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Prey (2017) - Spoiler Thread
- Thread starter M.W.
- Start date
BreezyLimbo
Banned
There's a survival mechanic in this where you build a base?
Karak
Member
no its more of a way in which you MIGHT play
BreezyLimbo
Banned
Moff
Member
my first thought was that it was because I was alien
but then I was not so sure because they might have been corrupted like the operators.
just finished it, the last few hours were crazy. in a good way storywise, not so much gameplaywise. the robots were even more annoying than the typhon and then you get swarmed with them like that
luckily I had save up tons of nanomods, because most powers are very boring, so I could buy the robot hijack skill which took care of most of the encounters in that phase.
got max empathy and the do no harm achievement, not sure if I'll do another run, it had too many annoying sections. and I never found some of the people for some sidequests, the one that bothered me the most was obviously the cook. how do I find him? danielle mentioned he had a psychotronic bracelet but I never found him with that, as a matter of fact I traced the dude who ends up in the container before the cargo bay. is he the character written by chris avellone?
I don't think this is anywhere near close to dishonored 2 or the last two deus ex games gameplaywise and leveldesign wise. although the level design or generally how the game was built up was really excellent in prey. liked that a lot. super motivating, took me roughly 20 hours.
So, the ending was disappointing...
I sat and watched Talos blow up from the captain's chair after knocking Alex unconscious.
I had done a lot of good and took Alex's hand at the end. I had a feeling it was a simulation or something, but where it went to was probably the most boring...
I dont know what else to say. Its VERY WEIRD to put the end game explanation at the end of the credits.... There wasnt much in terms of "breadcrumbs" to let you know what was going on either, something I really appreciate about Bioshock's twist.
I sat and watched Talos blow up from the captain's chair after knocking Alex unconscious.
I had done a lot of good and took Alex's hand at the end. I had a feeling it was a simulation or something, but where it went to was probably the most boring...
I dont know what else to say. Its VERY WEIRD to put the end game explanation at the end of the credits.... There wasnt much in terms of "breadcrumbs" to let you know what was going on either, something I really appreciate about Bioshock's twist.
plasmawave
Banned
Just finished it. The game is good but not great imo.
Is it just me or the sound mix is real bad in this game? I could barely hear what people were saying with all the loud sound effects and music going on. It made it real hard to follow the story because of it.
The gameplay and stealth were weak.
Also enemies in this game SUCK. Pretty sure most of them are just there to annoy the fuck out of you.
I might like it more on my 2nd play through but eh...
Is it just me or the sound mix is real bad in this game? I could barely hear what people were saying with all the loud sound effects and music going on. It made it real hard to follow the story because of it.
The gameplay and stealth were weak.
Also enemies in this game SUCK. Pretty sure most of them are just there to annoy the fuck out of you.
I might like it more on my 2nd play through but eh...
1. Knock him out
2. Travel between areas so events get triggered
3. Follow instructions
You don't need to take him anywhere yourself, just make sure he can't die before you exit area where he is in.
------
Finished game after 30h run and overall it's strong game.
"Twist" at the end that you are basically enhanced Phantom through having Morgan's memories implanted into it and other neuron stuff isn't very strong because how much game teases it from the beginning. Very obvious route to take and Arkane took it.
Only surprise was that game is further in future than I thought and aliens are rekking the Earth in what I assume is the war where humans are losing.
Key characters you helped are dead and their personalities been put into Operators?
Also I think original Morgan is dead and enhanced Phantom was created by imprint of Morgan's memories from time before Morgan died on Talos 1?
Choice at the end hopefully plays out in possible sequel and isn't just meaningless cocktease.
Moff
Member
I did this twice and nothing ever triggered for me, no quest no anything.
I think it's a bug or I did not do something before that makes this possible
who gives you the quest/trigger/instructions to do it?
Name escapes me, but doctor you saved from that cargo contained outside of cargo bay.
Doctor Igwe.
Expanding on my expanded impressions from the main thread:
I was incredibly let down by the last few missions.
There's quite a bit of backtracking in the latter parts of the game, which I don't mind in theory, but I didn't find to be done well. After Dahl docks his shuttle and the military operators clear the station of Typhon presence, things just get really dull. They're pretty one-note to fight, and at that point I'd already been everywhere so each sub-objective just involved running past a lot of slow robots to the mission marker.
