Face of Mankind - Review and Starter Tips.

GTwander

First off, let me give a lowdown of how my first days went.

I made a merc, started in titan station and then wasted all my starter money on mining right off the bat, without understanding what it's about. That's the first thing I'd like to point out to new players, money is tight, and don't shove it in a crafting terminal immediately. The first thing I noticed was that I had objectives - which is an automatically recycled list of things to do for XP and money (quests) - so I did the easiest one "scout Aurelia". Once I got there I was stopped by a couple locals who were more then happy to give a tour and give me an idea of what to do. Now I have to say I understand things a bit better, and that totally helps, because this game ain't bad at all once you get a guided hand. I've already been knifed in the back at a terminal, gotten sweet revenge, and took place in a failed defense vs an FDC zerg (where all I had was a knife) - all in all, very good stuff.

Question: What do you do?

Well the whole of the game seems to be based around doing these objectives for Rank-ups and money, and the level design is setup in a way where people are going to be your obstacles. Every map is set up like a kind of semi-linear maze, and your entry is random while the exits usually at the far ends of it. Each has very interesting features and tends to show how the terrain aids in skirmishes abroad... and you do run into folks on more dangerous planets. The objectives themselves change depending on your faction, and while mine tell me to scout places, produce items and hack terminals (which is like a puzzle that I don't get yet); a player from the BoS would probably be selling drugs, and one from the LED would be trying to catch the pushers. A lot of goals send players off to basically find each other, or at least run into others, while reaching the terminals needed to produce things or handle your business.

Review: Graphics and Gameplay (that's all you care about anyway)

I have to say I enjoy them. I have issues with certain things; such as a flowing water effect or two in Aurelia that I've seen. I think though, that the biggest issue is lack of a decent knifing animation. It's hard to see whats really going on or when you attack. As for most things, the animations are fine and feel "just right" in a firefight, albeit there is a lot of bullets involved in taking most targets down (at least for me). The world graphics are very decent and most models are fine, nothing special, but definitely not obsolete by any standards. As for gameplay, I am starting to realize it's all about what you want to do, as well as what you can get away with. See, the guy that knifed me didn't make too many friends and ended up losing a lot of clones. If the only way you can have fun is causing random trouble, you will find yourself in just as much trouble with witnesses. The only thing you can really do in this game is join a crew, then figure out how you want to spend your time - whether that be crafting on a certain planet, or locking down a section of one - most of it takes a group, and that's the best way to experience this game.

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As for me, I am trying to find a way to make that money mang - spent all mine like a moron in the first minutes on crap. Gonna try to join a merc crew that has it's head strapped on right, but that's actually hard to do in this faction's environment. For other players, I will recommend this list of things to do and things to keep in mind;

1. Join the right faction for *you*. Some seem great so far, the others completely dysfunctional, but hey, maybe that's your thing.

2. Do the objectives. Once you do 3 of the 5 listed it changes over into a new set of goals > repeat. That;s how you get most of your money and "level up" in a sense.

3. Pick a craft that will do you well. I for one am going with guns/ammo and clothes - why clothes? - there is an aspect of infiltration and I get less flak by looking less like a merc. Whatever craft you pick, remember you gotta right-click an item in the production list for the production module "p mod". It's like a recipe and costs a bit of money, but ammo sales are going really good in the game atm, and I want a piece of that. There is no selling to an NPC vendor, so you gotta market things to players only.

4. Know when to flee, and that's usually all the time. You need to be wary of things going on around you too. For instance, do not walk *towards* a firefight in progress. You would not believe how many people do that and then go "I got ganked". I have only been killed 3 times, and twice I was dumb enough to stick around too long. It's very easy to flee people and head to a vortex gate to hop to another zone.

5. Carry only what you need on you. Weapons and gear worn never drop, but anything in the inventory does. I just keep an extra clip of ammo with me, if that. The gun stays full most of the time. I've been lucky enough to find loot drops around from previous battles, and the smart thing to do is immediately head to any terminal and put it safely in that planet's storage bank.

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The game is pretty hectic, and I like it a lot so far. Possibly one of the best PvP game's I have seen in a long time, and I will be sticking with it for a while longer, at least until I'm bored with it.

IGN Aloof (merc)

GTwander

As an update, ya, I'm prolly going to go prem with this one. I had an amazing experience today and I think the game deserve my money. I let my merc character go though all his clones and money for a permadeath; you get one char, and he has to die in this fashion to completely reset - and decided to try out the BoS under the ign "Ixupi" (a nod to those that played the first Shivers for PC). Feel free to ask me for advice in the game if you see me in person, just don't try shooting me, because I take it personal.

scuubeedoo

Heh yes this games isn't one you grasp right from start. I just started and almost got arrested by some guys cause i tried to hack some terminal. Funny thing was that 1. I didn't even had the tools to actually hack it, 2. The guys were from my faction so i got away with it after they inspected my clothes. LOL.

Now i am wondering how i can recreate my character. Maybe i 'll choose a different faction.