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Arkane Deathloop - first-person action game from Arkane set on a time loop island

LarryTyphoid

Scholar
Joined
Sep 16, 2021
Messages
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Dark Messiah is trash and the love it receives here is insane. Do you have a kick fetish or something?
If Dark Messiah had no camera bobbing, non-shitty story, wasn't part of Ubishit M&M, wasn't on the source engine, had a functioning FOV slider, non-shitty full body awareness/no full body awareness, and more memorable visual design, I'd say it'd be up there with the best of the Looking Glass games. But that's like saying Skyrim is good with 200+ mods, so yes, Dark Messiah is trash. Still has better stealth mechanics than Dishonored though!
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,235
Dark Messiah is OK. Don't know if I can rightly call it good. definitely is enjoyable enough but rough around the edges, unbalanced as per arkane standard, and the final two or three stages is pretty fucking boring. Really enjoyed the mid game though.

Arx Fatalis -> Prey -> Dark Messiah -> Dishonored.

Couldn't stomach more dishonored after booting up 2, playing a little bit and confirmed it was more of the same shit (and enemies in the first encounter being dumb and walking into a candle and instantly setting themselves on fire and instantly dying did not leave a good impression. Came across as super lazy). Yeah yeah clockwork mansion, level design gets better sure thing I believe you. Can't save the overall mediocrity, shit systems, barebones mechanics, popamole elements and piss easy gameplay though.

If Dark Messiah had no camera bobbing, non-shitty story, wasn't part of Ubishit M&M, wasn't on the source engine, had a functioning FOV slider, non-shitty full body awareness/no full body awareness, and more memorable visual design, I'd say it'd be up there with the best of the Looking Glass games.

What? Not a chance. what are you smoking bro? Nothing about the gameplay needs to be changed for you to categorize it alongside LGS classics, even though it's rather barebones, rather linear, hardly replayable, way too straightforward, not very systems-based, and is basically an all-out action game with the occasional puzzle? Nothing wrong with a relatively straightforward action game, but it's not even that good an action game, and even if it were placing it alongside LGS classics it'd have to be one of the absolute best.
 
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LarryTyphoid

Scholar
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Sep 16, 2021
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2,233
What? Not a chance. what are you smoking bro? Nothing about the gameplay needs to be changed for you to categorize it alongside LGS classics, even though it's rather barebones, rather linear, hardly replayable, way too straightforward, not very systems-based, and is basically an all-out action game with the occasional puzzle? Nothing wrong with a relatively straightforward action game, but it's not even that good an action game, and even if it were placing it alongside LGS classics it'd have to be one of the absolute best.
Yeah, you're right. I'm overstating Dark Messiah's potential - I just wish it actually fulfilled that potential, even if it wouldn't be as good as the real classics, instead of squandering it all with entirely avoidable design decisions.
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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Combatfag: Gold box / Pathfinder
Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Dark Messiah's design philosophy was that there must always be some gimmicky surface to kick enemies into or off of. You didn't even need to worry about any of the other game mechanics, just run around spamming kick until things flew into spiked barriers or off cliffs. It's mildly amusing, but a shitty game.
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,235
While there is definitely too much easy kick kill opportunities, that is quite the overstatement. Some enemies can't be kicked (no knockback), some levels have next to no kick opportunities (later in the game). But I won't defend the kicking frequency further than this. Instead of making combat that involves kicking to deepen it like in almost every other game they opted for it being the go-to awesome button. Oh well. the usual decline. Dark Messiah was the moment they sold out, unsurprising as Arx sold so little and that probably broke them, in addition to all their peers in the industry already having sold out prior. And nobody signing them for Arx 2, final nail in the coffin. Dark Messiah was late to the sellout party. Way behind all the PC devs. Console devs around 2006 were nearly all clued in, late behind PC but very much ready. And thus the walking sims, movie games, cover shooters, dumbed down sequels and remakes, braindead sellout dumpster fires became the norm.
 
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JDR13

Arcane
Joined
Nov 2, 2006
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3,930
Location
The Swamp
Arx Fatalis -> Prey -> Dark Messiah -> Dishonored.

