So I'm pretty far into the campaign now (have been playing for about 7 hours now on hard) and I've decided to take a break to give some impressions as well as play some FF14. Anyways on to the impressions:
The game goes over that game/movie line a little more than other "cinematic" games such as Last of Us, Uncharted etc etc. But it isn't like interactive movie levels like Beyond Two Souls or Heavy Rain there is still a game there at its core. However the game also isn't afraid to go into "movie mode" or adventure game mode" where this a good amount of walking and no straight up combat So if you hate these types of games then this one is definitely not for you.
The cover system is like a mix of LOU and Gears however it isn't as good as either (or any other leading cover systems in the tps genre) imo. It didn't feel as smooth navigating from cover to cover as I wanted it to. Just seemed like it needed a bit more polish all around. Not to imply it was bad or anything it was serviceable.
The AI was decent you have your standard AI enemies who stay back and suppress you and then you have other types such as Shotguns, Assaults who move in and try to flank you from the sides.
The shooting felt really good there was a pretty good punch behind all the weapons and they were fun to use. I also like how grounded the gameplay felt you had to be smart about when you decided to move and how you would go about doing so. There seemed to be a good amount of uniqueness in the scenarios they threw you in.
Personal Gripes
- Some actions could only be performed when the game wanted you too instead of having a dedicated button.
- Their is a roll in the game but it literally can only be performed when someone throws a grenade and the prompt is on your screen I feel like this should have just been possible at any time would have made the cover system a bit more interesting.
- Some unnecessary QTE's and at times an over reliance on QTE's
- There was one where you pressed triangle each time to countdown from 3 also tapping x to get up after drinking blackwater I find unnecessary
- I feel like there was a bit of pacing issues in the beginning in regards to gameplay/movie ratio, as the game progressed they managed it better. Will definitely turn some off.
- I'm not a big fan of how the melee worked it was basically like press triangle and watch a small little takedown animation, I'd rather a bit more interactivity here kinda like UC1 or 2
- At times the game feel too linear
Graphics are amazing some of the best I have seen and I don't even feel my TV is personally doing them proper justice.
The characterization is really great they really nailed this the banter between characters and all of that is very well acted.
The story started off a bit slow but slowly has been pulling me into the conflict that surrounds this world. I'm really eager to get back to it and find out what happens next.
I feel like its a really cool new ip but it definitely needs some fleshing out in subsequent releases much like many new ip's this gen. I actually feel more and more the UC1 comparisons actually hold some weight. In terms of reception I think this game will be polarizing some will hate, some will love, other will find it middling.