I have never seen a game like this and I have played games since I was 8 years old. From Half-Life to War Thunder, Quake to Warframe, Scorpion Disfigured to Dreamwild, Hylics, Minecraft, Besiege, System Shock, Helldivers 2, Buckshot Roulette, Resident Evil, Team Fortress 2, Rings of Saturn, Observer, Cruelty Squad and so many more. This game actually reminds me most of Rings of Saturn, a resource management game where you mine space rocks and I guess there could be combat but I never encountered any. Having played through the first and only mission at this time I can safely state the following: This game unifies good elements mainly from the "golden era" of games into one: -the freedom of choice from Deus Ex: be quiet or be loud, engage the enemy or not -the feeling of that limitless movement system from System Shock 1, lean from side to side or go from prone to standing entirely procedurally and not toggled -the movement also feels very weighty and realistic, even though it is probably entirely simulated and not based on expensive physics calulations -dithered, pixelated and colorful visuals reminiscent of Minecraft -guns that sound like they do damage and DO damage -level design akin to System Shock 2, tight corridors but also open spaces with much opportunity -environmental interactivity like no other, seamless object interaction, no unimmersive fades or lengthy animations (you can literally punch metal boxes to pieces) -background music that changes dynamically depending on whether you chose the loud or quiet playstyle -an amazing melee combat system utilizing the base movement system to execute nasty combos with, no extra keybindings needed -settings DONT use sliders but use value boxes, allowing for precise and reliable input (even modern games still do this, why???) -the entire ui is incredibly functional and informative, basically copied and improved from System Shock 2 -the stealth system is somewhat generous, but enemies are not able to somehow differentiate your footsteps from their allies' footsteps, which is very good -if you get overwhelmed, you are probably going to die easily, which is only fair, you are not a god but a part of the mortal world after all -enemies actually take cover and try not to die, they are alive and value their life, but will move in on you when you don't keep up suppressive fire -lighting is very contrasted and dynamic -the food health and focus system makes me hungry, the moist squelching sound when eating a cup of ramen...oh my~ -the multiplayer message system is so god damn good, written with crayons you can see messages from other players or even the devs, it is such a nice addition, all while remaining immersive and non-obstructive (i got warned of an ambush, thx!) -terminals and commands are incredibly immersive and cool to see represented in a game for real, especially for me as I daily drive Arch Linux (alot of other games trying to capture the sci-fi genre fail to do so accurately, in terms of terminals) Looking at the fact that this was made by 2 people, has been out since 6 months, is early access and plays THIS well, I hope that when this releases for real the devs get showered with anything they like. This easily beats bigger games, by bigger companies, for a bigger price like Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077. Maybe not in terms of the amount of story or lore but certainly most other aspects lined out above. It is more immersive, runs better, has more mechanics, has at least equally good music. I see reviews saying the game has an identity crisis or does not focus enough on a certain direction. The game as it is right now is wonderful and I do not wish for it to turn into another boomer shooter wannabe or a clone of any game for that matter. To me it seems, the devs took inspiration from other games' mechanics, styles, story aspects, mixed it through and made their own, all while staying unique in the style and propelling something new on the market. It seems unique to me and I do not think this game fails hard anywhere. Other reviews complain about the difficulty, having to have mastered the game immediately? Since when are games supposed to be easy? They are meant to tingle and stimulate your brain in a way that changes you as a person. You are MEANT to develop your skills and understanding of a game, so that you can beat it and maybe even learn something more from it. Sure, some games are absolutely terrible and outright unfair and unplayable. But this is certainly not some game made from prefab assets. I found the tutorial easy, while not using EZ mode jumps, only dying once or twice to enemies and redoing one parkour section once. Yes, skill is needed. If you do not have skill, get it! Practice! I am sick of devs dumbing down games just to get people to not instantly refund them out of blind rage. That or adding a billion help elements on the screen that are entirely irrelevant to the games mechanics, lore or logic, In this game you actually get unprompted help: that AI assistant calling you. But this is done in an immersive, in-world way and becomes optional very quickly. The blue tutorial markings are another immersive, non-obstructive, in-world method to help the player in specific situations. You can easily see the marks, yet they do not block your vision or hinder you in any way. So, if you cannot find the time to play, practice and experience games, then that is not a game issue, that is a YOU issue and by extension, a systemic issue of doing things you do not like doing and not getting enough time to revel in things you DO like doing. NEGATIVE ASPECTS: -end screen sound effect could be a little nicer to the ears, aswell as that ping sound on the space briefing map before the first mission -in some cutscenes, all audio seems to be missing -no native Linux version I am so on board with this.
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