Prey (2017)

I find myself backtracking to recycle shit far too often in this game...inventory management is one of the least fun mechanics in gaming IMO,
Once you upgrade your inventory size twice it doesn't feel annoying anymore. I also picked up dismantle early on so I could break down weapons I don't need immediately.

though there have been several places that I've come across that just sort of seem like you HAVE to have Leverage or some similar skill in order to get into an area, with no alternative route.
You can pick up Leverage 1 objects (like a coffee table), and throw them at Leverage 2 objects to knock them out of the way. I've done that a couple times to get past Leverage 2 boxes. It requires trial and error, as you kinda need to align yourself and the object at the correct angle to do it though.

I agree with your post in general though, some of the upgrades you need to buy (like larger inventory) should have come default (or at least not be so expensive), and it would be nice if there were at least two ways into all rooms, you are correct in that there are a few rooms with only one way in (ie needing a specific skill). The game is still awesome so far with these minor issues though.

Some might think the huntress boltcaster weapon is useless, but it can be used to open doors by pressing the button which unlocks them. So for example, break a window on the side of the room and shoot the button. I heard also the bolts also bounce/reflect off goo so you don't even need a good angle on the buttton, though I've never tried it.
 
Once you upgrade your inventory size twice it doesn't feel annoying anymore. I also picked up dismantle early on so I could break down weapons I don't need immediately.

You can pick up Leverage 1 objects (like a coffee table), and throw them at Leverage 2 objects to knock them out of the way. I've done that a couple times to get past Leverage 2 boxes. It requires trial and error, as you kinda need to align yourself and the object at the correct angle to do it though.

I agree with your post in general though, some of the upgrades you need to buy (like larger inventory) should have come default (or at least not be so expensive), and it would be nice if there were at least two ways into all rooms, you are correct in that there are a few rooms with only one way in (ie needing a specific skill). The game is still awesome so far with these minor issues though.

Some might think the huntress boltcaster weapon is useless, but it can be used to open doors by pressing the button which unlocks them. So for example, break a window on the side of the room and shoot the button. I heard also the bolts also bounce/reflect off goo so you don't even need a good angle on the buttton, though I've never tried it.

Yeah, it is for sure still a great game so far...just some minor(ish) annoyances. ;)

Thanks for the heads-up about Leverage. I haven't seen an opportunity to use the crossbow yet but I always keep my eye out.

I also picked up the recycling and dismantle stuff right away so I could start getting the most of of all the crap you find laying around.
 
Managed to use the foam bolt to open a door...and then realized there was an air shaft to get in anyway...lol.

A few of the rooms have windows but no line of sight to the door button (not even enough to try to bounce it, really) and no other entrances...which kind of sucks. Some of them are completely locked with no combo so you are forced to use Hacking 2 or 3 to get in.

Also, this game scares the crap out of me. :eek:
 
Also - is there any reason not to just use all of your exotic materials to make neuromods? Is there any other craft that requires them that is more worthwhile?
 
Also - is there any reason not to just use all of your exotic materials to make neuromods? Is there any other craft that requires them that is more worthwhile?
Go ahead, feel free to burn them all on neuromods - late game you'll probably have 100+ exotic materials but almost no mineral materials - it's mineral materials that become the rare bottleneck later on because they are used in almost everything, including some types of ammo which you may want to craft a lot of.
 
Go ahead, feel free to burn them all on neuromods - late game you'll probably have 100+ exotic materials but almost no mineral materials - it's mineral materials that become the rare bottleneck later on because they are used in almost everything, including some types of ammo which you may want to craft a lot of.

Yeah, I tend to break down soda/beer cans and keep other food items that only give organic materials. I did notice right away that ammo takes a lot of minerals.
 
I've tried the game and you can call me unimpressed. There is something flavourless about it. I can detect a ton of other games influences on it like Half Life, Portal, and Bioshock. But it doesn't seem to have a voice of its own. And the graphics seems so last decade. Actually I've seen this before . Cryengine games usually look bad except when they're made by Crytek themselves.
So I'm putting the game on a hiatus. At least until I finish Wildlands. After the positive reception of the game I expected much more. I expected putting Wildlands on hold for this.
 
