wow... just wow...
So I got home from work yesterday at 5pm (yeah I skipped out early) went home and started up Steam. The download too about 2 hours, not the worst, but I would have hoped to get it a bit faster given that Steam had the ability to preload. Guess Brehethsda wasn't into that. Bastards...
ANYWAY.
I start up the game and bam, next thing I know, it is 1am. It has been a LONG while since I've had a game this immersive, this well put-together. I am just amazed at the depth, detail and care that was poured into it. It really does remind me of Deus Ex in some ways.
I have to admit that I was afraid that the game would be dumbed down for the consoles, I'm happy to report that it is definitely NOT Invisible War in that regard. While the menus definitely lend themselves to being cosolised, the feel of the game is definitely harsh.
Combat is something which is NOT easy and you want to go into prepared. Walking the Wasteland gives you a sense of dread and you need to learn to listen carefully for sounds of approaching enemies as getting ambushed is a common occurance. That said, I love the fact that after you've explored a certain landmark you can go back to it quickly using markers on the map.
Character management is at once easy thanks to the Pipboy interface, but at the same time enourmously complex thanks to all the stats and skills that need to be considered when levelling up. Again, the Deus Ex (1) feel I got from it was a welcome one.
When it comes to the story and quests, I feel I only scratched the surface in the six hours I played last night. Quests seem fairly organic and getting out of Vault 101 took me most of the night, though I did backtrack through saves to try out some different moral choices. Outside of the vault, things get a lot more open-ended. The wasteland is exactly that: a seemingly endless expanse of dreary ruins and rubble. I feel uneasy playing the game and that is a great sign to the immersiveness of the combination of setting, writing, and interface.
The combat system is a strange thing. It took me a while to figure out that the Vacs (or whatever that combat pause thing is) system is more suited to finishing moves than something intended to be used constantly, but once I made that connection, things got a bit easier.
Now the bad news (which is kind of good news). The game gave me insomnia. It happens rarely with me, but once in a while I become just so involved with a game that I just kind of hover all night between sleeping, dreaming, and being awake and just thinking about the game and what to do next. I haven't had a game do that in quite some time, so I suppose it is a good testament to its quality.
As for which platform to get it on, I was a bit biased towards the PC because of the mouse-keyboard thing. Had the game had multiplayer, I might have considered getting it on the 360, but given there wasn't, I felt control would be better on the PC. My rig is about 3 years old now and seems to display the game fine with only some minor slowdown here and there. Usually though, the framerate is fairly good. I definitely feel that the mouse and keyboard helps during combat, as melee oriented enemies like to get really close and then behind you, so turning around and aiming quickly seems to be a usefuly thing to do. Other than that, I'm not sure that there is much of a difference between the 360 and PC version. Good friend of mine is playing it simultaneously on the 360 and doesn't seem to have complaints on his end, so again, I don't think it is a big deal, more a matter of taste in controls.
Well, there it is for now. Tonight I'll probably try to be a bit more time-conscious and not stay up so late, but for those of you who are fans of the original Deus Ex, like the old Fallouts, and extremely dense games, this is a no-brainer. Go get it!
Edit: typos.
So I got home from work yesterday at 5pm (yeah I skipped out early) went home and started up Steam. The download too about 2 hours, not the worst, but I would have hoped to get it a bit faster given that Steam had the ability to preload. Guess Brehethsda wasn't into that. Bastards...
ANYWAY.
I start up the game and bam, next thing I know, it is 1am. It has been a LONG while since I've had a game this immersive, this well put-together. I am just amazed at the depth, detail and care that was poured into it. It really does remind me of Deus Ex in some ways.
I have to admit that I was afraid that the game would be dumbed down for the consoles, I'm happy to report that it is definitely NOT Invisible War in that regard. While the menus definitely lend themselves to being cosolised, the feel of the game is definitely harsh.
Combat is something which is NOT easy and you want to go into prepared. Walking the Wasteland gives you a sense of dread and you need to learn to listen carefully for sounds of approaching enemies as getting ambushed is a common occurance. That said, I love the fact that after you've explored a certain landmark you can go back to it quickly using markers on the map.
Character management is at once easy thanks to the Pipboy interface, but at the same time enourmously complex thanks to all the stats and skills that need to be considered when levelling up. Again, the Deus Ex (1) feel I got from it was a welcome one.
When it comes to the story and quests, I feel I only scratched the surface in the six hours I played last night. Quests seem fairly organic and getting out of Vault 101 took me most of the night, though I did backtrack through saves to try out some different moral choices. Outside of the vault, things get a lot more open-ended. The wasteland is exactly that: a seemingly endless expanse of dreary ruins and rubble. I feel uneasy playing the game and that is a great sign to the immersiveness of the combination of setting, writing, and interface.
The combat system is a strange thing. It took me a while to figure out that the Vacs (or whatever that combat pause thing is) system is more suited to finishing moves than something intended to be used constantly, but once I made that connection, things got a bit easier.
Now the bad news (which is kind of good news). The game gave me insomnia. It happens rarely with me, but once in a while I become just so involved with a game that I just kind of hover all night between sleeping, dreaming, and being awake and just thinking about the game and what to do next. I haven't had a game do that in quite some time, so I suppose it is a good testament to its quality.
As for which platform to get it on, I was a bit biased towards the PC because of the mouse-keyboard thing. Had the game had multiplayer, I might have considered getting it on the 360, but given there wasn't, I felt control would be better on the PC. My rig is about 3 years old now and seems to display the game fine with only some minor slowdown here and there. Usually though, the framerate is fairly good. I definitely feel that the mouse and keyboard helps during combat, as melee oriented enemies like to get really close and then behind you, so turning around and aiming quickly seems to be a usefuly thing to do. Other than that, I'm not sure that there is much of a difference between the 360 and PC version. Good friend of mine is playing it simultaneously on the 360 and doesn't seem to have complaints on his end, so again, I don't think it is a big deal, more a matter of taste in controls.
Well, there it is for now. Tonight I'll probably try to be a bit more time-conscious and not stay up so late, but for those of you who are fans of the original Deus Ex, like the old Fallouts, and extremely dense games, this is a no-brainer. Go get it!
Edit: typos.
