The stealth is seriously challenging but incredibly intuitive; you hide from line of sight, especially by moving through bright areas between really dark ones when certain no one can see you. Many of the materials you move on may make noise, especially if you move fast andor jump. Basically you'll only want to do that when you're certain there's no one around that you're trying to hide from, or when you're on for example carpet. You can also intentionally throw something heavy onto something hard to distract. Sometimes you can choose to knock out which is difficult, kill which is easier but may require cleaning up blood, in order to render entire areas safe. Or you can choose to leave them untouched if you love expert mode. In this unlike the second there are a number of times where you simply have no choice but to use violence, especially against creatures; this is one thing that I prefer about the second. Certain enemies are aggravating to deal with; personally I find it to be worth it but certainly if you're looking for a game where you'll almost never have to use violence, this might not live up to your expectations the way that one will. This works incredibly well when it comes to the simulation. There truly are few limits to what you can affect. It is literally possible to trick enemies of different factions into fighting. If you steal the key a patrolman is carrying he may not be able to carry out his job, because he'll not be able to unlock the door. It doesn't come across as if these were actually intentional but rather that the freedom they give the player enables it. You get to explore a good variety of areas; the city, a cathedral, castles. A particular one has a true wealth of absurd, impossible elements; not as a lack of talent, it's clearly meant to be that way. Like other Looking Glass games, the plot has at least one huge twist that you don't see coming but in retrospect you realize that there were a bunch of clues.
I don't want to spend forever talking about how much better this is than the second one. Instead, I’ll focus specifically on this game. Overall, this does not quite live up to the original, but then that might be just about impossible. It is overly streamlined; however, it hugely dials back that aspect from Invisible War. This definitely has the smoothest, most enjoyable gameplay of these first three. Haven't played Mankind Divided yet, so can't comment on that one. The first person shooting is greatly improved here. It's addictive whether you play it like that, or you go for stealth. Not quite as great as Splinter Cell Blacklist at balancing them, but much better than the ones before this one. The augmentations no longer all require you to activate them right when you need them. I do wish that I had not in a single playthrough been able to unlock nearly all of them. And if I play this one, which includes the DLC where you can also unlock several, I might be able to. In the first game it was literally impossible to access all of them, because every single time you got one, you had to choose between two different versions. For example the one for your feet would enable you to either run silently or run faster. Those are not the same thing, and which you choose greatly affect how you play, how you approach situations. In this one it's about how much effort you want to put into being able to unlock all of them, and you have some choice over which to unlock when. I appreciate that in 2013, a lot of people in the mainstream would simply not be open to how it was in the original. But I do think that the Goldilocks zone is closer to that than what they did here. Choosing to make this a prequel was quite clever and this notion of so much in the game being this is what the near future might hold is a very effective alternative to the original which was set further into the future. The cyberpunk dystopia feel is very much present and there is strong exploration of bigotry.
I try not to criticize stuff that's trying something new purely because it is different, even if it's not what I expected. It's extremely important to keep innovating and I am a firm believer in the concept that video game developers should not give us what we want, but what we don't know we need. So it is absolutely not the fact that it is different that bothers me here. It's the fact that they're going in the wrong direction. It greatly streamlines and simplifies some of the more complex aspects of the first one, leading to substantially less choices for the player, taking away a lot of what we love the most. I get it; I'm sure there were a lot of people who felt that the first one was simply overwhelming. It's not for everyone. Honestly, it’d be fine to make a version of this that was simplified for people who want that, similar to how some tough games have difficulty settings where the easiest really coddles players, so that people who aren't yet ready for the regular experience can play it. And I can appreciate that maybe it would have been difficult to make this contain both of these versions. If that is the case then I kind of wish that they had just not made it at all. Human Revolution does retain some of the streamlining, but it gets much closer to the original, and is honestly probably right there in the Goldilocks zone, though I do prefer the original. Augmentations are changed to where it feels way less final when you make a specific decision. The inventory no longer distinguishes between whether something you're carrying is tiny, huge or anywhere in between. In the first one if you want to carry a ton of tiny little things, like chocolate bars and soda cans, you can. If you want to carry a rocket launcher, you have to make sure you have room for that. Not so here. You can also only carry a very small number of items and it just doesn't feel like it's forcing you to very carefully choose what to carry and what to leave as much as almost kneecapping you.
