Mesmer is an interesting experience from a gameplay and game design perspective. To summarize the experience is tricky but, doable.
The game starts of at seemingly pristine city being cleaned by public people in horse masks. On the surface everything is well in paradise, until I woke up the next morning being forcefully recruited into a revolt by the captain of the ship I took to get here. First I had to start a strike down at the cannery, where a whole school of fish pun people work. Each one has a quest they need me to perform. Sometimes I can bribe them and spinn a wheel to get on their good side. Yes I have pick between a task, or by spinning a wheel with timing. A minigames that can be influenced by all manner of items. Both actions takes time, the one thing I will always run low on. Everything takes a certain amount of time and the clock is always ticking and when it runs out it's game over and I have to do everything all over again. Resource management and scheduling is key. Something I have no problems with, but to someplayersit will be a bit immersion breaking.
First I caused a strike, but one of the men need permission from his wife, whom I bribed with a sandwich found in a dumpster. The next man wanted me to reclaim his wedding ring from the pawnshop. The over have me the option to either bribe him, pay money, or stealing a crate during the night. A task that required me to dodge the police patrolling the streets at night.
The third cannery worker I simply spun the wheel on and won the argument.
Then I had to ask a rich man for funds, and I had the option to bribe him, but I unfortunately failed that task, so I had to break into a rich house during the night to steal a fancy ruby. Little did i know I needed two lock pics. Let alone that the door was blocked by a sinister mini game and a patrolling policeman. Once inside I was given a series of chooses and a descriptive dialogue on what I was doing and where I could go.
The various task to perform in the city is numerous and brought me into contact will all kinds of colourful people, from every walk of life. The main core of the gameplay is to do odd jobs. Anything from breaking in. Sneaking around during curfew. Vandalizing public property and performing public speeches to convince the various factions that they should listen to me.
Essentially there is a whole slew of things to do and even more than needs to be done. However it takes a fair bit of trial and error to find the optimal path to victory. One thing mesmer is not doing and that is holding my hand and actions have actual consequences.
All the NPC I have to talk to in Mesmer have a lot to say and they all play an integral part in unearthing the plot. They also comes with a stat that tells me how much they like, or dislike me. Which makes it easier to convince them, instead of doing a mission.
es Mesmer takes place in a fairly large city where no place is off limit, but the police have checkpoints during the day and patrols during the night. Luckily there are tools such as an expandable grapling hook, a hog to ride on, and running around. Most of the time the perspective is seen from above, but a behind camera can be activated to enjoy the colourful scenery. Sure I can walk around with the camera behind me, but the frame rate is rubbish. Hopefully this will be fixed real soon.
Which brings me to the music, which is quite good and very fitting. From the tranquil title screen song, to the hectic wanted music. All in all, Mesmer is a fun and memorable experience that requires the player to get an intimate knowledge of the town, have a handy list of everything needed, and a gallon of patience. Stick it to the man and bring about the revolution by any means.
Njål Sand
No comments:
Post a Comment