In a world near to collapse, ravaged by a disease called the "Grey Death", economy is at its lowest, you will be playing as JC Denton, an augmented soldier, employee at UNATCO (United Nation Anti-Terrorist Coalition). Your job is simple, doing interventions in sensible areas to protect world peace.
[h1]Plot[/h1]
I will not tell much because it would be better for you to discover it from yourself if it's your type of stuff. The plot is probably the strongest point of the game, in the techno-thriller lineage with a emphasis on conspiracy, big corpo and dystopia. Having a lot of references that you can catch by reading logs, mails or by listening, so, if you are a fan of real world conspiracies, you will be really pleased. The plot is ahead of its time and it's rare to have games that deals with this sort of things (and even more relevant today).
[h1]Gameplay/Missions[/h1]
The gameplay needs a bit of adaptation and learning (like almost any 90's/early 00's games) but it gives you a lot of freedom, and it feels really good. You have some rpg stats that you can build on and adapt it for your preferred playstyle, there is a lot of way to complete objectives. Wanna get inside a building? Check for a vent, speak to NPC to get some infos about the place and/or hidden areas, lockpick the door, hack computer and turn the defensive turrets against their owner or just... go to the front door and explode it all! And not only the objectives, the way you play also affects the dialogues with the NPCs and you can even kill some of them (not all, but important enough ones you can), it makes the world feels alive.
The missions take place in different open hub areas that you can explore, speak to NPC and get side quests etc. At least at the beginning... Later on (like 1/2 or 2/3 of the game) the missions will become more... linear and action focus, not linear on how to approach objectives, but it turns from open hub area where you can explore, chat and learn about the world into only action oriented missions with way less NPC interactions or dialogue/action choices.
So it derivates from the RPG style that I really loved at the early missions to a more "action" side, which I still like but not as much as the open hub ones.
[h1]Visual/Sound[/h1]
Visually it's ok, not the best looking and not the worst looking either but levels have good visual diversity (I love the cover art!)
For the audio, there is a lot of good soundtracks (different for each missions) and a great main title.
[h1]Conclusion[/h1]
Really solid immersive-sim/fps-rpg, genre that should deserve more recognition (and more games too). it aged a bit on some sides (like gunplay or animations) but it's an original game, with a lot of stuff to play with, between the items, character build and augmentations with a cool plot, that seems more relevant today, to follow on. If you like real world conspiracies, symbolism or you are an Alex Jones fan, just go for it!
