Civvie 11 - Retro FPS Boomer

[Kulee Baba]

If he does a negative Deus Ex episode it can trigger a shitstorm. The game wasn't especially good with the gunplay but damn it nailed the atmosphere. I think the best take on it is the Game Dungeon:

I don't get how you can be a fan of Thief (like Civvie does) but dislike Deus Ex.

Thief, Deus Ex, and System Shock 2 are the defining "Immersive Sim" games and they feel clunky at first but once you get you're grip with them man are they stupidly fun.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

I don't get how you can be a fan of Thief (like Civvie does) but dislike Deus Ex.

Thief, Deus Ex, and System Shock 2 are the defining "Immersive Sim" games and they feel clunky at first but once you get you're grip with them man are they stupidly fun.

I disagree. I like Thief, I love System Shock 2, but I don't care for Deus Ex. Deus Ex feels like a lesser version of those two games to me. Both stealth and combat are horribly awkward and neither feel good to do. Stealth is hampered by wildly inconsistent AI and the lack of any reliable takedown maneuver, so oftentimes I'm save scumming past every single guard. I get what they're trying to do with combat in that you have to level up those abilities in order to effectively fight back, but it feels so slapdash. And that's Deus Ex's biggest problem for me. The game has some amazing ideas; I love the concept of deciding whether to stealth it up or go in guns blazing, and I adore exploring the levels to find new and interesting ways to accomplish your goals. It's just that the execution of those ideas leaves a lot to be desired.

It goes like this: if I want to play an excellent stealth game, I play Thief, or if I want to play an immersive RPG with different choices on how to approach combat, I play System Shock 2. Deus Ex tries to do both but doesn't do either all that well.

 

[BrunoMattei]

Remember the first time I played Deus Ex I got a headshot on a guy with either the crossbow or something. Didn't kill him even though he didn't have a helmet or didn't seem to be a cyborg. I restart, try to be stealthy, hide in obvious shadows and still get spotted.

 

[Kulee Baba]

I disagree. I like Thief, I love System Shock 2, but I don't care for Deus Ex. Deus Ex feels like a lesser version of those two games to me. Both stealth and combat are horribly awkward and neither feel good to do. Stealth is hampered by wildly inconsistent AI and the lack of any reliable takedown maneuver, so oftentimes I'm save scumming past every single guard. I get what they're trying to do with combat in that you have to level up those abilities in order to effectively fight back, but it feels so slapdash. And that's Deus Ex's biggest problem for me. The game has some amazing ideas; I love the concept of deciding whether to stealth it up or go in guns blazing, and I adore exploring the levels to find new and interesting ways to accomplish your goals. It's just that the execution of those ideas leaves a lot to be desired.

It goes like this: if I want to play an excellent stealth game, I play Thief, or if I want to play an immersive RPG with different choices on how to approach combat, I play System Shock 2. Deus Ex tries to do both but doesn't do either all that well.

Are you sure you're putting your stats in correctly? Once you got melee weapons trained it should only take a couple whacks of the baton to take a guy down.

Like Deus Ex feels shitty in Liberty Island. But by the time you're in Hong Kong JC is just stupidly powerful and can literally auto heal his wounds.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

I disagree. I like Thief, I love System Shock 2, but I don't care for Deus Ex. Deus Ex feels like a lesser version of those two games to me. Both stealth and combat are horribly awkward and neither feel good to do. Stealth is hampered by wildly inconsistent AI and the lack of any reliable takedown maneuver, so oftentimes I'm save scumming past every single guard. I get what they're trying to do with combat in that you have to level up those abilities in order to effectively fight back, but it feels so slapdash. And that's Deus Ex's biggest problem for me. The game has some amazing ideas; I love the concept of deciding whether to stealth it up or go in guns blazing, and I adore exploring the levels to find new and interesting ways to accomplish your goals. It's just that the execution of those ideas leaves a lot to be desired.

It goes like this: if I want to play an excellent stealth game, I play Thief, or if I want to play an immersive RPG with different choices on how to approach combat, I play System Shock 2. Deus Ex tries to do both but doesn't do either all that well.

Have you ever considered the fact that you're just bad at Deus Ex?

 

[The tired cat]

The thing with the OG Deus Ex is one of those games that def didn't age well, I think it's the only time I'll agree with Yahtzee. That's why I do prefer the newer ones.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

Are you sure you're putting your stats in correctly? Once you got melee weapons trained it should only take a couple whacks of the baton to take a guy down.

