The Invisible System [Mission series]

[LM3310]

That's what I'm talking about. I'm very impressed by the excellency of this mission pack. Have I never seen anything like this before throughout my career in DYOM. Hence, it's got the originality which is really important for a designer to have. Anyway, I will give my feedback right after I've finished playing this mission pack.

[Jimmy_Leppard]

@LM - Thanks a lot, man. Good to hear it got you interested in playing it. Looking forward to your feedback afterwards then

[aDm219]

Just started playing this series its really good i think it's the best thous far

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Thanks, man. Hope you read the first post on how to play the mission series chronologically.

[aDm219]

Thanks, man. Hope you read the first post on how to play the mission series chronologically.

I did if i understood i play example each dyoms by each character like first mission both "POV" seems to be the same second mission i play like RYAN 2 DYOM then TYLER Dyom 2 right?

Edited May 7, 2017 by aDm219

[aDm219]

hey just finished first chapter omg what a turn of event lol best series i have ever played xD

[aDm219]

Respond to this one pls from what you said that Tylers story goes first right? but what i downloaded it seems ryans so which one i should start first with to make sense of all this?

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Tyler's story is a little ahead of Ryan's at the beginning of the story. Later on, at chapters 3 and 5, Ryan's story is a bit ahead of Tyler's in some missions, while in others, Tyler's is ahead. It's best to always play Tyler's POV mission, then Ryan's co-responding mission after it because Tyler's scenes are ahead of Ryan's in most of the POV missions. Also, check out the mission list in the first post. Intro is the same for both of them, then it goes POV etc.

[.GreenGoo]

Is there any continuation to the quarantine zone MP?

And, are you planning to design more MPs, Jimmy?

Edited May 8, 2017 by .GreenGoo

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Is there any continuation to the quarantine zone MP?

And, are you planning to design more MPs, Jimmy?

No. I'm done, man. I retired earlier this year - http://gtaforums.com/topic/881710-time-has-come/

[.GreenGoo]

 

Is there any continuation to the quarantine zone MP?

And, are you planning to design more MPs, Jimmy?

 

No. I'm done, man. I retired earlier this year - http://gtaforums.com/topic/881710-time-has-come/Well, good luck to your retirement man. You were a great designer.

[aDm219]

okay so i Do tyler first then ryan thanks for explaining

[aDm219]

I'm not expert in english but I think "where is him" is spelled "where is he"

[Jimmy_Leppard]

Yup, you're right

[thermal7]

Hey Jimmy, here's the promised review of TiS. Gonna try to outdo myself again. Spoilers ahead...

Spoiler

Pros

- Cool story. Very much cool! Personally, I think this is Jim's most ambitious story of its time, before Shadow Ring made appearance. Firstly, the idea of one story being told from 2 separate perspectives of 2 different protagonists has already been tackled in GreenGoo's MP "Bribed: Blood Money" (actually, Bribed was released a year after TiS, it's just that Bribed is my first experience with this thing). I really liked Bribed for its smart use of custom sounds and objects and the plot was solid, but bad english can mess up the otherwise perfect experience.

Here, the story is about the rivalry of 2 of San Andreas' best assassins who, despite having a lot of similarities, still end up being mortal enemies due to a variety of reasons. In Shadow Ring, I remember admiring the story for its moral ambiguity and all sides being morally grey, but here everything is pitch black, really, and that makes me admire the story even more for its uniqueness among the DYOM fandom. Every single character is fückin' evil, no kidding. The protagonists are killing civilians left and right and the antagonists shamelessly betray everything and everyone, including said protagonists. Thanks to the likes of Miller and Stackhouse, San Andreas is a dog-eat-dog hell on earth where innocent people are nothing but cannon fodder, mere sheeps to be slaughtered by wolves. And you shouldn't feel sorry for them either because they were too weak to protect themselves (at least, that's what I think the story insinuates.) The fact that made this MP's story so unique amongst the DYOM world is that TiS presents its characters in a very raw, matter-of-fact fashion, allowing the audience to interpret them on their own. Not many stories have the guts for that. No Country for Old Men comes to mind when I think about a story like this, that defies this sentimental, black-and-white morality thinking and shows a world where evil can be prosperous.

