So, in the very tutorial, you're shown a "working" prison and you're supposed to build a *check notes* death chamber with an electric chair. *check notes again and stares at screen* OK, for the purpose of roughly objective review, I finished the first mission. You get access to various stuff you can tweak your for-profit prison with. You can build pavements, walls, libraries and murder devices. It seems to me if this kind of energy would be invested to say school building, it would make for a very pleasant game. But after you manage to kill your first victim, you're thrown into prison, that is for legitimate reasons on fire. No, thank you. If you want to play this game and get a good time for your money, make sure you can handle the darkest, scariest and most brutal edges of this game. I for sure wasn't. Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to take a few showers.
The game is full of "oh, this kind of looks like $THING... but it isn't" moments. The interface looks like tiling window manager... but you can't resize it. The shell looks like bash... but the commands are extremely limited (no ls -R, I get that, but no ls --help? For real?). The game makes you a graph of the network... but you can't move any vertex. The game consists of few basic steps, repeated over and over again. Your hack^G^G^G^Gcracking tools work like magic, you run 'em, you get access to the computer, you do the job, !next. The game lacks challenge - pressing time limit is more an annoyance. It's fine on the first break: show me the tools, thank you very much. It's fine on the second: I can use them, thank you. But the only advancing in the game is the amount of magic tools you shall be running. This task cries out to be scripted, but all you are given is the not-bash. For people outside from the world of informatics, the game is plainly enjoyable. It gives you the thrill, you work with real services like FTP and SSH on their standard ports, but move a single bit deeper and the rest is pure fiction. If you've written 10 lines of code, do yourself a favour and skip this title.
I'm not implying that this game is something inferior or stupid. It's average shooter. I'd go for 3*** if only there was not this horrible unlockables system. Different characters, yay! No, unlock them first. Unlock them by doing arbitrary repetitive quests. Deal X damage with Y type weapon. Kill X creatures (by Y weapon). It seems like developers are just yelling "keep playing this over and over again". Creatures are spawning like #$&@% everywhere. Not literally, but it feels like it. Spawning daemon in your back makes all your positioning useless. Some training might help, though... Game is making you do stupid things in encounters. Like the frog mode - you can only move by jumping. While you read challenge description and while you make your mind how you're going to solve it, first monsters are already approaching. Into Frog challenge game spawns ranged monsters, preferably with shots that follow you round the corner. In a plain flat room. Too much luck-dependent. Another example - damage by staff increased by 50%, all other weapons decreased by 50%. Don't have a staff? Well, good luck then. I don't oppose permadeath. But spawning different boss each pull is just dumb. Wanna train a bit? Here you got totally different boss. There could be some kind of training arena :/ Unavailability to sprint-strafe and sprint not auto-resuming after shooting are minor things compared to listed flaws...
This game feels so real. It's THE FUTURE if Earth gets ever nuked. Humanity locked down in metro tunnels is going to fight the last war. And you have the power to stop it. Epic story setting, but you can influence none of it. "Don't do this, Artyom, you dumb!" You'll find that this is your third/fourth sentence you'll mumble most often (with "running out of ammo again", "running out of filters again" and "where should I go now?" being the other three). Let's check gameplay. Not much improvement from M2033. It's not some bad thing, just don't expect more. Same minimal UI. More fights with human opfor, more "on your own" content (or at least it feels like it). Bossfights? Yes, I said bossfights. Like three extremely tough monsters and a human one. As in M2033, the gameplay is heavily planted in atmosphere itself, in your fear and uncertainty. Less weird/bad bits than M2033. Most things you'll do feel natural, less paranormal phenomenon usage, albeit stealth works in same bad way - you'll go unnoticed more time you'll think. But if I could get rid of one thing, it'd be unskipable cutscenes where no checkpoint follows. I had to consult walthrough two or three times, however. [spoiler?] That D6 mission... Disabling the tank is not much natural. The regular ending is not canonical according to the books. Regular? Yes, your actions through the game decide whether you'll get regular or "bonus" (canonical ending). If only these were less balanced. It's tears or tears choice. [definitely spoiler!] Canonical ending and survival of Artyom feels good, but sacrificing your own life to save whole metro and kill a lot of commies - that's how a man should go![/spoiler][/spoiler]
Don't get me wrong - it's not "possible" future if Earth gets nuked, it's certain future if Earth gets nuked. The atmosphere and story is great. Humanity is locked down in underground tunnels and has gone nuts. You'll fight monsters, communists, nazis, bandits, mutants, shortage of supplies and nightmares. You and Artyom will quickly become one. Game features minimal UI just like I liked it. Clock on your wrist, ammo indicator and... that's it? I can't describe what's great in the game, it's the enjoyment itself. In some missions, you can choose if you take silent or loud approach. There are missions you can/have to complete without a single bullet fired. I've to say there are bits that feel so bad and weird. -Closed world. Knowing that if you advance, you advance in right direction is very, very strong and it destroys the fear of choosing the right way Artyom would certainly have. Nevertheless, you'll get lost sometimes, wondering where you are to go. -Stealth. Well, human enemies are sometimes stupid. You can crouch in arm length to them and they won't notice you. -Cutscenes. Some of them, at least. It's hard to differ cutscene from regular gameplay. Still a cutscene or play mode? Scripted event or you just screwed really bad? -Paranormal phenomenons. Dunno, just didn't like it. -And the whole library mission. I had to consult some walkthrough three or four times. [spoiler?] And watch your steps in there, lots of things you do will decide whether you get "standard" or "bonus" ending. [/spoiler]
Overall feel of this game is - game has been extremly rushed to come to market. DF: Land warrior engine equipped with mix of new and old problems. Triggers (not that mandatory here), dumb AI. I do not really oppose missions on your own here - it's better than problems with your mate played by game's AI. New problems rise here: not clear mission briefings (text-only, I really miss the voice of DF:LW), like three waypoints per mission (insertion, single WP for all your targets and extraction), not clear voice from command. You'll be surprised how many times you won't be sure what you're suppossed to do. The game is pretty much just DF:LW, but without the good feeling. You'll be shooting the very same targets in the very same location all over and over. Underground bunkers and tunnels. Missions "randomly" failing: extraction by chopper? Chopper destroyed in about 50% of pulls before you can get yourself to exfil. Stealth mission? Airport security will be alerted while you're more than 1km away from airport. You gotta leave before allied missiles hit the target? First warning is in 15secs. Maps, oh, the terrain. I think they ran RNG to make 100 maps and took those few that looked not extra bad. Full of copy-paste. Tunnel walls are not aligned to that degree you'll get stuck if you stick yourself to the wall. The plot - while realistic, I guess - is on the same level through the game. You won't see any "progress". Plot stays static. You're there, you do your job, you leave. That's it. Where's the tension? Gone. Missions connected by bigger story? Gone. Shoot this, don't shoot that, blow something up. BUT WHY, you want to shout? No questions, soldier, you've got your orders. This one's just too expensive even for free. Not worth it's disk space.
