Victory Game Center

That was neat. I wanted to get to the other side of the street without dropping down to the ground, so I leapt from a pipe to the building across from me. I made it, but made a huge sound when I landed. Some guard on the street goes, "What?!" I think I'm fine, since I've got the higher ground, and didn't notice any way to get there from the street. But then I heard the rushed footsteps rapidly approaching and saw a set of stairs right beside me. I panicked and found a quick place to hide just in time before the guard ran up top, making a bee-line straight right to where I had been just a second ago. Confused at finding nothing, he looked over the ledge trying to see if maybe something was going on back down on the street. And while he was distracted, I sneaked up behind him and chocked him out. Cool.

There was another moment that was obviously meant to tutorialize you on how to drop assassinate (which can now be used non-lethally! sweet!). Some guard was standing below me, and as I was pondering the non-lethal drop, he moved! He walks right on out the building, and he never came back! How great is that? I can't stand obvious, static enemy placement that nudges the player with a wink saying, "Now would be the perfect time for you to do X."

I'm starting the game over again for the second time. When you visit the Outsider (who's worse than ever here), you're given the option to reject his powers. Which I did. It's cool that the game lets you do this, however so much of the good in the original came from being able to navigate the city in an extraordinary manner. So, oops. Let's try that again.

I liked that I was able to find the key to the black market shop and break into it. It was kind of dumb that the shopkeeper then personally addressed me as I was sneaking around swiping stuff. Non-guard NPC interaction is always a puzzle. You're never quite sure how they're going to react to you. At first I couldn't believe that nobody was freaking out that the Empress was standing before them, but once you reach Karnaca, every NPC is going on and on about how you're covering your face. Oh. Guess that explains that. And also why the watch wants to kill me on sight (they don't like masks).

Also I was accruing kills on my stats screen, and I couldn't figure out why. Later on, I stirred up a guard post and ran away. But off in the distance I heard a citizen scream. I turned and saw him running through my spyglass, and then BANG! One of the watch had shot him dead! And it counted against me (stats-wise). Guess since the watch couldn't find me, they pinned the blame on some random guy? That's kind of interesting, since if that's what happened, it makes running around and causing commotions a lot less consequence free (btw as often as I've been spotted in Karnaca, haven't triggered a single alarm yet).

I'm going to try restarting the game again as Corvo and hope I can endure the voice. Man, why did Arkane have to go with Stephen Russell? Every time he says anything, I'm thinking Garrett. Not Corvo. It's so distracting.

But I'm switching because Emily's powers are all so lame. They can look cool at times, but that's about it. Blink was one of the best parts of the first game and playing without it (or with a deformed variant) doesn't feel right at all. Should have known this was going to happen. With so many lousy powers in the first game, doubling the number of powers in the sequel was bound to bring its share of garbage.

If you're wondering how Arkane got the point where they're proudly showing off transforming into a mug in Prey, this is how.

What's with all the disdain for history in the writing? Neither empress seems to regard it all that highly.

No wonder then at the games' message of violent, political revolution.

And its other, more insidious message of Satan as the misunderstood helper of man. Perhaps it's a little clearer now how this game ended up on so many indies' top 10 lists.

Feminists also lauded the game since you could play as a woman. But if that was such a big deal, why weren't they as similarily enthused for Mirror's Edge: Catalyst? Possibly because Catalyst is published by EA, i.e. the indie's devil. And because not enough of their friends worked on it.