Judging by the visuals and audio of this game, it can pretty much pass as an MGS game. Which is why i'm really interested in this game. However, having a 39 score at metacritic is making me reconsider buying the game.

Since the game doesn't have a demo on both platforms, i can't test the game by myself and judge its gameplay because i have a high tolerance for stealth games and this might work with me.

Any stealth games fan tried this?

Is the gameplay clunky or horrible?

I've played the first third of the game so far and I would say the game is flagrantly unwelcoming of modern player sensibilities--it kind of feels like it's the first PS3 game made by Japanese devs who previously only made PS1 and PS2 games. Fox Engine this ain't.

When it comes to controls, it's partly like MGS in that the controls are different enough from other games that you start out fumbling a lot, but with time you can become quite adept. And it's partly like an old PS2-era horror game in that there's a certain amount of stiffness and slowness built in to create player vulnerability and keep a tight lid on your ability to become an acrobatic action hero. Weapon aiming, in particular, feels jittery and imprecise, and taking damage causes your aim to bounce around wildly, making it practically impossible to win a straight-up firefight against a group of enemies, which instinctively feels profoundly wrong after playing any modern shooter.

Against large groups of enemies, which often include tanks or Wanzers (mechs), the only viable tactic is to sneak past without being detected. Against small groups or single enemies, it's viable to either sneak by or fight using gadgets. Guns alone are not very efficient for taking out enemies, so it's good to soften up or disable them with gadgets before opening fire to finish them off; powerful one-shot weapons like shotguns or sniper rifles are effective by themselves though.

In general, you want to get the drop on enemies with traps or grenades and finish them off before they can open fire or even see you. If you get detected by multiple enemies and are in no position to finish them off quickly, you generally need to flee and let the alert die down, which doesn't take too long, and enemies will all return to their default patrols.

It's not viable to try to clear all the enemies off the map. You can clear some areas if you wish, but making a lot of noise with guns and explosives (there are few silent weapons) will draw in reinforcements. But, when one area gets reinforcements, surrounding areas of the map will reduce troop presence somewhat, so that helps prevent the map from getting too crowded with enemies--you just have to route around the reinforced areas.

Some maps, especially early ones, are not nearly as open as they first seem; tight clusters of enemies will destroy you if you deviate much from the one path through the map. Later levels are less restrictively laid out and as you gather more weapons and gadgets, you'll become more able to punch through enemy patrols to explore more freely (you carry over your inventory from one mission to the next with the same character--and there are 3 characters--so saving supplies from previous missions mean you have more and more stuff to work with in later ones).

Will these weapons help if you get back to earlier levels and try to defeat the enemies cluster?

Strangely, i haven't read any criticism in regards of CQC. How is it? Is it helpful?

As someone who is also still curious about this game despite the negative but understandable reviews and opinion pieces, just someone let me know if or when the game gets optimization patches for the PC version, and if I can actually pilot and customize a mech.

But if the answer is 'no' to the second curiosity, then just say so I can say "Fuck this game" and move on with confidence, and continue to covet the next Armored Core game that will most likely never happen.

You can't go back to past levels, but there is a New Game+ option, which will let you do this. If I remember correctly, the game director even said in an interview that some levels have optional areas defended by enemies so strong you're only expected to be able to get past them on NG+.

As for CQC, there's basically no system for it all. Your only melee options are a 3-hit combo using any melee weapon, which will hurt and knock down the enemy, and a pistol whip move that seems useless because it's so low damage and short range. Also, if you do a slide dash into an enemy (run toward them and press crouch), you can send them flying into a knock down (this is by far the most fun and effective melee move I've found). An enemy that's knocked down will stay down for about 3 seconds, during which time you can attack them normally or walk up to them with a melee weapon and do a special finisher.

Not sure about optimization on PC, since I'm playing on PS4, but Square-Enix hasn't shown robust patch support for their Japanese releases on PC (e.g. Nier Automata) and this game has not been commercially or critically successful, so I wouldn't hold my breath.

As for mechs, you do get to pilot Wanzers at specific points in some missions, though you spend more than 95% of your time on foot. When you do get to pilot a Wanzer, it's always one that you commandeer in the field rather than one of your own that you maintain/upgrade over time, so you have essentially no customization options. The only choice you have is after you defeat an enemy Wanzer, they'll drop one of their arm weapons, which you can pick up and swap for one of your own. I've found this useful to do, since all Wanzer weapons have limited ammo and you can run low quickly when facing multiple enemy Wanzers. The Wanzer fights can be tough, since your health and damage seem comparable to a single enemy Wanzer's, so when you're outnumbered, you really feel the disadvantage.

I've never played Armored Core, but I don't think being a fan of mech games is enough to enjoy this game if the survival/stealth stuff isn't doing it for you. Piloting Wanzers is just a sprinkle of variety here, not a major gameplay focus.

@savage: having no choke hold option is interesting but i guess finishing a downed enemy will make up for it.

Thanks for the help!

@savage: Welp, thanks for helping me say "Fuck this game."

It's both clunky and horrible, it's kind of impressive how bad every aspect of it is. Nothing feels good, the movement is mostly okay-ish except for the cover system, where I constantly find myself either jumping out of cover or not being able to leave cover when I want too. Shooting is..serviceable, none of the weapons feel particularly good so far(with the standout bad one being the crossbow, which isn't treated like a gun but rather like a thrown weapon, so you have to hold down the button to aim it, and thanks to weird hitboxes, makes it nigh impossible to consistently use it on enemies like drones).

The worst thing so far is the side missions, which involve escorting civilians to shelters. They travel along a pre-determined path you can see on your map and you can run up to them to tell them to stop or go. It's about as fun as escorting survivors in Dead Rising 1. The biggest thing I noticed while trying to do one of them over and over again is that the enemies just aren't consistent. Sometimes I could just let a survivor go and they would get most of the way there before being spotted, others they would be spotted way faster, all starting from the same checkpoint. I think some of the enemies sometimes had problems getting into position for their routes, which was evident by sometimes seeing them randomly running to positions when not in combat.

Honestly I could go on and on about how poor the game is, but it just isn't worth is. If it means anything to you, for comparable stealth games of this quality I can only think of Vampire Rain. If your really that curious, at least wait a month or 2, I'm sure it will be dirt cheap by then.

PS to anybody playing, I don't know about console versions, but the PC version has 2 free collaboration DLCs. One of them is Half Life themed, which just replaces the metal pipe with a crowbar skin. The other is the World of Wartanks one, which adds posters for the game all over the world, a patch for your characters backpack, and files about all the tanks you can buy in that game. So yeah, god damned advertising DLC. Make sure to uninstall that crap before you play. Fuck you Square Enix.

I can deal with some jank in stealth games but after watching videos on it, I’m passing on it.

Instead of having some kind of radar, you have a voice that radios in, “enemies approaching,” over and over every time an enemy is within a certain distance. Enemies seem to sometimes spot you when you’re in the dark, at far distances, and through cover. They also have far too much health. Be prepared to throw two molotovs if you want to take one out.

In short this game is kinda busted and the likelihood of seeing any kind of patch is doubtful. SE probably knew this game was bad and tossed it out so it could move on from it.