I've tried the game and you can call me unimpressed. There is something flavourless about it. I can detect a ton of other games influences on it like Half Life, Portal, and Bioshock. But it doesn't seem to have a voice of its own. And the graphics seems so last decade. Actually I've seen this before . Cryengine games usually look bad except when they're made by Crytek themselves.
So I'm putting the game on a hiatus. At least until I finish Wildlands. After the positive reception of the game I expected much more. I expected putting Wildlands on hold for this.



I'm less harsh about it but you're right about the "salute to other games" and what they did was take a bunch of good things from those games...mash them together...and put their own slant on it. It's a very good game but it isn't a "hold the presses/game changer" like it could have been.

I thought the 8/10 reviews were pretty fair overall and that's more or less where I'm at.

Speaking just for myself: The ending, the post credits especially, all but ruined and undermined it for me so I'm not even sure I'll ever replay it.


Sidebar:
The Dishonored games are superior in every respect from Arkane and at this point part 2 is a gem that shouldn't be missed. That title absolutely should have and should be selling better. The "PC performance issues" are largely overstated FUD and old news by now.

Dishonored 2 was my GOTY for 2016 tied with Hitman. Both of those are strong 9/10 titles in my book.

As solid as this game is overall it will not be on my GOTY shortlist for 2017 as a contrast which is not what I had expected going into it.
 
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I'm less harsh about it but you're right about the "salute to other games" and what they did was take a bunch of good things from those games...mash them together...and put their own slant on it. It's a very good game but it isn't a "hold the presses/game changer" like it could have been.

I thought the 8/10 reviews were pretty fair overall and that's more or less where I'm at.

Speaking just for myself: The ending, the post credits especially, all but ruined and undermined it for so I'm not even sure I'll ever replay it.


Sidebar:
The Dishonored games are superior in every respect from Arkane and at this point part 2 is a gem that shouldn't be missed. That title absolutely should have and should be selling better. The "PC performance issues" are largely overstated FUD and old news by now.

Dishonored 2 was my GOTY for 2016 tied with Hitman. Both of those are strong 9/10 titles in my book.

As solid as this game is overall it will not be on my GOTY shortlist for 2017 as a contrast which is not what I had expected going into it.

No way this is a 8/10, from what I saw so far 6/10 at best. I don't mind that they copied other games. The problem is that they couldn't manage to make it their own. It does everything a little less and a little worse than the games it copies. I'm not that far in it, but so far it lacks depth, it lacks complexity. And it lacks intrigue. They couldn't poke my interest in the story at all.
In my book 8/10 means a great game in every way. That's an absolutely must have. I already regret buying this. This is definitely not a great game. It might end up an OK game, but I'm still on the fence even about that. If I manage to finish it at all.

Dishonored wasn't any better either to me. It had the same problem: completely soulless. I couldn't manage to finish either, I felt they were an honest days work, but no passion went into their creation. Repetitive, boring. So I have to say compared to Dishonored 2 this feels much better. I never even considered going back to that after dumping it after a few hours. I might still continue this.
 
To each their own, I guess. As a huge fan of System Shock 2, the fact that Prey borrowed some concepts from that game put it on my insta-play list. It's like being addicted to crack, but there's no crack to be found so you fiendishly scrape what residue you can from the pipes that were left on the coffee table. Except playing Prey doesn't carry the same sense of sadness and desperation. :p

I found myself struggling to stay engaged with the other games in my Steam library, while this one gives me that feeling where I can't wait to fire it up again and make some more progress. I usually buy games on sale and don't get around to playing them for months, but I put everything else on hold for this.

I guess it just didn't click for some, and that's fine. It did click for a whole lot of people in the comments for the various reviews who are lauding it, so I'd say Arkane did something right. Right now, this is the closest thing I can get to System Shock 3 and I am enjoying the hell out of it.
 
I think one thing this game does differently from the other influences mentioned is that it has that paranoia/creepy factor of the mimics potentially being anything and everything. I guess once you get the psychoscope or whatever it's called, it's a bit less of an issue, but I got jumped by random mimics so many times before that, I end up smacking just about everything with the wrench if there are two like objects next to each other.
 
To each their own, I guess. As a huge fan of System Shock 2, the fact that Prey borrowed some concepts from that game put it on my insta-play list. It's like being addicted to crack, but there's no crack to be found so you fiendishly scrape what residue you can from the pipes that were left on the coffee table. Except playing Prey doesn't carry the same sense of sadness and desperation. :p

I found myself struggling to stay engaged with the other games in my Steam library, while this one gives me that feeling where I can't wait to fire it up again and make some more progress. I usually buy games on sale and don't get around to playing them for months, but I put everything else on hold for this.

I guess it just didn't click for some, and that's fine. It did click for a whole lot of people in the comments for the various reviews who are lauding it, so I'd say Arkane did something right. Right now, this is the closest thing I can get to System Shock 3 and I am enjoying the hell out of it.
System Shock 2 is one of the best games ever made. And for example Alien Isolation borrowed elements from it and was great. This feels more like bioshock than SS2, regardless of the setting. And I'm not that much of a fan of bioshock either, altough it is a better game than this.
 
I REALLY REALLY liked prey, i thought the beginning was cool, i liked the systems and everything. I played 3 hrs the first day, 15 hours the next day (couldn't stop, only ate once that whole day). But the day after I just wasnt into it anymore, I dont know if its the game or its me. I just wanted to get through to the end. I didn't care about tracking down some guy who might have or might not have escaped, or fucking around on the outside of the station for some bullshit. I liked the side content, but it just felt so slow, everything felt so slow, with being careful and picking up all the items and clearing rooms. I pretty much just bolted past everything on the last day i played, the only thing i would have gotten by fighting was losing ammo. Plus you could run past everything and only need to used 1 medpack which I had like 30 of and 40 armor repairs near the end of the game. I just wish it was a little faster paced.

you also meet like 8 alive people and nothing really happens with them? Also i had a quest where i disabled Dahl and un-programmed him, I then got a quest about him going to a spaceship but it said to wait until he talks to me, but he never did, even as i was done with the game, so i didnt see that through. I also thought I would meet more people that they attempted to experiment on, as the "volunteer" suggested

In the beginning/middle I would rate it a 9.5 but by the end it dropped pretty significantly for me, although that might just be a "me"/mood issue.
 
https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/05/prey-arkane-alternate-history-space-race

Good read with some spoilers in it.

My non spoiler comments: I thought the writing and backdrops of history and how all that was handled with certain rings of truth... lots of ;) all over the place... was very clever and intruiging. Frankly I wish some of the story developments had gone more in that direction with some of those concepts then what ultimately ended up happening.
 
Ran into a Nightmare for the first time when I first entered the Crew Quarters area. Murdered me almost instantly the first time, and since the auto-save put me right back in that spot, I had to immediately turn around and nope the fuck out of there...lol.

Tryin' to get me dat golden pistol. :)
 
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I've been moving very slowly through the game just due to lack of time, and I'm still thoroughly enjoying it. I would also give it about an 8/10. IMO it's technically flawless, and does everything it needs to do. It has some great nods to the games it's paying tribute to. I find it enjoyable to play, and am having a blast with it. ESPECIALLY since nobody else has done any better since 1999. I mean, if you hate this game, but like this type of game, yet nothing really has come out since 1999 that's any better in this particular genre, then maybe you've just gotten too picky or jaded to see it for what it is. Which is a very good game that maybe just doesn't have a bit of the flair that it's predecessors do. IMO it's better than all of the BioShock games. It's definitely behind SS1 and SS2 in my mind. I'd put it fairly evenly with Alien. I could see how someone would prefer Alien, but I like the fact that there's a bit more action in Prey, and less hiding. (at least the way I'm playing it)

I do agree that it is lacking that one thing to push it over as being better than great, but brilliant. For me, that's a lack of Shodan. I mean, they couldn't very well just copy that aspect. They had to do something different, but for the SS games Shodan was the personality. "She" was cruel, yet funny in a twisted sort of way. The Polito aspect in SS2 was incredible. The first time I played it and walked into her office... Holy Fuck!

That said, what is actually out there in this genre that's any better than this since System Shock 2? And I do mean genre in as specific a way to trapped-in-space-cyberpunk-hacking-action-rpg-shooter as is possible, (so not spanning out to Dishonored and BioShock...) Doom 3 in my mind is pretty close, though less on the hacking/rpg side. Dead Space is definitely cool, and has its own feel and personality, and I did thoroughly enjoy it too. (too bad about the 3rd person shoulder view though IMO) That's pretty much it. SOMA is really close, but no combat at all (which for SOMA works just fine) and not exactly in space, but there is a serious lack of this sort of game.

Even though there are plenty of movies and games in this general "lone in space-gone-wrong" setting, compared to other genres of games, they're pretty few and far between. I'll take any of it that I can get as long as it doesn't just plain suck. Prey is actually very good, so I'm happy as can be while playing it (at least until System Shock HD and System Shock 3 come out.) Actually, I'd probably still give it another play then too. Now I just need to get more time to play. I've put in maybe 8 hours so far, exploring heavily.
 
Yeah, one thing this game does is ooze atmosphere. Random noises, the station creaking and groaning, distance explosions, etc...all with this sense of paranoia over when the next mimic might jump out and rape your face.

I have really enjoyed fortifying the turrets and drawing enemies into them...lots of fun. :D
 
I played the crap out of it this weekend and made a lot of progress. Made it through the Arboretum and into Crew Quarters. Got the Golden Gun and fabbed a shit load of Neuromods after resetting the license. :D I'm enjoying it a bit more now that my weapons are more powerful and I've received suit upgrades and character buffs. I don't get raped by Etheric and Thermal Phantoms like I did before...the shotgun puts a hurting on them when upgraded and complemented by a couple of specific Neuromods. Even the Technopaths and Telepaths aren't that intimidating anymore, though they are still creepy as all get out just silently floating around with their "eye".

The Nightmare thing is a bit annoying - I kind of wish it was a one-time boss encounter instead of a reoccurring sequence, but I'll live. I agree with J3RK's assessment as usual - this game is very very good and given the lack of other games of its ilk (i.e. with a disaster-in-space-themed SS2 influence), I'm lapping it up like a dog in front of a bowl full of peanut butter. :)
 
One thing that is starting to bug me (other than the Nightmare thing which, as stated above, is super annoying) is that you meticulously clear out an area, set turrets, fortify, and then when you come back 20 minutes later, shit is overrun again with even more powerful enemies and all of your shit is broken with no opportunity to prevent it from being destroyed. It sort of makes it feel pointless to bother with using turrets or trying to be clever about defense when it's just going to get thrown out the window.

I don't mind enemies appearing in previous areas, but it would be nice if they appeared while you were in there, not just that you load the area and everything is fucked. I came back into the lobby and the entire goddamn place was overrun by extremely powerful enemies and all my well-placed turrets destroyed. What's the point? Sort of feels like there's no real progress made.
 
One thing that is starting to bug me (other than the Nightmare thing which, as stated above, is super annoying) is that you meticulously clear out an area, set turrets, fortify, and then when you come back 20 minutes later, shit is overrun again with even more powerful enemies and all of your shit is broken with no opportunity to prevent it from being destroyed. It sort of makes it feel pointless to bother with using turrets or trying to be clever about defense when it's just going to get thrown out the window.

I don't mind enemies appearing in previous areas, but it would be nice if they appeared while you were in there, not just that you load the area and everything is fucked. I came back into the lobby and the entire goddamn place was overrun by extremely powerful enemies and all my well-placed turrets destroyed. What's the point? Sort of feels like there's no real progress made.

Lol, I hear you man. I did the same thing. Strategically placed turrets in the lobby, came back through later and it was just as you described. On one hand I get it; enemies come in after you've cleared out the area and manage to destroy a turret or two. But *all* of them? And the Typhon still have full health of course, as if they didn't sustain any damage taking out our well-placed turrets. It's gotten to the point that I don't spend spare parts repairing turrets unless it's going to make a particular encounter significantly easier. I know that when I leave that area and return later on, I could be coming back to a pile of fuckery. :p

It serves as yet another reminder to the player that this is a game (like rubber-banding AI in racing games) and as such, it takes away some realism. But Prey is far from the first game to suffer from these minor frustrations so although it's a legitimate criticism, it's not a deal breaker.
 
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That would bug me too. I haven't used a single turret though. I just kind of take areas as they are when I go through them, or backtrack through them again. I haven't really tried to fortify an area. I just do a half-half approach of sneaking around and brute force combat. I kind of keep my eyes open for routes I can retreat through after I've been killed by something big, then do that when I re-attempt it. :D
 
Go ahead, feel free to burn them all on neuromods - late game you'll probably have 100+ exotic materials but almost no mineral materials - it's mineral materials that become the rare bottleneck later on because they are used in almost everything, including some types of ammo which you may want to craft a lot of.

