There are not-so-good games. Then good games. Then really, really good games. And then, there are stop-everything-and-play-this games. This WeekEndGame is all about one of those.
System Shock. Deus Ex. Dishonored. Albion. Fallout (not the fourth one). Dungeon Master. As attention-seeking as it may sound, I can, with hand to heart, say that Satellite Reign has made it up there. I have four consecutive, virtually sleepless nights and a bunch of prolonged mid-week sessions to back it up with.
I’ll steer well clear from any story, but spoiling the beautiful locations is kind of inevitable. Mind you, the 4K crops have been post-processed and the galleries do contain some pro tips. Do hit ’em up if you dare. Or care.
Downtown Cyberpunk
I am a sucker for cyberpunk. No, I truly am an utterly insane sucker for cyberpunk. I bought William Gibson’s genius Neuromancer, twice. Each time, I swallowed it in one sitting, literally.
As Satellite Reign spat my team out into the jaw-droppingly beautiful festival of midnight neon, perpetual rain’s vapour, and Chinese-flavoured noise, the trusty ol’ beam that holds all my shit together started to bend. Needless to say, it snapped shortly afterwards. Welcome to Downtown.
Yeah. Satellite Reign looks good.
Blade Runner-y,...
Deus Ex-y,...
... Good! Some say it's a spiritual successor to Bullfrog's genius Syndicate. I say it's Syndicate on steroids, cubed.
Doing the bank in each of the four districts should be order of business numero un.
Hone your Hacker. She, in my case, opens paths. More importantly, unless you want to waste precious gear slots with 'Proxy Hacker' devices which you'll get much much later on anyway, the Hacker's your only character that can, you know, hack. Same goes for the Soldier's hardwiring which I couldn't replace with augs or gear at all.
Sending the Soldier into the vault will get you cash. Sending your Hacker will boost your income from all them 'siphoned' ATMs in the long run. I suggest you send both. And yes, you can.
Raiding CSA buildings will make all CCTV cameras in the district move at half speed. You want that.
What you... well, what I don't want are open firefights. Remember, Cheesing It (TM) is always an option!
Dracogenics play a pivotal role in the story.
My Hacker's getting arrested for messing with security stuff. Make sure your weapons are holstered and police alert level no higher than one level otherwise these guys won't hesitate to open fire.
Looting Armories of local merc groups yields, well, take a wild guess. Stolen prototypes must be researched for manufacturing, blueprints go straight into the shop. If your agent using an unresearched prototype dies, it's lost forever.
The beautifully themed hotel was the most challenging part of Downtown and the Infiltrator has proven invaluable. Whilst you can aug him (or anyone) up for using vents or zip-wires granted by 'Master Thief' skill, cram his points to 'Master Assassin' instead, and silence that sniper rifle of his. Thank me later.
I grew very fond of my Infiltrator in Downtown. A guy in a hoodie, sporting a sniper cannon, what's not to love!
I have obtained the pass(es) to the Industrial district via various shady side assignments, but you don't have to. You actually can stealth (or blast) your way through the checkpoints. If you dare.
Industry of Noise
I honestly believe that Downtown alone is totally worth the asking price of Satellite Reign. That’s bearing in mind that the game revs further up from there. I’ve no idea how’s that even possible, let alone to the extent.
Every single discovery, be it of a vent hidden in the back alley, a random person willing to divulge juicy conspiracist information or a power generator seemingly not connected to anything, opens new possibilities. Decisions are to be made, strategic, tactical. It is of course not exclusively true in the humming machinery district, but it is where it properly hits you.
The tone of the Industrial dirstrict changes quite dramatically compared to Downtown. The sense of location is amazing.
Did I mention, do the bank first?
Ronin Industries are local merc group that usually have some decent gear stashed away. Upgrade and use your Support's 'World Scan' ability to find alternative entrances and make sure you check with Mission Control if there aren't any contacts willing to make your infiltration a tad easier in exchange for a few favours.
The Bank, Ronin, and the CSA are usually quick jobs. Completing them before any big ones come will give you pretty good advantages.
My favourite joint in the Industrial district.
When you've done the Bank, all the 'siphonable' ATMs will be highlighted on the map. Easy money.
The main entrance to Uzy Korp's compound looks intimidating...
... and then when you cross it, there are these big boys scattered all over the bloody place. As with everything, you have options. Hack them to turn them against their masters, cut the power with hardwiring, blow 'em to smithereens, or look around town to pull an inside job to put them out of commission. Yep, this game is unbelievably rad.
Scan for how the power generators are wired and to what before you let your Soldierboy mess with them. They can put entire bases into limbo for you to waltz through them, but when it backfires, things tend to get ugly.
Scan, scan, scan. You don't want to redirect the gas right into your agents' faces, do you?
