Rankings

74
#74 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
92
#92 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
44

Generally unfavorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 7
  3. Negative: 3 out of 7
  1. SpazioGames
    Dec 4, 2012
    65
    Despite some issues with the price and the struggling about understanding the mechanics behind it, Cortex Command is simply a good retro-looking game.
    Read full review
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Dec 2, 2012
    30
    An unfinished game that requires much more attention before it can realise its incredible promise. [Dec 2012, p.82]
  3. PC Gamer
    Nov 15, 2012
    40
    Occasionally entertaining, but plagued by AI bugs and hamstrung by a clunky user interface. Less than the sum of its parts.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »