RecommendedSteam player
I had a contract out to kill a mime. I planned to lure him into an alleyway by chucking bottles at his head, then Displace behind him and cut his throat. The bottles didn't phase him, then I got frustrated, messed up the displace, and teleported inside him -- at which point he burst like an overripe tomato and painted the walls with gore. If you can't get behind exploding a mime from the inside-out, don't even talk to me. Billie is brutal as hell. I love it. Okay serious review though: NB, I have a pretty solid gaming computer, and I'm playing on medium settings. I have experienced 0 technical issues thus far. I understand a lot of the negative reviews are from people who are having issues running the game -- PLEASE check the required specs before buying because this does seem like a serious problem. Pros: * Billie has a much smaller pool of powers, which leads to a much more deliberate and stealth-heavy gameplay style. As Corvo you could always fight your way out and it was super fun, but playing as Billie is TENSE in a way I haven't encountered in a long time. * Big maps, lots to explore. * GREAT dialogue/writing. ♥♥♥♥ the haters: easily the best writing I've seen in a Bethesda game, pretty good writing fullstop. There's even occasionally these little poetic flourishes that I would love to see more of. * Genuinely challenging in a way more games need to be. Play smart or you're gonna die. * Despite the short length, there's a really satisfying progression/customization system with the bone-charms. Instead of runes, there's just increasingly powerful and interesting bone charms (much more than in previous DH games) that add a lot of variety to the play. Cons * Short. Probably 4-6 hours if you're burning through the plot, 6-8 at normal speed, maaaaybe 12 if you're a completionist. * Doesn't seem as replayable as DH1 or DH2 -- the limited powerset means you're probably only gonna play the campaign through once or twice. High Chaos/Low Chaos, done. * Lots of reused assets (even whole maps like the Conservatory) from DH2. * Have encountered a few scripting bugs that really shouldn't have made the live game, mostly relating to moving between zones -- there's contracts that require you to knock somebody out then dump their body in x, but then you can't get the body to x because it requires a new map to load and your kidnap-ee disappears. Pro OR Con depending on what you want out of it: * Graphics identical to DH2. Don't expect it to look any prettier, but don't expect to need a new graphics card either. * This is NOT an action game (see below) * A lot less forgiving than other DH games. Billie has 0 ability to tank, even by the standards of an assassin, and screwing up WILL get you killed. Her movement skill is slower and doesn't go as far, her face-steal barely lasts long enough to make it useful -- you have to plan methodically to have any hope. It's much more of a traditional stealth game in the vein of Thief than a stealth-action hybrid like the other two. Hell, let me elaborate on those last two points (and the first Pro). I am an old-ass man, and I remember Stealth games of the 90s. If you got caught by a single random guard, you had decent odds of making it out alive (if you got it over quickly). Two guards? RUN. Billie plays like that -- she hits hard and fast, but one solid hit will take her down. Billie MUST stealth, and her abilities play into that very heavily: she gets no combat boosts outside of equipment upgrades, she knocks herself over if she teleports into somebody, and she has Foresight, which is probably the best stealth/recon tool I've ever encountered in a game. Even with the twin-blade and some of the beefier late-game bone charms she's still a total glass cannon. Billie is not meant for front-on assaults at all: she's meant for 1) avoiding combat all-together and 2) meticulously planned surgical strikes She's so fragile, you start avoiding even unecessary assassinations, in case somebody is watching. When violence does happen, it's fast, tense, bloody, frightening. If there's two guards standing together, you better learn to wait until one of them leaves before you go for the throat. It kinda reminds me of the recent Atomic Blonde: the fights play out like close-combat between a (highly trained) woman and a (decently-trained) man would play out IRL -- to win, the woman has to tilt the scales, and fight fast, dirty and brutal. There's a real tension and desperation to the way Billie handles that I haven't seen in literally decades. You will spend five full minutes lurking on a drainpipe so you can drop down and kill one measly guy without being noticed. You'll hear that musical sting that means you've been rumbled and just immediately bug out because there's no way you're winning a fair fight. You'll run, find somewhere new to strike from, spend another ten minutes planning while swearing under your breath. If that sounds boring to you, this isn't your game. If you miss the days of Thief: the Dark Project, this is right up your (heh) alley. EDIT: this has been rewritten quite a lot, as I've now completed the game. Initial review was first couple of hours, this should cover everything.Show moreShow less
7 hours at review277 people found this helpful