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Heat Signature

Started by Jarhead0331, September 21, 2017, 04:24:02 PM

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Jarhead0331

This new little game popped up on my radar during my routine steam hunt for surprise new releases to waste money on. It is seriously awesome and HIGHLY addictive...you are warned.

Basically, you are a space mercenary/bounty hunter/assassin. You operate from a space station and travel the galaxy in your small little pod in order to track down your mission objectives. Your pod allows you to board space stations and vessels undetected. You then move around inside the ship or station handling the crew however you wish. Go in guns blazing, shooting and killing everything in sight, or use less than lethal tactics and stealth. There are tons of weapons, gadgets, equipment and so many different ways to deal with each mission.  You have an unlimited pause that lets you aim at targets and then you can enter a sort of bullet mode while aiming. Very cool, cyber punk, space sci-fi action. I'm really enjoying this so far. Its from the same crew that made Gunpoint.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/268130/Heat_Signature/
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


bbmike

Good lord! What's your library count up to now?  :P
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JasonPratt

I think the answer is either "deep rock" or "galactic".  :nerd: :bd:
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jomni

Not too shabby.  Pretty "cinematic action" in 2D form.

al_infierno

#4
Necrothread, arise!

Been seriously addicted to this game.  The mix of pausable real-time and slow-motion mechanics lends itself to some really clever tactics and feels almost like a turn-based game.  I love doing stuff like shooting out a spacecraft window, then using a teleporter to swap places with someone in the next room so they're the ones who get sucked into space.  I also tend to finish missions by just shooting myself through a window into space and auto-piloting my pod to come pick me up, just because it's awesome and hilarious. 

The basic formula scratches a primal itch that I can't put a finger on.  Hanging out at a hub area picking up contracts to go kill baddies or steal valuable stuff, slowly working up your character against rising odds to achieve acts of badassery, and permadeath to really make you worry about your character.  Luckily, the permadeath system is very forgiving, so you usually have to mess up pretty bad to lose a character.  Most powerful gadgets have limited use, but once you find a teleporter that self-charges during the mission, you feel like Rick from Rick and Morty using a portal gun to just zap yourself out of any hairy situation.



I really like the story mechanics where every randomly generated character has an over-arching personal goal they want to achieve that usually involves a massive suicide mission.  It makes for some great emergent stories, like this one that I felt deserved to be posted.

Vana Gibbs was an adventurous young bounty hunter with great potential because of her awesome starting kit and a perk that automatically adds a silencer to every weapon she uses.  This is a huge boon because some of the better armor-piercing guns you find are loud as hell.  She was absolutely demolishing the first four missions I sent her on, and I was certain she would be my first character to complete her personal goal and retire as an absolute badass who hangs out in the space station bar and tells far-fetched stories to the greenhorns.

Well, the fifth mission didn't pan out for Vana.  I made a critical mistake on a Glitchers ship by shooting a guard who had a reflective shield, knocking myself unconscious.  This particular mission had a "Capture" fail-state, meaning if I fail and I don't leave the ship in time, my character gets hauled off to some high-security prison in handcuffs.  This was the end for Vana Gibbs, I was certain. 

But then enters the real hero of the story.  The next available character in my queue was a rickety old man named Columba Gibbs, whose personal mission was to "rescue my idiot kid Vana."  He was Shaky and Proud, meaning he couldn't hold a gun straight in a firefight to save his life (literally) and, due to his pride, he couldn't accept any job that was anything less than Audacious.  This turned out to be a real problem because he literally spent 10 missions getting concussed, shot, and thrown out of airlocks before he finally managed to pull a win out of his hat.  I literally could not accept an easy job that would allow me to gather some valuable equipment - I just had to keep getting my ass handed to me over and over again.

At the end, it wasn't looking good for Columba.  He'd been shot so many times that next time would be his last.  By some virtue of fate, he managed to finish enough contracts to earn the money to buy a silenced armor-piercing shotgun and some gadgets to win the final rescue mission.  He mostly relied on teleporters to dance outside the enemy's field of view and blast them Chigurh-style.  I actually got pretty worried because I screwed up and set off an alarm, bringing in constant waves of reinforcements.  By another random stroke of luck, I blew up a big chunk of the ship and then auto-piloted my pod over to the newly ripped hole in the hull, and used that as a quick method of escape.

This old guy Columba (who I imagine to be a Clint Eastwood or John Marston stand-in) started with nothing to his name but a few credits and a concussive pistol with which he could hardly hit a target from 5 feet away.  I actually used the film Unforgiven for inspiration with his general strategy -- I recalled a rickety old Clint Eastwood in that film having trouble shooting a can with a revolver, so he swaps out for a shotgun and blows the can away in one try.  With that in mind, Columba sold his starting pistol and spent the game relying on shotguns, explosives, and clever tactics.  In the end, he retired happily after having rescued his daughter from captivity, who's now free to roam the galaxy again and finally meet her sky-high potential.  That's assuming she doesn't get her dumbass captured again, because Columba definitely doesn't have another round left in him for a second rescue campaign.
A War of a Madman's Making - a text-based war planning and political survival RPG

It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge.  War endures.  As well ask men what they think of stone.  War was always here.  Before man was, war waited for him.  The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.  That is the way it was and will be.  That way and not some other way.
- Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian


If they made nothing but WWII games, I'd be perfectly content.  Hypothetical matchups from alternate history 1980s, asymmetrical US-bashes-some-3rd world guerillas, or minor wars between Upper Bumblescum and outer Kaboomistan hold no appeal for me.
- Silent Disapproval Robot


I guess it's sort of nice that the word "tactical" seems to refer to some kind of seriousness during your moments of mental clarity.
- MengJiao

MengJiao

Quote from: al_infierno on September 02, 2021, 09:13:42 PM
Necrothread, arise!

