I just read Edge's preview and I was really won over by it. It sounds like a really, really intelligent game. I think its the first game since Deus Ex to really make me think about the world, and war etc and its consequences.
Basically, in the game you are a soldier in a private army, an army that is effective due to its use of Nectar, a kind of super Red Bull performance enhancer.
So basically, you have a near unlimited supply of this juice, and when you take it, your aim becomes way sharper, and you get a kind of weird vision where the world is dulled out, but certain things are highlighted. Enemies, for example, come up as if made of yellow light.
You also get precognitive information, like seeing the blast radius of a grenade before it explodes.
Then the catch is that you can overdose on Nectar, and suddenly you can't distinguish between your team mates and the enemy, and you may fire randomly (without you clicking), crash vechicles etc..
In a cool twist, the enemy, rather than you, will try and trick you into overdosing - they'll be the clever and creative ones, you'll be one of a thousand generic soldiers.
So far so cool, then I read this bit, which REALLY made me love it:
Quote: "One particular moment in the sequences shown stands out: on the upper floor of an industrial plant everything is going to plan, a Mantel <your side> gunship hovers in front of you, solid slabs of sunllight point up the metal walkways as you walk forward, and there's a momentary lull. Suddenly the gunship is shot down, and at the same time you enter a nightmarish version of reality: the music jars, the screen darkens, and the weather changes at an impossible rate to pounding rain <from sunshine>. The enemies in fronnt of you become noisier, and upon being shot, spurt blood and jerk around ddistressingly. Andd then, after a minute, a calming effect takes over your body and the world returns to normal and most interestingly thee writhing enemiess - in that most revered of FPS shorthands - simply fade in front of you."
Clearly you are actually being kept permanently doped on this drug to make you a better soldier. It is a very sharp satire on all other FPS games. This is an amazing way - all through gameplay (no cinematics) - to bring home the actual impact of violence. It really embarasses other games, I think, that never justify or question why you are killing.
I hope thee game will be about turning to the rebel side and beating the military/phamaseuutical company - Mantel.
It is also graphically superb.
-= Out here in the fields, I fight for my meals =-
