Guilty as charged. I didn’t read anything prior to purchasing it. I don’t usually and it typically works out for me, but not always obviously.
I like to go in to all games as blind as possible. I guess from the limited things I saw I was expecting more of a crysis or fear experience. It’s no big deal though I bought it full price on release then returned it and purchased it again much later at a big discount.
The only reason I’m concerned about bullet sponges and headshots is I like to play more stealthy. Find a silencer and snipe enemies from the shadow and slow proceed. If every time I take a headshot it alerts all the enemies and devolves in to a big shootout I fear I’ll lose interest.
No biggie though, as I said I bought it at a big discount and I’ll still give it a go.
Thanks for the info guys.
That's actually one of my complaints with the game, that it's not possible to be stealthy.
I think the whole setup would be perfectly suited for class-based gameplay, including Support, Assault, Recon and so forth.
In fact, I think the skill system is one of the greatest weaknesses of the game. I mean, what's there is really cool and everything is executed very well - but there's a severe shortage of ways to diversify your build in terms of skills and perks.
Like many of these games, you're supposed to build your playstyle through loot and, in particular, item sets. That's fine - but I would really have liked an expanded RPG system.
Anyway, I agree with you that it should have been possible to go the sneaky bastard route - as that's my favorite one.
But I guess, in a way, the whole game is sort of like that - because you really need to stay behind cover 90% of the time.
Also, you CAN be semi-stealthy when you play in groups - and silencers tend to have threat reduction stats. Meaning, enemies are less likely to notice you and will be more likely to go after your team mates if you spec for it.
But, during solo play - threat reduction does absolutely nothing at all.
Also, as I said, you can pretty much one-shot everything when you're properly geared. Only the bosses and toughest enemies will need a few more shots to the head.
Overall, it's an ok compromise - I find.
Not a perfect game or anything, but it's definitely one of the prettiest and downright coolest games I've ever played. They really did an amazing job with the city and put in the work on details in a very serious way.
Too bad that it was a bit of a missed opportunity at launch. I think it would have been much more prominent had it launched in its current state.
That said, it seems to have made quite the comeback due to the last couple of patches. A lot of activity and positive buzz these days.
Bodes well for an expanded sequel