Neon Struct (Indie Deus Ex on a Budget)

[DalekFlay]

I have come out of semi-retirement to play this after someone linked me to it via PM. I am a Deus Ex slut so I was told this was the next hot young thing in the bar, and it's at least trying to be. With a Minecraft aesthetic trying to look like Blade Runner you enter an "open world" stealth world and sneak around clicking on things. I put open world in quotes there because so far (two missions) the levels are smaller than Dishonored's, which I would guess a lot of people would not classify as massive.

There is no gun, at least not yet. You either whack guys on the head or ghost everything. The game very much seems designed for ghosting. There are various mission demands and collectibles, it all seems rather standard but impressive for an indie all the same I suppose. Music is very typical indie electronica. Story is simple so far and about what you would expect.

If you have a hard-on for the genre as I do and can't wait for Deus Ex 4 then this might be worth a go. There is a menu option for custom levels, which intrigues me, but I see no Steam Workshop links or whatnot yet.

Anyone else playing this?

http://www.neonstruct.com/

 

[Unkillable Cat]

The music, while nice, doesn't feel right for this somehow.

Looks promising and interesting, but I'm gonna let it develop a bit further before taking a closer look.

 

[DalekFlay]

The music, while nice, doesn't feel right for this somehow.

It's very cliche electronic music. It even has a vocal at times. Not sure why everyone thinks cyberpunk games demand generic electronic music but they do. Blade Runner was just as much jazz as it was electronic.

 

[deuxhero]

Looking at the screenshots, with the theme of the game I feel it should have gone for a look closer to the classic 90s low polygon "cyberspace" than... whatever they went with as far as art style goes. The world geometry looks like placeholders (characters look OKish, but animation is super stiff), not a charming artstyle.

 

[Riskbreaker]

Feels almost like a total conversion for one Dark engine Thiefs, in a way.
I found it to be enjoyable enough. Tis really simplistic and easy tho, and visuals are (IMO) a bit on a bland & soulless side. Also, not a fan of complete lack of music (during proper missions) and limited ambient sounds.

 

[Astral Rag]

Was interested until I saw the screenshots and that's coming from a person that enjoys games like Ecstatica and Interstate 76.

 

[Peter]

I'm curious to try this at some point, mostly due to an interest in any attempt at a Looking Glass-style game, and the respect I have for the dev in creating this game in roughly a year. Following the dev blog was really interesting. That said, I do agree with the comments itt in regards to it seeming sort of bland. The graphics are a product of the dev time and budget, of course, but still, braver stylistic decisions could have been taken there, and, indeed, the electronic indie pop soundtrack sounds off. Should've gone with Vangelis/Tangerine Dream style ambient and/or techno/DnB/trance inspired stuff for the typical cyberpunk vibe. In general, the impression I get is that the dev attempted to make a pastiche version of 'immersive sims' + cyberpunk aestethics, without fully understanding or commiting to those concepts, if that makes sense.

Of course that's just a totally vague opinion not really based on anything. Still curious to play the thing.

 

[taxalot]

How long does it take to complete?

 

[DalekFlay]

How long does it take to complete?

Anywhere from 3 to 10 hours supposedly. I was kind of amazed that I loaded the third mission and beat it in like 10 minutes without even seeing 70% of the level. A ton of content seems optional.

 

[Dev_Anj]

So any information about how this game plays and what mechanics it has? I've heard about it from several sources, and its descriptions sound interesting, but the screenshots put me off. That's even though I don't have high demands from graphics, besides that they shouldn't be too monotonous colour wise.

 

[DalekFlay]

So any information about how this game plays and what mechanics it has? I've heard about it from several sources, and its descriptions sound interesting, but the screenshots put me off. That's even though I don't have high demands from graphics, besides that they shouldn't be too monotonous colour wise.

It's a very simplified Thief with some Deus Ex elements, really. It's a little too simple to be good, probably. I got a little too bored and haven't gone back. It needs a hook or more depth, right now it just feels like playing baby's first Thief, despite the lack of console style assistance (quest arrows, checkpoints, etc.). I wouldn't trust my opinion of games right now though, since I barely have an interest in playing anything. If you're really into the genre and enthused about playing another one you might as well try the demo.

 

[Metro]

Looks good... for bundle fodder. $18 for an 8 hour game with little replay value? Meh.

 

[ColCol]

The game is meh

1. Gadgets (which consist of stims and grenades) are not interesting or fun to use (or experiment with).
2. The game approaches/uses a style that is reminiscent of Deus ex of Thief. Yet, this only calls attention to how sparse and lifeless Neon Struct's levels (hub-levels) are compared to those games.
3. The story is cheesy, I have not beat it yet, but it's basically sci-fi Edward Snowden. The plot also does not hold up well to scrutiny.


If you need a deus ex/thief/stealth fix this game might help, but you should probably wait till the game 's price goes down.

 

[Dev_Anj]

If you need a deus ex/thief/stealth fix

For those I can play Thief fan missions and Deus Ex campaigns, I just thought this would be an interesting mix of Thief style stealth with Deus Ex style gadgetry and free form play. But I guess not, not until the game improves.

 

[DalekFlay]

For those I can play Thief fan missions and Deus Ex campaigns, I just thought this would be an interesting mix of Thief style stealth with Deus Ex style gadgetry and free form play. But I guess not, not until the game improves.

If he had spent another year on it adding depth it might have been something nice. As it is now though it's just too shallow compared to those games to be worth messing with.

 

[ColCol]

And the stealth, the shadows in some levels are basically just a little path you need to keep following in order to reach the end of the level.

 

[ColCol]

For those I can play Thief fan missions and Deus Ex campaigns, I just thought this would be an interesting mix of Thief style stealth with Deus Ex style gadgetry and free form play. But I guess not, not until the game improves.

If he had spent another year on it adding depth it might have been something nice. As it is now though it's just too shallow compared to those games to be worth messing with.

True, the downsides of a one-man team. There was a similar problem with eldrtich. A roguelike with little to no variety ( and hence no replayabilty).

 

[Moaning_Clock]

I beat Neon Struct yesterday and it was very simple but enjoyable. Did get ~4 hours out of the game. At first it felt a bit clunky but after one hour in it was pretty enjoyable.

There's now a free follow up: Neon Struct: Carrion Carrier but it is very different - while Neon Struct: Die Augen der Welt is a Stealth game, Carrion Carrier is all about delivering packages in a short amount of time. Liked both, can recommend - especially with the price dropping now regularly to 2 bucks.

 

[Falksi]

I like the vibe. Will check it out

 

[ADL]

Just picked it up for $1.79 on sale looking forward to trying it.

 

[ADL]

I was looking through the list of games doing the Palestinian Aid thing on itch and this was one of them. There's some good shit in here.
https://itch.io/b/902/indie-bundle-for-palestinian-aid

 

[DDZ]

No matter how cheap that bundle is and what is included, I can't make use of a good deal, just to own the libs.

trump 2020

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I was looking through the list of games doing the Palestinian Aid thing on itch and this was one of them. There's some good shit in here.
https://itch.io/b/902/indie-bundle-for-palestinian-aid

I'd rather eat my money than give it to the UN