Last map, The Dead City, suffers badly from poor pacing

[TaBull]

*SPOILERS*

I liked the game overall, but I didn't like the last map at all and it sadly left sour taste after finishing. The thing is that in the end I have no idea what happened in the city, why are all the people dead, why is the boy still alive and should I care about any of this.

The game overall want you to explore the world to find clues and notes about what happened in the world. This is encouraged by at the same time finding useful stuff as you explore. In all the other maps the pacing allows to do that somewhat decently, even though its not perfect. At least you are not putting your comrades to acute risk by doing so.

The problem with the last map lies with the premise of going to the city: You are going to find a cure for a disease that you wife is very close of dying to. You are made aware that the whole city is extremely lethal with radiation and you are given a chance if you manage to go with the armored van and stay out of the radiation as much as possible. Not only is the mission time sensitive, you and everyone you travel with are supposedly at great risk of dying too, meaning your wives father and the random innocent boy. That is because they are waiting for you with the van to leave the city. In a blizzard may I add.

All that makes it so that Artyom wouldn't waste any time doing anything else than what he have to, there is so much at stake. And that is how I felt that I should be playing as him, clearing obstacles as fast as possible without lingering around to explore or care about my surrounding or waste time reading books. Hallucinations or fear are not important if you want to save anyone, there is no other option but to push forward whatever you may see or hear. Of course there is no real timer in the game, but that is just a poor argument.

Small problem with mostly good game. Its just sad when there is greatness to be seen and small things like this weaken the experience.

[★ FmNey ★]

I'm pretty sure that you haven't played Two Colonels DLC, every detail and story of the Dead City will be revealed in that DLC.

[TaBull]

Rona Lisa a écrit :

I'm pretty sure that you haven't played Two Colonels DLC, every detail and story of the Dead City will be revealed in that DLC.

In that you are correct. Is your point though that there are no story or details to be explored in the last map? That would make some points I made irrelevant, but wouldn't remove the issue with hallucinations or with the depth of the map. I'm also pretty certain I found some notes or books in there, which I never "had the time" to read.

[ivanmanu51]

Yes, some of those collectibles in the Dead City won't give you much details on it, but some glimpse of desperate situations that happened there. You don't have the chance to explore it that much even if you want. It's a linear level.

Also, hallucinations may occur if your body is badly exhausted, so I didn't see "a problem" there. You are still struggling and fighting even you are gradually losing your mind due to high level of radiation. Especially when you have someone that is your whole world as Artyom's wife is to him.

To add my own point to the fact that they are waiting Artyom even in a blizzard is the sentence that you may hear from Colonel Miller about how important is that you both save Anna. He is on a mission where he is ready to give up his life to save Artyom and to give Anna a chance of surviving at least. Without Artyom Anna doesn't have the chance anyway and Miller knows that. That's why he decided to wait.

That boy you meet there... play the Two Colonel DLC. I won't say anything to avoid any possible spoiler. I believe you will have a nice closure to that once you finish that DLC.

[zombie-flesheater]

I did like the Dead City for what it was, and the pacing and atmosphere felt just right BUT it shouldn't have been the game's last mission - it just feels underwhelming in terms of its scope compared to LL's epic final battle.

[Crimsomrider]

That is unfortunately quite common in games, when story immersion starts clashing with gameplay.

I felt the same way on my first playthrough and it's not just with Dead City, but with Yamantau as well. Both Yamantau and Dead City stories put a big emphasis that Artyom has no time to waste because Anna is in danger. And it makes sense.

But the problem is that these two levels are the same gameplay vise as all the rest. They are quite linear, but still open to exploration and as such have loot and diary notes, which to me are also important.

So even though I want to roleplay properly and rush to save Anna without stopping for anything, in the end I simply decided to explore and loot rather than rush just because the story emphasizes so. And to be honest it was worth sacrificing the pacing for the diary notes, lots of fascinating stuff to read in them.

The problem with Dead City exploration and diary notes however is that it completely explains what happened to Novosibirsk, so it kind of completely spoiled the Two Colonels DLC for me because I already knew everything that was about to happen. The only thing I didn't know were the final 5 minutes, but all the other events were in the notes.

[☪Nstorm24]

You should pay more attention to the dialogue, even before playing two colonels, the kid explays what happened in the city and why is everyone dead, also some of your teamates that are looking for the snow plow will mention somethings that they find strange about the trains that are along the way. Just piece everything together and you will have an idea of what happened.

[TaBull]

Thanks for all the comments. Just something I felt was somewhat poor gamedesign and has often been similarly in games like this. That the game does want you to explore but does not give the time to do it storywise. I will certainly give the DLC a try.

