Xbox Game Pass for PC

[DjchunKfunK]

It's part of what I liked about NMS, I'd land on a planet and it might just be a barren wasteland and I'd just fly off again. If every planet I landed on was full of stuff to do I would hardly have seen any planets and the pleasure of finding something fun and new would have been lessened.

[Raid]

I think it's early to be too concerned about performance, but I think it's pretty clear it's going to make the most of high-end hardware.

I do agree on the combat though, but I find it difficult to judge from videos how it'll feel. For one thing the player barely uses aim-down-sights, and I find hip-firing feels distant and a bit antiquated in modern games. There are also a couple of very brief shots where it looks like bullets aren't going exactly towards the assumed reticule; is that curving due to a weapon ability, or is aiming simplified? I'm interested to know whether they've approached this as an actual FPS or an RPG - the former seems most likely given the developer's previous work. Do guns have a damage stat? Are you going to get bullet-sponge enemies if your weapon isn't a high enough level?

[Solitaire]

Part of me wants to say that the AI has been dumbed down a bit, like in many showcase-type vids over the years, so that the dev who's playing isn't embarrassed by getting splattered. Then again, this wasn't real-time play. Just not sure about it, but my 'big picture' comment to it all is that we haven't really seen a decent jump in AI abilities since Half-Life came out. FPS games look spectacular now compared to back then, but the AI combat has reverted to bullet sponges that stand in one spot or mosey towards the player to get slaughtered. I don't expect Bethesda, who's making an RPG in space with a billion pieces of content to create, is going to revolutionize AI combat abilities, as much as I wish they would/could...

[Mantis]

I do agree on the combat though, but I find it difficult to judge from videos how it'll feel. For one thing the player barely uses aim-down-sights, and I find hip-firing feels distant and a bit antiquated in modern games. There are also a couple of very brief shots where it looks like bullets aren't going exactly towards the assumed reticule; is that curving due to a weapon ability, or is aiming simplified? I'm interested to know whether they've approached this as an actual FPS or an RPG - the former seems most likely given the developer's previous work. Do guns have a damage stat? Are you going to get bullet-sponge enemies if your weapon isn't a high enough level?

Looks like it's been built in the same vein as all their other titles to me, very RPG centric without much complexity to the shooting mechanics. So go in with low level weapons and you'll likely be up against bullet sponge enemies.

Not really getting the hype for this, Bethesda have been putting a different lick of paint on pretty much the same game for the last twenty years in my opinion. It needs a good story if it's going to stand up as being any good, and that isn't exactly one of Bethesda's strong points.

[Wrathbone]

It needs a good story if it's going to stand up as being any good, and that isn't exactly one of Bethesda's strong points.

Okay, Fallout 4's main story was a dumpster fire, but I plant my flag on the Elder Scrolls hill of incredible, subtle, layered and underrated storytelling, and here I will die.

[DjchunKfunK]

Some Redfall details have come out via an IGN interview with Harvey Smith.

• When you play solo, you don't have bots with you. It's just the character you pick (one of the 4).

• Solo is a "classic Arkane experience"

• Character progress goes with you whether playing solo or with friends, but mission progress is based on the host's game. If you play through half the game with another host, your single player game would still start from the beginning, but you'd have your leveled up up character.

• You cannot change characters mid-campaign. You'd need to make a new character for that. Sounds like there is also a new game + system if you want to replay campaign with the same character.

• You can have multiple characters, or even multiples of the same character (say you wanted 2 Jacobs with different builds). Each one has its own progress and loot.

• No respeccing

• Each character has 3 unique primary powers which can be upgraded, passive powers, and a set of skills that are mostly common across all the characters (example: can carry more medical resources)

• Weapons are leveled and also have different rarities.

• Weapons have traits on them that affect gameplay.

• The world is very open, at one point it was too open before they did a little bit of channelling to guide the player.

• The world is divided into 2 districts. District 1 is the first half of the missions and consists of mostly downtown and district 2 is rural.

• If your character is low level and you join a high level friend's game, you will find it more difficult because the world is based on the host. But you will also gain extra XP because it's harder.

I don't know why developers continue to make co-op games where progression is locked to the host.

[Snowy]

Part of me wants to say that the AI has been dumbed down a bit, like in many showcase-type vids over the years, so that the dev who's playing isn't embarrassed by getting splattered. Then again, this wasn't real-time play. Just not sure about it, but my 'big picture' comment to it all is that we haven't really seen a decent jump in AI abilities since Half-Life came out. FPS games look spectacular now compared to back then, but the AI combat has reverted to bullet sponges that stand in one spot or mosey towards the player to get slaughtered. I don't expect Bethesda, who's making an RPG in space with a billion pieces of content to create, is going to revolutionize AI combat abilities, as much as I wish they would/could...

I have fond recollections of the enemies in FEAR, who could be right clever bastards.

[Solitaire]

Yes, you're right, Ian! And we had a couple of fun pvp PW sessions as well. I remember quite fondly spin-kicking some people

I put the FEAR AI in the same camp as the HL AI opponents, honestly. The point I was trying to make, poorly, was that there's been nothing more done to advance combat AI since then, that I know of, which is ages ago now. How much better, for example, would that new sniper game you guys have been co-oping, if the German bad guys were as well trained as HL soldiers, instead of the reviews you've given them thus far? Even in Breakpoint, we see that most of the toughest opponents are because we've got to shoot them twice in the head, because they're otherwise invincible.

[Achtung Englander]

Scorn

I played 6 minutes of this and then uninstalled it when I realised it was a puzzle game with no hints. I don't have the time for that. I liked the world building. This game is a real marmite sort of game, reviewers either hate it


or...tolerate it I guess


Overall I am disappointed by what it is and what I hoped it would be. Glad its on GamePass, the best demo client around.

[DjchunKfunK]

You weren't one of the people who thought it was a straight FPS were you Achtung?

[Sly Boots]

People seem pissed off that it's a few hours gameplay for almost £40

[DjchunKfunK]

Time to beat has it at 5 hours and it's priced at around £30 I wouldn't say that is terrible. If you care that much about length to price maybe don't pre-order and wait to see how long it is.

[Alan]

I find that a selling point.

[Achtung Englander]

You weren't one of the people who thought it was a straight FPS were you Achtung?

.................................................................yep

More Alien Isolation than Doom

[Animalmother]

Played Scorn for a little bit and my finger is already hovering over the uninstall button. This is definitely a niche game.