But there is genuine freedom in how you do missions and how you progress in the plot? ME is pretty rigid in both those regards, even Deus Ex sticks to the plot quite rigidly, but offers freedom. skrat_01

Because of the open areas, it's more like Deus Ex.

Quick quest, is the game as free-form as it is made out to be? In that progression through the plot branches, and you really do have tons of choice in how you play and tackle challenges? Also, does stealth work? I can't say I've ever played a singleplayer source game where it has.skrat_01

No, it is not like Oblivion. It's like Mass Effect where you have a HQ to gather yourself then you enbark on a mission/level.

Not sure. Only on 3rd level and 11 hours in (yeah I'm slow) but there are 3 different endings and dialog choices you make that changes mission/objectives.

Sort of. Its like Stalker stealth, need to stay low, move slow, totally stay out of line of sight. Shadows do not hide you. If you can see the enemy 1/2 mile away dart behind a car, they can also see you do the same. You do get upgrade to a Cloak ability which is very stealthy, almost too much so.

Well, I played and still play countless classic FPS games and they pretty much all had quicksaves.

hypoty

This. I can't think of any FPS that didn't have mid game saves.

I'm hoping someone comes up with a console tweak to allow quicksave or something. This is the Source engine after all.

I've heard many complaints of the UI. It seems theres more negatives than positives so I think I'll pass.

Maybe if it gets really cheap I'll grab it.

frnk55

What is wrong with the UI? I find it excellent to the total overblown crap we have been getting the last 10 years.

The UI in this game is what all PC games should strive for, it is superb.

Every time I restart the game I'm forced to restart the whole mission from the very beginning. WTF?

There appears to be no way to save mid level at all, no checkpoint save, no quicksave, nothing.

Only thing the game does is autosave your characters stats.

No wonder this is a 20hour game, if you stop at all before finishing a level, you get to keep redoing it till you find the time to actually finish the level completely.

This save system stinks.

About an hour in and I absolutely love this game. It truly is a mosh of Deus Ex with Stalker in a new setting.

Everything has been positive, complex and fun so far.

Only negative I have is the graphics are a bit barren or stark in a Mass Effect type way. No clutter and too pristine. And it's easy so far. If the difficultly doesn't ramp up soon I'm going to have to restart on Hard instead of Normal.

This game is the antithesis of console, love it!!! This is the breath of PC fresh air that I've been waiting for soooooooo long since Stalker.

Wow, this is a surprise. Going to have to buy and install this when I get home.

Anyone able to try it yet? Feedback would be appreciated.

I'm betting its a cool game but will be buggy and need several patches.

Guess no one ever played this game. It has awesome aspects.

Seems the tuning, parts management and PC'ness are great but the actual racing is poor. The honk day races are are usually pretty lame in distance and layout when the AI is the one to decide the course.

Between the cops giving me expensive tickets and car damage thats near impossible to avoid, all my prize money is going to just keep my car barely drive-able. Having to be ridiculously careful as to not get a scratch of damage for little money makes this game rather tedious.

Does the prize money ratchet up quickly or is this whole game a huge $$$$$ grindfest?

Deus Ex:HR will kill this game.