My problem was the main gameplay. It was good, but, honestly...
Nonlethal vs. Lethal: It's obvious they favor lethal attacks in this game, which comes at no surprise seeing as how it is based around what is meant to be a master assassin. However, the nonlethal actions leave a lot to be desired, and I mean A LOT.
There are only two nonlethal forms of attack (unless I somehow spent hours upon hours without figuring out some secret method of fighting) which would be Sleep Darts and choking people out. What I wanted to know in the first half hour of the game was why there was no melee attacking for non-lethal? Or a parry for non-lethal? I'm a master assassin, don't I know how to use my bare hands to overcome enemies? It seems completely idiotic that we can't knock someone out by sidestepping them or blocking their attack and slugging them in the jaw. Instead, a parry is instant death all the time, and you have nothing but your sword for melee.
Sleep darts have to be one of the most boring things in the world to use. Sleep Darts just make them swoon and fall over. For nonlethal spells we've got the Freeze Time, Possession, Dark Sight, and Blink abilities. Possession absolutely sucks on humans, the timer is far too short to actually be effective for anything but quickly walking through Walls of Light, and even then there's always an alternative route through the shadows you can take that is usually safer and has less chance of getting you spotted. Also, the fact you die if the thing you possess dies makes it completely useless for attacking. I thought I was being super sneaky sticking a razor trap on a rat, then possessing it and running at the enemy. Nope-Dead.
Meanwhile, over here in lethal land, we have incendiary bolts, crossbow bolts, razor traps, grenades, sword, gun, Devouring Swarm, Wind Blast (Level 2 seems to make it incredibly lethal), thrown Whale Oil Tanks, the Adrenaline skill, and Shadow Kill. They make the lethal route far more amusing and varied.
And unconscious people can die too easily. I had to restart a mission because one guy I was carrying I dropped about four feet to the ground from a ledge; cracked his damn skull open. Left an unconscious guy IN THE ROOM I KNOCKED HIM OUT IN, sweep by there later and discover he's been eaten by damned rats. Had to reload an autosave from nearly twenty minutes prior.
AND YET, this game is obviously meant to be stretched out via stealth. I don't get that, if you're a person who wants to go gung-ho with full lethal, you could easily slaughter your way through this game in a matter of a few hours. I honestly went back and started a new one using lethal just to guage my time; Overseer Campbell was dead in under five minutes, as opposed to my stealthy non-lethal approach which was about twenty minutes, at the least. So, wouldn't you want to make the non-lethal, more difficult to accomplish method a bit more interesting?
Nonlethal vs. Lethal: It's obvious they favor lethal attacks in this game, which comes at no surprise seeing as how it is based around what is meant to be a master assassin. However, the nonlethal actions leave a lot to be desired, and I mean A LOT.
There are only two nonlethal forms of attack (unless I somehow spent hours upon hours without figuring out some secret method of fighting) which would be Sleep Darts and choking people out. What I wanted to know in the first half hour of the game was why there was no melee attacking for non-lethal? Or a parry for non-lethal? I'm a master assassin, don't I know how to use my bare hands to overcome enemies? It seems completely idiotic that we can't knock someone out by sidestepping them or blocking their attack and slugging them in the jaw. Instead, a parry is instant death all the time, and you have nothing but your sword for melee.
Sleep darts have to be one of the most boring things in the world to use. Sleep Darts just make them swoon and fall over. For nonlethal spells we've got the Freeze Time, Possession, Dark Sight, and Blink abilities. Possession absolutely sucks on humans, the timer is far too short to actually be effective for anything but quickly walking through Walls of Light, and even then there's always an alternative route through the shadows you can take that is usually safer and has less chance of getting you spotted. Also, the fact you die if the thing you possess dies makes it completely useless for attacking. I thought I was being super sneaky sticking a razor trap on a rat, then possessing it and running at the enemy. Nope-Dead.
Meanwhile, over here in lethal land, we have incendiary bolts, crossbow bolts, razor traps, grenades, sword, gun, Devouring Swarm, Wind Blast (Level 2 seems to make it incredibly lethal), thrown Whale Oil Tanks, the Adrenaline skill, and Shadow Kill. They make the lethal route far more amusing and varied.
And unconscious people can die too easily. I had to restart a mission because one guy I was carrying I dropped about four feet to the ground from a ledge; cracked his damn skull open. Left an unconscious guy IN THE ROOM I KNOCKED HIM OUT IN, sweep by there later and discover he's been eaten by damned rats. Had to reload an autosave from nearly twenty minutes prior.
AND YET, this game is obviously meant to be stretched out via stealth. I don't get that, if you're a person who wants to go gung-ho with full lethal, you could easily slaughter your way through this game in a matter of a few hours. I honestly went back and started a new one using lethal just to guage my time; Overseer Campbell was dead in under five minutes, as opposed to my stealthy non-lethal approach which was about twenty minutes, at the least. So, wouldn't you want to make the non-lethal, more difficult to accomplish method a bit more interesting?
