Comments - Origma

(buried)

[ REVIEW ]

About 10 hours in and half way through the game I gave up. It definitely needs severe touching up in a few areas, but the core gameplay is all there. I'll list the positives and negatives below.

Overall I give it 6/10 and in it's present state I can't recommend it to Deus Ex fans or to newcomers especially.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
/ The voice acting is decent for what I can assume are volunteers
/ The lore and world building is quite good
/ The weapon store is implemented very well
/ The maps are fun to explore but can be quite large
/ The characters are quite colourful and uniquely designed
(Unfortunately most sound deadpan or uninspired, the bouncer at Sol's was the
only one I could genuinely remember being interesting - whoever voiced her did
a stellar job)
(The MC's voice is one of the more lackluster which is very unfortunate).
/ The soundtrack is very fitting, the stereos were a nice touch!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

-------------------------------------
/ The story, I have to say, is absolutely abhorrent and there's simply way too much going on.
DXO? PDX? WorldCorp? Llamas? Goats? There are too many things, places and people to keep track of that hinder the enjoyment and pacing of the mod. I found myself being hurled data after data in conversation and reading notepads that serve no real purpose other than being jokes or useless information. The style of game is all over the place. First it's a serious missing-persons case. Then it's to do with lighthearted cult antics. Then it's in a trans-dimensional voodoo shop. Choose your overall theme and stick with it. I'd say it's about 20-80 ratio of relevance to fat. Currently it plays like poorly written cobbled together fan fiction.

/ The maps are too vast and backtracking is a pain
There is so much wasted space taking up this mod and you'll find yourself running back and forth to accomplish goals or navigate your way through the levels. Much like the story, this could easily be trimmed down to negate the hassle. I literally had to install the speed augment to make it bearable. More is not always better.

/ Lack of player agency in approaching situations
Whose bright idea was it to lock THAT MANY doors behind passwords and inf./inf.? This literally takes all of the power from the player and is rarely seen in the original Deus Ex for a good reason. Also, why is there usually only one approach for the player in a given scenario? The beauty of this game is that it's NOT linear. Give the player OPTIONS in tackling environments instead of having them run from corridor A to B to C. The sewer entrances are a good example of choice but even that turns into a nightmare at WorldCorp's entrance. It makes me think that your idea of non-linear is to make everything as complicated as possible. As soon as you hit WorldCorp sewers my interest was lost and it turned sour.

/ The new 'weapons' are gimmicky and hinder rather than add.
Sporks? Foons? What the **** is this? Do you want your world to be taken seriously or as a joke? I understand that it's a forum filled with colourful characters but this severely takes away from the immersion. The phatray? The blowgun? The 3500 credit katana that is worse than the dragons tooth? Come on. The only saving grace was the landmines, Trestkon's pistols and the EMP gun which were quite intriguing.

/ One of the missions literally gives you nauseating screenshake until you work your way through the level and solve the puzzle under its effects. This was half way through the game and I didn't play past this for good reason.
Remove that **** now. All of it.
--------------------------------------