I got my hopes up once the apex Typhon attacks the station and you're funneled into the finale, expecting some good gameplay challenges like reconfigured areas or new encounters; stuff that would put the skills you've accumulated to the test. Maybe there's an entire room that's a mimic or a greater nightmare or anything, really. Instead I ran uneventfully through more areas I'd cleared already, most of which were still bereft of enemies and largely unchanged. The only big difference was some tendrils lazily creeping through the wall that died in one shot and were functionally harmless.
I found the entire thing really, really disappointing on both a gameplay and spectacle front, especially after the stakes are raised so much by the cool setpiece of the Arboretum getting destroyed. It's doubly strange because Alex repeatedly stresses how much what he wants you to do will anger the Typhon, and how hard they'll fight to stop you, but I tried both his and January's ending paths and the only difference was which empty areas I was backtracking through.
Oh well. At least the post-credits stinger was fun. It's also practically spoiled if you complete the December questline and try to escape.
I love the idea of an interconnected and open space station as a giant dungeon, but overall I left feeling like both Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and Dishonored 2 had much better back thirds partially because they could leverage completely new areas to explore. This is where I hoped the apex Typhon would shake things up, but alas.
It doesn't help that I ended up resource flush and overpowered around the halfway mark of the game, playing on hard. I went through without any Typhon powers, so I leaned heavily on security weapons, and with Gunsmith 2, Firearms 2, Sneak Attack 2 and a fully upgraded shotgun you can sneak attack for ~250 damage. That's enough to one or two-shot most common enemies. For anything it won't, like telepaths or nightmares, they can be finished off really easily by either unloading your remaining rounds or switching to the pistol. Technopaths just require opening with a stun gun shot, an EMP to disable their turrets, and then tunneling with the shotgun. With Combat Focus 3 you become basically unstoppable, although by the end of the game I was just sprinting past encounters anyway.
Moff
Member
that explains it
the cargo bay encounter was bugged in my game. I killed all the typhons but no one reacted to it, quest wasn't finished, just said I should kill all the typhons.
tried it about 10 times and was always bugged, when I came back later everyone there was dead. damn.
well nevermind
Very good overall, ending could have been stronger.
Karak
Member
Absolutely loved it though the ending is a bit hit and miss for some the nice thing is there are variations for what you did that played out.
Overall I felt it came together on both an in your face way but also a lot of subtlety in other elements I wasn't expecting.
SlasherJPC
Banned
That was unexpected and cool. Is it actually possible to meet Danielle was it? We never met in my game.
I saw the "this isn't the real morgan but alien who thinks it's morgan" twist coming 10 minutes of me playing the demo due to the tests and the reaction of the doctor. But I didn't think they'd go ahead and do it because it's far too obvious, and I thought that even if they did it wouldn't have an end game reveal importance. But I guess I was wrong and was giving them too much credit. What I didn't know then was why it was an alien who thought it was morgan, but then they pull of one of the worst bullshit they can story wise i.e. it was all a simulation/dream and none of what you do actually matters in the end as it has no effect really on the world, except for the final decision to kill them all or shake Alex's hand. It's kind of a dick move to pull of story wise tbh. Then ofcourse there was the leak that was true to every word, I read it before hand as I wanted to confirm my suspicion about Morgan being an alien and I read it all but I didn't think it'd be this bad so I told myself that it has to be incorrect but ofcourse I was wrong. The big Typhoon does fuck all and it could have changed things up a bit but by and large the last quarter of the game was just me backtracking through areas with barely any enemies.
Also the December questline should not have been there, no one would really want to leave the station before finishing the game but they'll all do it just to see what happens and as such they'll all have their suspicions confirmed or story spoiled by it 50% into the game.
Ultimately, this was not a very satisfactory story. And the game took a huge nosedive in terms of quality once Dahl came in.
Also the December questline should not have been there, no one would really want to leave the station before finishing the game but they'll all do it just to see what happens and as such they'll all have their suspicions confirmed or story spoiled by it 50% into the game.
Ultimately, this was not a very satisfactory story. And the game took a huge nosedive in terms of quality once Dahl came in.
It's true
AHA-Lambda
Member
Finished it yesterday and loved it but I admit the story isn't the game's strong point.
I must admit I like most it seems I didn't see the human typhoon thing coming. Also I never really bought Alex's arguments for siding with him/not destroying the station; kept coming off as not much more than "but we're family and scientists!"
Is it ever really explained how the typhoon broke out of containment or where they come from? I imagine it could be in logs etc but I never noticed.
