ROUTINE

This was an incredible experience. The atmosphere, sound design, puzzles, all of it was just phenomenal. One of my favorite games ever.

neat?

atmospheric

GOD ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DAMN IT JUMP SCARES ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ PISS me OFF. I H A T E the feeling of jolting from a jump scare. My whole body tenses inside and out and it ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hurts. ♥♥♥♥! The first part of the game was fine, but the second part they deliberately set three jump scares (there is a fourth you can avoid, but what's the point? It's a cool death scene) you have to endure to get to the end. Ugh. [h3]The Game[/h3] The story was cool, with the trope of journals (diaries, messages, etc.) carried over from Unreal (the original), which we also see in Pathways into Darkness (Mac, and a completely different company, so it's not an original idea, but it is well implemented here) and System Shock. Though the plot gets mushy in the last chapter or two. I believe there wasn't enough impetus for the protagonist, you know? I mean, the motivation made sense, but I didn't feel like there was enough happening to justify the finale. A little more psychosis would have helped. You are free to roam around the place, but only so far. You will get reset with a little jump-scare jolt if you exceed a boundary. Would have been nice to walk for weeks across the moon with nothing but gray rocks everywhere. That's the physical limitations. The visual limitations are fine just fine, as they add to the claustrophobic feeling, the sudden fear and rush of running with no visual feedback. It's fine. Figuring out the seeking algorithm wasn't too hard either, but the designers mixed it up with random location movement on the first half and a variety of tricks in the second. I keep saying first and second half. There are two enemies in this whole game. They are different difficulties, and the second one increases its difficulty as you progress. There is no hurting the second enemy, just running. That was a good scared feeling, bringing me right back to the first death knight scare in Thief. The sound it makes while chasing you is quite unnerving. [h3]Cons[/h3] A little more clarity would have been nice in understanding the buttons on the CAT. I didn't know what was being degaussed, I didn't know where the PDA interface was supposed to show up (on the back of the CAT?). But when the instances of those needs occurred I was able to figure it out. Finding the first battery had me feeling dumb when I finally found them. If they are clearly labeled, then it's my fault because my ability to read has dropped off considerably. Not a game design issue. I did find myself running back and forth between areas a few too many times, but that's because I got lost in my head about what location was where. A static map posted somewhere in the level would have been nice. I noticed the video in all but the first and last movies was slow and desynced from the audio and captioning. Might just be me. I was expecting a third enemy type when exploring the Annex. Some creeping death-plant would have been a good way to annoy me and give me something to shoot at. Jump scares are cheap ways to scare people. Don't do it. It sucks and shows a lack of priority in the story telling. [h3]Pros[/h3] The action flow is good. It's intense and fast when it's happening, there's tension when being chased, and there's a way to escape getting caught. The additional audio "sting" helps to indicate when you've been spotted. The bounty of batteries makes the first half easier, and the results from being killed are surprising. The amount of enemies is fine just fine. The variety is fine for how short the game is. I likely could have beat it sooner, but was exploring too much and investigating the meshes and mechanics. Very nice details, nice textures, Good bumps. Sweet post processing stuff. I appreciated the hints in the first half, but found none of the same mechanics in the second half. It was almost like two different games were being put together... hmmm... Controls are responsive, simple, and rebindable. The options did everything I needed, so good job there. [h3]Overall[/h3] Play it! Buy the game. Support the artists, programmers, voice actors, dev team, etc. Complain loudly about the jump-scares. They could have been much more intense chases instead. Spoiler! [spoiler]There actually is a third enemy, but you take care of it in the first half. Supposedly.[/spoiler]

Short, but very fun and often terrifying. Runs well on a variety of hardware.

=Испугались?= =Обосрался!= 10/10

Cool as heck!