I noticed in my last playthrough that turrets and operators (even destroyed ones) give a decent amount of mineral materials. Spare parts do as well, so once
military operators
are all over the place late game you can get quite a stash
 
So maybe worth mentioning - I guess I am doing a no-Typhon neuromod playthrough (mainly because I like to use the turrets and even though I can hack them...eh.) but it feels like even with upgrades the security weapons are just not that powerful. Even with a nearly maxed out shotgun and some neuromods into increased damage, it is still taking an absurd amount of shots to take down something like a Technopath. Anyone else having the same issues?

Given how the turrets ultimately seem to be useless later in the game (see my previous post), I wonder if it's even worth avoiding the Typhon abilities?

Also, it seems like the stun gun is fairly useless...the range is practically nothing and it didn't seem to do jack shit when I last tried using it.

EDIT: I found this thread on Reddit that might be helpful - will have to try some of these. Still would like to hear from you folks, though.
 
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I am avoiding the Typhon neuromods on my first playthough as well. :) I'm missing out on some pretty cool abilities and buffs but I like having the turrets naturally on my side and I felt Morgan wouldn't want to "taint" himself with alien crap. Having said that, I don't know how the game will end but if the plan is to do what January said, then it wouldn't matter in the end and Morgan might want to get every advantage that was available to him.

Shotgun feels pretty powerful to me but like the double shotty in Doom, it's not an insta-kill for the more powerful enemies. If you could blow away a Technopath in 2 shots, I wouldn't feel that the game was very challenging. It causes me to try to formulate little strategies, like I'll try to nail `em with an exploding container first and then assault them with the shotgun. The neuromods that let you inflict 200/250% damage on an unsuspecting enemy help a lot, too. It's satisfying to sneak up on them and be rewarded with a big chunk knocked off of the life meter when you first attack them.

Stun gun, same. I've only used it 2 or 3 times because it didn't seem to do much of anything. Maybe I need to mod it or just read some tips on how to best use it.
 
According to that thread, the upgraded stun gun is supposed to be good against Technopaths. I guess I will have to invest some weapon upgrades into that. I've tried the Q-Beam as well but it honestly didn't seem like a great solution as it chews through ammo very quickly. Seems like something you save for a Nightmare if you want to try to take one down.

I've never had much trouble against Telepaths or Weavers. The former just take a lot of ammo but are relatively harmless and often get stuck where they can't do much to you, and the latter seem to go down easily with a fully-upgraded golden pistol.
 
According to that thread, the upgraded stun gun is supposed to be good against Technopaths. I guess I will have to invest some weapon upgrades into that. I've tried the Q-Beam as well but it honestly didn't seem like a great solution as it chews through ammo very quickly. Seems like something you save for a Nightmare if you want to try to take one down.

I've never had much trouble against Telepaths or Weavers. The former just take a lot of ammo but are relatively harmless and often get stuck where they can't do much to you, and the latter seem to go down easily with a fully-upgraded golden pistol.

Where are you currently? I haven't played much since this weekend so I'm still in Crew Quarters. I made a second pass through there and found a surprising number of items and hidden stuff that I missed the first time, even though I try to be fairly thorough. That was pretty satisfying. I still need to investigate the cafeteria and address an "issue" in the fitness center, and then I guess it's off to Deep Storage. :)
 
Where are you currently? I haven't played much since this weekend so I'm still in Crew Quarters. I made a second pass through there and found a surprising number of items and hidden stuff that I missed the first time, even though I try to be fairly thorough. That was pretty satisfying. I still need to investigate the cafeteria and address an "issue" in the fitness center, and then I guess it's off to Deep Storage. :)

Sort of just dicking around...Main quest wise I am supposed to head for Deep Storage, but I've been trying to clean up some side quests. I fixed the lift and then went down to the lobby where I promptly noped out of there when I saw the place was crawling with...well, pretty much everything.

I think I may need to invest some neuromods into Stealth to get that sneak bonus damage...not sure. It doesn't seem like head-on combat is super viable in this game. You can tank the damage for the most part and pop healing items (which seem plentiful) but ultimately you are limited on ammo more than anything it seems.
 
