Hey,
This is my first time playing Gorky 17 and I was wondering what all the other folks on the interwebs think of this game. I personally enjoyed the way how each weapon is like a different chess piece, and the various enemies have some pretty cool designs. So, what did you think?

I think it is a very fun game, but I also think GOG needs to fix the graphics bug that currently plagues the game so it can be played and enjoyed.

I so badly want to play this game. I have already purchased it here, but I have other games I intend to finish first. Bugs aside (And they are some pretty annoying ones), the awesome combat system is the type I cry out for.

I must admit that my first impressions are not good. When I fought my first battle and discovered how they handled ranged weapons, i.e. your guns, I almost had difficulty believing my eyes. With a handgun you can only shoot straight along the grid in the 4 cardinal directions. That means that an enemy that is not on the same line as you can not be targeted even if they are only a few feet away. Rifles allow diagonal but only on a straight line. Squares that fall in-between the eight point compass lines are 'out of range'.
That's the old Ultima system from 3 and 4. I cut those games slack because they are 26 and 24 years old. This game has no such excuse. Countless turn-based RPGs have dealt with the ranged problem better. Hell, at least one port of Ultima IV had proper range based targeting. I can not imagine how any designer thought this was a good idea. I am willing to accept that turn-based RPGs tend to shorten the effective range of firearms but this is just absurd.

But it adds a certain stress level to your choice of weapon - sure it's not a very logical thing, but I like it, because the fights get so much more interesting...
Or to put it a bit more common: It's a feature, not a bug ;)

I know this is an old thread, but since we do not get that many threads on Gorky 17, I think rather than creating a new thread (which people may not post anyway) I just post here. Sorry for the thread necro'ing.

I am about half-way through the game if I understand correctly, so I am not qualified to give a full review yet, but have enough info to give my opinion on first impression here.

Luckily so far I have met no crashes (other than the intro crash, which can be skipped anyway).

My post below may or may not contain SPOILER. Read at your own risk :-P

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LIKE
(*). Great background graphic (for the game of that year). No higher resolution, but I will not complain on this.
(*). Great tactical battle, although with some quirks (see NEUTRAL and DISLIKE sections below).
(*). No encumberance limit in inventory. That's nice, I think.
(*). I have not finished the game yet, but if I am now half-way through, I think the game is not too long, meaning that this game does not overstay its welcome. Fitting for a game to be played on a weekend, I think.

NEUTRAL
(*). Good save game system, where you can save anywhere. Normally this would be in the LIKE section above. But I choose to put this in NEUTRAL section since you cannot save anytime. What I mean is that you cannot save during the battle. Normally this should not be a problem, and normally this should be okay, but in my book the game *cheats* a few times by having few consecutive battles that do not allow you to save the game in between. Also, a battle can be long and so the inability to save in the middle of the battle forces you to restart the battle if you lose or are not satisfied with the outcome. Since the game is also hard, making a few mistakes during a battle without the ability to restore a saved game during a battle is rather unforgiving, again in my book.
(*). Voice overs are rather bad, but since subtitles are present, I have no complaint. But then again the sound is cracked in my system, so rather than put this in the LIKE section, this goes in this NEUTRAL section.
(*). Story is just so-so, not good but not that bad.
(*). The *RPG* statistic is rather limited and unimpressive, that is if this game can be considered an RPG though.
(*). No character classes. But then again, this game may not be considered an RPG anyway. So this goes in NEUTRAL section.
(*). Counter attack is nice, but since we do not get to choose the weapon and are stuck with the one we last use, it sometimes feel like a lost and wasted opportunity.

DISLIKE
(*). No game difficulty setting. The game can be too easy for some people or too difficult for others. Having a game difficulty setting should be nice.
(*). Weapon efficiency level cap at 10. Would have like to have a higher number.
(*). Considering the difficulty, it would be nice if we have places to grind for more experience. But then again, the level is capped at 10, both the character level and the weapon efficiency level, if I am not mistaken (I have not finished the game).
(*). No positioning the characters in the grid in the beginning of battle.

Half-way score: 55 out of 100.

That's it. I may or may not change my opinion (and the score) once I finish the game, but so far that's it :-)

I finished the game last night. Well, I was hoping to bump the score from 55 to maybe 70 after getting used to the combat for a while, but unfortunately I ran into some unpleasant experience near the end of the game.

As mentioned above, this post may contain SPOILER. You have been WARNED!

In a battle with 2 Incubi and 2 Reverend Insects, the game crashed every single time (I probably had played that battle 6 or 7 times). So, near the end of the game, you are not only battling Gorky 17 mutants but also battling software bugs! Luckily I found a way to skip that battle (not sure whether it is also a bug or not).

Again the game cheated by having consecutive final battles without an opportunity to save the game or to heal your characters. The final battle was not so bad, and in fact was too easy considering the final boss can be tranquilized, so game saving or character healing may not be necessary at all, but still I would have like to have both options.

So, unfortunately I can't bump the score. 55 out of 100 it will remain, and going with GOG score I have to pick 3 out of 5, although it is not quite 3 actually.