Yeah, it's okay. My main problem was that it tried too hard to court both schools of stealth game design. For as much as it tries to offer myriad approaches to any situation, that freedom is entirely dependent on you having a full stock of amber at all times. Otherwise the game becomes a slog of trial and error.
I recall one specific instance in which I was trying to exit a level. The end stood at the other end of a bridge swarming with guards and little in the way of hiding spots. I couldn't systematically kill everyone because I'd always be spotted after the first kill, nor could I just carefully sneak by because the patrols were aligned just so that I couldn't move forward without drawing some attention. And of course, since I used up all my amber in the rest of the level due to equally challenging obstacles and had no reserves, I couldn't just create a clone and distract them or turn invisible and bypass them all entirely. So my options were either to keep banging my head against a wall or restart the level entirely and hope I could conserve enough amber for that specific situation that I could get through it with ease.
That moment was emblematic of the problems with that game. For as much as they got right with the level design -- there were plenty where I felt like I was getting lost because they're so large and intricate, which isn't something that can be said about most stealth games of this type -- there's a lot they got wrong in regards to basic balancing issues.
Log in to comment