I'm surprised how little backstory went into them, all I know is that the neuromods are somehow made from them :/
I must admit I like most it seems I didn't see the human typhoon thing coming. Also I never really bought Alex's arguments for siding with him/not destroying the station; kept coming off as not much more than "but we're family and scientists!"
Is it ever really explained how the typhoon broke out of containment or where they come from? I imagine it could be in logs etc but I never noticed.
I'm surprised how little backstory went into them, all I know is that the neuromods are somehow made from them :/
The game drags a little by the end and backtracking without new stuff going on isn't a good way to end a game.
The ending is a miss for me. While it's cool that they take into account you actions during the playthrough it makes my final decision totally irrelevant and doesn't show me any consequence to my choices.
Overall I loved the game, the level design and the exploration are amazing and we so needed a game like this.
The ending is a miss for me. While it's cool that they take into account you actions during the playthrough it makes my final decision totally irrelevant and doesn't show me any consequence to my choices.
Overall I loved the game, the level design and the exploration are amazing and we so needed a game like this.
Coriolanus
Banned
The doctor at the start didn't find it odd that they were getting no readings because he knew he was testing a typhon. We see who the only operators are at the end, and the Doc wasn't one of them. He was surprised because, as January tells you, Jan interfered in the reset to give you a completely clean reset. Alex further expounds on this, detailing how Morgan got the powers to do several sorts of mimic stuff, but they'd then remove them and insert new mixes to see what would happen. Doc expected some sort of new power, anything at all.
Isn't his argument. It's Morgan's. Literally everything Alex does in the game, up to and including the post-credits ending, is based on ideas Morgan gave him.
Morgan gave him the idea for the nullwave bomb during one of your resets. The audiolog is in his table. In the same vein, Morgan was the one that said Fuck The Cost and accepted that they'd have to do some horrendous shit to speed up humanity. And Morgan, obviously, also was the one that came up with the idea to kablooey Talos. And the idea to make the mimics more like humans via a simulated environment.
This is why Alex mentions he wants his brother back. Because he's a follower.
Isn't his argument. It's Morgan's. Literally everything Alex does in the game, up to and including the post-credits ending, is based on ideas Morgan gave him.
Morgan gave him the idea for the nullwave bomb during one of your resets. The audiolog is in his table. In the same vein, Morgan was the one that said Fuck The Cost and accepted that they'd have to do some horrendous shit to speed up humanity. And Morgan, obviously, also was the one that came up with the idea to kablooey Talos. And the idea to make the mimics more like humans via a simulated environment.
This is why Alex mentions he wants his brother back. Because he's a follower.
Coriolanus
Banned
they say, in that case, that "morgan" killed the version of alex in the simulated environment. The real alex necessarily survived, which is why he shows up at the post-credits scene.
Mind you, the ending doesn't mean that igwe, danielle and the others are dead, since the game goes to great lengths to explain that you can make borderline perfect, near-undetectable copies of human minds with the operators. They can still be alive somewhere in Typhonized Earth and just not currently present in the test room.
I feel that Alex is in the room because, as he said it himself, he's trying to recreate his brother, and is willing to put his life on the line. Also a somewhat strong indication that the original Morgan has, most likely, fallen to Typhon influence and became the inverse of what Alex just created.
Revolutionary
Member
Your decisions in the game didn't necessarily happen to the real (and deceased) Morgan.
I suspect the reason why Earth was taken over was because of the Shuttle that you have the option to destroy in the Bridge - the real Morgan opted not to.
Anyway, there's some unanswered stuff that has been on the back of my mind as I continue to play my second playthrough. There's a text log from the aforementioned Shuttle on it's approach to Talos I where it mentions a completely dark structure some distance away from Talos I. I'm pretty sure I've seen it while in the Exterior, identified by lights that look like.. eyes?
Here's two pictures I took.
Any ideas?
SlasherJPC
Banned
Pretty sure Alex was one of the only survivors. I dont know what happened to Morgan if they escaped or what. But the simulation was all based on his/her memories and Im guessing ultimately the event on Talos 1 did happen and they got to earth.
Coriolanus
Banned
The dark structure is the base dahl was stationed in. He even asks if that's where he is once he gets nurowhupped. Papa Yu had his blackbox team stationed there in case Talos ever needed some cleaning because, as oh so many pieces of information in the game show, every single Yu is a god damn bastard.
