Grunker said:
Ulm, how is the cover-based stealth and shooting affecting your gameplay experience? That's what mainly makes me go
Keep in mind that I do have an XBawks and I don't froth at the mouth with incoherent rage when I'm allowed to enter cover.
That said, I didn't mind the cover one bit. You can ignore it entirely, unbind the key and just crouch+move, although it wil make some sections slightly trickier. You have a small radar in the lower left corner that shows you the facing of nearby guards, so the vision-around-corners information that sticky cover gives is available in first person mode too.
Some of the stealth sections will be a lot easier if you stick to cover though. The AI is slightly more lenient with spotting one of your polygons when you're in cover, and the moving from cover to cover animation 1) Is faster than your normal movement speed when crouched and 2) Won't over/undershoot the distance you move when timing is tight.
It's the same as the Quest Compass, (T)wesome button and Glowing Outlines. I don't paticularly mind them. If you do, you can toggle glowing lines and quest compass off, and you can still complete the game without melee takedowns (stun gun is OP anyway) and using cover.
Headshots are pretty much guaranteed kills, so it's possible for you to step around a corner, pop peoples heads off and retreat. Be aware that on highest difficulty - which is what a Codex Bro will play naturally - a single burst of enemy fire will probably kill you dead. So cover does become essential in several parts of you're not stealthing. That said, groups of enemies have an annoying tendency to try and flank you or lob grenades at you when you're in cover.
I only got a tiny taste of the gunplay though. I completed everything except the last boss fight using stealth, (T)wesome Button and a tranquilizer rifle. The last boss fight I completed using hiding from the boss and popping explosive barrels and pressurized bottles with a silenced pistol when he got near them while searching for me.
My suggestion is get the unofficial demo, ignore the intro (it's very popamolish) and play the first mission. There aren't too many spoilers, it's pretty short and it'll give you a good sense of the gunplay. Muck about a bit in the hub afterwards if you want to relive some of the good old multiple-approaches situations. The Detroit hub is easily on par with Hells Kitchen or Hong Kong. The second non-hub mission (after you hack the antenna) is kinda spoilerish, so don't play it if you don't want huge spoilers.