I agree with the point with Yamantau having similar problem. In there you can at least read the notes afterwards and convince yourself that your companions will handle the situation if you personally do not make it in time. In that sense the dead city is worse because you are solely responsible for four lives.

I don't think that the map is horrible, but I do think that its the worst one in the game. Which matters more because it was also the last map in the game.

[Welsenfürst]

TaBull a écrit :

Thanks for all the comments. Just something I felt was somewhat poor gamedesign and has often been similarly in games like this. That the game does want you to explore but does not give the time to do it storywise. I will certainly give the DLC a try.

I agree with the point with Yamantau having similar problem. In there you can at least read the notes afterwards and convince yourself that your companions will handle the situation if you personally do not make it in time. In that sense the dead city is worse because you are solely responsible for four lives.

I don't think that the map is horrible, but I do think that its the worst one in the game. Which matters more because it was also the last map in the game.

Misunderstanding with fiction contract maybe

[ChalkLine]

I think the point still stands.

I love The Two Colonels, in fact I got bored and didn't finish Sam's Story. But the OP is saying the section should have been written differently. An immediate thought is that some of the blockages Artyom has to get through is tied to the story of Novosibirsk but instead the developers saw they needed a fix for that (as well as the abuse they'd heaped on the character of Miller) and that's probably what gave rise to The Two Colonels.

[Snodog]

This. 1000× this.

The ENTIRE time I'm playing I'm like 'Aren't we sitting in a radioactive hot spot? Why are we diddling around with notes and supplies and ♥♥♥♥?' Not to mention the walk speed is already incredibly slow compared to other FPS games that are high mobility, high maneuverability. Which goes great for most of the game. You have to be careful, move slowly, move deliberately. In the last mission though, it's just a slog. Coupled with the constant sound of the Geiger Counter and the random blackouts and hallucinations, I felt more frustrated that it was taking so damn long in the first place. The creators clearly don't know how radiation poisoning works. At least not on those levels. Maybe if you were constantly bombarded by X-Rays, but these are Gamma Rays, a LOT of Gamma Rays, and you would be sick in minutes, dead in an hour, tops. They say over and over that the city is "off the charts". Immeasurable. That's how high it is. In a world where nuclear fallout is just another day at the office, their Geiger Counters cannot accurately guage just how many nuclear particles are bouncing around out there. Without ANY protection, they're almost toast on contact. Step off the train in anything but lead lined gear, you're dead in an hour. Instead, you're fiddling around in the sewers, on the surface, and in buildings in a suit partially protected with lead lining. That's how they make it sound, at least. Not only that, Artyiam(?) shouldn't be blacking out every few minutes and then fine for a while. When you decline, you decline quick. Your cells are being ripped apart by particles shredding through your body. You don't just get better after you start getting worse. You get worse and worse until you die in agony as your body internal organs liquefy.

The entire mission I was rolling my eyes every time Artyiam(?) started tripping over himself or going unconscious, because you don't just pick yourself up. They should have made it gradual, with the symptoms getting more severe as exposure increased. When he started hallucinating, he probably shouldn't have stopped hallucinating. That's his brain shutting down. Completely forget taking on blind mutated gorillas and figuring out power puzzles. Walking would be a significant challenge. The last mission is so scientifically inaccurate, it might as well be a fairytale game. Unless my understanding of how radiation effects the body is lacking... but even mild chemotherapy makes people sick. Not "off the charts" nuclear fallout.

[cristo_55]

[bilal_hcg]

I would have appreciated the last the level if it would have been semi open world than a poorly designed linear level. It's like you're playing Metro Exodus and suddenly your game turned into Outlast and Slenderman or whatever their names are. Exposing to radiation affects you and then gone in a few moments doesn't really makes any sense. If you can't explore then whats the point of having scatter all that stuff around. The Dead City level was good until Artyom went out alone leaving Miller behind with the kid. The game has a huge dip of disappointments after some minutes.

[AmesNFire]

Snodog a écrit :

The last mission is so scientifically inaccurate

Congrats on being a necromancer and somehow not noticing the giant mutant creatures, the weird equipment, the setting itself, the dream-like psychic humanoids that played major roles in the first two games and all three books, and of course that it's a bloody game.

[Preacher]

AmesNFire a écrit :

Snodog a écrit :

The last mission is so scientifically inaccurate

Congrats on being a necromancer and somehow not noticing the giant mutant creatures, the weird equipment, the setting itself, the dream-like psychic humanoids that played major roles in the first two games and all three books, and of course that it's a bloody game.

He's right though.

[Roshambo]

The whole game isn't exactly a master class of pacing XD