Revolutionary
Member
Oh I see. I missed that part because I killed him when I turned his Operators against him.
SlasherJPC
Banned
How do you not kill dahl? Just knock him out I suppose.
Coriolanus
Banned
Yarp. Went to the shuttle, got the objective to take down his operator, then also got the timer to save the peeps in Cargo Bay from suffocating. Since one had the timer and the other didn't, went to Air Control first. Dahl was there.
You can fix the air mix and get outta there without interacting with him, but.... might as well since we're already here. Disruptor to the nuts and Igwe calls you to ask that you just leave the body there, and he'll find a way to pick it up and move him to Neuromod Div.
You can fix the air mix and get outta there without interacting with him, but.... might as well since we're already here. Disruptor to the nuts and Igwe calls you to ask that you just leave the body there, and he'll find a way to pick it up and move him to Neuromod Div.
Zap him. Igwe then takes him to have his neuromods removed.
the early reveal with the december quest made me question everything. i was fully expecting even the alternate history to be a fabrication as part of the simulation or janurary being an elaborate reverse psychology trick by alex. the actual reveal didnt warrant the level of paranoia i had, but i thought the earth being fucked aspect was neat.
Finished a few days ago, some general thoughts:
By the end I was surprised how straight everything was played, you're set up not to trust anyone or anything, and by the end, it was surprisingly honest, every ending in some capacity was Morgan's idea and intent at one stage.
The post credits thing is pretty interesting, the final choice to kill/join is a bit frivolous, but I thought that scene was a really clever variant on RPG ending slides.
From a story perspective, I think the game peaked for me in the Crew Quarters, everything with Danielle & Abby is incredibly sweet, I loved the way the Chef/Volunteer quest starts there, and it's a great area that organically fleshes out the characterizations of the Talos 1 crew outside of their working environment.
As janky as some of the NPC's were wandering around in the Cargo Bay area, getting everyone through the encounter with the Typhon alive was thrilling, it's over in seconds if you do it right, but preparation was definitely key, got Aliens vibes with all the turrets.
I feel like you're really robbing yourself if you didn't play with powers -- of course it's totally doable, but there's some really fun and practical stuff in those skill trees, the way time stopped when aiming was super clever, although my single target Psi blast 1-shot Greater Mimics and Phantoms by the last stretch there, it might be a touch too easy.
Who else manufactured absurd amounts of Neuromods? Like game-breaking numbers, if I put my mind to recycling I probably could have got close to maxing every tree. I love that there's a quest tied to renewing the license, they knew.
So I might have my wires crossed with all the alt-history stuff, but is Catherine Yu personally suggesting Russian prisoners as volunteers a super bitter way of getting back at the Russians over their messy collaboration split in the 60's? If so, that's some weird fucking Nationalistic retribution.
Knocking on the window by the pool in Crew Quarters summons her, she's waiting outside of the station. She leaves the information to find her in a transcribe intended for Abby, she gives you a quest to kill the fake cook/volunteer if you speak to her, she mentions she doesn't have much oxygen left, I think she contacts you a few times later in the game. I never went out into space to (morbidly) look for her corpse near the end game or anything, I'm curious whether you can locate her body, or if she just appears for the scene on the other side of the window.
By the end I was surprised how straight everything was played, you're set up not to trust anyone or anything, and by the end, it was surprisingly honest, every ending in some capacity was Morgan's idea and intent at one stage.
The post credits thing is pretty interesting, the final choice to kill/join is a bit frivolous, but I thought that scene was a really clever variant on RPG ending slides.
From a story perspective, I think the game peaked for me in the Crew Quarters, everything with Danielle & Abby is incredibly sweet, I loved the way the Chef/Volunteer quest starts there, and it's a great area that organically fleshes out the characterizations of the Talos 1 crew outside of their working environment.
As janky as some of the NPC's were wandering around in the Cargo Bay area, getting everyone through the encounter with the Typhon alive was thrilling, it's over in seconds if you do it right, but preparation was definitely key, got Aliens vibes with all the turrets.
I feel like you're really robbing yourself if you didn't play with powers -- of course it's totally doable, but there's some really fun and practical stuff in those skill trees, the way time stopped when aiming was super clever, although my single target Psi blast 1-shot Greater Mimics and Phantoms by the last stretch there, it might be a touch too easy.
Who else manufactured absurd amounts of Neuromods? Like game-breaking numbers, if I put my mind to recycling I probably could have got close to maxing every tree. I love that there's a quest tied to renewing the license, they knew.
