Didn't expect this game to be this good. Pros: 1. Platforming tools are pretty fun to play around with. 2. Game does not overstay its welcome (short around 10 hours long). 3. Good music in most parts. 4. Combat is semi-decent. Cons: 1. An easy game overall, so it might be not so challenging for those who seek difficulty. 2. Never gets to a moment where you are truly awed by anything in the game, in other words it is mostly mediocre in most parts. I like platformers, so I was willing to see beyond the cons for this one.
Game is less of stealth and more of a puzzle where you figure out the best way to get your targets assassinated without arousing much suspicion. Higher difficulty just means that enemies will take more of your time and patience, and less number of save files. Much better than the earlier entries in the game.
I really liked the gunplay in this game, but the game itself falls short of being a great experience. Too many things not to my taste. They are: 1. Respawning enemies in checkpoints - easily the biggest headache in the game that gets in the way of enjoyment, particularly the driving cars/boats. You cannot relax, have to be constantly alert. 2. Malaria medicine - You need to follow through with repetitive missions to get malaria medicine, I found it very boring. Every 2-3 main mission, you have to go on an errand to get the medicine. 3. Side missions - Due to point 1, no motivation to go on an side mission. Too repetitive and fun dies out. Effectively, I skipped quite a few missions since it involves doing too many things already done. 4. Dead open world - The open world is completely dead. Only enemies, no friendly npcs (except rare underground missions). No variety in the open world, the second half of the game is in a different location compared to first, but it feels like the same in most areas. These are pretty big issues, they really spoilt something that was otherwise a gem.
Go into room, door closes, enemies spawn in all directions, endlessly - so you are left hopping through the arena finding a place to shield yourself from them while shooting mindlessly. Unlike doom 3, where when enemies spawn behind you, you get a clear indication of it through audio cues - this game has an annoying soundtrack playing when enemies are present, while not giving an indication of their direction. I mean its best to assume they are everywhere, not just behind you. It is very much comparable to doom 1 & 2, but clearly the level design is far worse, and those games were made in 1995.
The only reason this game gets 4 stars (instead of 5) is because of a particular level that requires you to backtrack too many times and kill everyone - 30% of the game is frustration, 70% of the game is pure stealth bliss. The frustrating part is where you encounter zombies, haunts, spirits and spend ton of time solving senseless puzzles or finding loot in obscure locations to complete your objectives. Stealth mechanics - 5/5 [Hide in darkness, use moss arrows to reduce your footsteps sounds, throw items to distract, hide bodies, remove fires to create darkness, etc] Treasure hunting - 5/5 [Solve puzzles in the level to find hidden treasures that are most of the times your objectives on expert difficulty] Nit picky treasure objectives - 2/5 [Spend 2 hours in some levels trying to find that specific 10 gold lying somewhere in the huge map] Level design - 5/5 [Awesome level design, filled with secrets and multiple paths to your objectives] Combat - 2/5 [No reason to play this game for the combat] Gadgets/Devices - 5/5 [Water arrows, moss arrows, lock picks, rope arrows and much more] Story - 4/5 [Pretty cool story considering how good its gameplay is] As good as it gets, unbelievable this released in 1998, most games these days aren't as good. Highly recommended.
