I initially played only through the first 2 levels and put the game on the shelf to do it coop later, but recently I've decided against it and rezzed muh playthrough. I think I'm at the precipice of the final mission now, so here are a few thoughts of mine:
- I obviously can't say it on the basis of one playthrough, but it seems to me like this game has a metric fuckton of subtle but meaningful reactivity running behind the scenes and changing the later missions based on how big of a mess you've made throughout the game.
- Ze levels are decently open and with enough routes around them to make you consider which staircase to take and when, etc. But obviously you'll p much end up going through the whole map anyway to grab all the lootables lying around. Still, perhaps I'm blind and couldn't see them, but if there's one thing I miss it's some more 'secret', non-obvious ways in, because it's mostly just elevators and stairwells. There are some here and there, but eh.
- Low-profile shenanigans where you blend in with the guards are pretty fun, and the sequences to quickly get some info with Martin while Katya's getting questioned are cool, but I wish they were a little less clunky (I literally had no idea what was going on the first time this happened).
- It's p fun to go both supersneaky and full on guns blazing, although I find that the guards have pretty bad reactions and reflexes (playing on hard), which means you can sort of easily draw a gun, aim and shoot a dude in the head even immediately after you get spotted. This is true for both mall cops who will try to arrest you and for spec ops who supposedly shoot on sight.
- There are levels that I feel are way too linear despite being as seemingly big/open as the others. Like for instance the party at the mansion - unless I'm missing something, there's only one way to get to the basement computers (by getting the door code from the daughter's room), and only one way to get to the main objective dudeguy (by grabbing stuff from the basement computers and giving it to another dudeguy).
- It seems p. short all in all. Steam's giving me 17 hours played atm and I have only (I guess) 1 mission left (although I didn't bother with the 4 challenges). Replayability ought to be fairly high, though.
Nevertheless, it's a bretty guud stealth gaem.