Is this really an immersive sim?

[CupCupBaconBox]

Topic

[fourfourtwo79]

It certainly makes Bioshock look like a straightforward linear corridor FPS most the time. So if you consider Bioshock to fit the mould, this one for sure applies. The term "Boomer shooter" associated with many New Blood titles would be very much a misnomer. Even if you played this all guns blazing / brawling (which you can do in Dishonored as well).

There's a lot of influences, from Condemned to Action Doom2 . But there's an awful lot of Dishonored, Thief and sprinkles of Deux Ex as well. You can pickpocket goons. Some doors can be locked. Light switches turned/on off (stealth!). NPCs distracted. Objects picked up and tossed around / used. Boxes, chairs, trashcans... can be picked up and used to climb over stuff, naturally. Weapons degrade and break. You can make noise and attract AI. Bodies can be hidden. There's systems.

The level design is at times a direct homage to games of yore. Chapter 2 nods at Thief 2's "Shipping and receiving" clearly. Chapter 3 is a bit set up like the gang wars in Dishonored's Brigmore Witches district level. And the design philosphy is taken straight from those either way, including the vertical exploration, non-linear objectives and open-ended progression, with multiple routes throughout each. It's arguably the highlight of the game.

There's also many small nods, which as a fan you may pick up immediately. Including one directly at Bioshock regardless. The way the story is told is classic Looking Glass: Documents scattered throughout, eavesdropping on conversations, a bit of environmental stuff as well. Plus cutscenes in between missions. The way I'm playing this personally, it pretty much feels like Dishonored: The Knife Of Mobster City.



TLDR; Subreddit has spoken. https://www.reddit.com/r/ImmersiveSim/comments/1dgew59/fallen_aces_gets_the_imsim_seal_of_approval/

[Dave Voyles]

Not to the level of Bioshock or Dishonored, but certainly more than most boomer shooters you'd find today.

My concern is that this would simply be a boomer shooter without a story. That is NOT the case.

Fantastic, animated comic cut scenes between stages, great interactivity with some of the NPS, and you can eavesdrop into conversations from henchmen, similar to what we had in No One Lives Forever.

[Motive]

Originally posted by Dave Voyles:

Not to the level of Bioshock or Dishonored, but certainly more than most boomer shooters you'd find today.

My concern is that this would simply be a boomer shooter without a story. That is NOT the case.

Fantastic, animated comic cut scenes between stages, great interactivity with some of the NPS, and you can eavesdrop into conversations from henchmen, similar to what we had in No One Lives Forever.

I'm sorry but Bioshock Imsim is so dumbed down that I'm having trouble counting it as one.

[Cosmonaut Cartilag]

Originally posted by CupCupBaconBox:

Topic

You can electrocute water so basically yeah.

[TheBarbaryGhost]

In my review I referred to it as Immersive Sim-ish.

[master thief]

I'm stuck in the harbour cause I can't find a key... so immersive sim, unfortunatly no. Not always.

[Cahalith]

From what I've played thus far, I'd say it definitely follows many of the core design principles I love in imsims (freedom of approach, systems-driven gameplay, creative interaction with the environment). It may not have the same systems as imsims of yore (like the social interaction and skill systems of Ultima Underworld or Deus Ex), but as far as I'm concerned, imsims were never about having to have a specific set of systems, but about creating believable microcosms and systems-driven interaction in general.

What I will say is that Fallen Aces has a mission-based structure like the Thief or Dishonored games, instead of interconnecting maps like in System Shock or Prey (2017), for example. Not a bad thing, as far as I'm concerned, but some people might not like that, so I thought I'd mention it.

[drunk auntie]

Originally posted by Cosmonaut Cartilag:

Originally posted by CupCupBaconBox:

Topic

You can electrocute water so basically yeah.

only fun mechanic in bioshock. and telekinesis lol

[Тюленин]

I think Fallen Aces is the most normal-people-friendly immersive sim ever released. It encapsulates what BioShock was never able to achieve - become mainstream, yet still be an immersive sim. Great accoplishment.

[Valhalla Awaits]

More than any retro shooter ever was. But it's no RPG/narrative focused game. Falls somewhere in the middle. Imagine Duke Nukem 3D but with cutscenes/dialogue/and even in-game cutscenes. (Which socked me the first time it happened.)

[sidneyc1990]

Played it for a while. It gave me ImSim vibes. Since I'm aiming for a stealth pacifist playthrough, the kind of ImSim I'm feeling is closer to Thief and Dishonored.

I've played different kinds of Imsims, like Prey, System Shock, Deus Ex, Dishonored, and even radically different stuff like Ctrl Alt Ego. They all gave me a similar, familiar vibe as I played. Fallen Acess in what little I played so far has a bit of that.

But the stealth gameplay wasn't satisfying. I don't think I managed to get the thrown objects lure right. Enemies also don't walk far away enough from each other for me to do a double chop takedown, and I can't seem to understand their movements clearly. Enemies can also wake another one up from a distance (instead of running to the body first). Ended up having to fight them - the melee combat impact is where it starts to feel like Bioshock.

I had to drop the difficulty down to Normal just to be able to cheese the game the way I liked.

The 3 inventory limit is annoying though. I tend to hoard in all ImSims I play.

[fourfourtwo79]

Originally posted by sidneyc1990:

But the stealth gameplay wasn't satisfying.

From the older demo, but if you'd bee in need of a tutorial. :-) This is gameplay from a mission that is now the last chapter of Episode 1 (though reworked). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPX6zA0YvH4&

There's a chapter that's pretty much a direct nod to Thief a bit later on as well... you'll see it immediately, encouraging you to not kill anyone.

[Waltnut]

Originally posted by sidneyc1990:

Played it for a while. It gave me ImSim vibes. Since I'm aiming for a stealth pacifist playthrough, the kind of ImSim I'm feeling is closer to Thief and Dishonored.

I've played different kinds of Imsims, like Prey, System Shock, Deus Ex, Dishonored, and even radically different stuff like Ctrl Alt Ego. They all gave me a similar, familiar vibe as I played. Fallen Acess in what little I played so far has a bit of that.

But the stealth gameplay wasn't satisfying. I don't think I managed to get the thrown objects lure right. Enemies also don't walk far away enough from each other for me to do a double chop takedown, and I can't seem to understand their movements clearly. Enemies can also wake another one up from a distance (instead of running to the body first). Ended up having to fight them - the melee combat impact is where it starts to feel like Bioshock.

I had to drop the difficulty down to Normal just to be able to cheese the game the way I liked.

The 3 inventory limit is annoying though. I tend to hoard in all ImSims I play.

You need to throw bottles

[The Phasmid]

It's an immersive sim without the grind-y upgrade systems, and I'm very much OK with that. More in tune with Thief 2 or System Shock than Dishonored.

[Steve]

You kidding? The biggest influence I notice so far is Godfather III.