Fallen Aces - A crime noir FPS from New Blood Interactive - now available on Early Access

[Avonaeon]

Only got to the harbour level, but so far I really like this! I really like the writing and voice acting and I'm getting some Max Payne vibes, in a good way. Looks really good for what seems like a GZDoom game, but doesn't run all that great in places.

 

[Alphons]

Finished in 8,9 hours total with 0 kills.

Final level is the reworked demo- the club is no longer a separate zone and the first floor was changed (much more open).

I think first level is my favorite due to city exploration, but I had fun with all of them.

 

[ADL]

Finished in 8,9 hours total with 0 kills.

How's the stealth/non-lethal combat? I haven't had a chance to play yet.

 

[Parsimonious cook]

I find the stealth very satisfiying, however there seem to be some areas that are simply impossible to traverse undetected. You can still run from the enemies though, so minimising combat is very much an option - in fact for me it is rather improtant when playing on the highest difficulty. Stealth takedowns are the "press e to knock the enemy out" variety - if enemies find knocked out guards, they will wake them up, but you can hide the bodies to prevent that.

In general stealth is OK in the game, though the game is not 100% ghostable.

 

[Lemming42]

Is the mansion level bugged? I've knocked everyone out and done a systematic scan of the building, found all the clues marked by the yellow signs and a bunch unmarked clues, and yet my objective marker is stuck on "Find case critical clues 3/5". I spent 20 mins thinking I was a dumbass who can't find shit but I've scanned every bit of every room now.

There seem to be some notes that have the interact prompt but which I can't interact with, might be the problem.

 

[Alphons]

I played with as much stealth as possible, but like Parsimonius said it's not 100% possible to ghost.

If you avoid using guns, then you won't alert as many enemies as shooting, so you can contain the alert to 2-3 enemies.

All blunt objects like hammers/ pipes, gun butts and thrown items like barrels KO, while blades like knives/ axes kill. Mission 4 gives you tranq gun which is KOs and is supressed and a blackjack which KOs instantly from behind even if enemy is alerted (they're also in secrets in mission 5).

Kills by other goons or your allies don't count as your kills for final tally.

It might be possible to do some crazy stuff with rooftop traversal, as there were quite a few locations with a glass skylight, so that might help avoiding enemies.

Is the mansion level bugged? I've knocked everyone out and done a systematic scan of the building, found all the clues marked by the yellow signs, and yet my objective marker is stuck on "Find case critical clues 3/5". I spent 20 mins thinking I was a dumbass who can't find shit but I've scanned every bit of every room now.

Not everything is marked by the evidence markers, but all clues flash like valuables.

I don't remember which were essential, so all locations from the top of my head

Spoiler

Ground floor:
by the pool outside, bloody footprints in dining room, note on piano on ground floor, handprint on a painting near piano, fridge in kitchen, closet near kitchen (chalk outline and a lot of blood).

1st floor:
Chalk outline by stairs, note in bedroom without blood, broken chair in second bedroom and a chalk outline on wall

 

[lightbane]

What's the deal with the no-kill run, Codex? Does the game call you out if you kill bad guys?

 

[Lemming42]

What's the deal with the no-kill run, Codex? Does the game call you out if you kill bad guys?

The combat is fun but it's pretty easy too, especially if you get hold of a gun. Going all-out and playing it as a regular FPS makes it a bit too easy even on the highest difficulty and also means you're gonna end up spending a while walking round an empty level.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

They're going to add more difficulty options. For the time being, I'm playing with very very few quicksaves as is. Rather recent, I sneaked up to a goon to take him out, only to find that I'd missed a sniper in my back. Too late...

Stealth works pretty well. But their lighting system seems inconsistent in a couple places. I can never really 100% predict in which kind of shadow I'm "Fully hidden". Also, there's a couple of places that are clearly cast in deepest shadows, but don't make you hidden at all. The interiors of a freight container or two in the docks spring to mind.

Really great level design that reminds me of urban levels in Thief/ Deus Ex. There's a good amount of verticality and mantling ledges is very smooth.

Yeah, it's impressive. Who would have thought that a tiny indie would one day out the likes of Bioshock as the corridor shooting galleries they'd always been.

Chapter 2 is almost a homage to Thief 2's "Shipping... and receiving".
And Chapter 3 in terms of setup reminds me a bit of the gang wars in "The Dead Eels" (Dishonored Brigmore Witches DLC mission).

