Revealed during yesterday’s Triple-i Initiative, procedurally generated detective sim Shadows Of Doubt largest update yet is playable right now. Dubbed “The Sharpshooter Assassin”, the the patch introduces two new killer variants, both snipers who’ll blast lead from vantage points around the city. And the city’s expanding too, with new uber-rich gated communities as well as a contrasting shanty town. Not to mention a new auto-travel feature that lets you wander about these spots and attend to some casework without pausing the game.
In a Steam post, the devs mention having to “study bullet trajectories” to figure out where the sniper’s vantage point lies. No further details are given, but I like to think that one sniper might be more calculating and inventive, striking at frightening angles, while another might be sloppy to the point of firing while they’re running past the window. As someone who’s played a lot of FPS games, I will need to get out of the mindset of thumbing a bullet hole in a pane of glass, looking back at a crumpled corpse and thinking, “Great quickscope”.
As for the two new building types, there’s the “Fathoms”, a “kind of slum/shanty town”. And at the other end of the spectrum, new gated communities found “at the top of skyscrapers, where land values are at their highest”. Apparently we’ll need special access to these rich spots, at least… legally. Nuance may lie in snipers shooting from the comfort of these gated communities at those less fortunate, and us, finding a way to infiltrate the glitz and cuff the glam.
There’s also a new auto-travel feature, that lets you automatically follow a plotted route and check your case files at the same time. I suppose it’s a bit like when you auto-run in Fortnite while checking the map (apologies for the cursed comparison).
Social credit perks have been added, too. Each level now has a small perk attached, which confers benefits like enforcers joining you at crime scenes for protection purposes or getting cured when you visit your apartment.
Finally, there are other notable little additions, like shops moving you on if you loiter around their entrances for too long. A new “bone break” sound. City generation times being reduced by “15%”. And better ragdoll effects. I imagine the bone break and better ragdoll go hand in hand.
For all the changes, make sure you have a glance at the patch notes page.
