Game News Rumor Roundup: Arkane Studios, Prey 2 and System Shock 3

[sea]

Of all the developers out there to make a high-quality shooter-RPG hybrid, I would trust Arkane above just about anyone else at this point.

 

[Zarniwoop]

The previous "spiritual successors to System Shock 2" already fucked things up enough, starting with the dumbed-down, made for console Bioshit and ending up with the 6 hour on rails loli shooter.

Would you kindly leave SS2 alone?

 

[Perkel]

Dishonored being Thief spiritual or even part spiritual succesor ?

At least they got what was important about SS design. Now let's see if this won't end up with press a button get SUPER ASSAULT RIFLE WITH GOLD FINISH. KILL 5 ENEMIES IN 10 seconds and get weapon upgrade !

Find all logs !
Data discs were hidden in game find them all to unlock special prize !


You have many options in our game !

First you can bash your enemy !

and if you want to play stealthy you can hide and kill your enemy unseen ! HOW AWESOME IS THAT !

 

[markec]

I dont know why people keep comparing Dishonored to Thief, I dont know if there are any quotes about Dishonored being directly inspired by Thief but even if there is I think it shares much more in common with Deus Ex then anything else.

I would also say its a pretty good spiritual successor to Deus Ex despite many of its faults. If they fix the AI, make larger areas and make game overall much more difficult I think Dishonored 2 might just be a great game.

 

[Infinitron]

Don't tell me you didn't look at the Overseers, the Brigmore Witches and the Whalers and think "Hey...wait a minute!"

 

[markec]

Don't tell me you didn't look at the Overseers, the Brigmore Witches and the Whalers and think "Hey...wait a minute!"

Im not talking about homage and some design inspiration Im talking about gameplay, and that has far more in common with DX then Thief.

 

[Dr Schultz]

I dont know why people keep comparing Dishonored to Thief, I dont know if there are any quotes about Dishonored being directly inspired by Thief but even if there is I think it shares much more in common with Deus Ex then anything else.

I would also say its a pretty good spiritual successor to Deus Ex despite many of its faults. If they fix the AI, make larger areas and make game overall much more difficult I think Dishonored 2 might just be a great game.

Kind of agree. I don't think DH2 needs larger areas, though. Dishonored has the most interesting level design I've seen in decades. Too bad they etirely sacrificed the difficulty of the game to the altar of "play as you want, man".

 

[Awor Szurkrarz]

LEAVE SYSTEM SHOCK ALONE! Stop fucking raping good old franchises just for a buck.

System Shock is left alone. Assuming a crappy game called System Shock 3 comes out, System Shock 1 & 2 will still be the same games. Fallout 3 didn't change the first 2 games and they are just as good or bad as they have always been. It may have legions of fanboys that hail it over its predecessors but that's a problem of critical thinking.

I don't know... The setting of Fallout, especially the first one, feels like it has been cheapened the more they've expanded the general Fallout lore. Case in point: I can't play Fallout 1 without remembering that Fallout 2 turned all the vaults into a social experiment. This poor (imo) decision now affects the way I feel about the vaults in the first Fallout, in a negative sense. I liked them better when they were just shelters and didn't have all this Big Brother-esque conspiracy stuff attached to them. I know that technically I could ignore all of this when I play FO1, but my brain simply wont let me. Sometimes, things do retroactively get ruined by their sequels, at least if you're like me. I can't watch bring myself to watch The Matrix again either due to the god-awful sequels. As soon as I knew that everything would become shitty later, it no longer worked as a self contained story.

You can probably imagine how much Fallout 3 has ruined things retroactively for me, as well.

I simply stopped playing Fo2 at some point during the great crusade against Fo3.

 

[Oesophagus]

There's just no way this won't turn out to be a disappointment.

 

[tuluse]

I dont know why people keep comparing Dishonored to Thief, I dont know if there are any quotes about Dishonored being directly inspired by Thief but even if there is I think it shares much more in common with Deus Ex then anything else.

I would also say its a pretty good spiritual successor to Deus Ex despite many of its faults. If they fix the AI, make larger areas and make game overall much more difficult I think Dishonored 2 might just be a great game.

Vertical level design and exploration. I think Dishonored even had mantling which is p thief.


Anyways, they're not calling it System Shock 3, it's just a game inspired by System Shock 2. I think that's a good thing. Games inspired by good games.

 

[Sordid MCA/Prosper Hybryd]

There's just no way this won't turn out to be a disappointment.

There is a way - it can be canceled. Just as previous take on a sequel for Prey.

 

[AN4RCHID]

Dishonored was easily one of the best AAA games in the past few years. Despite being simple compared to Thief or DX, it was a fun game with a fair amount of freedom. Definitely be looking forward to whatever this ends up being.