Well, this one is really different from all DF games in series. Closed map, heavy scripting. But great story. Yeah, it's annoying they won't let you finish the mission in your way. If you follow path that was not intended, the game won't hesitate killing you. Missions are mostly available three at a time, yet they are ordered in campaign style. You have to finish all previous missions to get to the ending one. Yeah, the final missions. Assasinate the boss and don't get killed. Use saves with caution. There's not always enough. The game is still flawed with DF traditions - somewhat dumb AI and triggering triggers (!). Most times you get briefing in-game, while in chopper or boat. So if they kill you in the beginning and you don't save, you can start listening to the same briefing over and over. When you finish Somalia, Iraq and Columbia, you'll be pretty happy. Well, until the ending video is played. It basically says you accomplished nothing. And that's true. War's hell, even if games may be fun.
-- writtern after playing only Peru and Chad campaigns The most important minus first - graphics. At release time, great. Today, you can't distinguish friend from foe and both from background. And if you're close enough to see their hands separated from torso, they're close enough to shoot you dead in seconds. Some missions are not well-thought. Going through checkpoints is made kind-of mandatory during briefing, so you'll have enemies on your back while facing another base. Friendly AI actually does something. Mostly just cover fire, but they play with you. There are only few missions where you're on your own. Quite nice game mechanics - on a stealth mission, you have to think if you will fire and which weapon willl you use, or whole map goes alert and hunting. It's easier to move forward than to move left/right. Terrain has variable difficulty to climb through. Today DF1 is average oldie FPS, but if they waited a year or two, something much bigger could be born. PS: it's nice to know where do sounds from DF:LW come from :)
... and still stay objective. So here we go. The AI is stupid. And by stupid I mean like 100% stupid. Enemies may not fire at you while you take them down with knife face to face. In missions, where you have assigned teammate, they are just as stupid. Don't count on them with anything apart from dying soon. You can raise the difficulty a bit, but it's not huge difference. What's there down in intelligence, is up by means of numbers. There are simply enough dumb targets so it makes the game a challenge again. Open world. I mean, there are few maps, but they use each map in new ways each time, so it's hard to recognize. You can think and select the best approach for you - direct assault? Long range sniping? Attack their unguarded wing? You choose. Don't take the waypoints for more than a hint. You don't have to go through them. Story with non-repetetive missions. I mean, you go there and you kill terrorists, but each mission is a bit different. Hostage rescue, intelligence gathering, search-and-destroy, assault, liberation, prisoner taking, bomb defusing... Now here goes the problem parts. I already mentioned stupid AI, now I have to mention triggers triggering. In some missions, it's hard to trigger a trigger correctly. You pass all WPs, you kill all enemies, you complete the mission, but because of not triggered trigger, you just stand there in Black Widow and... you check mission goals. You find out that some goal is not greened out. You run back and start looking for the spot which triggers it. And in-mission saves. I was not able to load mission save from another session. Does not matter, though, because the missions are not that long you'd have to load it. Last - neutral things. Too much weapons in game. You go there with a sniper rifle, MP-5, pistol, grenades, explosives and auxilliary equipment and other stuff (laser, knife, binoculars etc.). And with long rifles - no Schröedingers. You're either alive or dead. Shoot in the leg, hand - fatal.
You and your team against Soviet - ahem - russian commies. The game is good mix of shooting+commanding & tactical thinking+cooperation with allies (not under your command)+character developement (each survivor will get one point at the end of the mission)+where-did-that-sucker-come-from-oh-damn-I'm-dead-again. At release time, state of the art. Today, you'll find that AI is a bit dumb, your mates will block you doors or they get caught in stairs (no kidding), sometimes, despite having orders, they just stay where they are. It seems impossible to issue commands at one-person-only-level (quicksave is your best friend), neither I found out way to make other squads simply follow player's one. Solid 4,5*. The only thing missing is five more humans to play campaign with.
