Branching paths?

[Urthdigger]

Something I'm curious about is what impact do various choices have during the game? I'm specifically curious about the decision to either keep people alive or kill them, and using the WAU healing points.

On my playthrough, I didn't leave a single person alive (the first few were accidents, the rest were considering "in for a penny, in for a pound"). Most got mentioned in later conversations, and I informed Lindwall she was the last remaining human.

Likewise, the first death I caused was when using a healing point automatically broke down the power in the flow regulator, killing Carl Semken. This also released an enemy to attack me, though it appears choosing to turn off the other switch and keep Carl alive and in pain does not release an enemy. A nearby healing point also disables use of a computer. Are there many other healing points that close things off to you when used? Does refraining from using them alter the plot in any way (I know Catherine mentioned when I used one once, and I replied that I wouldn't have gotten this far without them. I had used every last one up to that point, though I would later miss one in Tau due to not wanting to risk it)

[Parallax]

Originally posted by Urthdigger:

Something I'm curious about is what impact do various choices have during the game? I'm specifically curious about the decision to either keep people alive or kill them, and using the WAU healing points.

Zero effect on the game. However one could argue you as a player is somewhat affected from making these choices.