First impression after getting 3 chapters perfect (there are 8 in all), while it's still on sale on the IndieGala Friday bundle: I like this game.
It's a stealth game, but it's different: you don't get a knife, you don't get to kill anyone (but you [b]can[/b] get shot), there are some surveillance cameras (but you can't disable them), the guards will not stop looking for you just because they lost sight of you for a minute (but you can see where they think you are), there is no easy way to sneak in to the loot and then out again (but you [b]can[/b] distract the guards), the levels are fairly easy to beat (but some of them are hard to beat perfectly).
You also get a film noir vibe (except it's black and white [b]and[/b] red), complete with gumshoe investigator, long-legged femme fatale, and jazzy music - the perfect athmosphere to bash your heads against some of the challenges, because of course I want to do those levels perfectly (but I'm not ashamed to sneak onward when I'm out of ideas for the moment). Those challenges, well, looking at the global stats it is suprising that more people got the first 3 chapters perfect than got chapter 4 at all -- it seems after level 3 mostly those players stick with the game who are able to put off perfection until later. The game can sometimes be frustrating because on some levels, perfection means trial and error, learning to translate the red indicators on the map into paths the AI is going to send these guards, and finally understanding and getting it right. You also need to learn how to use the distraction devices properly. But like I said, if you allow yourself to put off perfection until later, and get on with the story when frustration looms, it won't spoil your enjoyment of this game. A good game needs to be diffcult, or beating it won't mean anything.
Mobile port -- of course it is one; you drag with mouse a lot, and sometimes I miss not being able to WASD my way around, but by and large, this works well: the dragging is the right interface mechanic for the semi-animated graphic novel cutscenes (static screenshots don't really do justice to those), and dragging your path lets you take the shortest path around corners without having to develop prime keyboard twitch skills, and it also is the natural way to operate the decoy you get in chapter 4. There are keyboard shortcuts for the devices, which means your mouse does paths, your keyboard hand activates devices, and your brain outwits the guards -- if I failed a level, the latter was usually at fault.
Outwitting the guards is indeed mandatory: while it is perfectly ok on your first runthrough to reach the exit with all of the guards in tow behind you, perfection often requires reaching the exit unseen or unhurt, which means losing the guards around a few quick corners, and then staying lost: especially important as the fat out-of-breath rent-a-cops get reinforced by better-trained collegues who are able to outpace you -- maybe your alter ego should've cut down on the whiskey and cigarettes (not shown in the game) and gotten some exercise.
If you've always wanted a stealth game where the guards keep looking, look no further: you should be eyeing (and playing) Third Eye Crime.
