A dungeon crawler at it's best.
As I entered the giant, everything within eyes view was dark and bleak. Two hydro pumps constantly moving up and down while water dripped from the ceiling. The scene reminded me of the Ninja Turtles movie when they were in the sewer. Far off sounds of water dripping, dark depths of water on each side of the one way bride into the mouth of the unknown. As you walk up you will see two valves, turn to each and hold down "RT" to pull up your cursor then proceed to press a to activate. Turning forward, the only way to go now, you can only see light illuminating from above as it creates shadows from the grate that seals you in. Passing through the dank entrance you find yourself in the halls barely lit by small bulbs every ten feet. The walls were definitely built by a master craftsman. Smoothly carved architecture that should be out in the world for all to see, but yet it is hidden in this dungeon of dark.
A lever to the right once pulled reveals a door that slides up, opening up another part of this mystery. Still bleak and dark, but this hall has gears grinding. After making it past the eerie sounds and bone chilling path, you finally make it to a wooden door with the first sight of real light. Well, light bright enough to show what is in front of you. As you push the door forward you find yourself submerged in complete darkness, as you give another shove you will see that there is yet another room to be seen. Dust particles float ever so gently in front of you, the only indication that the scene has changed. Take a right and you will see a bronze door with no key holes or valves close by. This is going to take some searching. Navigate around the room to find the what seals the steampunk door sealed. Once found enter the door and you will see a plate with the words "WORKING RJG" a better description pops up telling you to wear an EXO RIG past this door or it may result in death. Time to find this Exo the sign speaks of.
Hold LT and press the Menu button to save before you continue. You would not want to lose all of the progress made so far.
Sealed chambers lined up on both sides of this mechanical room with tools strewn around the room. One light pops out, a green lever, hit it and you will here a click. As you turn around you will see that all the chambers have opened. Time to take a look. Some containers have red lights above them; others are lit with green. You can choose from various Exo Rigs. Each has a definitive strength over the others in a certain area. The choice is irreversible, choose wisely.
Heavy Rig
Gain permanent toughness bonus. You have a chance to reflect an incoming attack to the attacker, taking no damage yourself. This chance is doubled when below a threshold of integrity.
+30% Toughness
25% Reflect Chance
40% Integrity Threshold
Combat Rig
Gain Permanent combat bonus. Also deal bonus damage with every 3rd successful weapon attack
+30% Combat
+50% Bonus Damage on Every 3rd Successful Attack
Assault Rig
Gain permanent bonuses to resistance, fumium intake,
And repair power. Additionally, deal more total damage based on missing integrity
+10% Resistance
+5% Fumium Intake
+25% Repair Power
+0.75% Total Damage per % of Missing Integrity
Thauma Rig
Gain permanent tech Bonus. Also gain energy regen when below a threshold of energy
+30% Tech
35% Energy Threshold
+75% Energy Regen
I chose the combat rig. As I put it on, I could tell that it felt familiar. I wonder if the door lets me through now.
Now equipped with a hub and a flash light, I feel as if I can handle a lot more and am ready for anything that is thrown at me. I head toward the first door that required an Exo Rig. Nothing appeared to happen. I can only assume that if I had chosen another Rig I could have gone through. On to the second door I go. It was already open as I approached it. This must indicate that I chose the correct Rig for this particular door. Upon approaching, a green light lit up and the gears on the door spun and allowed me access. Even though all is still damp and dark, I can now see better thanks to the Rig's light equipped.
Inventory
I stepped into what seemed like a locker room, except this room has been abandoned and probably hasn't had any type of life walking around in it for years. I open a locker and I find a couple of items.
This is where you can store your Items, and also equip them into your hands, armor slots, and gadget slots. Press down to access your inventory. Press A to pick up an item, or X to automatically move it to and from your inventory. You can take all the items from a container by pressing LS. To deal damage to an enemy or a destructible object. (LB for main-hand, RB for off-hand). You can have up to two weapon sets and switch between them by pressing RS. When swinging your weapon, you'll have to wait a few seconds for it to cool down so you can swing again. I hit all breakable objects in my way. I usually find useful items like ammunition, gear, guns etc.
Your Rig provides you with a map that automatically updates as you explore the site. Press the View button to display it if you get lost. The integrity bar, which is red, protects you from lethal hazards and enemy attacks. If it drops to zero, you will die. You can restore your integrity by using Repair Kits. That is done by pressing the LEFT.
Finding pressure plates will and dropping items on them to hold them down to open a door requires you finding something heave enough to do so. For instance, a brick. Select the item in you inventory with A, hold RT and use anyone of the directional pad keys to drop or throw it, then press a to confirm.
Gadgets apart from your weapons, you will also find various thaumaturgical gadgets you can use in combat or to outsmart enemies or buff yourself up to temporarily become stronger. By pressing either LT A, LT B, LT X, or LT Y to activate a gadget in the given slot. Gadgets are powerful but drain your energy (yellow bar). Energy slowly replenishes on its own, but you will need to increase the maximum amount and the regen rat if you wish to use gadgets more often.
Fumium will be gained after destroying enemies, and after acquiring enough of it you will level up, increasing overall power. You will also gain circuit pints which you can use to unlock or improve circuits. Circuits significantly improve your power in the given area. At higher ranks, you will unlock modules which further increase your power in various ways. You will come across Fumium Capacitators which grant you Fumium permanently when you consume them.
There are a lot of hidden items in this game, hold down the RT and move your cursor against walls or objects that look out of place. Eventually you will come across full gear, various weapons that include rifles, mace, swords, pistols and a whole bunch of other things. I would say that these puzzles I've come across are the hardest. It's very important to keep health on you at all times. I ran into instances where I saved my game and had no life, I had to do some pretty slick things to beat the enemy in front of me which I thought might be impossible, but I somehow managed. Saving your game is KEY! I got really far and then died and realized that I started ten minutes back. I was super aggravated. You'll find out more tricks further on in the game to help you get through certain parts. It all comes down to instinct and knowledge of gaming.