Don't know what you guys are getting so angsty about; they're saying it's inspired by SS, not using the license. It's not like Thi4f where they're just trying to make a quick buck off the name, or FO3 where they'll fuck with the existing lore. Citing SS2 as a main source of inspiration is massive for a AAA shooter.

 

[AN4RCHID]

they're saying it's inspired by SS, not using the license. It's not like Thi4f where they're just trying to make a quick buck off the name, or FO3 where they'll fuck with the existing lore.

Wasn't that also the case for the bioshocks?

Sure, but I have a lot more faith in Harvey Smith and Raph Colantonio than Ken Levine. Dishonored showed that they understand how to make good open levels that allow different gameplay styles.

 

[Morality Games]

LEAVE SYSTEM SHOCK ALONE! Stop fucking raping good old franchises just for a buck.

System Shock is left alone. Assuming a crappy game called System Shock 3 comes out, System Shock 1 & 2 will still be the same games. Fallout 3 didn't change the first 2 games and they are just as good or bad as they have always been. It may have legions of fanboys that hails it over its predecessors but that's a problem of critical thinking.

For the time being, but just like the Star Wars Original Trilogy, developer mandated "improvements" will leak into *all* versions of the game until the System Shock 2 that exists now will be a ghost in the shell of an awful game. You know its only a matter of time until Jar-Jar is CGIed into the Original Trilogy with his own sub-plot spanning all three films.

 

[Metro]

PRESS SNEAK FUCKS!

 

[tuluse]

For the time being, but just like the Star Wars Original Trilogy, developer mandated "improvements" will leak into *all* versions of the game until the System Shock 2 that exists now will be a ghost in the shell of an awful game. You know its only a matter of time until Jar-Jar is CGIed into the Original Trilogy with his own sub-plot spanning all three films.

Except this random company owns SS2, http://www.nightdivestudios.com/games.html

 

[Morality Games]

For the time being, but just like the Star Wars Original Trilogy, developer mandated "improvements" will leak into *all* versions of the game until the System Shock 2 that exists now will be a ghost in the shell of an awful game. You know its only a matter of time until Jar-Jar is CGIed into the Original Trilogy with his own sub-plot spanning all three films.

Except this random company owns SS2, http://www.nightdivestudios.com/games.html

Shh...

 

[MuscleSpark]

Except this random company owns SS2, http://www.nightdivestudios.com/games.html

I don't think they own it. They merely have a license to publish it.
Last I heard EA has development rights and an insurance company has the trademark (which is why nobody did anything with it and Irrational named their sequel Bioshock while EA named their sequel Dead Space). Or something.
Also I believe Night Dive is ex-Stardock/Impulse folk who jumped ship after it was sold to GameStop, not exactly random.

 

[Infinitron]

No, EA no longer holds any rights to System Shock.

 

[Magellan]

Well, Arkane did a really good job with Arx Fatalis (probably the closest thing we will ever see to Ultima Underworld 3), so I'm curious and hopeful about them resurrecting some of the soul of System Shock also.

 

[m_s0]

Every game should take heart to these level design recommendations.

The instant that game gets focus group tested multiple paths are getting the axe. And since that would mean redoing stuff, it's probably more efficient to not even consider that as an option to begin with. Verticality probably also depends on how confusing it would end up being (i.e. whether it would actually matter and come into play or whether it would just be a gimmick they could mention as a bullet-point to promote the game).

So hallways it is. But those notes sure do look sexy

 

[Morality Games]

I dont know why people keep comparing Dishonored to Thief, I dont know if there are any quotes about Dishonored being directly inspired by Thief but even if there is I think it shares much more in common with Deus Ex then anything else.

I would also say its a pretty good spiritual successor to Deus Ex despite many of its faults. If they fix the AI, make larger areas and make game overall much more difficult I think Dishonored 2 might just be a great game.

Vertical level design and exploration. I think Dishonored even had mantling which is p thief.


Anyways, they're not calling it System Shock 3, it's just a game inspired by System Shock 2. I think that's a good thing. Games inspired by good games.

Inasmuch as the Bioshock series was a good thing.

 

[tuluse]

Inasmuch as the Bioshock series was a good thing.

I'm not sure what your point is. Mediocre things are made with good inspirations all the time, it's still better to have good inspirations than bad ones.

 

[Morality Games]

Inasmuch as the Bioshock series was a good thing.

I'm not sure what your point is. Mediocre things are made with good inspirations all the time, it's still better to have good inspirations than bad ones.

Just a neutral observation, not a point.



Although if I "had to" make a point, it would be that mediocre games spurred by good inspiration which also enjoyed market success are ones of the major historical propagators of the Great Decline of 2004-2013. Of course, like a crop cycle that eventually brought us WL2, PoE, and Torment.