I've adopted some of the psi abilities, and I can say that one in particular helps with crowds of enemies. I still need plenty of ammo, and sneaking where possible helps conserve that. However, being able to splash damage a group from a distance has been very useful in situations like the lobby. I haven't really approached the game in a way that takes Morgan's feelings into consideration, and what might happen at the end of the game (and the morality and ethics of hybridizing myself). I've basically taken any advantage I deem useful, and run with it. :D
 
Just started playing this game. Just got out of the main starting area and about to enter the trauma center. Got my first neuro mod. I hate my OCD because I can't decide what to spend it on. I read up a little online about what path to choose as far as skill points. Should I just pick a certain skill path or will I eventually be able to unlock everything? From what I have read, you can run out of ammo quick or run out of other stuff so you need to be careful on what you invest your points in. I just want to play the game and not worry about that type of crap but I also don't want to screw myself early on in the game
 
You will be able to craft neuromods later in the game using primarily exotic materials, so you want to invest in the Necropy mod sooner rather than later so you can harvest those Typhon organs. From there I am not sure if you end up with enough raw materials to max out everything, but I think you are able to unlock quite a bit.

Some of the skills I unlocked early and found useful were Hacking/Repair, some of the health pack/food efficiency stuff, and inventory expansion. You also probably want to get the Recycler efficiency one sooner rather than later.

Also, regarding earlier discussion, I am now wondering if Repair 3 was a waste given that the only benefit is fortifying turrets (which is cool, but when you leave an area and come back to all your shit being destroyed anyway...) and it costs 8 neuromods. I guess even when you repair the broken turrets they remain "Fortified", but...I dunno.


EDIT: Oh, and this took me far longer to figure out than I care to admit, but you can charge your wrench attack by holding the mouse button longer.
 
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Just started playing this game. Just got out of the main starting area and about to enter the trauma center. Got my first neuro mod. I hate my OCD because I can't decide what to spend it on. I read up a little online about what path to choose as far as skill points. Should I just pick a certain skill path or will I eventually be able to unlock everything? From what I have read, you can run out of ammo quick or run out of other stuff so you need to be careful on what you invest your points in. I just want to play the game and not worry about that type of crap but I also don't want to screw myself early on in the game

I'm usually like this with skill trees, but for this game I haven't been for some reason. Typically I've come across something, and thought I could really use this or that skill for this. So I'll upgrade that. Then during a lull, I'll upgrade some of the more mundane things that just seem like a good idea. Then back to the more exotic stuff as I come across it, and think it might be useful. I haven't really thought I've misallocated anything yet. I have a pretty well rounded character so far, and no hugely specialized areas. Just whatever I've needed to accomplish this or that.
 
You will be able to craft neuromods later in the game using primarily exotic materials, so you want to invest in the Necropy mod sooner rather than later so you can harvest those Typhon organs. From there I am not sure if you end up with enough raw materials to max out everything, but I think you are able to unlock quite a bit.

Some of the skills I unlocked early and found useful were Hacking/Repair, some of the health pack/food efficiency stuff, and inventory expansion. You also probably want to get the Recycler efficiency one sooner rather than later.

Also, regarding earlier discussion, I am now wondering if Repair 3 was a waste given that the only benefit is fortifying turrets (which is cool, but when you leave an area and come back to all your shit being destroyed anyway...) and it costs 8 neuromods. I guess even when you repair the broken turrets they remain "Fortified", but...I dunno.


EDIT: Oh, and this took me far longer to figure out than I care to admit, but you can charge your wrench attack by holding the mouse button longer.

I think I only have repair 1 or 2 right now. I put more into recycling, weapon modding, health, and now some of the more exotic stuff.
 
You will be able to craft neuromods later in the game using primarily exotic materials, so you want to invest in the Necropy mod sooner rather than later so you can harvest those Typhon organs. From there I am not sure if you end up with enough raw materials to max out everything, but I think you are able to unlock quite a bit.

Some of the skills I unlocked early and found useful were Hacking/Repair, some of the health pack/food efficiency stuff, and inventory expansion. You also probably want to get the Recycler efficiency one sooner rather than later.

Also, regarding earlier discussion, I am now wondering if Repair 3 was a waste given that the only benefit is fortifying turrets (which is cool, but when you leave an area and come back to all your shit being destroyed anyway...) and it costs 8 neuromods. I guess even when you repair the broken turrets they remain "Fortified", but...I dunno.


EDIT: Oh, and this took me far longer to figure out than I care to admit, but you can charge your wrench attack by holding the mouse button longer.

Agree with pretty much all of this. I didn't pick up the recycling efficiency one up very early on, but in hindsight I probably should have. I thought "Meh, 20% bonus, not a big deal" but if you pick it up earlier in the game I imagine it makes a significant difference over the course of the game given how much you end up recycling.

