Kinda on the fence here since I haven't followed the game after it went into Early Access. Is it totally complete now? How does it compare with Klei's other games? I'm not much of a fan of their earlier work or Don't Starve, but I totally loved Mark of the Ninja. I also like turn based strategy, management, and stealth games. What's the turn based stealth like? Is it possible to make a comparison with something like Metal Gear Ac!d?
*Deep breath*
- Yes, it's totally complete. The campaign has an ending cutscene and everything (unless you're playing on endless, of course). I didn't participate in its EA phase, but as far as I know, all features that were going to be implemented have been.
- I haven't played Don't Starve, nor did I play Shank, but I also loved MotN to death, and I'm pleased to say that yes, Invisible Inc has lots of parallels to it. It's very clear in terms of visual design and you know /exactly/ what guards can see and what they can't. Once you have some (failed) playthroughs under your belt, you can pull off some really fancy sneaking maneuvers because the line of sight and patrol patterns are made so clear.
- Be warned that it is still an isometric game vs. MotN's 2D, so there's a bit of a learning curve in how to interpret sight lines and the like. Also, the AI is a great mix of being easily manipulated so you feel clever, while having some random patrol patterns that can really ruin your day.
- I haven't played MGAc!d, but in Invisible Inc, turn-based stealth works as you would expect it to. The core loop of the game is moving all your agents during your turn while trying to stay out of sight lines/leaving them in cover, then grinding your teeth as the enemies take their turns. You can spend AP to predict a guard's movements, go into overwatch to knock guards out, place traps, hack mainframe devices, etc. There are a few different enemy factions with more emphasis on physical presence, cybersecurity, drones, etc.
- If your agents get spotted, the enemy goes into overwatch, and you have two options to keep your agent alive: you have one space to move your agent into cover, or you have to knock out the guard with another agent (or I guess the spotted agent, if the guard is in melee range). If neither of those things happen, the guard will shoot your agent on the next turn, and you have to revive said agent with a medical or drag them to the exit. It's a great system that punishes you for being caught while still allowing you to play your way out of it.
- There's an alarm system that ticks up by one pip every turn, and once it reaches certain levels, more things happen, e.g. cameras turn on, a new guard is beamed into the level, one of your agents' positions will be revealed, etc. Some events, like killing a guard with a heartbeat sensor, will jack up the alarm level. It's brilliant.
- There's no real management layer to the game besides juggling your agents' inventories and leveling up their basic stats. No XCOM ant farm, no FE base with support conversations, etc. I wish there was, but the core game is so good I don't mind.
Hopefully that's enough to get you or anybody else to make up your mind. But come on, duckroll, I've seen you in enough Shadowrun threads to know that this is right up your alley