Couldn't stomach more dishonored after booting up 2, playing a little bit and confirmed it was more of the same shit (and enemies in the first encounter being dumb and walking into a candle and instantly setting themselves on fire and instantly dying did not leave a good impression. Came across as super lazy). Yeah yeah clockwork mansion, level design gets better sure thing I believe you. Can't save the overall mediocrity, shit systems, barebones mechanics, popamole elements and piss easy gameplay though.

Oldfag alert
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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While there is definitely too much easy kick kill opportunities, that is quite the overstatement. Some enemies can't be kicked (no knockback), some levels have next to no kick opportunities (later in the game).

I'll admit that this may be true. I haven't played the game in 15 years or so, I have the box laying around here somewhere. The thing is, I only clearly remember two things about the game despite completing it: 1) a LOT of kicking stuff, 2) thinking it was a retarded experience that gave me a few laughs when I booted orcs into stuff but I was otherwise happy to move onto other, better games.

Anything that's forgettable other than being a mildly retarded amusement is not a classic worth bringing up. People may as well be sitting here talking about the brilliance of ... <insert mediocre game here>. I can't think of anything which is fitting.
 

Child of Malkav

Erudite
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Feb 11, 2018
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Romania
Oh no, you discovered a mechanic that's abusable. Truly unheard of in video games. Except this mechanic is actually fun. Or you can play the game normally. Options, who would've thunk?
Anyway, it's a better game than 95% of today's trash. And it's actually closer to Thief by having a rope arrow system, a visibility indicator (not anywhere as nuanced but at least it's something) and being an imsim. No one calls it a classic and it's not but it's definitely not as bad as some characters around here are trying to portray it.
 

LarryTyphoid

Scholar
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Sep 16, 2021
Messages
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a rope arrow system
Cool, but I wish you had limited rope arrows. The part that really hooked me in Thief 2 was finding the hidden rope arrow in Shipping and Receiving and using that one arrow to navigate almost the whole level. I know that a single rope arrow is basically infinite if you shoot it in a way where you can retrieve it, but it would've been less satisfying if it were just an infinite rope bow in my opinion.

a visibility indicator
And then they'd shit their pants with Dishonored. Sad!
 

RapineDel

Augur
Joined
Jan 11, 2017
Messages
423
Just started this last night after getting a new computer.

The game seems to have been designed more around mixing up the abilities rather than sticking to one play style for the whole game which I think is refreshing.

Dishonored/Nu-Deus Ex have that design philosophy of there always being a convenient vent just around the corner to avoid a whole bunch of enemies (if stealth is your thing) - so far, Deathloop can definitely be played from a stealth perspective but it seems things are more prone to going wrong and the lack of manual saving means your chances of a pure stealth playthrough are basically zero unless you drive yourself insane re-starting again and again.

I don't mind it, reminds me a bit of original Deus Ex which also forced you to mix up your abilities. I like the idea of trying to stealth your way in but occasionally things go wrong and you're forced to clean up your own mess before the rest of the mobs are alerted.
 

Harthwain

Magister
Joined
Dec 13, 2019
Messages
4,690
Dark Messiah's design philosophy was that there must always be some gimmicky surface to kick enemies into or off of. You didn't even need to worry about any of the other game mechanics, just run around spamming kick until things flew into spiked barriers or off cliffs. It's mildly amusing, but a shitty game.
While you could run around abusing the kicking mechanic this doesn't mean it wasn't an overall nice action game to play. It gave you different playstyles depending on your weapon of choice and it was cool to play using physics and magic. I am surprised you fixated just on kicks and call it shit purely because of this. I simply had fun with other stuff instead and that's why I (and many others, I reckon) have a soft spot for Dark Messiah.
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Dark Messiah's design philosophy was that there must always be some gimmicky surface to kick enemies into or off of. You didn't even need to worry about any of the other game mechanics, just run around spamming kick until things flew into spiked barriers or off cliffs. It's mildly amusing, but a shitty game.
While you could run around abusing the kicking mechanic this doesn't mean it wasn't an overall nice action game to play. It gave you different playstyles depending on your weapon of choice and it was cool to play using physics and magic. I am surprised you fixated just on kicks and call it shit purely because of this. I simply had fun with other stuff instead and that's why I (and many others, I reckon) have a soft spot for Dark Messiah.

