Replayability ?

[Traditional Dumpling Experience]

An enjoyable playthrough is all well and good, but 7.50$ can really get you a lot in Steam sales these days. So I was wondering if I would get more then 4-8 hours out of this game, if that's all there is then I will probably skip it.

I heard something about a hardcore mode? That sounds interesting.

[Cloudius]

New Game Plus has a hardcore mode. You keep the the things you unlocked in the first playthrough.

[Marik Bentusi]

"Hardcore" mode removes a bunch of helpful pointers like the radius in which objects make noise, vision cones and such. It's also a New Game + mode tho, so you get to keep your unlocks.

You play the game in three different basic styles: The guy that sneaks around everything, the guy that kills everything, and the guy that scares the ♥♥♥♥ out of people before killing everything. There's also some limited multi-pathing depending on your equipment, like laser-trap-rich parts for people equipping smoke bombs. That non-linearity encourages you to use different methods if you re-run a level.
You also progressively unlock costumes with advantages and disadvantages that help you specialize in certain playstyles.

There's also two endings, so in theory you can do one non-lethal run and another lethal one. There are a few plot twists that make the story somewhat more interesting in hindsight. However, "no kill" boni etc reset every level and you can change your equipment multiple times, so there's nothing stopping you from playing it mixed and watching the other ending on YouTube.

There's a leaderboard if you care; you're essentially rewarded for playing mind games.

After finishing it I played a bit of the New Game + mode, but don't think I'll continue that run for some time. I've had a healthy dose of really really neat stealth, now I think I'll jump into some Starcraft 2 or FTL. I think the cheap bastard inside me would've waited for a 75% off, but I really wanted to support the genre as a whole, and I have yet to regret my decision.

[^7ja^1co]

Yeah, for you its $, for me its Euros -.-

Main story takes up around 8 hours. That much I can pull of Defender's Quest demo...and its free, the main game is less than 5 Euros.

Mark of Ninja seems like a decent game and I know the devs need the money to keep going etc., but lets face it, you can have 2 games for the price of 1, that will last you much longer.

I do intend to buy Mark of Ninja, but at a reasonable price.

[IvanavI]

Like Black Phoenix said, there is a bit of replay value in the game. Every situation has multiple solutions: use a smoke bomb; use a distraction; carefully navigate between hiding spots; notice that there is a second entrance to the room which gives you a better position; bypass the room completely... In pretty much every situation, you are offered several of these choices.

In my opinion, it does justify it's current price, if only barely, because, apart from a horribly obsolete checkpiont system, it's a pretty flawless little game and there aren't many others like it (although it's not a new concept) and it has just enough content.

[pipi long stocking]

Yes, for $7.50 it's totally worth it, as it has alot of replay ability.
For me, original playthrough was about 9 hours. hope this helps. I come from FPShooters and lately these side scrollers have been very entertaining

[Echelon IV7]

I would say that this is about as cheap as it is likely to get in the near future, and I just finished it and really thoroughly enjoyed it. Less than a dollar per hour. Go for it, it's a fantastic game.

[CorvusCorax]

I think Black Phoenix summed it up perfectly.

I would only like to add that by trying to achieve all secondary objectives on each level and finding all collectibles (i.e. not speedrunning) I have so far clocked 9 hours with the game. There is still one or 2 more chapters incomplete as this is my first playthrough.

Although I try to do 100% completion for each level, some of the objectives still remained incomplete. And replaybility is there as you have the new game plus mode, additionally, some interesting achievements to unlock.

I say you can easily log 16-20 hours of gameplay here, which is outstanding for a platformer, I think.

[Ebithril]

Black Phoenix sums it all up perfectly!

I have played for 28 hours, and I still have only started playing New Game+.
Altough, I am achivment hunting AND playing to get the best score.

So let's say if you are really skilled (thath means, already having played trough a lvl or the entire game) you can buzz trough LVL 2 in about 6 minutes - though this is a pretty short level too. (On normal)
BUT, I just spent maybe 1½ hour on that LVL 1 PERFECTING it.
That means, milking every chance, every guard for the maximum amount of points. Getting all the scrolls and so forth.

The only thing I would say is bad about this game are the guys on the leaderbord that cheats...
That said, after 1½ hours of trial and error and doing everything perfectly - apart from a few minor things which in the end would equall about 1000-1500 points extra, there are still people with tens-of-thousands more points, and the "Top players" aren't even trying to be subtle with ther 1,000,00 points. >.<

At any point, great game. If you like twitch skills and seeking perfection in a stealth game - this is for you!

[Kamano]

I have been playing it already for 16 great hours. Completed the normal mode and a few achievements. Still cleaning up all level quests in normal mode. Didn't try New Game Plus yet.
It's a great game, get the game while it's on sale and enjoy! :D

[Blackbaldrik]

I played through my first time killing everything. Now I'm going through in NewGame+ using "Path of Silence" (Can't use sword or offensive items). I'm having just as much fun on my second playthough as I had on my first one.

This is without a doubt one of the best games I've played in over a year. (=

[CorvusCorax]

Okay, now I have completed the new game mode. That's roughly 21 hours clocked and almost all achievements obtained. That's pretty decent for an indie, platformer game.