Well, I've played the demo. I like the controls and the concept. The QTE's being part of the 3D view is superb, and the fight was quite engaging. Visuals are mixed. Some of the facials are great, but the animation is mostly robotically-applied clips. There was an awkward lack of dynamic AO, meaning no contact shadows which, in a game of this sort, is essential IMO. Texture detail and IQ was good.
Regards the game play, at the moment it's getting a 'no' from me. There are two parts to the demo; the detective visiting a shabby motel and a Fed agent visiting a crime scene. The FBI agent bugged me because...
More importantly the entire premise of the seemingly open RPG gameplay was unravelled the moment I tried the demo a couple of times in different ways. The outcome is exactly the same. The dialogue choices are much like old adventure games, where you'd basically try them all in turn. Persuade. No luck? Try Coerce? Still no luck? Try Pressure? Run out of options? Well that's because you can't actually change the outcome with this dialogue, so it really doesn't matter what you try or in what order! I tried just not bothering and ended up with the same opportunity as trying. There's a fight, and the outcome for you seems to be the same regardless of what you do. That said, I haven't tried not doing anything yet. But prior to the fight, I went in knowing that though I had the option to turn away and not get involved, there was no negative impact to me, nor was there a potential cost to going in. If I could have died in the fight, the choice between helping or not becomes a real choice. As it was, it doesn't matter much what I do.
I guess overall there'll be fixed story arcs, each with a branch and a choice which path to take. Overall though the experience may be very linear. Perhaps an excellent story superbly executed, but with no replay value or sense of exploration. I wonder how those who have ordered it will find it?
Regards the game play, at the moment it's getting a 'no' from me. There are two parts to the demo; the detective visiting a shabby motel and a Fed agent visiting a crime scene. The FBI agent bugged me because...
he has some insane technological gadgets! HUD specs with a glove interface that can scan the surroundings to find clues makes this more sci-fi, and the experience was pretty tedious. Scan, walk, check. Rinse and repeat a few times.
More importantly the entire premise of the seemingly open RPG gameplay was unravelled the moment I tried the demo a couple of times in different ways. The outcome is exactly the same. The dialogue choices are much like old adventure games, where you'd basically try them all in turn. Persuade. No luck? Try Coerce? Still no luck? Try Pressure? Run out of options? Well that's because you can't actually change the outcome with this dialogue, so it really doesn't matter what you try or in what order! I tried just not bothering and ended up with the same opportunity as trying. There's a fight, and the outcome for you seems to be the same regardless of what you do. That said, I haven't tried not doing anything yet. But prior to the fight, I went in knowing that though I had the option to turn away and not get involved, there was no negative impact to me, nor was there a potential cost to going in. If I could have died in the fight, the choice between helping or not becomes a real choice. As it was, it doesn't matter much what I do.
I guess overall there'll be fixed story arcs, each with a branch and a choice which path to take. Overall though the experience may be very linear. Perhaps an excellent story superbly executed, but with no replay value or sense of exploration. I wonder how those who have ordered it will find it?
! The sleazy hotel is purely great ! Absolutely perfect ! I tried that scene 3 times , made three different choices in conversations, and boy, each time she told me something else. Once, she just sent me off without any info, once she offered me a cig and I got to see her son's pic and could talk to her till the alarm rang, after that she was cold as steel and once I got all info I wanted from her. 