After the second and the three expansion packs between them being so similar to the original, the time was right for some changes to make sure to keep things fresh. This enables you to play through the entirety as either Point Man or Paxton Fettel, adds two-player co-op where they play as those two. Though you are working together, you're also rivals, trying to outdo each other in how many points you earn. This also encourages you to use all the different weapons at your disposal, instead of merely relying on the same few the whole time. There are abilities such as taking over the bodies and thus having access to the arsenal of that individual until you've worn him out then take someone else over. This completely changes how you approach taking down groups. And you can also play it somewhat similar if you want. He can also psychically stun, as well as use telekinesis to throw around stuff, crush things and people. Obviously this costs energy, so you have to keep a close eye on how much you have and be careful to not waste it. And that's where his tactics are distinct from his brother’s. The multiplayer is quite cool; you can defend a base against waves of enemies. I understand that gog.com only offers single player. For those other things you will have to get it on Steam. The horror goes in a bit of a John Carpenter direction. There is also a grittiness and thick layer of grime. The new enemy types also add a degree of variety; possessed humans that throw objects, and creatures. This does actually properly follow up on the ending of Project Origin, albeit as per usual there is only a little bit of plot progression. Most of the time, what we get is backstory. It is quite compelling, though it did feel like a lot of it was backfilling. It's very obvious that they did not have all of this stuff planned out before they got to this entry. I admire them going in an interesting direction that I hadn't predicted; it is awkward.
I think a lot of people considering this are primarily interested in getting to play through the movie, so I'll address that upfront. This is one of the better in that regard, this in part because some of the stuff that's in the film lends itself extremely well to taking a few minutes of screen time and turning it into a level that is substantially longer. You actually get to fight Medusa properly here rather than her only being in brief montage. This also really fleshes out the training which works incredibly well as tutorial segments. When you're in the city you deal with the disasters, etc. One level that has you flying on Pegasus and fighting in midair was so fun that I fondly remembered it a full 10 years after having last played it. There are lots of games that I forget much faster than that. You get to wield Hercules’ sword and super strength. In addition, you get to wield the powers of the Gods which are cool additional weapons. There’s way more variety to the weapons in this than, say, The Lion King, which is overall better, and Aladdin, which blows both of them out of the water. Unfortunately, there are a number of things where this just makes some really bad decisions. Part of the problem is that this approaches the design as if Hercules is just as vulnerable physically as, for example, Aladdin and Simba when that isn't the case at all. The film specifically chooses to make him relatable through his clumsiness and that could easily have been the approach here. Instead of having you move around at the speed of a mech suit, have you move fast and force the player to make sure we're ready to make a quick stop because if we move too fast we might bump into something and break that thing or injure someone. Instead of Hercules having a health bar, have it keep track of the public's faith in him, which decreases every time he makes a mistake, at least for the chunks where he's canonically impossible to hurt. Certain levels are tedious.
This continues very nicely down the path the first one started. It has some incredibly varied levels. In one, you’re making sure things that are thrown bounce as they should and not drop on the ground, using what appears to be a giant marshmallow(!). There's a race where you have to take out a bunch of obstacles in your path. One has you flying in an isometric area where you'll encounter other flyers and be fired upon by catapults. At one point you're running around an area where everything is brunch themed… bacon, forks, eggs, salt shakers. If you enjoyed launching a cow, you'll be thrilled to know this time there's multiple, and you have to protect them from UFOs. One has a quiz which is wonderfully absurd in several of its answers - you honestly have to see it to believe it. It's rare that every single level is truly inspired and memorable, and yet, somehow, they manage that here. There are more weapons, and a bunch of the new ones are the kind of stuff you found yourself wanting in the first one, including a machine gun that shoots in a 90 degree arc instead of only one direction at a time. The music is really catchy. This is the kind of stuff you can sit and listen to independently of playing, though that will almost definitely make you want to go play it again. The sound design is excellent; there's so many little choices when it comes to that in this that are amazing. Like its predecessor, this was released when in order for a game to last long for the player, it had to be impossible to beat it until you played it almost all the way through several times to get good. Today, where we can save after each level, it does end up feeling kind of short compared to that one. There is a good balance between it being challenging and it being fun. It helps a lot that until you reach the very end you genuinely don't know what the game has left to throw at you - there's always something ridiculous coming up, and it is a joy to experience all of it. The ending is hilarious
Commander Keen and Monty Python had a beautiful baby. There are so many fun ideas here, sometimes you can barely go a few seconds between two instances of Tex Avery cartoonish sight gag or a truly ridiculous scenario. Literally, there’s one level that has an escort mission where if you fail to protect the puppy, it hulks out and attacks you. There are satirical jokes about the tropes of this kind of story where a hero is fighting to rescue a princess. The gameplay is incredibly fun as you run, swing float and shoot your way through. There are definitely places where it gets frustrating and feels unfair; this is from back when video games were made to be so difficult to complete that it would take you the entire weekend and they could make more money from the rental. The video games could not be anywhere near as long as games today in how much actual content there is. I'm personally extremely happy that I've never had to try to complete this without the ability to save at the end of each level. The final level is made to be just about impossible to get through the very first time you reach it, and thankfully now that we can save at the end of each level, it is merely a compelling challenge and not obnoxious. With that said, I can absolutely see a lot of people who otherwise love platformers finding this to push that kind of thing too far. So that's definitely something to take into account before buying it. This is the kind of game that you don't just play because you feel like playing a video game, but because you want to see what it's going to throw at you next. Essentially the only thing that in no way changes is the overall sub genre. One level of this has you making your way through a junkyard, another has you going through the sci-fi lab of a mad doctor where you'll be attacked by brains moving on their own. You visit Heck, which is all fire, brimstone, demons, and, yes, lawyers. It features a non-zero amount of snowmen. The devil is a cat with nine lives.