High ground is good kind of ground, too.
I have somehow managed to acquire the P.A.B.L.O. laser beam quite early. Needless to say it's awesome and remained my Soldier's go-to gun until the endgame. Note that the Soldier is your only agent to not suffer any penalties when using heavy weapons.
Some things are better avoided though. Yes, even when you wield the mighty P.A.B.L.O. beam.
Not that these Uzy Korp clowns make it overly difficult to be avoided.
Having little clue of what are we getting ourselves into, we leave Industrial for the Grid. Passes in hand, of course. We're not some bunch of script kiddy wannabe mobsters, we're stone-cold pros.
Sliding Down the Grid
There was nothing that could prepare me for the Grid.
Every inch of the home to the filthy rich (and the filthy corrupt) is nothing short of marvel. The exquisite cutting-edge architecture, the spotless geometry of spotless residential areas patrolled by creme-de-la-creme of police force, the local bank sending a clear message. They don’t need fossil fuels here, they burn money.
In the centre of it all, the stunning Asimov Square. The sight of which, I vaguely remember, made me pee myself a little.
The local CSA station isn't much of a problem. The CCTV watching over the rich is soon crippled.
What is a problem in the Grid is not taking pictures of every fucking inch of it.
Yeah. Asimov Square. I... I don't know what to say. My eyes are all watery.
I've no idea what Tergana Enterprises do but I want to work there.
On a second thought, Doom + Glamour? Here's my notice, Tergana Enterprises!
Cause traffic jams. That's what them tourists with their stupid DSLRs do. The Infiltrator whipped-up some mean-looking zoom lens, too.
But enough of the tomfoolery, business calls. Setting up the Infiltrator with those hip zoom lens on higher ground before the rest of the team drops in is never a bad idea.
With the view down below, I've decided to hang around and risk raiding the nearby vault. Yep, with some prototypes already in the bag. As saving game inside compounds is not allowed, the risk wasn't exactly small.
Things got tricky almost immediately as the decision landed. Who puts a vault's security terminal on a catwalk above the door? The bloody Eternals do that's who.
Then, things just went to shit. Head-on, full steam.
Yeah. The Eternals. Armed to-the-teeth, heavily augmented religious fanatics. With me pretty much cornered having no other option than to continue to breach the third vault, what could possibly go wrong?
Well. Nothing a P.A.B.L.O. beam couldn't handle I guess.
The show-off entrance to the Eternals' compound was my only exit. I can't say I thought this plan through.
With the Eternals left staring stupid, it was a matter of some dodgy back-alley interactions to obtain the passes to the CBD.
One last glance at the amazing Grid. My goodness me, was this an experience!
Business as Unusual
In hindsight it makes perfect sense that things get a tad vertical in The City’s CBD. To put it another way, if one expects something along the (sky)lines of London’s City, one is quite right.
Apart from vertigo, CBD is ready to throw everything Satellite Reign has to offer in terms of opposition atcha. Whether to stealth or open hail of bullets, you will have to be fully committed here. I know I was. Too much perhaps.
Admittedly, I did feel a bit OP when my team of sneaky badasses emerged at CBD. On the other hand, I did get to truly unleash the cat-like predatory play and bloody hell was it screaming fun!
To take CBD by storm, we of course have to do something about the Big Brother first.
We did make it look easy and I do say so myself.
Not entirely sure what this building is for but it somehow reminds of Dishonored's Dunwall Tower. Read: it's pretty awsome.
There seldom is a straight path from A to B in the business district. Canary Wharf anyone?
I literally just said Canary Wharf haven't I?
The verticality of CBD is rather pleasing. So is 5 Lives' little tribute to one of the best game developer teams ever.
Since things were going overly smoothly from the off, I hijacked a kick-ass robot and announced myself in a kick-ass fashion.
I knew casinos had tight security, but a freaking tank parked in front of the main entrance? That's what I call sending a message!
CBD's vertical lines aren't just visual gimickery you know.
I can't say stealthing my way through the Stadium's parking lot didn't feel... weird.
After the Grid almost-debacle, I got back at the Eternals in a 'major pwnage' kind of way.
The Prison on the western end of CBD is riddled with alternative infiltration points. I suggest you bribe, hack and murder your way to them before entering the facility. There's a ton of bonus objectives to be had too.
The orangey box carried juicy loot. The fact that it was right in front of two live sentry guns was, at this stage, an inconvenience rather than anything else.
This is it. The Draconegics HQ Tower, place of final showdown.
As you'd expect, these guys don't screw around. Raising an alarm with a stealth-built team is as good as game over. That ending though, totally worth the effort. What a game!
I’ll cyber-see you for some more of The WeekEndGame punk later!
