>>717834446
Yes, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Bioshock comparison work with its semi-open world where you are dropped into an open space with extra spots to explore until you hit the next story beat, but make it more Russian, different kind of retro aesthetic and not much in the way of philosophy and ethics, your character is essentially a grunt.
The game’s opening is longer than I anticipated. You won’t hit the semi-open world until well into the intro, which could feel drawn out if you’re eager to explore.
The sidelevels, the test chamber are worth exploring for the fun challenge (I thought it offered some funny puzzles in terms of challenge and visually) plus it has valuable resources and a unique weapon upgrade.
Crafting works better than it seems thanks to 2 good design choices:
Loot sucking: There's a tool that lets you suck up nearby resources, meaning you don't need to manually click every ashtray or trashcan.
Zero Penalty Recycling: Got too many medkits? Just recycle them, changed your mind? you can re-craft without any resource penalty. That flexibility means you don't feel anxious about trying out different things.
I ended up ignoring a few guns, mostly the pistols, but most felt great to use. Melee weapons were strong throughout, and I built toward the “Zvezdochka”.
The buzzsaw-on-a-stick they often showed. Worth the wait. Resource balancing seemed fine for me, though I know some reviewers had trouble affording certain upgrades so I might come with the benefit of patches.
Elemental damage is fun and all around useful, it even affects bosses, so you can freeze a boss which is quite the rarity.
The Soviet sci-fi aesthetic lands well, Mick Gordon’s does the soundtrack
overworld map looks easy to navigate but some spots require a puzzle to open up and enemies respawn. Also worth noting: alarms can call in enemy reinforcements.
Oh and finally, maybe either play in Russian or not english, VA can be annoying otherwise, I played in ITalian