So I might have my wires crossed with all the alt-history stuff, but is Catherine Yu personally suggesting Russian prisoners as volunteers a super bitter way of getting back at the Russians over their messy collaboration split in the 60's? If so, that's some weird fucking Nationalistic retribution.
Knocking on the window by the pool in Crew Quarters summons her, she's waiting outside of the station. She leaves the information to find her in a transcribe intended for Abby, she gives you a quest to kill the fake cook/volunteer if you speak to her, she mentions she doesn't have much oxygen left, I think she contacts you a few times later in the game. I never went out into space to (morbidly) look for her corpse near the end game or anything, I'm curious whether you can locate her body, or if she just appears for the scene on the other side of the window.
Jawmuncher
Member
I enjoyed the ending I got. Really liked how the game straight up commented on my no empathy run. I actually didn't know it would do that. But it was refreshing to see the game basically go "Hey this guy is a piece of shit, he didn't care about anyone".
I loved the endings I saw.
You could leave it all early if you use Alex's escape hatch. "We goofed. He sucks. Start over"
You could blow this shit sky high. Oh and if you opt to blow it up you can get an extra trophy if you murder Alex lol.
You could neutralize the giant Typhon enemy.
Then you can opt to shake Alexs hand to help save the human race, or murder him.
How everything builds up from the things you did and how you did them is fantastic. I had 0 qualms with this game, and I hope we get a Prey 2 in the years to come.
My questions over in the main thread are how did the Earth become that way(when did a Typhon escape), and how did the real Morgan die?
You could leave it all early if you use Alex's escape hatch. "We goofed. He sucks. Start over"
You could blow this shit sky high. Oh and if you opt to blow it up you can get an extra trophy if you murder Alex lol.
You could neutralize the giant Typhon enemy.
Then you can opt to shake Alexs hand to help save the human race, or murder him.
How everything builds up from the things you did and how you did them is fantastic. I had 0 qualms with this game, and I hope we get a Prey 2 in the years to come.
My questions over in the main thread are how did the Earth become that way(when did a Typhon escape), and how did the real Morgan die?
matrix-cat
Member
Finished it last night and I absolutely loved it. It's right up there with Dishonored and the new Deus Exes for me, which is something I never expected when I loaded it up for the first time. The 2017 GOTY train just keeps on chugging.
I did the December/escape pod ending halfway through my playthrough, and it heavily hinted at a simulation sort of deal, so I wasn't all that surprised when I got to the real ending. The post-credits coda is too short, both on context and in length, to really get my mind whirring with the possibilities, but I do think it was an interesting way of logging the player's actions over the course of the game. Obviously I'll be hyped for a sequel, but if this game goes the way that most immersive sims seem to be going these days, of disappointing sales and quiet shelving, at least it doesn't leave all the plot threads hanging in the air like Mankind Divided did.
And, yeah, I loved the actual structure of the ending options. The game doesn't funnel you to a final level with a big "CHOOSE YOUR ENDING HERE" platform in it; instead it just presents you with a few different quests that can all lead to various endings and leaves you to choose which you want to do. The quest lines to destroy the station, Nullwave the Typhon, and escape in the shuttle are all entirely separate, so you can follow them all to their final steps and choose at the end, or you can just pick one of them and ignore the others entirely. Even the 'joke' ending is a legit way of escaping the station at the end, and even choosing to blow up the station and just not evacuate is a legit option. I honestly can't think of a game with a more freeform ending structure.
(Though I do think that final, post-credits choice of 'KILL THEM ALL' or 'TAKE ALEX'S HAND' is really dumb and on the nose. The game just ends instantly either way; what's the point of a choice if it doesn't change anything?)
Looking through the Achievements, I think this game is going to be fascinating on replays. You can apparently kill every other human in the game, you can kill January at any point, and you can finish the whole game without taking any upgrades, and I just find that kind of game design amazing.
I did the December/escape pod ending halfway through my playthrough, and it heavily hinted at a simulation sort of deal, so I wasn't all that surprised when I got to the real ending. The post-credits coda is too short, both on context and in length, to really get my mind whirring with the possibilities, but I do think it was an interesting way of logging the player's actions over the course of the game. Obviously I'll be hyped for a sequel, but if this game goes the way that most immersive sims seem to be going these days, of disappointing sales and quiet shelving, at least it doesn't leave all the plot threads hanging in the air like Mankind Divided did.