There's a straight nod to Bioshock at the start of Chapter 2 nonetheless..

Spoiler

If you don't immediately pick up the radio, you're told to "Would you kindly pick up that radio."

Hope that they're not going add more and more features. The hide-out was already talked about. I think the formula works. Just levels/missions with cutscenes in between. Kinda like Thief! You could spend the money collected in levels as well in a simple shopping screen. Maybe even copy Thief's option to purchase intel for the upcoming mission, rather than just tools and ammo... that guy's been a P.I. Would thus also fit the theme.



At limited ressources, the scope is pretty impressive as is! Plus I want to see this finished before my funeral is due.

 

[randir14]

I can't believe how good this game is. Best FPS melee combat since Dark Messiah?

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

I can't believe how good this game is. Best FPS melee combat since Dark Messiah?

Kicking goons into waters full of sharks never goes out of style.


I'm really taking my time with this one as I don't want it to end. This is only in parts because there's still so few direct competition and choice. So I'm not gonna admit how many hours I've put into this without finishing it. Soaking in the environments, climbing on top of any ledge and latter, reading all documents, listenening to the entire radio programmes (updated with most recent NEWS after each mission, seemingly). And all of this, and still having missed quite a few of the secrets.

But let's say I'm close to the end of Chapter 4 now, and I've got some hours out of this. And I'm also fanboying at this, because this chapter screams THIEF from start to finish. Sure, that level isn't even subtle with its referenes, but hits you like a blackjack with 'em. But it's Thief they're referencing here rather than I dunno Thi4f, ffs. No reason to be subtle about it!

It's great how varied the levels are in general, both in terms of design approach as well as visually too. Hopefully guys like these make a ton of dough and commit to these things 24/7/365/Fo' life. It's still two guys plus a couple (art) externals, right?


Merch!

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

That said, the too lowly difficulty (lack of enemy damage outside of snipers may adress some already) seems to be still very real. Yeah, in Dishonored it also was ridiculously easy to just wipe out entire armies. Still. I've made it my mission to not quicksave anymore. Or only upon completing a mission objective.

But else: Das Spiel ist gud.

Ja?

 

[kites]

This was actually way better than I thought it would be. First and last level were great; game has a very open feel where you realize all the ways you could have approached the situations. Sort of reminds me of how I felt first playing DX on release and having my mind blown. I played on medium difficulty and it was a little too easy spare a moment here and there. Took about 4 or 5 hours. Hopefully they continue to tweak these levels and systems while they add more episodes. Only caveat for the wary is that it may take years for a “finished” product..

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

First and last level were great;

The last level was basically the demo level they had. But hugely overhauled. The original had the night club being smaller, lacked the beautiful deco, and actually had loading screens in between switching floors and upon entering the club / leaving it. No wonder they've taken the demo down. The only downgrade is the in-game map here. The demo one was way more detailed, like a floor layout, and thus Thief-like (with notes scribbled on it). There was also a larger streets section before reaching the club. Though that was rather linear.

Maybe they'll bring maps like that back. AFAIR in the demo you only picked it up during the mission somewhere. Can't remember. There is rooms for more items in the "map tab" if you tab into that.


What I'd do in terms of diffulty as an immediate fix, at least for a possible fourth difficulty level:

- make direct pistol hits deal more than 10 damage to the player
- the same with fist hits, etc.
This is all without wearing armor.

That gap is way too large, considering that you can oft one-shot goons. And they last no more than a couple of hits from your fists too. Additionally, they seem strangely passive when going hand-to-hand. And also only seem to consider taking a jab when they're way close. Not sure whether the player has a larger reach as such. This impacts sneaky style as well (which was more to my style). As the stakes of being caught are getting lower if enemies can't hit you hard. The only enemy I really feared were the snipers. Because their hits DO hit hard.

 

[Talby]

New Blood

Dropped.

 

[Strig]

I finished the first episode. I liked it but to be frank, mostly due to the atmosphere (someone really likes Watchmen), as the gameplay is... confused. Fallen Aces can't make up its mind if it wants to be a first person brawler, a first person shooter or another Thief. All playstyles are okay-ish but nothing is executed particularly well, I think the brawling mechanics are by far the most advanced of the bunch. Shooting is fine, you shred everything as soon as you get a firearm, which is not exactly hard. Sneaking is jank as the shadows are unreliable in most levels. You can't remove light sources, functional light switches were placed in the first level and almost nowhere else. In the mansion I even grabbed a standing lamp and threw it out the door, lighting didn't change one bit.

