Cyber Knights: Flashpoint

I picked this up relatively on a whim but grew to really really enjoy it: The blend of stealth vs combat and the choices you make re: balancing your squad to handle both is fantastic. Unlike almost every other "xcom-like" (Including both modern XCOMs) it does reward faster, more chaotic play as long as you have some kind of plan. I routinely ended up going "how the hell did I get away with that" as I take guards out under each others noses. The feeling of speed and controlled chaos gives the heisting the right vibe. The meta game is also fun: the handling and upgrading of contacts for better services as well as a payday, the character backstories, there's a lot to like. Some of the time mechanics are a little bit obtuse: i often find myself with a bunch of jobs stacked up at 0h remaining, and I'm almost always unclear *why*. TLDR: Definitely worth the buy, if you're into XCOM-alikes or tactical stealth-y games!

Its very good. It plays like x-com but with cyberpunk motif.

Ein super spiel, macht richtig Spaß. Wer XCOM mag wird dieses Spiel lieben.

Fairly brilliant and involved experience. The atmosphere and writing is top-notch, the strategic and tactical options are varied and dense, it's a great time all-around. Will satisfy most XCOM fans looking for a more sandbox approach to the genre in a rich cyberpunk setting. I say sandbox but it still manages to weave in tailored storylines with set beginnings and ends and decisions to make along the way, it's not purely a case of making up your own story and goals. It's very neat. On a special note : the amount of QOL features is pretty astounding, especially if you're comparing it to base XCOM or other tactical turn-based games. Vision cones, accurate (not had a single 'gotcha' moment yet) indicators for when you'll be heard or seen, clear indication of line of sight for your characters including for where you're planning to move so you don't make a move only to realize that that guy you want to shoot at is somehow blocked by a harmless-looking cyber-cupboard or some such. The game gives you all the information you need to make the best decisions possible and it's all the better for it. On a second special note : the game is getting regular love from the developers. It's all uphill from here! One caveat that I do feel I need to mention, but it really only applies to either XCOM or more recent ZCOM fans that might be looking for the same cinematic feel or production value as they can find there : animations aren't anything special to look at, shooting bad guys (well, just guys really) will never look or sound as cool as it does in XCOM, etc. It's more than serviceable, and combat is still satisfying, it just might not be as polished as some might be expecting. The game's vast array of tactical options and sheer number of intricated systems more than makes up for it.

O jogo tem potencial e algumas qualidades, especialmente o aspecto furtivo. Mas os defeitos superam muito as qualidades. Nāo há historia principal, a curva de aprendizado é muito longa, boa parte das habilidades de classes é inútil, o sistema de evolução de equipamentos via contatos é péssimo, as missões se tornam chatas e repetitivas etc. Não recomendo, infelizmente. Torço para que os desenvolvedores consigam tornar o jogo interessante, mas creio que isso vá demorar, se acontecer. De qualquer forma parabenizo a tentativa.

excellent

Really fun game from an amazing developer. I like the combat, the progression, the general setting and the fact this developer keeps updating it's game even after a decade.