I remember that they had the various class abilities, basically rogue, warrior, and mage. I also remember that they were pretty pointless next to the power of playing Sir Kicksley Kicksalot, and weren't terribly interesting anyway. Clearly some of you liked it. It's alright though, I mean, look how many fans Skyrim has. Shit tastes good to a lot of other people too.
 

Ash

Arcane
Joined
Oct 16, 2015
Messages
6,235
7.5/10. You're overrating it, the mediocre poet is underrating it.
rating_sawyer.gif


It is pretty damn fun...in places. Biggest thing that lets it down is the boring as shit later levels. Chapter 7 to Chapter 10. The level design gets pretty bland and for some reason does away with the little exploration there is, rope arrows, secrets, environmental interaction, puzzles, platforming, level design that demands some degree of navigating...instead of all that it mostly goes all out combat. Increase in combat frequency/intensity late game is definitely expected, but it just felt rushed to me. Chapter 9: City of Flames plays like some fantasy call of duty game (albiet slightly better). Big scripted warfare in the city, very straightforward level design, NPCs whining monologues telling you what to do every five minutes (well, that's the whole game).

I was hoping it could be the western first person answer to quality melee combat brutal shit with high skill ceiling like Ninja Gaiden (2004), but alas the combat is a little shallow, game difficulty only moderate, and level design seemingly rushed in places.
 
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mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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Combatfag: Gold box / Pathfinder
Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
You have to be a real jaded cunt or have some internal revisionism going on to not understand why Dark Messiah is fondly remembered. Top five immersive sim-tier? Certainly not but it's pretty damn fun to play.


So... you're refuting my description of the game as a dumb but sort of fun kick simulator by posting a video of dumb kicking montages. Am I going crazy or are you just a moron?
 

ADL

Prophet
Joined
Oct 23, 2017
Messages
3,682
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Nantucket
There's a lot more going on in that video than just kicking people to their deaths. My favorite is the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom bridge being cut. Also kicking a dude into another dude's unsheathed sword causing the guy holding the sword to trip and bang his head on the wall. There's all sorts of fun physics shenanigans being showcased including ice spells that make your enemies slip and fall so you can execute them, guided fire projectiles, shrinking your enemies, destroying floorboards and watching them fall through, throwing rocks and crates at people.

Every game for the last 15 years has a physics engine and this one is still the most memorable. Dark Messiah is the shit.
 

mediocrepoet

Philosoraptor in Residence
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Codex 2012 Codex+ Now Streaming! MCA Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
Every game for the last 15 years has a physics engine and this one is still the most memorable. Dark Messiah is the shit.

ftfy

Look, sure, there are a few scenes in there that don't feature kicking. I'll be generous and estimate that it's only 80%... maybe 85% kicking. The rest involve physics jank like holy crap guy FLIES in a completely illogical way because his toe touched ice (have you ever experienced ice in real life?), I shot fire at a wood thing causing it to break and drop shit on a guy (note, you can also kick it or hit it), etc. These profoundly different styles of play all end up with... humanoid enemies flying off ledges or into environmental gimmicks and dying. Which is completely different than ignoring the skill mechanics of the game and using kick to knock guys into/off of stuff. You got me. :roll:

Are you trolling me, or is this some sort of nostalgia because you were 8 when you first played it?
 

Riskbreaker

Guest
Dark Messiah is fun shit. My favourite was the large underground necropolis map, both the looks and the way it played were somewhere between the similar location in Thief 1 and TR. Otherwise the combat was fun - don't recall even using kick that much outside of that ork cliffs stage, unless there were convenient spikes or fire around - the exploration was rewarding, the locales had fantastic sense of scale. I'd have to replay the thing today to be able to speak of its fine details.
 

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