The Big FPS Playthrough MISSION COMPLETE

[Ben X]

A little post on Gunman by RPS. The comments are also interesting:

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/05/11/have-you-played-gunman-chronicles/

[Ben X]

Ah, I've got to the bit with the chemical mixing weapon now. I'm also carrying an evil AI with me trying to plug it into places, so it feels very Portal 2. I've also just gone through a vehicle section where you have to get out and do physics stuff or flip switches, so it also feels very Half-Life 2! I wouldn't be surprised to hear Valve paid attention to what this mod did with its engine and were influenced by it.

 

Now I've got the sniper rifle it's a lot more fun fighting the space cowboys, and there's a cool mix of Old West type buildings to have firefights in and sci-fi bases with giant aliens breaking loose.

[Ben X]

I finished Gunman Chronicles. The ending was a little underwhelming but overall it was very fun. As clever as the weapons system was, however, I pretty much stuck to sniper rifle and shotgun the whole way through. That's a common problem with FPSes - there's often not much motivation to play about with the different, often more outré weaponry when your shotgun is always reliable and well-stocked.

 

Now onto Deus Ex (GOTY edition). I'm a bit worried that I'm not going to stick with this for very long. It's so revered and it's a game I'm really hoping I enjoy, but my experience with Ion Storm games so far hasn't been very successful.

[Patrick R]

Deus Ex is my favorite game of all time but depending on how you approach it I can see it being one of the most frustrating on this list. A lot of what makes it remarkable is how it's levels and worlds are designed to tackle problems in a lot of different ways, and that doesn't quite open up until you've played through the same levels multiple times. My only suggestion is that you should slow your approach to this game way down, revel in the environments, and do most of your moving in a crouch. The first level is all about training you to be careful and pay attention to your surroundings.

 

Also: tranq darts and the stun-gun are way more effective in the early game than the pistol. One dart will knock a guy out, while trying to line-up multiple pistol shots can get you killed. And one stun gun hit to the back of someone's head instantly takes them down. Though by that same token, one point-blank headshot always kills.

[Ben X]

Well, I'm currently not able to get past the fucking stealth training section so it's not looking good. Perhaps I need to take auto-run off? Am I crouch-running?

[Patrick R]

Wow, I forgot there was even a training section. I don't know if I ever bothered to finish it. There is never a "Mission Failed" scenario if you're seen and generally if you break stealth you'll still be able to make your way through it, so I don't know if I'd even recommend that training.

[miffy495]

I have tried to play DX like 4 times and have never made it past the stealth training section. It's terrible.

[Patrick R]

If I recall, that training course has way more close quarters sneaking than you basically ever have to do. Skip it.

[Ben X]

That's a shame, I was finding the other stuff quite useful (if very slow). Ah well, good to know it's not me or the main game anyway. I'll just have to check the manual for other stuff. Thanks!

[Jutranjo]

The stealth section is literally the last thing you do, if I remember right. After you finish it you get a "Good job JC, get going then". Does it maybe not even let you quickload/quicksave through it? You can learn "stealth" AI as you go along the main game, since it'll always let you just try to shoot them and won't just fail you.

[aoanla]

Adding my voice to those who strongly disliked the stealth training session - although, given that I also had horrible trouble judging melee distance, I really never managed at stealth or non-lethal stuff in DX at all...

[TychoCelchuuu]

Getting your legs blown off in the stealth training session is a classic Deus Ex experience.

[Salacious Snake]

My hottest tip for Deus Ex is to cheat and max out all your stats immediately. The progression system is the worst; it's entirely punitive. JC is already supposed to be a super agent, but he can't hit the broad side of a barn with a gun until you spend a bunch of points? No, thanks. It doesn't feel like you're getting good, but that you're getting slightly less hobbled as time goes on.

And even if you cheat to boost your stats, that still leaves the actual fun progression system in place: attaining new augmentations.

One of the best things Human Revolution did was to get rid of the RPG-style stats and focus on augs.

I know this goes way against your ethos with this thread, but I'm serious about cheating. There's so much incredible stuff in this game, but the beginning hours are an awful slog for no good reason. I never would have gotten to the good stuff without cheating.

[Ben X]

It does go against my ethos for this playthrough, you're right, but perhaps if they're v easy to implement and I get to the point where I'm about to give up on the game, I'll consider it!