So, Cyber Knights. The first game ever that made me leave a review. What I like: - Gameplay is king. There is quiet approach, loud approach, and most importantly everything in-between is viable. You can go loud from the start, not caring about stealth even on Chrome, as long as you know what you are doing. You can go silent as a shadow. You can go steathy at the start and begin killing at some point, this is how most players play. OR you can do a little rampage at the start, make some noise, leave some corpses and bolt before reinforcements arrive. The guards will go there, searching for you where the firefight happened while you sneak around and loot far from them. You can combine stealth and firepower in any proportion you want. OR you can use stealth to specifically put your mercs into perfect positions for a strike and decimate majority of guards on the level. There is no "or" between Loud and Quiet. They exist in harmony, playing into each other seamlessly. - Strategic (out of combat) gameplay. Base building, legwork (sending your mercs on a percentage-based completion chance non-combat solo missions), managing your contacts so they provide better bonuses, crafting, etc. It's fun, meaningful and not tedious at all. - RNG. Of course it's there, the game being a turn-based tactical RPG implies it. However! It is the first game of that type where I never was like "hey, this is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!" about random. It never, not ever makes or breaks your run. You can always ramp up your hit or, with some investment, even crit chance to 100% or above with proper use of your active talents and decision making. You can become unhittable in even partial cover with proper building/talents, or more easily in full cover. You can avoid enemies you are yet to be able to take on if you play on highest difficulties. You can always solve any unfortunate situation with proper planning. You can always score at least glancing hits when your accuracy is above weapon's glancing threshold or you shoot from closer than 5 meters. With proper tactics you can always outplay even the worst RNG. - Balance between player skill (decisions in gameplay), character builds (stats and skills) and gearing (armor, weapons, cyberware). All three influence your success, yet if you lack in one it can be compensated by the other two, especially late game. But it would be harder. - Classes. Every merc can have up to two, and each one is unique. There is no "class X is class Y but better/worse" situations. Yes, the balance is not perfect, yes, some classes are great from the start and some take more level investment to shine, but overall every class is viable in it's own way, and every class brings something special, something fun to the table to justify using it. Cyberswords can deploy "portable walls" in form of energy barriers enemies can't walk or shoot through, Vanguards go fast and silent, have LoS-blocking holographic screens, can cheaply disable devices, lure guards in huge radius to a particular location, and various other tricks. Scourge can AoE debuff/DoT enemies from stealth, outright zombify enemies to fight for you for a couple of turns, have large AoE stun and can become an impenetrable armor tank for a couple of turns, but lack actual damage. Agent EX can teleport, deploy smoke and cascade disable security devices on the whole map for a time. Snipers are all about picking a good position with good lines of sight, not moving and killing mooks with stealth crits, while also having a couple of amazing support abilities for the whole team, but they take a few levels to begin to shine. Soldiers are amazing and reliable with Assault Rifles (and any other weapon really, but especially AR/UAR/other full autos) due to great recoil management and good damage boosting/Action Point printing skills. Etc, etc. - Guns. They are very well balanced, and I can't really point a finger on some weapon and say "this is useless". Even a humble pistol have a niche: stealth crits. If you can stealth crit with it you will be dropping fools left and right without a sound. Assault rifles are amazing loud weapon for "professionals" - it performs amazingly well in the hands of a character who can manage recoil, Sniper Rifles are tricky, but very rewarding to use, Shotguns lack in range and direct damage, but they shred armor like no other gun do... Some can use some buffs, but generally it's very well balanced an enjoyable system. - Variability. Despite map pool being handcrafted, it does not get old. Different entry and exit points, different guard variety, different objectives, different side objectives and different squads you bring into it all create countless variations for every mission, keeping things from getting stale. - Flexible difficulty. You disagree with devs about something in particular? Chances are, there is a slider for that. Enemies feel to spongy? Cut their power level and/or HP and/or boost they get from power level or everything at once. Enemies too squishy? Do the reverse. Reinforcements are too often? You can cap the rate at which they arrive. Don't like SecAI tally passively increasing every turn? You can switch this off or even make it decrease passively every turn. Think the game is too generous with money and exp rewards? Cut them. Want to be rewarded more? Increase exp and money rewards. Etc, etc. If you want some other option added - make a suggestion, if it's possible and reasonable there is a huge chance devs will implement. Which leads to... - Responsive developers. Damn. It is the first game I ever played where I can have a shower thought-level of an idea, post it on steam forums and devs will respond with if they can/will add it and if not - why not. They engage with the community very actively and always, always listen. - The game keeps getting developed. New content, new classes, new storylines, even new mechanics keep getting added completely for free. Many DLCs worth of content gets delivered constantly. Developers really, really love their game and lack the greed in the slightest. - Very easy feedback. Spotted a bug? Balance issue? Something else? Just press F10 right in the game and describe the issue. The screenshot and all the other necessary technical info will be sent automatically. - Vibe. It's damn Shadowrun, just without magic. Mod support is on the way and I wonder how soon the Shadowrun mod will be developed. - Power fantasy. Early in the game on highest difficulties one is expected to struggle a bit, yes. But in the endgame you can make your Cyber Knight (or another merc) rip through hovertanks and waves of guards solo, not even bothering with stealth. Granted, by that time you outscale the enemy, and have chrome worth more than ten times said hovertanks do, but still. However, devs are working on enemies for further, currently "postgame" power levels, so the challenge would be back on the menu. Overall one of my favorite games, 300 hours in and still going. Highly recommend.