4K goodness. A screen grab from the super detailed and crazy windy opening scene.

Style is bang on.

I’ve heard of Deus Ex, a game released in 2000 (for a little while when I’d google Deus, Deus Ex would rock up, that’s way before Deus took off!). I’ve always been into first person shooters and I love cyberpunk-themed worlds. Not so massive on stealth type games as I do like to gun, but the main thing I never liked about the Deus Ex franchise was the look of Adam Jensen, the main character. It’s like not liking an Actor in a movie. To me he looks stiff, like Neo but so not, and generally just trying too hard. With every new game release the character never changed so I never bothered to pick up the game until now.

I decided to play the most recent 2016 Deus Ex: Mankind Divided and was instantly thrown into a vibrant detailed world with impressive graphics, turbulent windy environment (which sadly doesn’t impress again after the initial scene) with tons of litter everywhere for me to pick up and interact with. It’s not open world, feels it at first but the world feels smaller as the game goes on. There’s a crafting system which I didn’t use at all, the main guts is in how you upgrade your character’s body augmentations, some of which will make or break the way you can get in and out of spaces, and this game offers you even more ways than Prey does.

My playthrough was 27hrs start to end doing a fair few of the side missions. I’m still not into the main character and thus didn’t get into much of the rather simple story (delivered with stiff cut-scenes). Prague/the world is awesome and I liked the general gameplay feel and how effective each upgrade I invested in worked. Although it’s a stealth game I still did 50/50 stealth and attack and I think I got the best of both worlds (IE: satisfaction from sneaking around in vents to avoid enemies to get to point A, or blasting my way direct to point A).

Gun play wasn’t amazing, the guns just didn’t feel powerful, but hey Deus Ex isn’t primarily a shooter. The ending was a let down as it’s a cliff hanger to a part B DLC, one which I didn’t pay for and glad I haven’t to be honest. Am I a Deus Ex fan? Nope. Really enjoyed the game, but kinda knew it wasn’t for me, still isn’t and it’s primarily because I have to play Adam Jensen.

Back in LA.

Malkavian love!

I didn’t think I would, but I made it to the end!

I wrote my previous post about this old (2004) game on the plane on the way to Japan (click here to check it out). I’ve been playing it on and off since and I’ve just finished my first playthrough. Loved it! The combat mechanics are shocking though, and I ended up using the console to use God mode more than a few times just to get past bosses and finish the story (which is as excellent as everyone says it is).

It feels good to play homage to games which paved the way for other games I love so much today. I’m sure I’ll dig up a few more classics to play in future.

In the mail yesterday!

No character customisation but hey I get to play as me! An Asian guy with facial hair! WHOO!

I love Bethesda games, and this game is made by Arkane Studios, the same people that made Dishonored 2 (you can instantly tell by the retro art deco style fonts and UI). I didn’t get into Dishonored 2, but I’m loving the solitary sci-fi game world of Prey MUCH more.

I remember watching the Prey preview at E3 a year ago, at the time I didn’t think much of the graphical style (I’m really hungry for high res textures and more realism lately!). A few more previews since and I’ve not changed my mind much, but giving it a spin last night changed everything!

The game has a fear in the dark/Alien and art deco retro/future Bioshock kinda vibe and reminds me of many sci-fi films where solitary and paranoia are the main themes. I’m a guy (almost chose the girl but didn’t! Always a hard choice for me with games) trapped on space station with hostile aliens and I need to find a way off.

I’m playing Prey on PS4. For the first few minutes (during the intro) I was already wishing I was on PC as the PS4 just can’t render buildings in vast outdoor scenes without jaggy edges! But before long I was hooked in the world and story. I’ve already died a billion times. The game sure isn’t easy in normal mode early on in the game and resources are actually pretty damn scarce right now. I’m roaming around on 20% health most of the time!

I’m into it. Right now I’m stuck and there aren’t any guides out there yet to help out (game officially comes out today!). Looks like I’ll have to use my brains instead of cheating!

EDIT: I finished the game on PS4 and loved it so much I bought it for the PC too! My review is up on Zen Blog: http://www.zengarage.com.au/2017/05/prey-2017-game-review-pc-ps4/