Good stuff, too short, wanted more. Mike doesn't miss. My eye hurts! Ouch!

Hard to recommend the game given the abysmal state of AI, constant bugs, game-breaking updates making the game unplayable, etc. - it's unfortunate because the core of the game is great, but it really doesn't take much to brick the game. Overlays? Game crashes. Mods? Game crashes. Regularly scheduled developer update? Game crashes. Cloud save sync issues? Game crashes.

A masterclass in movement shooters, with immaculate gunplay and simple but well-executed visuals. Jumping across floating biomes while chasing down the next collectible or challenge makes for an experience you can lose yourself in for hours. Greylock Studio have once again proven their love and passion for the FPS genre through Echo Point Nova.

Visually stunning neo-noir mystery, with all the usual bells, whistles, and alcoholism of your classic tortured detective story. The gameplay itself is fairly light, as it amounts roughly to a walking simulator with some simple detective-work. Admittedly the game could use a more robust gameplay system and, potentially, a longer, more expansive story, but for a first-time developer, Critical Hit Games knocked it out of the park. A lack of replayability and chapter-select is also a minus, but not a critical one.

I want to like this game. I really do. But Arkane really flubbed things with a few key game design choices that have a significantly negative impact on the game:


1) Map design is boring. Compared to Dishonored or Prey, Deathloop has a very boring set of map design principles in play. I was able to circumvent entire mission structures through murdering everything that moved until the thing that I needed to kill was dead, invalidating what was probably hours of dev time spent developing a complex, interwoven narrative meant to help guide the player towards an objective.
2) Adaptive Difficulty - what a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. The game is outrageously easy, despite how strong you become. Rapiers 1-shot almost everything you have to fight, and the AI is barely functional. Headshotting enemies and taking out swaths of enemies with your arsenal is too easy. Almost all of the unique experiences that the game has to offer - from shooting vending machines and watching enemies slip in a pile of candy, to slick combat maneuvers done after careful planning - are rendered moot by just how easy the game is. Right now? It's boring.

Arkane are (usually) masters of their craft, but this game is a letdown in comparison to their other titles. If you're interested in an FPS-RPG, please check out their other games first.

Absolutely loved this game. There were occasional issues with things not clicking properly, menus not working, etc., but the game otherwise ran wonderfully. The story was engaging and properly dark, with just the right amount of despair and evil mixed in to create an intense experience.

My only compliants (aside from the occasional glitch) was just how obtusive some of the actions needed to progress could be. The logic was there, sure, but it was very specific logic that was sometimes just a little too difficult to puzzle out without random experimentation. Otherwise, highly recommended for fans of isometric games and lots of gore and horror.

An overall very enjoyable game! Definitely warrants at least 2 playthroughs. Good game if you like exploration with a dose of decent horror. The attention to sound is good, though its not always perfect. Highly recommend picking it up on a sale, or paying full price of you're a fan of horror in this style.

Its still early access, so of course there's not a ton there. But its very good so far for what it is.

-

Short, but very entertaining visual novel. As others have already said, the music is excellent and really helps set the mood. The endings are easy to figure out but get more complex as you near the True End. Overall a good play, and I hope to see more from these developers in the future!