Imsim Core Decay looks polished, but maybe too Deus Sexy for its own good

rockpapershotgun.com:

Ivar Hill and Slipgate's Core Decay is a Deus Ex and System Shock-flavoured immersive sim that's all about the ABCs. A, of course, stands for Attacking by means of things like energy rifles, electro-batons and shotguns. B is for Back-stabbing, referring to the stealthy player who may stack objects so as to clamber into vents, and whack guards deftly in the noggin to escape detection.

And C is for Conversing, referring to the act of wooing civilians - who thus far seem miraculously unbothered by your menacing hooded appearance and sepulchral accent - so as to procure door codes and the location of keycards. You can see all these approaches in the game's new trailer, below.

A bit of backstory, to wash that down. It's 2089, the Earth is jiggered, natural resources are kaput, living conditions are in the toilet, cats and dogs are living together, etcetera. You play a recently vat-spawned cybernetic dude who must somehow save society in the course of a single player campaign spanning seven locations around the world. Being a roboman, you can upgrade individual limbs and senses so as to turn invisible and jump higher, amongst other things. There's also hacking, needless to say, and what look like some rather elaborate boss battles further in. Mind the laser beams, Roboman!

It certainly walks the walk in footage. The environment art seems a bit monotonous, perhaps, but there are some lush effects to break up the boxy, Metal Gear squalor of it all, like pouring rain or the glow of furnaces. Core Decay does feel genre-bound to a fault, though. I'm getting tired of immersive sims in which the broad options are essentially Talk To The Monsters, Stealth Down the Flank or Go in All Guns Blazing (with the secret fourth option