[Patrick R]

If you want to do that for weapons that's one thing* but if you max out all your stats you will wreck the in-game economy of lockpicks and multitools. The whole idea is that you have to make hard choices about how you approach different scenarios because the safer route may cost you three lockpicks to open a door which means later on you won't have them and you'll need to think of something else for a side quest. But if you have lockpicking and electronics maxed out, you can hand pretty much any obstacle with one pick or tool and you'll never need to worry.

 

*Still a bad thing, in my opinion. The shooting in Deus Ex never feels great and is never really supposed to. Maxing out your stats in weapons only serves to make the less fun part of the game easier than the more fun part of the game.

[Jutranjo]

Also if you haven't started yet, at the beginning of the first mission you get a choice of 3 weapons, a rocket launcher(GEP gun), a crossbow and a sniper rifle. You find another crossbow literally in the same minute you finish the conversation. There is a 2nd sniper rifle on the map. There is no GEP gun.

[TychoCelchuuu]

Counterpoint: the GEP gun takes up lots of space.

[Jutranjo]

Also not actually needed, you can take out the robots/whatever with grenades/EMP grenades. It'll let you destroy some doors maybe?

[Patrick R]

If you look around in the opening area there are binoculars which allows you to survey the area without shaking around, unlike the sniper's scope. The sniper rifle is very loud and even if you can line up a shot in that first level being as unskilled as you are, it often just blows your cover. And you will get a crossbow almost immediately. I think GEP gun is definitely the best choice for the start of the game.

 

There is an actual kind of dumb secret to the enemy AI that kinda breaks the game that I won't spell out here, but you might discover that as you play anyway.

 

Baton is the most powerful melee weapon for the first half of the game (when you find one more powerful you will know) so don't bother with knives or crowbars.

 

Don't waste any skill points in environmental training. 

 

Ok, that's all the advice I'll give.

[Dewar]

I found it difficult and extremely frustrating trying to play non-lethally, there simply wasn't enough ammo available for the non-lethal guns. Once I gave up on that, I had a lot more fun.

[Patrick R]

Yeah, it's cool on a conceptual level that you can get through this game without killing anyone but since "dead" and "unconscious" are basically identical states from a gameplay perspective, it doesn't end up meaning much.

 

But I always recommend thinking non-lethally for the start of the game because I think trying to have shoot-outs isn't the way to go either. And there's always a ton of charges for the stun baton early on and every tranqulizer dart is a one hit kill. A good early strategy is to tranq people from the shadows, or get the jump on someone and take them down with either the stun baton or a point blank headshot.

 

Most of this advice is just for the first level, because it seems to be the place where most people bounce hard off the game.

 

Once you get to New York your combat options open up considerably, and once The Big Switch happens you have enough skills and augs to be a really effective fighter. But it helps to always first approach every environment with caution and stealth, even if it's only to work out a plan of attack. That's what the Ellis Island level is all about.

[Professor Video Games]

I have the sound Deus Ex guards make when being knocked unconscious permanently burned into my brain.

[aoanla]

Yeah, it's cool on a conceptual level that you can get through this game without killing anyone but since "dead" and "unconscious" are basically identical states from a gameplay perspective, it doesn't end up meaning much.

 

I found that particularly annoying in a couple of places (particularly, it stymied my attempt at taking a "third option" in the aeroplane encounter).

 

But I always recommend thinking non-lethally for the start of the game because I think trying to have shoot-outs isn't the way to go either. And there's always a ton of charges for the stun baton early on and every tranqulizer dart is a one hit kill. A good early strategy is to tranq people from the shadows, or get the jump on someone and take them down with either the stun baton or a point blank headshot

 

But how do you reliably hit them with the damn thing? Every time I've tried playing Liberty Island doing melee stun baton stealth, I end up wasting charges misjudging the melee distance (or getting detected trying to slowly move up to them getting the distance right), or getting detected by guards who I've tranq'd and are running around raising panic before they fall over.

[Patrick R]

I never had a problem with melee attacks. You just hit someone when you're right next to them. And if a tranqd guard comes after you retreat until they pass out.

[aoanla]

No, I mean that tranq'd guards run away and tend to alert people, which is problematic if you're trying to stealth.

 

Clearly it's just me who had horrible difficulties judging the difference between "too far away to hit someone with a melee attack" and "detected by a person you've bumped into" then...