E.Y.E. - Released on Steam, Impressions

E.Y.E. has suddenly launched on Steam (thanks Matt!) and you can pick it up on a 10% launch discount for $17.99. You would have thought a release date to build a modicum of hype would be a good idea but there you go. Here is the feature list as a reminder:

• Multiplayer co-op modes directly influence solo play, and vice-versa. The limits of solo and multiplayer games are finally left behind.
• Psychological and mental trauma management.
• 25 weapons, different shooting modes, dynamic precision, drilling shots, iron sighting, extended zoom.
• Complete hacking system with game play impact
• 9 devastatingly subtle PSI powers.
• More than 20 NPC with non-scripted, fully reactive and efficient AI, endowed with a sense of initiative. Bloody close combat with technical detail. Incredible physical movement realism thanks to Source Engine physics.
• Excellent replayability - primary and secondary missions, dynamic environments, non-linear level progression, and random NPC spawn, type and appearance. Death doesn't penalize players: no need to restart the current mission.
• Open-level gameplay for hours of fun without reloading.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has some impressions from Jum Rossignol - he sounds a little confused by the game, to be honest, and sums it up with "intrigued but not convinced":

The whole thing is four-player co-op, so you can play through it multiplayer as you see fit. I suspect this is the optimal way to get through it, because the combat does feel more like you are playing basic multiplayer bots than well scripted enemies. I say this partly because I haven’t really figured stealth out, and therefore have fought my way through most of the levels, but ultimately baddies aggro you from far away, and then run to get into line of sight. Snipers pick you up almost immediately, which can be a little annoying. Ultimately enemy activity is a bit simplistic and doesn’t compare well with other, similar FPS behaviours, or the diverse range of options that the rest of E.Y.E. wants you take advantage of. Also modern games have really pushed the audio-visual feedback of being shot at, and here it feels very lightweight, which makes dying (and then being peculiarly instantly resurrected) all seem a little weightless. As a consequence I’m not finding the combat particularly satisfying, but I also haven’t quite figured out how to adapt my character to stealth. It might involve starting over.

All that said, the combat has some positive aspects: It’s fast-paced, especially in how quickly enemies go down. No bullet sponges here. In fact it all speaks of hardcore multiplayer influences. Once again there’s that tinge of Source mod to it. You get the feeling that mods like NeoTokyo might have had some influence here. Streum clearly want their combat to be respected, and ignore the slow, challenge-free cover-systems that contemporary gaming tells us we want. The result of this is a game that feels old fashioned and at the same time bold and independent.

There are some player comments at RPS that are definitely mixed, so go in with your eyes open if you decide to pick this up.