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They're rebooting the story. As in the original, Faith's parents died during a protest against the city government. Faith is apparently just getting out of jail at the start of the game, and doesn't know what her sister has been up to (presumably her sister's name is still Kate, and she'll still be a cop, as in the original game). Based on what I've read, Faith won't be able to use guns at all this time around. She won't even be able to pick one up as she could in the original game (which is fine by me). Whereas the original essentially had modern-day technology, Catalyst's setting will be more advanced (as should be clear from the videos linked below).
No one affiliated with the original is linked with the new game. Rihanna Pratchett, the writer for the original game, has confirmed that she was not contacted about Catalyst.
I enjoyed the original, so I'll give this one a shot. Actually makes me want to play the first one again.
"Through the darkness of future past, the magician longs to see.
One chants out between two worlds: Fire, walk with me." - Twin Peaks
"You listen to me. While I will admit to a certain cynicism, the fact is that I am a naysayer and hatchetman in the fight against violence. I pride myself in taking a punch and I'll gladly take another because I choose to live my life in the company of Gandhi and King. My concerns are global. I reject absolutely revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method... is love. I love you Sheriff Truman." - Twin Peaks
I've played through the first game three or four times now. Absolutely love it. The no weapons thing is a plus for me, as the first time I played through Mirror's Edge I thought using the guns felt off. Went on a gunless spree from there and it's great. I leave it installed on my PC just for when the itch acts up.
Was it Yahtzee who noted that throughout the original you never know what side you're actually smuggling for? I like the notion that Faith, whilst fighting for who she thinks is the good guys (based on an assumption), could really have been tearing them down instead.
...Not that we'll see that in this game. Still I prefer that exploitation of the grayness of Faith's profession over the straight laced idea that you're just smuggling for the "good" guys. =P
Faith's part of a courier service. Who and why she's running parcels for is ignored. And she probably runs parcels both for the nefarious, and for people who merely like privacy. The game makes it clear that the city doesn't much care *who* wants their goods transferred via the runners. The mere fact that someone wants privacy from the city is considered bad by the authorities. The epilogue of the game even has a
Spoiler:
bit of dialogue in which residents of the city are advised to avoid using electronic communications until the city's data monitoring systems are back online.
On the other hand, a lot of Merc's dialogue suggests that by and large the cops have mostly ignored the runners. The fact that Faith keeps having run-ins with them is something that Merc finds unusual and alarming. So chances are that the runners don't typically smuggle anything particularly dangerous.
The second preview trailer for Catalyst, though, shows Faith
Spoiler:
breaking into a building in order to commit data theft for resale. There's no question that she's engaged in serious crimes in Catalyst.
If he's on a dual core there'll be a new motherboard on top of that(are there any hexcores that share a socket with a dual core?), possibly new RAM as well. Popping a new graphics card or an SSD in is the work of a moment, upgrading your CPU is a pain in the arse unless you're doing a whole-system refresh.
"Your society's broken, so who should we blame? Should we blame the rich, powerful people who caused it? No, lets blame the people with no power and no money and those immigrants who don't even have the vote. Yea, it must be their fething fault." - Iain M Banks
-----
"The language of modern British politics is meant to sound benign. But words do not mean what they seem to mean. 'Reform' actually means 'cut' or 'end'. 'Flexibility' really means 'exploit'. 'Prudence' really means 'don't invest'. And 'efficient'? That means whatever you want it to mean, usually 'cut'. All really mean 'keep wages low for the masses, taxes low for the rich, profits high for the corporations, and accept the decline in public services and amenities this will cause'." - Robin McAlpine from Common Weal
If he's on a dual core there'll be a new motherboard on top of that(are there any hexcores that share a socket with a dual core?), possibly new RAM as well. Popping a new graphics card or an SSD in is the work of a moment, upgrading your CPU is a pain in the arse unless you're doing a whole-system refresh.
This.
Not only would the CPU need to be replaced, but also the motherboard. And possibly the RAM. I haven't checked to see whether the modules I'm using now are compatible with current motherboards (probably, but possibly not).
Then yank the drives (they're in the way) and circuit boards, install the motherboard, CPU, and RAM, reinstall the circuit boards and drives, connect all the cables, and then test everything two or three times when a connection is loose somewhere and the system doesn't start properly.
