It's pretty clear that's what they were after, and IMO they did a great job. I think they could have handled some things differently story wise, and the soundtrack could have been a little more rich but otherwise it hits every note it should. Definitely one of my favorite FPS in the past few years. There's incentive to play new game plus as well thanks to the progression system.
And to be perfectly honest, I am not much of a fan of Bioshock. As a long time Half Life series fan, I have no idea why people keep comparing this to HL. Metro can be compared to Half Life... but apart from some ideas arguably stolen it has nothing in common other than being a FPS. Pretty weak story set in Germany during the fall of the wall. You play as a woman scientist uncovering what is basically an alternate reality, reaching it through a machine BUT. There is nothing sciency coming from this woman apart from oogling at the machine and following basic chemistry instructions on a blackboard. There also is no backstory on how she can shoot just as well as Gordon Freeman. She just... picks up guns and starts murdering AI machines. Nothing in the story suggests her having any kind of field training. It's just.... I don't know. If you were into Bioshock you probably might want to give this one a try for the atmosphere, other than that perhaps you're incredibly bored and want anything that resembles a FPS maybe. Otherwise you can safely skip it and actually go play Half Life, Black Mesa or even Metro.
The story seems interesting, the game is pretty chill and it has a cozy atmosphere but you can't really interact with it at all. Why would it not have dialogue choices like all the other good visual novels out there? There's loads of things to say and while the rest of the characters interact friendly and interesting with each other it leaves you feeling like you're no different than the coffee maker. I never thought you could feel like a mute in a visual novel type of game but this is it.
I regret buying this so much. Ignoring graphics - The story is a mess that goes in all directions but at the same time nowhere. Full of plot holes, without going into too much detail you murder quite a lot of soldiers in the first level then encounter a crime boss with two guards that basically wants to turn you into a slave and the character goes like 'Guess I have no choice then, so be it'. Really guy? You just mowed through dozens of heavily armed guards while in PJs not even an hour ago... - The level design is a lot of copy paste maze like levels, generally a slog to go through. It doesn't help that they are extremely long. -Gunplay is generic but it adds bullet time. Skip skip skip. If you're looking for a decent 2000s FPS try Far Cry 1, Red Faction, Area 51, Doom, Quake, etc etc. Not this one though.
I don't know why it's in the same section as Dragon Age, Fallout, Pillars of eternity and other actual RPGs but this is not an RPG.
I bought some of these games on steam before so I could not help myself but buy this pack again to support the genre and developers. Although quite overpriced when it originally came out (and personally I highly disliked the episodic model) at it's current price it's a steal. It's the kind of zombie game where the zombies aren't really relevant and they are trying to focus on the drama between people. If you want to fight zombies, there are different games out there for you. (resident evil, dying light, dead island, dayz etc). Personally I got sucked into Lee's story and then became a sucker for Clem; she's primarily the reason I keep coming back to this The writing overall is really good. It gives everyone a personality, even if they are minor characters, you will remember them. There are some funny moments if you play them and you can even influence other characters into doing messy things that you would not. I used people like Kenny for that several times. In terms of replayability it's hard to say. You can explore other outcomes sure, the problem is I can't really imagine making other choices than I did in my first walkthrough. I won't pretend it's a perfect game. There are some cliches within the story as well as some plot holes In several instances they sort of overdid it with attempting to show the monsters humans can be... Things and people aren't that black and white. The world is always different shades of gray. But I suppose this is more of a general complaint specific to certain episodes and characters. You will sometimes feel that not all choices are relevant or rather you'll have the illusion of choice You can't manual save at certain points in case you regret some choices, so if you do or say something you'll regret you'll have to ALT+F4 and play the section again; While this is not horrible it is highly annoying. While I dislike all of the above things in the end the game is a slightly flawed gem for those who want to get immersed into a story.
Clunky movement, terrible AI (that only knows how to charge at you), decent gun-play and bad writing. It takes away the creepy vibe by focusing on enemies, events etc instead of letting you deal with things. Tried to make me care for a character that I literally met 10 minutes into the game and talked basically the same non-subjects you do with someone in an elevator. Newsflash, I don't. You know it's bad when countless Half-Life 1/2 community mods create a way better spoopy atmosphere than a game made by a studio with a budget. Just no. The only reason I couldn't refund it is because I got it for free on the epic game store.
I got it because the atmosphere seemed interesting and since Halloween is approaching, I needed my fix of horror. I played it for several days redoing the first chapter but eventually dropped it before even getting to chapter 2. Unity Engine. Worst engine to release a retail game (not a prototype). Virtually no game made with it has any performance optimization whatsoever. I have a decent rig and it still froze every other minute... Having that in an 'unforgiving' game is unforgivable itself. Clunky controls. Nothing more to be said which leads me to the next one. Bugs. Ignoring the occasional crashes, so many bugs. There are known PC related bugs that were never fixed. One recent example comes to mind when I kept the door open and take a offensive approach during the night, then discovered the wedding location during the day, the event and invitation never triggered. Punishes player for exploring and not following their rules. For any exploration you do, you will have to fight. A lot and with very limited ammo (one clip and _one_ shotgun shell per day). And forcing the player to spend nights in a hideout 'just because' is a terrible game mechanic. Considering your hideout will absolutely get attacked, it may be safer in the woods. But no, some red creature instakills you for not being in the designated zone at a specific time. By the why, why does the night start at 8 in the evening? Great story but bad storytelling. Since the game trained me from the start that everything will kill you, I ended up murdering everyone, including the villagers since no cinematic or character bothered to introduce me to them... Overall, great potential wrapped in a very bad package. The people that did the artwork, sound and writing did a great job. It's a shame everything else ruins it.