This is inferior to the original in almost every way. I'll start with the couple of things that it improves upon. Though I can imagine it's very difficult to find players today, this does actually support multiplayer, including with bots. The various modes are all interesting; this features easily my favourite multiplayer rule set, where players choose between working together or betraying one another. This was also when IO interactive, a developer I've supported from the start and who I love most of the work of, *finally* fixed that obnoxious recoil that made shooting a chore. Where the first game is a series of planned heists that tend to go south, this is a series of situations where they didn't even get past the planning stage before being forced into the violence. This makes it feel more tense; you are literally permanently on your back foot. This includes the removal of the squad tactics element. The first one is international, here a lot(I won't give away if it's all) is in Shanghai. They came up with a ton of different scenarios with these significant limitations. The gradual escalation over the course of this has had me replaying it from start to finish half a dozen times; twice as many as the first one. The story is equally stunning in how it has zero chill, and how contrived it is. So many things had to happen in the exact way that they do, several baffling decisions by characters who should know better, in order for this to get to the central setup. This is nowhere near the original in how deeply you find yourself affected by the damage of the player character. This time, it’s Lynch instead of Kane. Unfortunately, he never seems to go off his meds, easily the most interesting element of his character. His feelings for his girlfriend is a deeply mid replacement for Kane’s about his wife and daughter. There is a moment in this that seeks to replicate “you should. Have let. Me talk to them”, and it doesn't hit anywhere near as hard. Some lost it cuz nudity.
It is extremely rare for me to spend money on a video game soundtrack. I seldom find it appealing to listen to it separately from the entire experience of playing. And to be clear I consider it a crucial part to most of my favorite games. It's extremely difficult to do music well for this medium, as it needs to support listening to for a very long time, depending on how long it takes you to clear an area, it needs to build mood very quickly in case you make progress in almost no time. This is one of the only cases where not only have I done so, I don't regret it in the least, and I wholeheartedly recommend others do it, if at all you like the score. You definitely should not listen through this whole thing until you've already completed the game itself, since the way it works with the visuals and gameplay should be experienced without having any prior exposure to it. Consider it motivation for playing through the whole thing - as if we needed any more of that! I can't overstate how strong of an experience it is to put it on and be transported by it every single track is distinct yet fits the whole they manage so many different flavours of creepy, the heavy atmosphere that is consistent throughout both games though nicely varied. There are a lot of different instruments in use here and they always support one another, never working against one another. One doesn't completely take over; none of them are chosen just because they sound kind of cool. There are a number of different tempos and keys. It is very self-assured, the product of someone who knows exactly what they're doing. It goes far beyond the fact that it's deeply impressive that Jesse Makkonen was able to handle this and every other aspect(other than translation of dialogue) entirely by himself. If he at some point retires from video game development, chooses to make music full-time, while I would be sad about the loss, I would buy entire albums of this. This runs, total: 27 minutes, 31 seconds, 28 tracks.
I love most of this franchise. There’s absolutely no doubt that it had grown stagnant before this was released. However, it's willingness to take something and run with it doesn't change that it's going in the wrong direction. This is entirely too streamlined feeling like a vaguely interactive movie more than a video game. Like it was made when FMVs were mistaken for games. Almost nothing you do has consequences or requires skill beyond basic timing. The one thing it gets right is that as usual we get at least one puzzle that does actually require you to think about what you're doing you can't simply brute force it. Combat lacks tension, and it feels very odd how little of it there is considering you’re presented with a world that is being taken over by pure evil. Platforming responds to the series having gotten to where you basically could do almost anything that it would be at all credible for you to do by simply moving eagerly past that point. You can literally run upside down. Not far but still. You can move on the ceiling. And I'm not talking about when there's magic enabling you to move on walls for longer than otherwise; that's explained. I do appreciate that whilst clearly they wrote dozens of lines of dialogue, some of it world-building, some that grows the relationship between the Prince and Princess, they did take into account that many of us would find a lot of this to be vapid to the point of not wanting to hear very much of it. And yeah the vast majority of it you are not forced to listen to. Like many other games it is usually tied to specific places. You know, you'll go to an important part of the kingdom and then you can be told stuff about that area. However, if you want to hear it you have to prompt it to tell you. Which means that if you don't, you truly do not have to. And you don't even have to find a setting in the menu to turn off voice stuff. The cel shaded graphics work with the score and sound design to create a consistent atmosphere.