- Cool levels. I really appreciate the sense of integrity that TiS has to it. Unlike Bribed where the 2 protagonists' paths are mostly disconnected from one another, and they mostly go separate ways unless they're in direct opposition, the paths of Tyler and Ryan cross all the time and levels convey that consistency perfectly.

- Cool details. TiS values realism greatly and it shows. The cars always spawn in the parking lots rather than just somewhere close the player, the protagonists always conceal their cars behind buildings or in the bushes for ambushes, cars are always ditched after being witnessed in a fight, and the crime of grand theft auto is treated like more of a challenge because of things like lockpicking and being on the police's radar, etc.

- Cool difficulty. For once, I did not find myself raging at 100% accuracy, even if it was there. It just seems at lot more balanced to me, is all.

- Cool characters. As always, they are the center of universe and their unique presentation is what sets TiS apart from the rest of Jimmy's work (expect for Shadow Ring, of course). Here's my Top 5:

 

1. Adams. This man is, beyond doubt, the one that matters most. The one who started the entire premise. In my opinion, he's one of the best DYOM antagonists of all time. Not a single other bad buy was framed in a way Adams was.

The one thing that sets him apart from the others is that you never know what to expect from him. His character is as flexible as a rubber ball and you can always interpret him or his motivations however you wish because they remain ambiguous. One peculiar thing I noticed about him is that the 3-second scene where he grieves for his deceased wife is the only scene where Adams is entirely by himself, without any of his men around, and also the only scene where Adams displays such vivid emotions. All the other scenes where Adams is present are shown from the perspective of those who talk to him, how others perceive him. Which brings me to another topic; aside from that one 3-second scene, Adams is always accompanied by someone and is always talking to that someone in a very impersonal and apathetic fashion, as if nothing ever affects him anyhow, as if he doesn't even care about the world. In other words, he's never honest with anyone and is always wearing a "mask" (funny how someone named Frank is never really frank), and that one 3-second scene was the only time his mask slipped off.

Other than that, Adams doesn't seem to have a genuine self. He's like a Biblically accurate angel - dozen faces at a time, seemingly nice but also very uncanny, always showing whatever face the man in front of him wants to see. He acts innocent to you (despite having a suspiciously large army of goons and shady connections) while preparing a backstab you and, aside from occasional flashes of passive-aggressive smugness, there is no way for you to anticipate it. It's actually pretty creepy because a lot of con artists, CEOs, bankers and politicians in real life operate like this. But at the same time, there are some indications that Adams believes his actions are necessary because of the environment he's in, and he's simply trying to survive. At the point Adams says "Sometimes you gotta play the hand you're dealt", which implied that he's not proud of having to do what he does, but he still does it out of necessity. With all that in mind, it's very hard to say if he's a genuine sociopath who does not care or believe in anything and only sees Miller and Stackhouse as competition, or if he's just a guy who lost his innocence and who had to adapt to the cruel rules of the cruel game to thwart Miller's and Stackhouse's evil, and he's so unfeeling with others because he doesn't like to express his grievances in public. Or maybe Adams' more sentimental moments are simply him putting on a show to appease his men and make them convinced that he's a good guy.

Another thing that sets Adams apart for Miller and Stackhouse is doesn't prey on innocents, and only goes after those who, in his mind, are a threat to him. Being a brilliant manipulator, he "plays chess" with his two arch-enemies and ultimately masterminds his way to victory. Adams' ultimate goal is something called Omega Core. Once he says that it will allow him to "have the world wrapped around his finger". That implies something related to world domination which doesn't exactly paint Adams in a pleasant light. But at the same time, since the true nature of the project isn't revealed, there's a 50 percent chance that it's something for greater good.

