Alekhine’s Gun Review

<p><em>Alekhine’s Gun<&sol;em> is a game that I very much wanted to enjoy&period; That is probably what accounts for my level of disappointment while playing through its various&comma; and admittedly varied&comma; levels&period; I love the stealth&comma; <em>Hitman<&sol;em> inspired game genre and I saw a lot of potential during my time with the game&semi; unfortunately&comma; every time I thought the gameplay was beginning to click&comma; my fun would become hamstrung by the myriad of problems that leave <em>Alekhine’s Gun<&sol;em> a tough game to recommend&period; Things start out compelling enough with the story set up by voice overs against a backdrop of a series of water color style static photos&period; The art style isn’t the most sophisticated&comma; but the dialogue is just cryptic enough to pique my interest&period; Unfortunately&comma; the gameplay begins soon thereafter and it’s a slow downward spiral from there&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;102484" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-102484" style&equals;"width&colon; 710px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;alekhines-gun-review-sneaking-right-past-fun&sol;ss&lowbar;7d0c7909abd636a18d299a5d37f0cb6be9c1ff7d-1920x1080&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-102484"><img class&equals;"size-large wp-image-102484" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;03&sol;ss&lowbar;7d0c7909abd636a18d299a5d37f0cb6be9c1ff7d&period;1920x1080-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Seems like an unfair fight" width&equals;"710" height&equals;"399" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-102484" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Seems like an unfair fight&period; &lpar;Alekhine&&num;8217&semi;s Gun&comma; Maximum Games&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Anyone who has played a <em>Hitman<&sol;em> game will know immediately what to expect after only a few minutes with this game&period; Sneaking around&comma; hiding bodies&comma; changing outfits to blend in&semi; it’s all here&period; The comparison to Hitman is unavoidable&comma; but also shouldn’t be taken as an insult as plenty of games in the past have borrowed elements and ideas from other titles to great effect&period; The problem with <em>Alekhine’s Gun<&sol;em> is that it takes several ideas from the <em>Hitman<&sol;em> titles &&num;8211&semi; as well as a few others &&num;8211&semi; but does not improve on them in any way&comma; and in most cases&comma; makes them worse&period; This unfortunate instance gives anyone playing the game a sense that everything they’re experiencing is merely a worse version of a far better experience that could be had elsewhere&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>All of this would be objectively unfortunate for any game&comma; but <em>Alekhine’s Gun<&sol;em> feels like a particular disappointment as there are a number of moments where a lot of potential seeps through the otherwise ugly cracks&period; While most of the objectives are par for the course &lpar;take out a particular target and flee the scene undetected&rpar;&comma; there are some moments that have genuine elements of originality&period; Tapping a phone and listening in on a conversation and trying to find a way into a locked hotel room may sound like a mundane activity but after killing scads of generic Nazi’s&comma; they are welcome diversions&period; Sadly&comma; even simple objectives devolve into red-faced frustration as you are given almost no direction on how to complete your tasks&period; AI is also wildly inconsistent as your enemies run the gamut from obscenely stupid yokels who wouldn’t notice an elephant in the tub with them&comma; to supernaturally enhanced beings with the uncanny ability to locate you even through walls&period; You also get the pleasure of dealing with what might be the most useless mini map to ever appear in a game&period; In case you haven’t noticed&comma; the bad outweighs the good in almost every conceivable way&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;102485" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-102485" style&equals;"width&colon; 710px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;alekhines-gun-review-sneaking-right-past-fun&sol;717b9fiukwl-&lowbar;sl1500&lowbar;&sol;" rel&equals;"attachment wp-att-102485"><img class&equals;"size-large wp-image-102485" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2016&sol;03&sol;03213323&sol;717B9fIUKwL&period;&lowbar;SL1500&lowbar;-1024x576&period;jpg" alt&equals;"&quot&semi;Lousy pool players&comma; I'll make em' all pay&excl;&quot&semi;" width&equals;"710" height&equals;"399" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-102485" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">&&num;8220&semi;Lousy pool players&comma; I&&num;8217&semi;ll make em&&num;8217&semi; all pay&excl;&&num;8221&semi; &lpar;Alekhine&&num;8217&semi;s Gun&comma; Maximum Games&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Stealth games like this are few and far between and with <em>Hitman<&sol;em> going the strangely episodic route&comma; <em>Alekhine’s Gun<&sol;em> had a golden opportunity to appease fans who were hungry for a taste of sneaky assassination&period; As it stands though&comma; <em>Alekhine’s Gun<&sol;em> is another swing and a miss entry in a genre that we simply do not see enough of&period; After playing this game however&comma; I think I might know why that is&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><em>Alekhine&&num;8217&semi;s Gun was provided by Maximum Games for review purposes&period; <&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;