Hawki said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3cRpYGVPsU
Definitely channeling Fallout.
And a gameplay video already!? Okay, things I took away from it in no particular order:
- Strictly first person. (But apparently does contain a character creator, so...maybe we'll see our characters in the menus? Cutscenes?)
- Single player.
- Silent protagonist. (This is a good thing. Fallout 4 showed why voicing character creations doesn't work well)
- Where ME has Paragon/Renegade and Alpha Protocol has Veteran/Pro/Suave/Thug, this one has Hero/Maniac/Moron. (I loved Malkavian in VTMB, so Maniac, obviously.) Interesting there's no obvious "evil" or sociopath/be-a-dick option.
- Gunplay, melee, weapon stats, damage types. Pistols, hammers, one handed scythes.
- Has bullet-time. (Well it is a console game too). Has lock-picking.
- Like KotOR/ME, two companions in the party, rest on ship. Unlike KotOR/ME, no romances.
- Like KotOR/ME, can use ship to travel between planets in the system.
- Companions give buffs to player while in the party. A "leadership" skill tree exists to optionally enhance them.
- There are conversation skills (Intimidate, Lie).
- Very Deus Ex-y, multiple ways to solve tasks, including non-violently. Maybe stealth is a thing?
- Dynamically take on negative traits, like a "Fear" of a certain enemy, granting a permanent penalty against them in exchange for a perk elsewhere. A very cool idea to really make a unique character with strengths and weaknesses.
And things learned from other sources:
- Co-created by Leonard Boyarsky and Tim Cain, the creators of Fallout.
- Unreal engine
- Rumoured Q2/Q4 2019 release. CP2077 is rumoured for a Q3 release.
- Player will get their own ship and meet all NPC companions within first third of the game. I suspect they'll have the usual selection of melee/ranged DPS and tank. Wondering if there'll be some CC/healing abilities.
- About the setting, from
the Steam page:
Explore the corporate colony: Halcyon is a colony at the edge of the galaxy owned and operated by a corporate board. They control everything... except for the alien monsters left behind when the terraforming of the colony?s two planets didn?t exactly go according to plan. Find your ship, build your crew, and explore the settlements, space stations, and other intriguing locations throughout Halcyon.
Overall, it definitely feels like a blend of Shock-like and KotOR/ME, with a steam-punky sci fi style. A bit of a Fallout vibe, minus the post-apocalypse.
A final thought, since MS now owns Obsidian and this game is published by a 2K subsidiary (Thanks Geth), who owns the IP is an interesting one. Will this be a one-off or, depending on its success, might it spawn future sequels (and who will make/publish them)? Mass Effect is the only series that immediately comes to mind that switched publisher between its first title and its sequel.