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Overall:
My overall impression is very good. The game is a cool combination of Thief/System Shock, and Deus Ex. The story showed hints of being interesting, but I know it's early and there's not much to it yet, but I'd like to know more. I'm assuming the version I tested ends after you enter the mining complex, or did I miss something? I entered a door and there was nowhere to go except down a shaft, and then I was stuck and couldn't move anywhere.
Love the environment/atmosphere. Great Sci Fi setting. The area with the bonesaw and bldgs A and B reminded me of Aliens, when the troops first land on the planetoid where the alien is. The last part with the crashed ships and wide open alien landscapes was great too. This part is very well done and really gives the player a feeling like they're in alien surroundings.
The stealth is a mixed bag, but good for the most part. On some of the wide open areas on the last section of the demo, it's tough to make it challenging because you can basically just run around all of the AI at full speed, but that just kind of the way it is with an open landscape like that. Some players (especially Thief fans) may think the stealth is a bit sensitive and strict, because you can't really do more than crouch when you're close to the soldiers, otherwise they'll hear you. Crouching speed seemed too slow, so it takes too long to get anywhere. I'd rather be able to walk, and then have the AI move around and switch direction more often to create a challenge for the player. Sometimes after you alert an AI, and then they calm down again, they never go back to their patrol, they just sit there. A few areas could have used a few more AI too, like the other side of Bldgs A&B and maybe even inside any of the the buildings.
Ambient music was really good - ominous and spooky sounding. Creepy sometimes. I also thought the voice acting on the audio logs was excellent. Overall, the sound is very good.
A couple of the checkpoints were frustrating, mainly on the third/last part of the game. At one point, I went back and forth and visited d a couple of crash sites, got the audio log about the EYE, then went towards the mining building and died, and had to start all the way back at the beginning. Hopefully there will also be a manual save for the final game.
Issues:
Got stuck on the geometry fairly often. A lot of times it was when I was crouching and trying to get over rocks or rubble. In the beginning when you take the grate cover off the opening where the power cell is, it was hard to place the cover anywhere and not have it get in the way so you could get through. Also, going through the tunnels was difficult without getting stuck. It was also easy to get stuck often on objects like crates and boxes.
The beginning is maybe a bit too dark, possibly an occasional light along the way to lead the player would help. Or low level emergency lighting.
Some of the audio logs didn't have subtitles (but some did). Once or twice, the audio logs looped 2-3 times without me doing anything.
AI - Their comments when idle seemed to occur far too often, about once every 5 seconds. Didn't feel very realistic, with the AI jumping from topic to topic so quickly. Also, sometimes the AI comments don't make sense. You'll be standing completely still and they'll say “I hear you over there” or “what's making that noise” or “What the hell was that?”
Body drop - sounds way too loud, could be softened. Sounds like I'm dropping a huge boulder or something.
A few times I tried to zap the zombie troops with the stun gun, and missed (or hit them in the wrong spot), but they didn't seem to notice even though I saw blood shoot out.
In the part where you get the 2nd hacking tool, I was suddenly unable to switch weapons or access my inventory. I was stuck on the hacking tool, but I couldn't use it. And then at one point, I heard a click and walked away and saw both my arms sitting there in midair. This happened a couple of times, and there was no way out of it, had to reload.
If you shoot a light out with the AI sitting right there, it doesn't hear it. This seems unrealistic.
In the rain areas, the rain effect was inconsistent. Sometimes I'd be under cover and it would still be raining, and then sometimes I'd be outside and it wouldn't. Sometimes I would be under cover, and be looking out at a place where I know it was raining a few seconds ago, and there's no rain.
Inventory window - it's a bit annoying the window moves around as you move the cursor. I was also having trouble figuring out how to scroll text in the inventory window where the item descriptions were.
The girl who talks to you over the intercom (not sure who she is) has a tendency to be annoying like Erin from the new Thief game. I found myself turning down the sound a few times when she was talking. Might just be a personal thing with me.
If you're detected at close range, you seem to have no chance whatsoever and the AI just blast you into pieces. There should be at least some chance for the player to escape.
Picking up objects to throw was kind of wonky. Sometimes my cursor wouldn't highlight when it was on an object I was trying to pick up. Sometimes there was no cursor at all, but if I pressed the Use button, it would still pick the object up.
That's it for now. Let me know if I can help out some more.
Naturally, most of the issues he's reporting has been fixed already.