Been seriously addicted to this game.  The mix of pausable real-time and slow-motion mechanics lends itself to some really clever tactics and feels almost like a turn-based game.  I love doing stuff like shooting out a spacecraft window, then using a teleporter to swap places with someone in the next room so they're the ones who get sucked into space.  I also tend to finish missions by just shooting myself through a window into space and auto-piloting my pod to come pick me up, just because it's awesome and hilarious. 

The basic formula scratches a primal itch that I can't put a finger on.  Hanging out at a hub area picking up contracts to go kill baddies or steal valuable stuff, slowly working up your character against rising odds to achieve acts of badassery, and permadeath to really make you worry about your character.  Luckily, the permadeath system is very forgiving, so you usually have to mess up pretty bad to lose a character.  Most powerful gadgets have limited use, but once you find a teleporter that self-charges during the mission, you feel like Rick from Rick and Morty using a portal gun to just zap yourself out of any hairy situation.



I really like the story mechanics where every randomly generated character has an over-arching personal goal they want to achieve that usually involves a massive suicide mission.  It makes for some great emergent stories, like this one that I felt deserved to be posted.

Vana Gibbs was an adventurous young bounty hunter with great potential because of her awesome starting kit and a perk that automatically adds a silencer to every weapon she uses.  This is a huge boon because some of the better armor-piercing guns you find are loud as hell.  She was absolutely demolishing the first four missions I sent her on, and I was certain she would be my first character to complete her personal goal and retire as an absolute badass who hangs out in the space station bar and tells far-fetched stories to the greenhorns.

Well, the fifth mission didn't pan out for Vana.  I made a critical mistake on a Glitchers ship by shooting a guard who had a reflective shield, knocking myself unconscious.  This particular mission had a "Capture" fail-state, meaning if I fail and I don't leave the ship in time, my character gets hauled off to some high-security prison in handcuffs.  This was the end for Vana Gibbs, I was certain. 

But then enters the real hero of the story.  The next available character in my queue was a rickety old man named Columba Gibbs, whose personal mission was to "rescue my idiot kid Vana."  He was Shaky and Proud, meaning he couldn't hold a gun straight in a firefight to save his life (literally) and, due to his pride, he couldn't accept any job that was anything less than Audacious.  This turned out to be a real problem because he literally spent 10 missions getting concussed, shot, and thrown out of airlocks before he finally managed to pull a win out of his hat.  I literally could not accept an easy job that would allow me to gather some valuable equipment - I just had to keep getting my ass handed to me over and over again.

At the end, it wasn't looking good for Columba.  He'd been shot so many times that next time would be his last.  By some virtue of fate, he managed to finish enough contracts to earn the money to buy a silenced armor-piercing shotgun and some gadgets to win the final rescue mission.  He mostly relied on teleporters to dance outside the enemy's field of view and blast them Chigurh-style.  I actually got pretty worried because I screwed up and set off an alarm, bringing in constant waves of reinforcements.  By another random stroke of luck, I blew up a big chunk of the ship and then auto-piloted my pod over to the newly ripped hole in the hull, and used that as a quick method of escape.

This old guy Columba (who I imagine to be a Clint Eastwood or John Marston stand-in) started with nothing to his name but a few credits and a concussive pistol with which he could hardly hit a target from 5 feet away.  I actually used the film Unforgiven for inspiration with his general strategy -- I recalled a rickety old Clint Eastwood in that film having trouble shooting a can with a revolver, so he swaps out for a shotgun and blows the can away in one try.  With that in mind, Columba sold his starting pistol and spent the game relying on shotguns, explosives, and clever tactics.  In the end, he retired happily after having rescued his daughter from captivity, who's now free to roam the galaxy again and finally meet her sky-high potential.  That's assuming she doesn't get her dumbass captured again, because Columba definitely doesn't have another round left in him for a second rescue campaign.

Interesting.  I may try this game!

ArizonaTank

Quote from: MengJiao on September 03, 2021, 02:18:58 PM
Quote from: al_infierno on September 02, 2021, 09:13:42 PM
Necrothread, arise!....

Been seriously addicted to this game....
 

Interesting.  I may try this game!

+1, wishlisted
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Jarhead0331

I dabbled tonight. I forgot how absolutely awesome this little game is.
Grogheads Uber Alles
Semper Grog
"No beast is more alpha than JH." Gusington, 10/23/18


al_infierno

If you open enough crates, you might find a great piece of tech or two from one of my legendary characters.  O0  I had a self-charging temporary portal gun that got me out of many situations across several characters.
A War of a Madman's Making - a text-based war planning and political survival RPG

It makes no difference what men think of war, said the judge.  War endures.  As well ask men what they think of stone.  War was always here.  Before man was, war waited for him.  The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.  That is the way it was and will be.  That way and not some other way.
- Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian


If they made nothing but WWII games, I'd be perfectly content.  Hypothetical matchups from alternate history 1980s, asymmetrical US-bashes-some-3rd world guerillas, or minor wars between Upper Bumblescum and outer Kaboomistan hold no appeal for me.
- Silent Disapproval Robot


I guess it's sort of nice that the word "tactical" seems to refer to some kind of seriousness during your moments of mental clarity.
- MengJiao

The Wargaming Scribe

Exceptional game that I highly recommand.
My blog : https://zeitgame.net/ - playing all computer wargames in order of release.