- Joined
- Sep 25, 2020
- Messages
- 847
- Thread Author
- #1
I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by this game. It served as an excellent demo product for the highly anticipated Cat Update of Willard Networks and showed off some features we can all be excited for. Graphics were excellent and @Aspect™ and @Atle really pushed the limits of what the source engine can do. Physics could certainly be wonky at times, but that's why we love this little engine after all.
That being said, story was rough at parts.
Not only did it not follow the lore of City 10 all that well, seemingly combining it with City 3 for unknown reasons, but it also failed to incorporate the main cat actually linking back up with his resistance cell in the outlands. Very big missed opportunity. Not to mention the PK of B-12 towards the end was pretty hollow and honestly predictable. GM could have done a far better job presenting an obstacle that could have been reasonably overcome without a generic sacrificial death shtick. Didn't help that I had a hard time connecting with most citizens encountered throughout the game, with many of them acting rather robotic. Railroading was rather apparent in certain parts as well.
The sudden betrayal of Keith Ross was also poorly fleshed out, and never even came up again after his very brief role was played out - with some CP's powergaming the player before they could finish their /ME. To add onto this Nova Prospekt was a bit simple to get out of, and never really felt like some high security facility. The Citadel itself was also quite underwhelming, though its change it atmosphere and view upon the larger city did make up for it. The razor train ride probably could have had more done with it.
The Xen infestation was also overplayed, as usual. The amount of headcrabs present was simply boundary breaking and it was clear they were desperately making up for limited damage potential on the individual level. Despite this, very little attention was provided to its more mysterious counterparts, THE EYES. While its likely just some random bullshit variant the Creative Team concocted, it still would have made sense to actually delve into it if you are going to bother presenting it.
That being said, story was rough at parts.
Not only did it not follow the lore of City 10 all that well, seemingly combining it with City 3 for unknown reasons, but it also failed to incorporate the main cat actually linking back up with his resistance cell in the outlands. Very big missed opportunity. Not to mention the PK of B-12 towards the end was pretty hollow and honestly predictable. GM could have done a far better job presenting an obstacle that could have been reasonably overcome without a generic sacrificial death shtick. Didn't help that I had a hard time connecting with most citizens encountered throughout the game, with many of them acting rather robotic. Railroading was rather apparent in certain parts as well.
The sudden betrayal of Keith Ross was also poorly fleshed out, and never even came up again after his very brief role was played out - with some CP's powergaming the player before they could finish their /ME. To add onto this Nova Prospekt was a bit simple to get out of, and never really felt like some high security facility. The Citadel itself was also quite underwhelming, though its change it atmosphere and view upon the larger city did make up for it. The razor train ride probably could have had more done with it.
The Xen infestation was also overplayed, as usual. The amount of headcrabs present was simply boundary breaking and it was clear they were desperately making up for limited damage potential on the individual level. Despite this, very little attention was provided to its more mysterious counterparts, THE EYES. While its likely just some random bullshit variant the Creative Team concocted, it still would have made sense to actually delve into it if you are going to bother presenting it.
(This will only be funny if you played Stray to completion. If you haven't, its a good game tbh, just has some flaws.)
