10.3 hours played
Written 13 days ago
Still pretty early into the game but so for I really enjoy what I've experience so far. There's a particularly nice blend of stealth and action, mainly because getting spotted isn't an immediate GG load last game. If anything, screwing up actually opens up a lot of new opportunities. If you go loud and enemies are alerted, they stop their normal patrol routes and start actively sweeping through the levels. This quickly shifts it from a game of memorizing patrol patterns to waging guerilla warefare on the various goons now hunting you down.
That's easily the game's strongest point. When you look at most games' approach to stealth, they generally take a hard approach. For most stealth games getting spotted is a game over, killing a guard gets you a bad ending, getting spotted gives you a bad ranking. This game on the other hand, takes a more soft approach to stealth. You're free to play the game like Hotline Miami if you want, but chances are unless you really know what you're doing, it's not going to go well. This isn't Skyrim. After you've fired a shotgun or an enemy finds a dead or unconscious goon, enemies aren't going to go "must have been the wind" if they don't spot you for a few minutes and go back to their regular patrol routed. They will hunt you, they will buddy up so they're not alone, they will form packs, and they will comb the level looking for you. If you've just been knocking goons out, they will probably undo all your hard work by waking them up if you weren't careful enough about hiding them. The result is that while the option to go loud is always there, you're encouraged to be smart about it. You're encouraged to get a feel for the level so you don't wind up cornered, you're encouraged to thin their numbers in advance, and you're encouraged to set traps to further thin their numbers while they're looking for you The result is that you've got a game with a very dynamic approach to stealth that allows for a multitude of different play styles
Gadgets open up a lot of possibilities for interesting strategies as well. For example, you can use claymores and taser mines to set traps ahead of time just in case you ever need to go loud. There were a couple times when just for shits and giggles I'd place a claymore outside a room where a few goons were chilling and fire off a shot so they'd come charging out of the room ready for a fight, only to get a face full of shrapnel.
There are a few gripes I have here and there. On some levels it's not always apparent where you need to go which can get kind of frustrating. Case in point, the first side mission has you searching a gang's hideout for compromising evidence. My first thought was maybe it'd something in a warehouse. Sure enough one of the locked warehouses needed a key to get in and there were piles of cash stacked on a crate in there. Since it stood out the most I figured, hey that's probably an indicator that that's where I need to go. Maybe they got records of illegal financial dealings and shit in there. Turns out it wasn't it. It was basically just a stash of goodies. Good goodies but not my objective. I spent a good while going through the area just trying to figure out what I was supposed to be looking for until I decided screw it, I'll just check out a guide. Turns out the item I needed was a rather nondescript item sitting in an unassuming side office in an office bullpen. I'd passed it a few times but the thing is, it just looked like level decoration and it was in such an unassuming area of the level. The game is generally good about giving you an idea of where you need to go but every now and then it just throws you an annoying curve ball like that.
There's a few really weird design decisions here and there as well. For some reason, the game forces you to go through a tutorial on some of the most basic elements of the game like climbing over chain link fences and turning off light switches three levels into the game. It just feels weirdly out of place. The game does an excellent job of teaching you mechanics as you go along so it just seems unnecessary to just put everything on hold for a moment to say "alright, we know you've maimed numerous goons at this point, crawled through vents, flipped lights, opened and closed doors, and all that good stuff but we're going to have you run through an obstacle course just to teach you how to do it even though you wouldn't have made it to this point if you didn't already know how to do it". The AI while generally good does behave oddly sometimes. At one point I accidentally blew my cover and quickly ducked into a nearby bathroom to hide. Several goons piled into the building and searched basically every room... except the one I was in. After they searched a bit they just started firing their guns wildly and then just kind of fucked off.
Still though, putting some of the small flaws aside, it's an excellent game and I'd strongly recommend it.