So, I just played it for a couple of hours, and I have but one thing to say: great.
Troika has done it, they've created a game that is great roleplaying-wise, but is at the same time beautifully done in a 3D world, with a good combat system. Everything feels fluid and looks great. The atmosphere of the game is dark, gritty, and darkly humorous at times.
So, I'll just state what I think, I'll try to keep out most of the spoilers, but there'll be one or two. Nothing too major, though, since I've only been playing it for a couple of hours.
First off, you're a newly created vampire, and your sire is executed for having created you without the Prince of L.A.'s permission. The Prince tells you to go do some jobs for him in Santa Monica, so that's where you're going. First you're treated to a nice in-depth tutorial, in which a scruffy-looking vampire introduces you to the basics. This is also where the power of this game shows: the dialogue is spoken, every single word of it so far, and the facial animations are there as well: all in-game. I'm loving it. The dialogue is done in the same way it is done in Fallout 2: dialogue trees, but no free speech option.
And Troika holds true to its RPG roots as well. it gives you a lot of options of doing each mission, and a lot of freedom to explore. For instance, I just walked into a bloodbank where the guy behind the counter wanted to sell me some blood. I didn't want to payu money, though, so I walked along, and bumped into a locked door. Because I've got poor lock-picking skills, I used a discipline (kind of vampire magic) to raise my stats temporarily, and picked the door, and started to explore the bloodbank. I think I'm onto something, too, because I've found a morgue, and a computer with a database of cadavers. Interesting...
Another example: as I started out on my first mission, I encountered a bunch of lowlife vampires. After hearing one of them out, I talked to another one. That started off with "If I kill the head vampire, do I turn human again?". My that was interesting. I managed to convince him that the piece ofwood I had was a holy stake with which he should kill the head vampire, the president of the USA, to become human again. Netted me a nice sum of money, but I'm already feeling sorry for the bloke. I'd almost wish I hadn't done that.
Also notable is the amount of time Troika spent on immersion. As I started out in Santa Monica, the radio was turned on, and a late-night radio show was on. Great stuff, that, especially because it felt real. The TV then showed me the news that some guy had been brutally murdered, and that an octopus-like beast had been found down at the beach.
And the first mission showed a number of options as well, and it rewarded my explorative nature with some nice cash. I could barge in and kill, I could sneak, too bad I couldn't persuade, but I didn't expect that with a bunch of aggressive beach-punks.
I say: go play it. I'm going to be spending a lot of free time on this, and I bet it's going to be better than Half-Life 2.
Troika has done it, they've created a game that is great roleplaying-wise, but is at the same time beautifully done in a 3D world, with a good combat system. Everything feels fluid and looks great. The atmosphere of the game is dark, gritty, and darkly humorous at times.
So, I'll just state what I think, I'll try to keep out most of the spoilers, but there'll be one or two. Nothing too major, though, since I've only been playing it for a couple of hours.
First off, you're a newly created vampire, and your sire is executed for having created you without the Prince of L.A.'s permission. The Prince tells you to go do some jobs for him in Santa Monica, so that's where you're going. First you're treated to a nice in-depth tutorial, in which a scruffy-looking vampire introduces you to the basics. This is also where the power of this game shows: the dialogue is spoken, every single word of it so far, and the facial animations are there as well: all in-game. I'm loving it. The dialogue is done in the same way it is done in Fallout 2: dialogue trees, but no free speech option.
And Troika holds true to its RPG roots as well. it gives you a lot of options of doing each mission, and a lot of freedom to explore. For instance, I just walked into a bloodbank where the guy behind the counter wanted to sell me some blood. I didn't want to payu money, though, so I walked along, and bumped into a locked door. Because I've got poor lock-picking skills, I used a discipline (kind of vampire magic) to raise my stats temporarily, and picked the door, and started to explore the bloodbank. I think I'm onto something, too, because I've found a morgue, and a computer with a database of cadavers. Interesting...
Another example: as I started out on my first mission, I encountered a bunch of lowlife vampires. After hearing one of them out, I talked to another one. That started off with "If I kill the head vampire, do I turn human again?". My that was interesting. I managed to convince him that the piece ofwood I had was a holy stake with which he should kill the head vampire, the president of the USA, to become human again. Netted me a nice sum of money, but I'm already feeling sorry for the bloke. I'd almost wish I hadn't done that.
Also notable is the amount of time Troika spent on immersion. As I started out in Santa Monica, the radio was turned on, and a late-night radio show was on. Great stuff, that, especially because it felt real. The TV then showed me the news that some guy had been brutally murdered, and that an octopus-like beast had been found down at the beach.
And the first mission showed a number of options as well, and it rewarded my explorative nature with some nice cash. I could barge in and kill, I could sneak, too bad I couldn't persuade, but I didn't expect that with a bunch of aggressive beach-punks.
I say: go play it. I'm going to be spending a lot of free time on this, and I bet it's going to be better than Half-Life 2.