And last but not least, Adams successfully outmatches and kills both Miller and Stackhouse and also tricks his last two liabilities, Mahone and Quaid, into (almost) killing each other for him by luring them both to Miller's death place because he knew they would both show up. His victory is well-deserved because he was the true hero of the story all along, because the story has really been about him and his battle against the two men who want to kidnap him and use him, about how Adams turned the tables and used everyone else instead. The Invisible System in question here is the one that Adams had created to combat those who oppose him. Adams, from his own mind, was the true hero and Mahone, Quiad, Miller and Stackhouse were all villains who were out to get him, only to be defeated, because in the end, the hero always beats the villain. But instead of telling Adams' story in traditional way from the man's own perspective, it's told in "inverse third person" - the story of one man from the perspective of all others. In short, Adams is the epitome of true neutral, whose exact nature and motives can never be fully understood, nor do they need to be.

 

2. The Two Protagonists. Tyler Mahone and Ryan Quaid are two people who dive face-first into the gritty world of San Andreas' political underworld, and naturally they are every bit as bad as the rest of the cast because both of them are cold-blooded killers who don't care about anything but their own survival (especially Tyler).

First of, Tyler Mahone. Normally, you're expected to feel positive emotions upon seeing the actions of the protagonist. Well, not this one. Mahone's entire presense evokes fear and aversion. He's dressed all black, kills everyone in sight whenever he draws a gun and, aside from occassional pangs of professional courtesy, he personality is based mostly around his arrogance and desire to intimidate everyone around him (apparently drawing some inspiration from Anton Chigurh, of all people). Though, in this case, it rather speaks about how the evil of San Andreas shaped Tyler and made him accept the rules of the game, and honestly he's not particularly worse than Ryan, or any other hired killer for that matter. At least at first. This is where Ryan comes in and proves that even despite being an assassin and having a bad temper of his own, he's still a man of relatively strong convictions and also capable of developing attachments to other people (like Kenny), something that Tyler detests and denouncers as a weakness.

Then there's the comparison of the two protagonists carry on with their actions. Tyler operates on the principals of convenience and intimidation, barging into a fight without hesitation and only sneaking when he absolutely has to (like when he's trying to reach Miller at the casino without being spotted). Meanwhile, Ryan, despite his hothead-ness, always tries to be strategic and goes for stealth kills whenever he can. Case in point, Tyler is introduced when he massacres a diner full of innocent customers just to reach his target, and then blows it up just to make an example of him (I'm sure if Tyler were to go swipe some papers from the City Hall, he would blast his way through accountants and janitors and blow it up as well, for posterity). Meanwhile, Ryan simply snipes the targets, because he's fine with just handling targets and their goons without making too much of show.

Honestly, when it comes to picking favorites, I strongly dislike Tyler and like Ryan. Why? Well, Tyler's literally introduced commiting mass murder and explosive terrorism, something that seems very disproportionate for eliminating a single target. Seriously, why the fück did he have to that? Just why? That already paints him in a very negative light, presenting him as a senselessly violent person who, unlike Ryan, doesn't really care to think about anything other than surviving and killing people. Then, there's the fact that he works for Governor Miller, a thoroughly evil and rotten man, who would likely task Tyler with "troubleshooting" his secretary because he harassed her and wants to expose this, and Tyler would gladly stage a "suicide" via several shots to the back of the head for her. After all, this is exactly what happened with Mrs. Adams, didn't it? Oh well, just politics, I guess.