I found that Leverage II is pretty handy to have. Not only does it make accessing some areas easier, you can really start chucking some of the heavier stuff hard (and far) at enemies which helps conserve ammo. I did eventually get Leverage III but I think I've only run into a couple of areas where it's seemingly required in order to access some pretty sweet loot, like the cage in Hardware Labs, but probably not a must have until you're sufficiently buffed out elsewhere.

I'd pick up Toughness I but it's probably safe to put off II and III in favor of other mods. It's nice to have more health, but unlike games such as GTA and Dying Light, I don't think you lose anything by dying except getting kicked back to the previous autosave and having to redo a bit of gameplay. It's more of a convenience thing so you don't die as often and don't have to rely as much on medkits and Medical Operators.

Hacking is one thing I personally wanted to boost but again, I think one could categorize it as convenience more than an essential. It sure is nice to not have to look for safe combinations, door codes, key cards, etc. but I'm assuming that most or all of them can be found if you look hard enough. I don't enjoy the hacking in this game as much as some other games but it is what it is.

I haven't gotten the Stamina, Stealth or Combat Focus ones yet...been managing without them. I did pick up all the Suit Modification mods. Yet again, not essential but it was a PITA having a small inventory and it's nice to be able to install the additional chipsets.

I went for Gunsmith and Firearms over Lab Tech...may go for Mobility next, I think it'd be neat to move fast and jump "incredibly" high. :)

That's funny about the wrench. I figured out pretty quickly that you could charge it...I've been putting off Impact Calibration but may pick those up soon to help with dispatching Phantoms so I can further conserve ammo for later (thanks for posting that non-spoilerish tip guide above).
 
I'd like to know how effective the Stealth mod is. It claims that they can't detect you while crouched or sneaking...does that mean even if they are looking right at you? Or just that they don't hear you? Because the tier 2 and 3 perks have to do with walking/sprinting and not being able to be heard, so I am not sure.
 
Played a bit more this evening - I can vouch for the Stun Gun against Technopaths and corrupted operators...you do have to upgrade it quite a lot for it to be decent (probably like 5+ weapon mods), and it you have to charge it before each shot (which means if you miss you can get kind of screwed), but it does seem to stun those enemies and do significant damage if you upgrade the damage and recharge rate. You can basically keep them stun-locked assuming you have enough Stun Gun ammo.
 
That would bug me too. I haven't used a single turret though. I just kind of take areas as they are when I go through them, or backtrack through them again. I haven't really tried to fortify an area. I just do a half-half approach of sneaking around and brute force combat. I kind of keep my eyes open for routes I can retreat through after I've been killed by something big, then do that when I re-attempt it. :D

I think the game tries to give a sense that "things are happening" when you leave and return to certain areas. The main lobby gets overrun a few times, for example, and my well-placed turrets were busted up plenty - I found (difficulty: Hard) that it was sufficiently satisfying to have to sneak up to them to repair them, etc.

... it feels like even with upgrades the security weapons are just not that powerful. Even with a nearly maxed out shotgun and some neuromods into increased damage, it is still taking an absurd amount of shots to take down something like a Technopath. Anyone else having the same issues?

...

Also, it seems like the stun gun is fairly useless...the range is practically nothing and it didn't seem to do jack shit when I last tried using it.

Shotgun feels pretty powerful to me but like the double shotty in Doom, it's not an insta-kill for the more powerful enemies. If you could blow away a Technopath in 2 shots, I wouldn't feel that the game was very challenging. It causes me to try to formulate little strategies, like I'll try to nail `em with an exploding container first and then assault them with the shotgun. The neuromods that let you inflict 200/250% damage on an unsuspecting enemy help a lot, too. It's satisfying to sneak up on them and be rewarded with a big chunk knocked off of the life meter when you first attack them.

Stun gun, same. I've only used it 2 or 3 times because it didn't seem to do much of anything. Maybe I need to mod it or just read some tips on how to best use it.

I'd like to know how effective the Stealth mod is. It claims that they can't detect you while crouched or sneaking...does that mean even if they are looking right at you? Or just that they don't hear you? Because the tier 2 and 3 perks have to do with walking/sprinting and not being able to be heard, so I am not sure.

Stealth is pretty good - as long as you are hiding behind or under something, you get an extra few seconds before their detection meters turn up. I also found that they lose interest in you much much sooner.

