My Gripes

[Molotov]

I know it's pretty pointless, given that this game's been out for a good long while and everyone's done playing it, not to mention that there's not going to be a sequel, but I figured I'd rant for a bit just for the hell of it.

 

It's a fun game, don't get me wrong, and I don't regret picking it up, but I do understand why it got the mediocre reviews that it did, which are of course what kept me from buying it when it first came out.

 

The thing that bothers me the most, honestly, is the stealth. It's just such a ridiculous system. I can camp out twenty feet from some dude staring right at me down a corridor, in plain sight, just because I'm crouching and wearing improved digital camouflage? And as for suppressing weapons...dear Jebus. I throw a 'silencer' on a .45 and suddenly I can put a magazine through it while standing a foot behind a guy and he won't even turn around. Oh, and in order to make an assault rifle whisper quiet, apparently you just need subsonic ammo. Who knew? The vast majority of .45 loads are subsonic, of course, yet somehow still manage to make a hell of a bang.

 

There's also the small problem of being able to shoot a guy standing right next to another guy and not having said other guy hear it when his buddy suddenly slumps to the ground - or, more accurately, is lifted off of his feet, does a double gainer, and ends up halfway across the room 'cause he got tagged with a 9mm round - and, presumably, drops that seven pound assault rifle he was holding onto a hardwood floor.

 

It's possible to make good stealth games. It's even possible to make good stealth espionage games. We know this, 'cause they're out there. AP's stealth system just isn't good. The bad guys could all be replaced with simple red boxes for all the relevance they have to actual human behavior. Play the game through any number of times, and you'll always find the same guy doing the same routine, customized to allow you to 'stealth' him no matter how little sense it makes. My favorite example is a mansion in Moscow: three guards, all staring pointlessly at a wall. They don't move. They don't do anything but stare at that wall until you kill them.

 

Then there's the shooter mechanics and overall gameplay. Honestly, AP wouldn't have seemed remarkable in 1999 save maybe for the visuals. It's basically a GoldenEye corridor shooter, complete with 'Pistol Ammo' and 'Assault Rifle Ammo' dumps and health packs scattered throughout the levels. I mean, I wasn't expecting a S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-style ammo system, but it would've been nice for a LITTLE nod to the notion that every single cartridge you find mind not work in your absurd .50 pistol.

 

There's just no DEPTH to any of it. It feels like a bunch of very (and in some cases, very VERY) simple systems all working together to create the most soulless game possible. It functions, and it even functions enjoyably some of the time, and there's no doubt it's got an engaging storyline to counteract all the gameplay flaws, but I understand why it didn't take the world by storm.

[Dabu]

I can understand your feelings, but I'm a different person. For me it looks like this:

1. Plot is great

2. Characters are great

3. Choices and consequences are great

4. Dialogs are great

I love this game. :') It's actually the best game I played since Planescape: Torment - because of that 4 elements.

 

But I'm weird, I actually don't look at the gameplay or graphics or anything. I'm a type of RPG-player (the paper ones) and I don't give a **** about other things in games. Oh, don't get me wrong, I like different types of games, but I have no emotions to them. ;'P

[Purkake]

This will always come down to how much you are annoyed by the problems vs how awesome you think X, Y and Z are.

 

Also, go play Mask of the Betrayer, Dabu.

[Dabu]

Also, go play Mask of the Betrayer, Dabu.

I've already completed it couple of times. ;') Imo, AP is better, there's less dungeon crawling and you don't have to play with Dungeons & Dragos, which is one of the most annoying RPG systems to me. But yeah, MotB is still one of the best games to me. :']

[LaMOi]

I feel your frustration... Ive just bought this game - it seems ok...

 

 

But for one thing - you cant holster your freakin gun! Seriously, this bothers me........ alot.