Anyway, another terrible thing that Tyler did was killing that nice shopkeeper. I don't care whether it was necessary or not, it was fμcking atrocious and it proves that, despite going after governer Miller, he's no better than him in any way. Then, there's his personality, which is just as bad as his actions. Unlike Ryan, whose anger is only occasional, Tyler's hubris and lack of empathy is persistent. Not to mention how Tyler is insufferably condensending to Ryan because he's an "amateur" (which he isn't). Even being a hitman doesn't give you an excuse to be an αsshole. And I believe killing that shopkeeper wasn't necessary either because the cops knew who he is anyway since he almost killed the freakin' governor and concealing identity wasn't worthwhile after that anyway. And yet Tyler still did this unjustifiable act out of convenience. Ryan also kills a diner owner in Fort Carson, but that was a different situation and concealment of identity was more into play, so I'll cut him some slack in that regard. I mean, you can't always afford to be a nice guy with sh!t like that going on. I'll just act like that man's diner was infested with rats and because of that it was a service to the community. Funny thing is, no one (not even a softy like me) bats an eye about slaughtering hordes of cops and cilivians in-game because in-game protagonist and in-story protagonist are not the same entity, so when in-story protagonist kills innocent people (think of No Russian for instance), it always feels beyond outrageous, and I love how TiS creates such potent shock value that furthers your immersion in the story and reminds about what people you're playing as. Tyler was already bad enough, but when he killed Kenny (you bastard!), that was IT! He crossed the line in both mine and Ryan's eyes, solidifying himself as Ryan's eternal arch-nemesis. And then he has the audacity to claim that Ryan should just make up with him and be buddy-buddies like nothing happened! To sum it up, the final confrontation at the beach demonstrates exactly why I find Tyler such an unlikable character. He's completely self-centered, and has no principals, no convictions, and only ever cares about killing and surviving, contemptously ridiculing the idea that Ryan would want to kill him in revenge for a friend. Not to mention that phrase - "We are who we are" - which he uses to excuse himself of all actions, just saying nothing was ever his fault, while also disregarding any notions of decency that Ryan has.

Ryan, on the other hand, represents a better hitman, who tries his best to stick to his principals. One thing that make Ryan more likeable is that he's a very good friend to Kenny, the hacker guy, who he tries to protect from the underworld of San Andreas. Ryan values his friend greatly and starts a vendetta against Tyler for killing him. Also, he was very desperate to protect Dwayne from Tyler, even though Ryan was initially annoyed by him, indicating that Ryan can still care for another person. It's not much, but it's still good. Also, unlike Tyler, Ryan strongly believes in the principal of vengeance and he sticks to it at any cost. That's I especially like about him. He shows nothing but hate for Tyler and has no intention of ever forgiving him for his act. I also love how he just gave away Adams' car to a random dude to do a kind thing and fool Adams simultaneously. Nice character moment there.

 

3. The Two Antagonists. Miller and Stackhouse are the two rat-snakes who ensure that lives of protagonists are as hellish as possible.

Governor Miller is what I believe to be a caricaturic depiction of a corrupt republican. He's just so blatantly evil that he might as well be an american [email protected] On a serious note, Miller is what I believe to be the darkest villain in all of Jimmy's work, even barring the likes of Rubio Villa and General Mills. Why? Because a lot of his villainy is applicable to real life. For starters, he made Tyler kill Adams' wife, and you know you're very bad when even Tyler is visibly disturbed at you want him to do. It gets worse when you consider that Belarusian dictator Lukashenko also orders the assassinations of his political rivals' wifes. There are a lot of people like Miller in the American government and the sheer scale of atrocities commited by them would make Miller himself look like a baby.

Stackhouse, however, is a whole another deal. He's up-and-coming spymaster who seeks to usurp Miller and become the governer himself, elevating his Shadow Identity org in power. The one thing I noticed about him is how, unlike Miller, who's a slippery republican slimeball full of startard political lies, Stackhouse is incredibly blunt and has no pretenses of chumminess with Ryan and always responds to any infractions on his part with death threats, while Miller has this faux-friendly way of speaking with Tyler, while still threatening him with phrases like "There will be consequences". Also, Miller is a shameless backstabber who apparently hopes to kill Tyler "with kindness", while Stackhouse, despite condemning Ryan, is more appeciative of an honest bargain and, who knows, maybe he would have kept his end of the deal with Tyler.

