Recent reviews by rlr149

back in the day, on the BBC model B a game called EXILE (1998) existed, early example of a 'metroidvania', had physics/inertia/mass based exploration gameplay. i loved it....

this kinda feels like a 'spiritual' sequel, although it's separate levels instead of 1 large open map. HD plays a little more like flashback though as it's more platform based than EXILE which had a jetpack.... thats no bad thing as i liked flashback too, throw in a little bit of lost vikings gameplay also, a few insta-swappable characters that are needed in different places to solve the puzzle elements/use certain interactives.

a bit of aliens and the thing themed visuals/monsters and the kind of retro gameplay are honestly giving a warm nostalgic feeling of my youth while also feeling kinda new and improved, animations are much better than 24 years ago, physics is better/more manipulable.... only just hit level 3 so unsure how complex it might get later but i'm certainly enjoying so far.

i loved syndicate back in the day, so this was definite purchase back when it came out. played through this once a year since then.maybe, 6 -7 times. 164 hours total as i usually do everything.

i was a little disappointed there were specific classes for the agents as i preferred the 4 blank slates of syndicate, felt like they were more 'my' team, but with the right augs you can just about create a team of 4 heavies/cloakers or whatever you'd like.
the downside is you'll have played most of the game to get to that point so not much opportunity left to 'let go' and just play about with the loadouts too much. maybe a somewhat randomization of lootable augs/locations would mix it up a bit for future playthroughs imo. i've enjoyed it every time as is though.

EDIT: seen people with control issues, the 4 main agents are hotkeyed on 1-4, never had a problem selecting who i want mid-combat.

CO OP was fun enough for the amount i played, only 4 or 5 missions.

If anyone is working on a follow up, a 2 seperate full teams coop/adversarial playthrough could be good. agents would be obvious to each other(in the visible area, not radar unless tagged) but hacked civis wouldn't. if you see the other team infiling somewhere you can go over and ambush/steal, or just provoke the local militia to alert.... maybe more access options like climbing augs/kit. more 'hacked' options like setting someone to 'guard' you or an area aggressively. more drone types/abilities ie: cargo drone if you're mid mission and research finishes something you'd like to use. civis with 'abilities' ie: you may find a L2 hacker or health regen bonus like an extra support agent...... i could go on...

tldr, i liked this game so much i'd like a follow up.... 9/10

brilliant.