StealthDP
04-01-2007, 10:02 PM
Well, it does not suck...
I have played it but a few hours, maybe 3, and so far I think it is a very cool concept. I have had to work through a few bugs, most irritating was having to turn off all forms of dynamic lighting to get the game to run without bogging down to a crawl. Other than that, it installed fine, and there is a patch out already that installed cleanly. I should note that the patch would have eliminated any save games, which would have sucked if I had been playing it for a bit. I can only hope that future patches will not do this.
Very interesting concept... you wake up after surviving a "death truck" accident, and start taking mission assignments from various NPCs. There is a main storyline, which pretty much involves you trying to figure out who you are and what you were doing there in the first place (did I mention the amnesia?). As you work on these missions, you meet up with others that will have you perform various side missions.
You start out with minimal weapons and armor, and are able to purchase better stuff as you aquire items and cash to trade. The zones are quite large, I am only in the first one, and have been impressed with the size of it.
Graphics, while dated, are decent... no real eye popping stuff, but still pretty good. I will say it looked much better when I did have the dynamic lighting on, but my system could not handle it.
The human enemy A.I. is quite impressive. They do not do the "charge in" approach, but seek cover, run between cover, and even try to flank you. I have found the few missions I have done so far very challenging.
The game is incredibly immersive. The ambient sound effects are outstanding, some of the best I have seen (heard?). Yips and growls from packs of wild dogs and mutated creatures off in the distance keep you on your toes, and there is the occasional sound of gunfights, helicopters, roaming military patrols, etc. It is not necessarily a scary game, but there is a certain tension I feel while playing, hearing all of these sounds around me. Probably the biggest frustration I have experienced so far is that the game is so damn immersive, I seldom remember to save my game.
While I have just started, andI have not been exposed to much other that a handgun and a shotgun, the weapon physics in the game are pretty cool. You will not kill (or even hit) an enemy from a distance with the handgun. Also, aiming at legs, arms, etc. will end up with you dead. You have to go for a spot (such as the head) that would cause a fatal blow in real life if you want to defeat the enemy. So, sucks to start out, as the hadngun is pretty much worthless against most of the stuff. You can dart in and out of cover, taking pot shots at them, but you need to be close to get an accurate shot off. And, if you fight from one spot for too long, their buddies will try to work their way behind you and finish it. You do get to fight with allies, and can loot dead bodies for weapons, ammo, and other useful items.
Now, for the bad. The game is kinda buggy, particularly with some of the creature AI. Most of the time it works pretty cool. For instance, when a pack of dogs comes close, you can pop off one or two of them, and the others will high tail it. But sometimes, you will come across one running around in circles or standing still. I have noticed this less with the humans in the game. Also, the communication system is text based, and a bit tedious. But, not sure how else they could have done it, given that you have choices to make during these "discussions".
All in all, pretty decent. For the time they put into it, the game should be a little less hardware intensive, but it is not terrible. I will report more as I play it more, but I am not dissapointed at this point. The immersion factor alone is worth the 40 bucks. Lets see if it has some staying power...
I have played it but a few hours, maybe 3, and so far I think it is a very cool concept. I have had to work through a few bugs, most irritating was having to turn off all forms of dynamic lighting to get the game to run without bogging down to a crawl. Other than that, it installed fine, and there is a patch out already that installed cleanly. I should note that the patch would have eliminated any save games, which would have sucked if I had been playing it for a bit. I can only hope that future patches will not do this.
Very interesting concept... you wake up after surviving a "death truck" accident, and start taking mission assignments from various NPCs. There is a main storyline, which pretty much involves you trying to figure out who you are and what you were doing there in the first place (did I mention the amnesia?). As you work on these missions, you meet up with others that will have you perform various side missions.
You start out with minimal weapons and armor, and are able to purchase better stuff as you aquire items and cash to trade. The zones are quite large, I am only in the first one, and have been impressed with the size of it.
Graphics, while dated, are decent... no real eye popping stuff, but still pretty good. I will say it looked much better when I did have the dynamic lighting on, but my system could not handle it.
The human enemy A.I. is quite impressive. They do not do the "charge in" approach, but seek cover, run between cover, and even try to flank you. I have found the few missions I have done so far very challenging.
The game is incredibly immersive. The ambient sound effects are outstanding, some of the best I have seen (heard?). Yips and growls from packs of wild dogs and mutated creatures off in the distance keep you on your toes, and there is the occasional sound of gunfights, helicopters, roaming military patrols, etc. It is not necessarily a scary game, but there is a certain tension I feel while playing, hearing all of these sounds around me. Probably the biggest frustration I have experienced so far is that the game is so damn immersive, I seldom remember to save my game.
While I have just started, andI have not been exposed to much other that a handgun and a shotgun, the weapon physics in the game are pretty cool. You will not kill (or even hit) an enemy from a distance with the handgun. Also, aiming at legs, arms, etc. will end up with you dead. You have to go for a spot (such as the head) that would cause a fatal blow in real life if you want to defeat the enemy. So, sucks to start out, as the hadngun is pretty much worthless against most of the stuff. You can dart in and out of cover, taking pot shots at them, but you need to be close to get an accurate shot off. And, if you fight from one spot for too long, their buddies will try to work their way behind you and finish it. You do get to fight with allies, and can loot dead bodies for weapons, ammo, and other useful items.
Now, for the bad. The game is kinda buggy, particularly with some of the creature AI. Most of the time it works pretty cool. For instance, when a pack of dogs comes close, you can pop off one or two of them, and the others will high tail it. But sometimes, you will come across one running around in circles or standing still. I have noticed this less with the humans in the game. Also, the communication system is text based, and a bit tedious. But, not sure how else they could have done it, given that you have choices to make during these "discussions".
All in all, pretty decent. For the time they put into it, the game should be a little less hardware intensive, but it is not terrible. I will report more as I play it more, but I am not dissapointed at this point. The immersion factor alone is worth the 40 bucks. Lets see if it has some staying power...