Open world, resource collecting, zombie fighting, with a long form story with "moral" choices AND free running? Sign me up!
I was a fan of the original, not like fallout level of fandom, but I definetly played it more than most of the games in my library: and was thoroughly impressed by how techland was constantly updating and providing free (and paid.) new content even now. This went right on my wish list, and was bought before launch.
I've had the chance to play it for a while, and it's a good upgrade to, and technical step up from the original. The core elements, excellent parkour mechanics, fairly solid combat, good map design, reasonably abundant resources. And it's improved in a good number of ways over the original: for instance the original had a massive city... split in two by a loading screen (actually, it was two loading screens and an entire other map you only have to navigate through once, which is probably a technical limitation they decided to play with.). The massive city in this one is all there, and all accesible from minute 1... but seperated by chemical wastelands which will kill you if you try to cross them. Okay, even break I guess. There are also FAR more open buildings available for exploration and exploitation, the dark zones come in varying difficulties, sizes and with proportional rewards: the small easy ones (literally accessible by jumping through an open window.) usually have base level crafting mats and supplies, and some other valuable goodies lying around like crystals and weapons, the larger ones usually have the GRE crates in them, which is how you upgrade your character in this game. And NO loading screens. Some are locked off by actual, physical locks of varying kinds (mechanical or electrical locks of some kind, or stamina and equipment bars (like the grapple hook or paraglider.), but they all exist actively in the world as you are playing.
Truth be told, I am having fun with this game, the core premises and their implementations work well, and the story (though the usual triple A pab.) is interesting enough to want you to keep driving forward. The moral choices are pretty petty, reflecting in basically how the individual city sectors reflect ownership. Survivors put in upgrades to movement, and the peacekeepers put in upgrades for combat. I haven't seen the end of the story yet, so I have no idea how that aspect plays out, but I doubt it'll mean much in the long run.
I even got a nice lesson in paying attention when I randomly stopped to help a little girl fighting some bandits. Seems one of the bandits stole her music box, and she requested I retrieve it. And I did: killing bandits is fun, so... no brainer, right? She even told me that I could sell it if I wanted since she didn't have any other to pay for the service. I had every intention of bringing it back to her, since I am not a monster, but the game itself classified the item as a valuable for selling, and when I sold all with the key shortcut... it sold the music box. The look on her face when I told her I sold it... och...
Here's where I bitch!
The original game was quite obviously designed for consoles. Which suited me fine, the gamepad controls were tight, fast, responsive, smooth. Everything you could want and right out of the box too. THIS one was obviously made for PC, the gamepad is heavy, slow, awkward, imprecise, the only thing it isn't is laggy. The main menu though treats the thumbstick as a mouse cursor which is just disgusting. The game itself also has great trouble switching back and forth from input to the other in terms of how the UI handles it. Physically switching is as easy as just... using the thing. Button prompts on the HUD though need to be designated in the options, and it patently refuses to switch easily. Once you get it on one of them, good ******* luck changing it. There some work arounds to be found online, but it's hit or miss as to what will work for you.
But truth be told: my complaints are relatively minor. The aspects that matter, which is world building, design, mechanics: these are all pretty solid. I've yet to have it crash on me, and despite the obvious after-thought nature of the gamepad handling: the game it still playable that way. I'm sure either the company will patch it, or someone will figure out a mod or gamepad settings which is fix it.
All things considered: good game, enjoyable so far, and techland generally handles their properties fairly well in regards to steady content drops and quality, so happy to be supporting their work. Looking forward to see what they drop next.
I was a fan of the original, not like fallout level of fandom, but I definetly played it more than most of the games in my library: and was thoroughly impressed by how techland was constantly updating and providing free (and paid.) new content even now. This went right on my wish list, and was bought before launch.
I've had the chance to play it for a while, and it's a good upgrade to, and technical step up from the original. The core elements, excellent parkour mechanics, fairly solid combat, good map design, reasonably abundant resources. And it's improved in a good number of ways over the original: for instance the original had a massive city... split in two by a loading screen (actually, it was two loading screens and an entire other map you only have to navigate through once, which is probably a technical limitation they decided to play with.). The massive city in this one is all there, and all accesible from minute 1... but seperated by chemical wastelands which will kill you if you try to cross them. Okay, even break I guess. There are also FAR more open buildings available for exploration and exploitation, the dark zones come in varying difficulties, sizes and with proportional rewards: the small easy ones (literally accessible by jumping through an open window.) usually have base level crafting mats and supplies, and some other valuable goodies lying around like crystals and weapons, the larger ones usually have the GRE crates in them, which is how you upgrade your character in this game. And NO loading screens. Some are locked off by actual, physical locks of varying kinds (mechanical or electrical locks of some kind, or stamina and equipment bars (like the grapple hook or paraglider.), but they all exist actively in the world as you are playing.
Truth be told, I am having fun with this game, the core premises and their implementations work well, and the story (though the usual triple A pab.) is interesting enough to want you to keep driving forward. The moral choices are pretty petty, reflecting in basically how the individual city sectors reflect ownership. Survivors put in upgrades to movement, and the peacekeepers put in upgrades for combat. I haven't seen the end of the story yet, so I have no idea how that aspect plays out, but I doubt it'll mean much in the long run.
I even got a nice lesson in paying attention when I randomly stopped to help a little girl fighting some bandits. Seems one of the bandits stole her music box, and she requested I retrieve it. And I did: killing bandits is fun, so... no brainer, right? She even told me that I could sell it if I wanted since she didn't have any other to pay for the service. I had every intention of bringing it back to her, since I am not a monster, but the game itself classified the item as a valuable for selling, and when I sold all with the key shortcut... it sold the music box. The look on her face when I told her I sold it... och...
Here's where I bitch!
The original game was quite obviously designed for consoles. Which suited me fine, the gamepad controls were tight, fast, responsive, smooth. Everything you could want and right out of the box too. THIS one was obviously made for PC, the gamepad is heavy, slow, awkward, imprecise, the only thing it isn't is laggy. The main menu though treats the thumbstick as a mouse cursor which is just disgusting. The game itself also has great trouble switching back and forth from input to the other in terms of how the UI handles it. Physically switching is as easy as just... using the thing. Button prompts on the HUD though need to be designated in the options, and it patently refuses to switch easily. Once you get it on one of them, good ******* luck changing it. There some work arounds to be found online, but it's hit or miss as to what will work for you.
But truth be told: my complaints are relatively minor. The aspects that matter, which is world building, design, mechanics: these are all pretty solid. I've yet to have it crash on me, and despite the obvious after-thought nature of the gamepad handling: the game it still playable that way. I'm sure either the company will patch it, or someone will figure out a mod or gamepad settings which is fix it.
All things considered: good game, enjoyable so far, and techland generally handles their properties fairly well in regards to steady content drops and quality, so happy to be supporting their work. Looking forward to see what they drop next.