Yeah, I always make sure I put some points in melee weapons. What annoys me is that it is possible to one-hit KO the guards stealthily, but it's just not reliable to use. And oftentimes when the guy goes running off he always ends up alerting everyone else. I've gotten better at doing it more consistently, but it still feels like a crapshoot.

Like Deus Ex feels shitty in Liberty Island. But by the time you're in Hong Kong JC is just stupidly powerful and can literally auto heal his wounds.

I've been hearing that the game picks up at Hong Kong. I've never really made it there due to unfortunately losing my save before I ever get there (which has happened more than I would like to admit).

Have you ever considered the fact that you're just bad at Deus Ex?

Kinda. I really sucked at it when I first played it and now I don't suck as bad (though I'm still probably not good at it). In fact it did get a lot more fun when I started to understand it more and I got a better grasp of the mechanics (like the aforementioned one-hit KO) and the environments. And I won't lie, it was kinda satisfying in those moments where everything clicks into place. It's just that whatever fun I can get out of the game I can more easily get from other games that frankly feel better to play.

 

[Gravemind]

Yeah, I always make sure I put some points in melee weapons. What annoys me is that it is possible to one-hit KO the guards stealthily, but it's just not reliable to use. And oftentimes when the guy goes running off he always ends up alerting everyone else. I've gotten better at doing it more consistently, but it still feels like a crapshoot.

In all my time playing the game, the best way I've learned to deal with the janky one-shot melee mechanic is, unironically, to stick with the prod. Prod with the prod. Just in case, though, you're police.

For real, though, the prod will cover your ass for a lot of the jank since if it doesn't knock an enemy out on the very first hit, it'll at least stun them. And if you don't feel like wasting more prod charges to take them down, hotkey your baton (or any other melee weapon really) and switch to it to deal the knockout/kill after you have your target stunned. This stops being as much of an issue once you're more than halfway through Hong Kong as well on account of obtaining the Dragon Tooth Sword.

Also, another protip for anyone confused about the aiming mechanics: You have to crouch and wait for your aiming reticle to fully "center in" for your shots to become practically pinpoint accurate. You can pretty much snipe your way pretty easily to the backdoor of the Statue of Liberty with just your crossbow as long as you're patient. There might be VERY slight savescumming necessary just in case the guards give you a bad patrol pattern or your timing for taking a guard down was a little bit off, but, for the most part, everything tends to work out just fine as long as you take things slowly and methodically.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

Have to agree with the Deus Ex dislike here. The world is great but the game feels like shit to actually play. Tranq darts feel almost random to me, and that alone drives me crazy.

 

[Varg Did Nothing Wrong]

Have to agree with the Deus Ex dislike here. The world is great but the game feels like shit to actually play. Tranq darts feel almost random to me, and that alone drives me crazy.

If you actually put skill points into how the tranq crossbow aims, use weapon mods to increase accuracy and actually aim for the head and account for drop - it's a guaranteed 1-hit instant knockout.

Get good.

 

[The Bovinian Derivative]

I think the devs just didn't want a long range instant knockout weapon that works on every enemy for Deus Ex. Head shot with the tranquilizer will knock out most early enemies, and if you want non-lethal later you need to learn how to sneak and use the baton.

And as much as I like Ross that Deus Ex review has a few issues: he talks about how Unatco would not just send in one rookie cop even if augmented but the very first question JC asks is "what are we waiting for, looks like text book assault?" and he gets a reply that "someone wants to see how you perform, so they're sending you in solo."

I know it's a cop out to say, but a lot of smaller issues are fixed with the GMDX mod, like adding vaulting and passive augmentations, the high resolution vanilla textures help too but you can live without those.

 

[Duncan Hills Coffee]

In other news, Civvie released a "remaster" of his Blood 2 video, as in the audio's not so garbage and it's all one big video now.

 

[Rotollo]

Honestly starting to think the daikatana video was his peak, everything since then has felt slightly auto pilot. I mean the guy or at least his editor has good work ethic but it just seems like he found a good formula and is now just sticking to it.
I mean it's only been 2 months since that vid so I may be abit too harsh but he it is starting to get "over the hill" as far as content creators go

In other news, Civvie released a "remaster" of his Blood 2 video, as in the audio's not so garbage and it's all one big video now.