And, yeah, I loved the actual structure of the ending options. The game doesn't funnel you to a final level with a big "CHOOSE YOUR ENDING HERE" platform in it; instead it just presents you with a few different quests that can all lead to various endings and leaves you to choose which you want to do. The quest lines to destroy the station, Nullwave the Typhon, and escape in the shuttle are all entirely separate, so you can follow them all to their final steps and choose at the end, or you can just pick one of them and ignore the others entirely. Even the 'joke' ending is a legit way of escaping the station at the end, and even choosing to blow up the station and just not evacuate is a legit option. I honestly can't think of a game with a more freeform ending structure.
(Though I do think that final, post-credits choice of 'KILL THEM ALL' or 'TAKE ALEX'S HAND' is really dumb and on the nose. The game just ends instantly either way; what's the point of a choice if it doesn't change anything?)
Looking through the Achievements, I think this game is going to be fascinating on replays. You can apparently kill every other human in the game, you can kill January at any point, and you can finish the whole game without taking any upgrades, and I just find that kind of game design amazing.
Who knows if Morgan even did die, she/he has a penchant for sticking themselves into scientific testing, could have likely done the same from behind the scenes alongside Alex in that ending sequence.
Unless I missed the line where they outright say he's dead.
Oh, and I got baited hard by the Luther Glass quest in the Trauma Center, see I didn't realize he was already dead, so I thought that every time I was spotted trying to take out the Military Operators, Luther was executed-- I mean they play a voice sample when you walk into the room (not that I realized it was a sample at the time), so I reloaded a save right before that encounter dozens of times, trying to save Luther.
I couldn't save Luther.
First thing I checked on my second playthrough.
Moff
Member
He is lying dead there at the very start of the game.
Loved the game through and through. Echoing the sentiments in this thread, found the core loop fantastic, taking the best bits of System Shock 2 and (psi) amplifying them into 2017.
The Exploration/discovery, OST/sound design & level design were the highlights. The ideas and concepts found in the game were fascinating, read every log and email and enjoyed painting the Talos 1 picture, drew me right in. Modern Deus Ex is missing that classic "Shock" appeal Prey 2017 nails down.
Did a "human" playthrough as I never really liked psi powers in System Shock, probably short-changed my experience but another playthrough would fix that easily, can definitely feel I'll run through it again in the near future. Enjoyed the limited weapon variety, made sense that there would only be a pistol/shotgun plus "lab" weaponry, didn't find myself wanting more out of the weapons once they upgraded to max so I feel them to be just right. Overall thoroughly loved roughly 25 of the 28 hours it took me to complete it.
That said, the Zero G sections I found lackluster and frustrating. Just isn't fun to float around with lack of control with enemies hitting you from all angles, especially after Dahl sends the bots after you.
Hacking was tiresome about 10 hours in, I would have preferred an insta-hack at lvl 4, or at least improving the way you hack such as requiring less nodes at higher levels or less "bounce", even just an "auto-hack" device I could fabricate would have made things flow better for me.
Enemy variety was weak, The typhon weren't a problem after the first 10 hours. The military bots were an absolute trash experience overall. Maybe I didn't do it right, but 5 or so point blank shotgun blasts to knock one down is just pure wtf. I know you can zap/hack them then do whatever, ended up just zapping them then running away. They drop Q-beam ammo which lead me to believe you should beam them, but standing there and eating lazer while beaming them with maxed out Q beam just felt shitty. Getting lazered while running away was a terrible feeling too, need some drop off on those lazers or something... could go on and on but yeah, combat and level traversal after Dahl / over last few hours really soured the experience overall sadly.
So yeah, all in all it is truly the successor to System Shock 2. And just like SS2, its an amazing game with an absolute terrible final act. Will buy all DLC and sequel should they appear.
The Exploration/discovery, OST/sound design & level design were the highlights. The ideas and concepts found in the game were fascinating, read every log and email and enjoyed painting the Talos 1 picture, drew me right in. Modern Deus Ex is missing that classic "Shock" appeal Prey 2017 nails down.
Did a "human" playthrough as I never really liked psi powers in System Shock, probably short-changed my experience but another playthrough would fix that easily, can definitely feel I'll run through it again in the near future. Enjoyed the limited weapon variety, made sense that there would only be a pistol/shotgun plus "lab" weaponry, didn't find myself wanting more out of the weapons once they upgraded to max so I feel them to be just right. Overall thoroughly loved roughly 25 of the 28 hours it took me to complete it.
