I suck at the whole impressions thing, but I got it yesterday and I know people are interested in the game, so here go some spoiler-free impressions.
It's pretty hot so far. I'm about 2 hours into the game and I think I just completed the prologue mission. That mission was heavily scripted and didn't allow for much exploration, but it served as a great introduction to the story and what you're up against. It didn't offer much of a tutorial in the way of using abilities, equipping weapons and upgrades, etc, but anyone who played either KOTOR game should be right at home with this.
The story so far is very immersive and the voice acting and cutscene facial graphics are all very good. I also like that you're given a choice between several general sentiments when you reply to someone, but then your character says something different than what you see as your on-screen choices, while expressing the sentiment you chose. Like if you choose "Hell no!" your guy won't just say "Hell no," he'll say something different while expressing that general sentiment.
I wasn't impressed with the combat in the preview videos I saw, as it seemed kind of like a stripped down version of something like GRAW2, but I have to say I'm impressed by that so far as well. I'm using the Vanguard class which is basically a shotgun-wielding damage class, so I like to get in close to the mobs. There have been a couple battles from distance where I've had to use cover and flank enemies to get close to them while instructing my other two squad mates where to go, who to attack, and what skills to use. The enemy uses cover and generally seems pretty intelligent. It's not FPS-level AI, but it's good enough.
The combat is all real-time, but at any point you can hold down one of the bumpers to freeze the action. I forget which is which, but one lets you choose what each of your squad members has equipped. So you can point somewhere in the distance where you want one squad member to move, flip to the equip screen to equip them with a sniper rifle, then order them to attack a given target and they'll pick it off. The other bumper is for skills, where you can choose which squad member is using what skill on whom at any given time. It's not round-based combat, so you have to wait for cooldowns measured in seconds instead of like the KOTOR games where you'd wait for that round of combat to be over. I like this more and it's definitely more fun. Pressing either bumper freezes the game while you do that stuff, btw.
Overall it's very immersive and very fun. It seems like I've arrived somewhere that I can truly explore, instead of just kind of moving from place to place like the prologue mission has you doing. It took me a little while to get used to the menus with respect to how to equip weapons and select weapon and armor upgrades, but now I'm getting the hang of it and it's generally the same model as the KOTOR games.
Also, a final note. At the start of the game you can select a few background characteristics about yourself, like your upbringing, your military service, and your general demeanor. It seems like that definitely plays a role in how you're treated, how others speak to you, and possibly which dialogue options are available to you as well. So keep that in mind.
Can't wait to play more later. Let me know if you have any more questions I didn't touch on.
It's pretty hot so far. I'm about 2 hours into the game and I think I just completed the prologue mission. That mission was heavily scripted and didn't allow for much exploration, but it served as a great introduction to the story and what you're up against. It didn't offer much of a tutorial in the way of using abilities, equipping weapons and upgrades, etc, but anyone who played either KOTOR game should be right at home with this.
The story so far is very immersive and the voice acting and cutscene facial graphics are all very good. I also like that you're given a choice between several general sentiments when you reply to someone, but then your character says something different than what you see as your on-screen choices, while expressing the sentiment you chose. Like if you choose "Hell no!" your guy won't just say "Hell no," he'll say something different while expressing that general sentiment.
I wasn't impressed with the combat in the preview videos I saw, as it seemed kind of like a stripped down version of something like GRAW2, but I have to say I'm impressed by that so far as well. I'm using the Vanguard class which is basically a shotgun-wielding damage class, so I like to get in close to the mobs. There have been a couple battles from distance where I've had to use cover and flank enemies to get close to them while instructing my other two squad mates where to go, who to attack, and what skills to use. The enemy uses cover and generally seems pretty intelligent. It's not FPS-level AI, but it's good enough.
The combat is all real-time, but at any point you can hold down one of the bumpers to freeze the action. I forget which is which, but one lets you choose what each of your squad members has equipped. So you can point somewhere in the distance where you want one squad member to move, flip to the equip screen to equip them with a sniper rifle, then order them to attack a given target and they'll pick it off. The other bumper is for skills, where you can choose which squad member is using what skill on whom at any given time. It's not round-based combat, so you have to wait for cooldowns measured in seconds instead of like the KOTOR games where you'd wait for that round of combat to be over. I like this more and it's definitely more fun. Pressing either bumper freezes the game while you do that stuff, btw.
Overall it's very immersive and very fun. It seems like I've arrived somewhere that I can truly explore, instead of just kind of moving from place to place like the prologue mission has you doing. It took me a little while to get used to the menus with respect to how to equip weapons and select weapon and armor upgrades, but now I'm getting the hang of it and it's generally the same model as the KOTOR games.
Also, a final note. At the start of the game you can select a few background characteristics about yourself, like your upbringing, your military service, and your general demeanor. It seems like that definitely plays a role in how you're treated, how others speak to you, and possibly which dialogue options are available to you as well. So keep that in mind.
Can't wait to play more later. Let me know if you have any more questions I didn't touch on.
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