Played a bit more this evening - I can vouch for the Stun Gun against Technopaths and corrupted operators...you do have to upgrade it quite a lot for it to be decent (probably like 5+ weapon mods), and it you have to charge it before each shot (which means if you miss you can get kind of screwed), but it does seem to stun those enemies and do significant damage if you upgrade the damage and recharge rate. You can basically keep them stun-locked assuming you have enough Stun Gun ammo.

So a few thoughts about the weapons - I found that it's good to sort of combo your way through the game. Tab was bound to "last weapon" or something like that in the default binding, and I'd charge up a stun, then hit a corrupted operator, switch to the wrench and one good charged bash and they were toast. It's surprisingly effective against single Phantoms.

As for the larger "blob" enemies, I'd go for a grenade (null/emp) and then fly in with q-beam until the bar went about 50-66% green, then fire off pistol rounds until they were done (also they have some weak spots you can crit-hit).

The damage drop off for the shotgun is actually pretty great, I feel like I have to get close enough to do real damage. If anything, I'm annoyed that I lost all interest in the GLOO launcher about half-way through the game.
 
Been playing some more - invested a bit more in Stealth and the bonus damage, seems pretty decent. I also ended up upgrading the Wrench a couple times to get more damage and less stamina drain. Seems pretty effective.

I think once I unlock the DRM on the Neuromod creation, I will be swimming in them and probably be able to max out most if not all of the human mods.

ghostwich - You aren't kidding about the shotgun - it can be pretty good but you really have to be point blank, which is sometimes a bit of a problem depending on the enemy.

Also, if you are getting low on mineral resources, one thing you can do is use a Recycler charge on a bunch of crates and stuff to get some. I seem to be swimming in Recycler charges so it works out okay.

One thing I don't like about the UI is that if you have multiple quests selected (which is often since you end up backtracking a lot and want to complete multiple things in a given area) it always just says "Multiple" and it's tough to tell what is actually in that next area, because it will also include quests that might be one or two areas beyond that but in that general direction. Sort of a minor annoyance but it would be nice if it showed either just the quest names in that area, or have the location next to the name when it shows up on the UI. I know you can figure this out from the Quest screen, but it's just sort of an inconvenience that I find myself doing multiple times.
 
I've been playing pretty much all day, myself. Made it through Deep Storage, the Cargo Bay, Life Support, the Power Plant...pretty much everywhere I think. There might be one or two more areas that I haven't unlocked.

I haven't been using any Recycler charges to speak of, and I've still managed to acquire enough Neuromods to get nearly every human mod. I thought that Neuromods would be rarer, forcing you to be selective in choosing your upgrade paths, but to me it looks like you can get pretty much all of them. Of course, I haven't even touched the Typhon half so maybe that's the game here...you can be all of one, or the other, or a mix of both. :)

Stuff gets pretty interesting as you progress. Can someone who has finished the game tell me (without spoiling anything) if the choices you are faced with make any real difference at the end? I'd just like to know so that I'll know whether I need to keep my "pre-choice" saves or if I can just barrel through without consequence.

I'm about 31 hours in and I'm pretty sure the end is in sight based on the main story objectives, so I've halted progress on that part and am trying to wrap us as many of these side quests as I can. A couple of them are kind of vague/annoying as far as how to complete them. I agree about the multiple objectives marker - that probably could have been done a little bit better but eh, a minor quibble like you said.
 
Completed this today, enjoyed it from start to finish. It's a cross between Bioshock and Deus Ex, with enough originality that it stands out from the games it's inspired by. Combat is not the primary goal of this game, there are multiple ways of avoiding combat or killing enemies without engaging them yourself, though when necessary what combat is there is serviceable. On normal difficulty I didn't have any problems with any enemy in the game, stealth bonus+weapon dmg+fully upgraded shotgun did decent work throughout. You do eventually get enough neuromods to upgrade all the human upgrades, and if you explore all rooms/side quests you can get 50+ hours from this title.

I think the most standout aspect of this game is that you can 'juke' your way into rooms/areas early without breaking the game. That is, other games might have broken triggers/quests/dialogues or just typical bugs pop up from that sort of player freedom - but here the game design is done robust enough that you can find some trick of getting into some locked off area and not worry about breaking something. I'd recommend this game for anyone who thinks they would enjoy a Bioshock/DeusEx hybrid game.
 
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