I was partial to the levels, they felt like believable locations and a theme park more than a linear path with set dressing. In the Junkyard the player can go practically straight to the finish by stacking barrels and jumping over the fence in the alleyway. Many times I thought I broke the sequence by stacking shite and jumping over some other shite or crawling in somewhere, but it was almost never the case. There are certain things I didn't like, like the textures with inconsistent styles or tunnels ending in a blank, featureless brown(?) wall. There were also invisible walls in certain places.

It's also bug infested, as to be expected from an early access title. One time an unconscious mook got agitated, arrow meter filling in and all that, and started yelling at me (no, nobody woke him up, he was still down), so I had to stomp him. Another mook, after I took him out in the shitter, started talking as soon as I left the room. In the mansion patrolling route of one of the goons got borked and he started jumping over hedges back and forth, the first time he almost scared the shite outta me. The performance also leaves a lot to be desired. This is a stylised low poly game with low res textures and 2D enemies and objects, yet it sometimes runs like ass. Many dead or knocked out mooks were able to tank my framerate once or twice. They're bloody sprites and you don't even have dynamic lighting or any other discernable bells and whistles, the hell are you doing game?

Despite my grumblings I think this will be a good game, if they manage to keep up the overall quality. However, I also think that the gameplay flaws are inherent to the design and simple rebalancing won't help. This might prevent Fallen Aces from being a great game. But maybe it doesn't have to be and even the janky versatility will be enough for success. Not to mention the decent story and style. I'd prefer that the substance matched the latter, it'd be nice.

 

[JarlFrank]

Played this today. Great fun. Very much has an imsim feel to it with how much you can interact with the environment and how open the levels are.
Initially I tried to go for a stealth approach, no kills, but the combat is too fun to not engage in it. Using anything in the environment and tossing it at people is fun. And of course using explosives whenever available.
Just got through the mansion level, which was really fun. The side objective wants you to go through it with no kills so I stealthed that one, it felt like it was designed for that approach. Real fun place to explore, almost felt like a Thief mission.

The variety in levels is great, I'm enjoying this a lot.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

The performance also leaves a lot to be desired. This is a stylised low poly game with low res textures and 2D enemies and objects, yet it sometimes runs like ass. Many dead or knocked out mooks were able to tank my framerate once or twice. They're bloody sprites and you don't even have dynamic lighting or any other discernable bells and whistles, the hell are you doing game?

Hm, I'm still refusing to replace my 7 years old GTX 1050ti, never ran into that. Not even when I aggro'd the entire streets, they followed me, threw a molotov party recent and all I had to fight back was birdie. Stable 60fps, where I locked the framerate/Vsync'd (rest is a Zen 2 Ryzen 3, so nothing remarkable either). Also haven't updated my driver in a couple weeks. If there were any major drops in later levels, I didn't much notice them. Then again, as you say, those are 2d gooners. There shouldn't be any.

Lighting/Sneaking systems are a good point. It still works. Well enough that I'd already finished the first two chapters on a ghosting run. Won't work for the third, obviously... I'd still also like it if light switches would be actually part of the system deal, rather than randomly placed to interact with them. Sometimes you can do that, sometimes you cannot. The same goes for fuse boxes -- the one in the barber shop in chapter one even makes the lights go out, which I'd only discovered on a subsequent run. Whilst others are just setpiece dressing.

Biggest criticism remains difficulty. -10 on direct pistol hits/fists is far too tame, plus hand to hand goons are too passive. Snipers are ok though. As soon as they're involved, you have to watch out some. Ditto tommy gun guys if they're lined up for heavy crossfire. Fortunately, they've announced there's gonna be more options.

Little things I enjoy is that the world building is oft surprisingly wholesale. As a simple example, if you listen to the radio, you're introduced to the shark problems long before you actually get to see your first shark in actual action. They also seem to have taken a look at Dishonored 2, where you could equally tell from the sky boxes /background during any mission where you are relative to key locations of the city. In Dishonored 2, it was the bay and your ship. In this one, it's the Big City Hall, which mostly is always looming large. But takes a far smaller space in Chapter 4, when you're out of town and do the infiltration mission at night. Also, I have a feeling that Mittens, the missing Kittie case, is gonna pop up again in some form. (There's also at least one reminder later on). Touches like that make this feel like a world, rather than an awesome obstacle course full of goonies, sharks, and a guy taking the shit of his life for five minutes+.