Great to see a good version of blood 2 finally, not the game but the review

 

[NotoriousD]

Since I love good FPS games and "boomer shooters", I love Civvie. His gimmicks don't take up too much of the screentime either, and they're actually fun to watch. I've never even played some of the older games he talks about since I grew up on Doom and only Doom, really, so now I really want to check out stuff like his "holy trinity" of classic Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem, and Blood.

Also for some reason I feel like his voice is just incredibly fitting for the content he does. Usually I can tell if I think the voice fits the content and his definitely sounds like it does to me.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

And as much as I like Ross that Deus Ex review has a few issues: he talks about how Unatco would not just send in one rookie cop even if augmented but the very first question JC asks is "what are we waiting for, looks like text book assault?" and he gets a reply that "someone wants to see how you perform, so they're sending you in solo."

It's still a really ridiculous justification considering how high stakes that particular mission was. It's very much video game logic.

 

[The Bovinian Derivative]

It's still a really ridiculous justification considering how high stakes that particular mission was. It's very much video game logic.

Agreed, but i appreciate that it had at least some logic to it instead of just "just go with it bro."

Since I love good FPS games and "boomer shooters", I love Civvie. His gimmicks don't take up too much of the screentime either, and they're actually fun to watch. I've never even played some of the older games he talks about since I grew up on Doom and only Doom, really, so now I really want to check out stuff like his "holy trinity" of classic Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem, and Blood.

Also for some reason I feel like his voice is just incredibly fitting for the content he does. Usually I can tell if I think the voice fits the content and his definitely sounds like it does to me.

All three Build engine games are really good, but they all sag in the middle episodes. Blood has a mod called Death Wish which has the best user made maps I've seen for boomer shooters, so if you like Blood check that out.

 

[Punished Benis]

Since I love good FPS games and "boomer shooters", I love Civvie. His gimmicks don't take up too much of the screentime either, and they're actually fun to watch. I've never even played some of the older games he talks about since I grew up on Doom and only Doom, really, so now I really want to check out stuff like his "holy trinity" of classic Shadow Warrior, Duke Nukem, and Blood.

Also for some reason I feel like his voice is just incredibly fitting for the content he does. Usually I can tell if I think the voice fits the content and his definitely sounds like it does to me.

I think Civvie kind of says something about this in one of his videos, but if you're going to play all three, start with Duke, as long as it isn't the cursed Randy edition.

Can't speak for your personal taste in aesthetics, which will effect which one you like best, but Shadow Warrior and Blood are all in all enhancements on the formula. Blood's my favorite, followed by Shadow Warrior, and I'd have been really disappointed by Duke if I'd have played it last.

I actually only played Duke originally. It was Civvie that convinced me to try the other two, and damn was it worth it.

 

[BrunoMattei]

Agreed, but i appreciate that it had at least some logic to it instead of just "just go with it bro."



All three Build engine games are really good, but they all sag in the middle episodes. Blood has a mod called Death Wish which has the best user made maps I've seen for boomer shooters, so if you like Blood check that out.

I don't think Blood sags at all but otherwise I agree. Blood is the best of the Build games. Just play it on Normal difficulty and you're fine.

 

[Notgoodwithusernames]

I think Civvie kind of says something about this in one of his videos, but if you're going to play all three, start with Duke, as long as it isn't the cursed Randy edition.

Can't speak for your personal taste in aesthetics, which will effect which one you like best, but Shadow Warrior and Blood are all in all enhancements on the formula. Blood's my favorite, followed by Shadow Warrior, and I'd have been really disappointed by Duke if I'd have played it last.

I actually only played Duke originally. It was Civvie that convinced me to try the other two, and damn was it worth it.

I too have only played Duke 3D (sadly it’s the cursed Randy version. Funny story one of the computers in my high school algebra class had duke 3D installed).

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Remember the first time I played Deus Ex I got a headshot on a guy with either the crossbow or something. Didn't kill him even though he didn't have a helmet or didn't seem to be a cyborg. I restart, try to be stealthy, hide in obvious shadows and still get spotted.

Always play on Realistic difficulty. Only play Realistic. It's easy-hard/hard-easy mode that removes the hit points gamble and people go down as expected if shot/tranqed in the head and that includes you, pro tip: don't ever get shot. And always aim the prod down at their lower back to tase the back of an enemies head, hitboxes can be funky.

Being a sneaky bastard I find Realistic to be the far, far easiest (and most fun) mode in the game because I know if an enemy will go down before I commit to anything. No randomness will screw up my plans of tranqing and zapping asses.