Got a sudden surprise infusion of cash. So some of it went for a new CPU. And this game, of course.
As mentioned above, this game is a reboot of the original game. Some elements are still the same. But there are a lot of changes.
The game is set in the city Glass, in the country of Cascadia. Cascadia is run by a group called the Conglomerate, which is made up of a number of corporate oligarchies. The corporations essentially run the country, and the citizens are divided into classes based on the type of employment they perform. A peaceful protest that turned violent in Glass roughly twenty years earlier is referred to as "The November Riots", and Faith lost her parents and her sister during the riots. A friend of her parents named Noah took her under his wing, and taught her how to run as part of his network of illicit rooftop couriers and industrial spies.
The first game was very much a linear game. You might find an alternate route that led to a hidden satchel. But that was pretty much it. Cataclysm, on the other hand, is an open world game. You can go anywhere in the city (mostly), and completely ignore the main storyline if you want. The city is full of people who need (timed) messages delivered, billboards to hack, electronics to steal, and various bits of information to uncover. The player is given enough information in the game to get by via conversations and flashbacks (mostly Faith's nightmares of the riot), but you can also learn a lot more about the city's history, and some of the people that you're in contact with, by finding various collectibles scattered throughout the city. Additionally, there are a number of side missions that you can undertake. And you can rerun a mission at any time. Missed a couple of collectibles in the mission that you just completed (and you probably will the first time)? You can run it again.
The gameplay itself is more advanced. All of the parkour moves are still there. But you'll need to unlock some of the more advanced ones before you can use them. There are also a few new tricks, including a line that can be attached to certain context-sensitive items in the game.
Combat is... combat. You can't use enemy weapons in this game (the explanation given is that all of the weapons have biometric locks). Faith has a melee system that she can use, but it feels a bit clunky. And the animations for it aren't particularly good, imo. The game unfortunately has a tendency to throw enemies at Faith during certain parts of the game - almost always in the storyline missions (enemies do sometimes turn up in side missions, but frequently you can run past them if you want). It gets annoying at times.
Finally, the city itself is much more impressive. In the first game, it was basically a modern city with a lot of white. In the second game, there's a lot more variety to the scenery. You'll run past highways with lots of cars zipping past. You'll see people as you run past their windows, or on lower levels, all going about their business. Security cameras will track you (which they did in the first game), and report your position to KrugerSec (which they didn't do in the first game). In short, the city feels much more alive.
There are also a lot more personalities involved. Noah more or less takes the place of Merc. Icarus is a talented runner, and rival to Faith. Doman is a crime boss that Faith is indebted to. Rebecca Thane sees herself as leading the resistance against the Conglomerate, but has far too much in common with every Red terrorist who ever existed. And Gabriel Krugor, the head of KrugorSec, looms over the whole thing, with his daughter Isabella Kruger.
All in all, aside from the combat, it's a huge improvement. And fortunately, the combat isn't enough to spoil it.
Edit - I should add that while the game itself isn't multi-player (kind of hard to do...), it does make a nod toward the internet. People on your friends list who also own the game will see billboards that you hack. You can create time trials that show up in other users' games. And you can create a virtual marker that can be "signed" by anyone who reaches it. Want to show off to your friends? Put one of those markers in a hard to reach spot, and see if any of your friends are able to sign it.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/06/26 18:57:28
I prefer the ambiguity-- I hope they don't try to make the game darker and edgier to the point that it destroyed what made the original so great. Especially the original's sensationally good visuals.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/06/28 23:56:56
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
Melissia wrote: I prefer the ambiguity-- I hope they don't try to make the game darker and edgier to the point that it destroyed what made the original so great. Especially the original's sensationally good visuals.
The visuals are still great. There are some wonderful places to look out over the city, particularly near the waterfront. The city changes based on which district you happen to be traveling through, so there's a lot of variety. The game also includes one area that seems to be a pretty clear nod to the underground tunnel segment of the original game - complete with an initial entry that consists of descending down a gigantic vertical cylinder.
I don't know exactly what might and might not interest you in the game, so I can't really comment on that. The only thing that I can say is that Faith herself has an idealistic streak.
There are already plenty of Let's Play videos up if you want to get a look at the game.