That said, the Zero G sections I found lackluster and frustrating. Just isn't fun to float around with lack of control with enemies hitting you from all angles, especially after Dahl sends the bots after you.
Hacking was tiresome about 10 hours in, I would have preferred an insta-hack at lvl 4, or at least improving the way you hack such as requiring less nodes at higher levels or less "bounce", even just an "auto-hack" device I could fabricate would have made things flow better for me.
Enemy variety was weak, The typhon weren't a problem after the first 10 hours. The military bots were an absolute trash experience overall. Maybe I didn't do it right, but 5 or so point blank shotgun blasts to knock one down is just pure wtf. I know you can zap/hack them then do whatever, ended up just zapping them then running away. They drop Q-beam ammo which lead me to believe you should beam them, but standing there and eating lazer while beaming them with maxed out Q beam just felt shitty. Getting lazered while running away was a terrible feeling too, need some drop off on those lazers or something... could go on and on but yeah, combat and level traversal after Dahl / over last few hours really soured the experience overall sadly.
So yeah, all in all it is truly the successor to System Shock 2. And just like SS2, its an amazing game with an absolute terrible final act. Will buy all DLC and sequel should they appear.
It didn't really bother me too much because I already had enough hacking to convert them back if needed.
Not to mention that it seems like most areas that repopulated with enemies just resulted in all of the turrets automatically being destroyed upon your return anyway. I ultimately just stopped wasting my time with them because of that and because any time I summoned in the more advanced Phantoms to fight for me, those stupid jerkoffs, namely the Voltaic ones, would usually just knock out my turrets simply by walking next to them.
I enjoyed the endings. I had considered the possibility of the simulation twist (especially after hearing the dialogue at the end of the December side quest) but I didn't expect to be playing as a Typhon, so that surprised me.
Anyone know what kind of dialogue you receive in the final scene if you murder every human and decide to preserve the Typhon research instead of destroy everything? Hard to imagine they'd look at the results of that simulation and actually entertain the thought that this Typhon could be the "bridge between our species," as Alex puts it. But I assume you still get the choice to take Alex's hand... I just wonder how the game frames your actions to try to make it cohere with that choice.
Anyone know what kind of dialogue you receive in the final scene if you murder every human and decide to preserve the Typhon research instead of destroy everything? Hard to imagine they'd look at the results of that simulation and actually entertain the thought that this Typhon could be the "bridge between our species," as Alex puts it. But I assume you still get the choice to take Alex's hand... I just wonder how the game frames your actions to try to make it cohere with that choice.
matrix-cat
Member
A Disruptor with a couple of damage upgrades will take them out in two hits, one if you get the stealth bonus. I thought they were going to be really frustrating, eating up so many fully-upgraded shotgun shells, but then I realised they were basically what the Disruptor was made for.
(Weirdly enough, I never actually found the Q-Beam. I found ammo for it all throughout the game, but somehow I just completely missed the weapon itself, and I thought I'd been pretty damn thorough
)Zero-G combat was probably my least favourite element, too. I actually really like the zero-G manoeuvring controls and being able to EVA outside Talos 1 in general (the 3D controls reminded me of a chapter in the Neal Stephenson book Anathem, if anyone's familiar with that), but once they start introducing enemies into the mix it just got frustrating. You can't move around fast enough to dodge their attacks, and maybe it's just the way I'd spec'd myself but I didn't have any better long range attack option than the pistol, so I was just hiding behind geometry pew-pewing at Telepaths for way too long.
Man, they really telegraph the "you're actually a Typhon undergoing testing" twist a lot, huh? Overall, I enjoyed it, though the story left a lot to be desired. It just was kind of predictable and unsatisfying. Also, the fucking military bots... I ended up running past almost every enemy in the last hour or two. Combat in this game just did not speak to me at all.
Also, between sales and how the game ends, I can't see us getting a sequel. Where would you even go from here? Either ending would be really hard to do a followup to.
Also, between sales and how the game ends, I can't see us getting a sequel. Where would you even go from here? Either ending would be really hard to do a followup to.
uncredited male
Member
So based on the ending I guess Danielle Sho survived.
Or the simulation was tangentially derived from Morgan's memories and not really close to what happened.
Or the simulation was tangentially derived from Morgan's memories and not really close to what happened.