First, it markets itself at a first glance as a mere graphics overhaul. This is a major mistake as there are many more changes than that. The graphics overhaul is just good. It adds many new textures that one-up the game's aesthetic quality, but the map scenery (mostly walls) sometimes tends to feel out of place and too tiring to look at. Changes in the maps are mostly well made, with major exceptions. UNATCO is definitely the best map change, with more space and better-designed levels, and Paris is the absolute worst and exemplifies all the bad decisions made when changing the maps. It is a clusterf**k of buildings, not at all as spacious as the original level, and has way too few enemies for its size. Troop distribution and AI in general is badly designed too. You will sometimes notice that either literally all troops in a level swarm towards you or they faithfully stay in their storey and lose interest in your presence extremely fast. This should not happen on realistic mode, especially when you killed someone among his comrades seconds ago. At other levels, you may also experience cutting through enemy lines like a hot knife through butter because of troop distribution. The music is a really mixed bag. It tries to be more atmospheric in contrast to the original's boldness, becoming timid (and way too silent) in the process. Some excellent tracks are worth giving a listen to. Gun interaction can be okay but also extremely stupid and bugged. Ranged weapons are sometimes not consistent when dealing with enemies. Gun improvements are probably the stupidest thing in this mod, extremely rare in kind and not fitting for most weapons. Way, WAY too easy to get money. Many lesser and much appreciated gameplay improvements. Extremely long loading times. Kind of uninteresting minigames after game completion. Despite these glaring flaws, would I recommend this mod? Yes, because of new places to discover and a different take on the DX world. GMDX is better though.
I'm going to be brutally honest about the entirety of my experience. I was at first very "meh" about playing this game, even though I am by any measure NOT new to playing games old enough to go to a casino. I was nevertheless skeptical that I would enjoy an RPG this old (had gotten it this year). Got on training, gave it up about halfway. Concluded that whatever amount of time and money I had spent was "not big of a loss". I closed the game, a few days passed by, re-opened it just out of curiosity, completed the training, then started the first mission. About halfway through the mission onward, I realized that if I hadn't tried this game again it would've been the dumbest mistake of my life. I'll explain why. -Variety of choice of gameplay style. You can be anywhere in between stealthy and 100% non-violent and loud and murderous throughout the game. An equally diverse choice of builds, usage of surrounding environment, weapons and modifications you can apply helps reach your goal. -Your build choices can change every single aspect of the game. -Environment that successfully conveys to you what it intends to. -Usage of the vast majority of the environment is very versatile, leaving you a lot of choices for modifying the world to your preference. -Almost zero pre-rendered content (as in cutscenes and in-game activity), all happens in the game's engine, which keeps you immersed through the whole journey. It has definitely helped in allowing a smooth transition to modern systems, and not feeling out of place. -The plot, oh boy the plot. You have to see for yourself. Moreover, YOU can decide how much of the plot you want to uncover or focus on gameplay. -Quality of dialog and information is one-of-a-kind. Truly motivating and inspiring. -Replay value is insane, it ages like a good wine. -Consequences from many actions that affect the game later on. -Level explorability. -Excellent music, some of it inspires me as a person. And so much more. Truly my all-time favorite.
