Does anyone else think that the in-game ZP is a fairly bad assassin? All right, gathering info (though apparantly not enough to avoid meeting in a bar) and commandeering bots to set a trap is fine but what was he thinking with the whole duel in DXI idea?
"Let's see, my specialty is stealth and sniping so I'll wait in a confined space without cover or hiding places, then I'll run up to my target just to say "no more talk" and THEN I'll attack, once I'm suitably within punching range. Then if I live I'll try the same thing again with a few friends and weapons that are even less likely to be effective. Oh and I won't kill him that time. Oh and I'll dislike Jonas without an adequately explored reason (maybe he botched ZP's "extra" augmentation, if ya know what I mean. No wonder Kylie went back to Trest )."
No competent assassin should be within range of a guy's fists unless the guy has unexpected speed enhancement. Likewise if he thought about staying above and away the player his sniper rifle might be useful. Meaning no disrespect to the real ZP I think his digital incarnation should go back to assassin school.
[rant ends]
I also find it weird how he not only needs your help to lure OiNutter out of a building, but he also needs me to kill him once he is out.
I can never do it though, OiNutter is too cute
"Delays are temporary; mediocrity is forever."
odio ergo sum
He's a Deus Ex fan, like everyone else in Forum City. In Deus Ex Walton doesn't shoot you from a distance, he comes up to you and says, "You take another step forward and here I am again, like your own reflection in a hall of mirrors." Sniping and stealth are for nameless guards in the PDX HQ, for someone like Trest conversations are required.
Also, should anyone argue that he should take after JC played as a sniper, that's right out. He works for an unashamedly evil group in the secret basement that doesn't exist where the most horrific experiments are undertaken. He's a bad guy, he's contractually obligated to strike up a conversation with Trest before trying to shoot him.
chris the cynic wrote:He's a Deus Ex fan, like everyone else in Forum City. In Deus Ex Walton doesn't shoot you from a distance, he comes up to you and says, "You take another step forward and here I am again, like your own reflection in a hall of mirrors." Sniping and stealth are for nameless guards in the PDX HQ, for someone like Trest conversations are required.
Also, should anyone argue that he should take after JC played as a sniper, that's right out. He works for an unashamedly evil group in the secret basement that doesn't exist where the most horrific experiments are undertaken. He's a bad guy, he's contractually obligated to strike up a conversation with Trest before trying to shoot him.
That makes me one ugly son of a bitch.
When I was younger I knew a motherfucker like you!
If ZP is contractually obliged to say hello couldn't he simply use a PM to say "I'm up the tower, you're in my sights, dance for me."? It just seems silly that guards with sniper rifles have the sense to stay still and shoot you on sight rather than running over for a chat like the so-called master assassin. I realise the way the game handles boss encounters skrewed him over but I do still find it hard to take him seriously. If he had been like Despot or Shadowcode and actually set up some traps to kill you before risking his own neck then I'd respect him a little more. Still, at least he has a cool gun.
By that logic all enemies should be soft toys equipped with peashooters. Can't have a good battle without tough and smart enemies right? I apprecitate the format (multiple approaches necessary), engine and simplicity support this approach, and I'm not saying it is bad, just that it seems a little out of character to act this way and I would have liked a dramatic sniper sequence or something.
This topic is essentially a purile mini-rant about a tiny element that bugged me. I shouldn't really be posting when I'm tired and cranky but uni essays will do that to you I guess. Later.
Too bad they didn't do an Icarus type thing.... Have ZP taunt you from a phone, or a recording. Then after the conversation is over he shoots the phone, and it starts some boss fight in which you have to find his position and snipe him, or rush him while avoiding his shots... Kind of like the VTM Bloodlines boss fight (I've never played MGS3)
In addition to OiNutter there's also his sniping at PDX which requires that the guard be unaltered and standing still.... I suppose if he was on a building 3 miles away I could understand that, but there's plenty of rather suitable building right next to PDX.... Again this comes down to DX's bad AI.
There's nothing wrong with a tough battle with a tough opponent, but your topic is about an assassin. If I was one I'd line him (Tres) up in the cross-hairs and blow him away, ergo game over.
Growing old is inevitable.......Growing up is optional
We know how ZP usually works, he kills people from a distance unseen. They're dead before they know what hits them. If he were allowed to be in assassin mode you'd be dead before combat music kicked in. That isn't good gameplay. The fact that he isn't in assassin mode but instead in Deus Ex style bad guy mode is the only reason that TNM doesn't end in DXI if you've allowed ZP to live this long. (Which is also horrible game design. "You lose automatically because you didn't kill the guy in the bar," is not a good idea.)
There wouldn't be a fight, there would be you going along and then you dead.
JC_Helios wrote:Kind of like the VTM Bloodlines boss fight (I've never played MGS3)
Think of that fight, only that you the boss is camouflaged, so you can only identify his location if he: A. Shot at you.
B. Let his parrot loose (in which case, you track it down, and follow it when it returns to him).
C. Is positioned so his crosshair glares.
Also, the battle is spanned over 3 maps, and it's probably the most epic sniping battle ever in video game history. You really ought to try it, because it's executed that well. He's also the only boss that I know that can die of old age in the midst of the battle.
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