However, the one thing these two have in common is that they're both impulsive, reckless idiots who had literally no reasons to betray their respective operatives. To put into perspective, imagine if you were a criminal mastermind or a very powerful dirty politician who sought to capture a certain Frank Adams, a seemingly harmless bureaucrat-turned-whistleblower, to use him as a tool to make your way to or secure your power. You send your best operative to deliver that Frank Adams to you with a pretty little bow, you absolutely have to send in your best because of how high-profile of a target Mr. Adams is. So, your best operative tries to approach Mr. Adams, but fails because somehow this Mr. Adams has developed an entire group, with hundreds of guards, high-tech equipment, lots of strategic locations, etc. In short, kidnapping Mr. Adams is not the same as kidnapping your average Joe. In fact, the matter of doing so could take months because of how hard it is. And now, here comes the question. Would you, the criminal mastermind or the omnipotent head of state with large resources, take into consideration that Mr. Adams is very difficult to catch and that your best operative is not slacking off, but having genuine difficulties, and give your best operative at least 3/4 weeks to get him, maybe even send him some additional men for assist because your best operative is not doing so well? Or would you do a thing that is profoundly illogical and counter-productive and condemn your best freakin' operative, despite him being so useful when on your side and extremely dangerous if against you, deluding yourself into thinking that your average goons can somehow overpower your personal pocked-sized one-man-army that has advanced your organisation in past? Both Miller and Stackhouse gave the wrong answer, and that's just so stupid, so Bond-villain like I can't even fathom it. At least Adams is better at double-crossing people.

 

4. The Two Cousins. Kenny and Dwayne are gangsta' cousins that Ryan is friends with. These two goofballs are perhaps the only flashes of light in the dark, scary world of TiS. I mean, sure, Kenny is a hacker and also displays homophobic tendencies in regards of Stackhouse's first name, and Dwayne is a gambler who's fine with killing his loanshark/hustler, and who's also a bit of an idiot, but that hustler was lame anyway. Seriously, what retard would unironically wear a leopard fur coat. He deserved to die for that alone! Anyway, the two cousins are like wide-eyed babies (in a good way) in the gritty world of TiS, they're just so entertaining with their goofy gangsta' slang and their lukewarm relationship with Ryan is a reminder that, unlike Tyler, Ryan has a heart. Unfortunately, in the world of TiS kindness is not meant to last. Both of them die in very undignified ways. Kenny is executed by Tyler for refusing to rat out Ryan (though my experience with Mrs. Adams suggests that even playing along wouldn't change the outcome) and Dwayne is unceremoniously gunned down by Stackhouse, with whom Tyler teamed up by the way, simply because he was in the way. Their deaths heavily impact Ryan, making his vendetta against Tyler and Stackhouse much more personal. Their tale is a tragic display of what happens to decent people in the gritty world of TiS, where the innocents are expendable at best and disposable at worst.

 

5. Adams' bodyguard. The guy in a pink-ish shirt accompanies Adams throughout the whole MP, but is never given a name and that kinda rubs me in the wrong way. I'll just call him Damien in this description. I mean, there are characters like Clyde and Karen who die shortly after their appearance and they're given a name, but Damien is present up until the end and he remains officially nameless. That sucks! Sure, he's a minor side character, but he almost has as much screen time as Miller or Stackhouse and I honestly think that Damien at least deserves an official name.

 

Cons

- Straight Shot. May this abomination burn!

- Lame-ass Sequal. Rant up ahead. Of all the IPs Jimmy created, TiS was the one that did NOT need a sequel. Seriously, man, I hated TiS 2 with passion. It just forgets what the first TiS was about. It was a shameless realistic and ugly story about how hopelessly corrupt the underbelly of San Andreas really is. Innocent people are sitting ducks, prey for the wolfs, who don't stand a chance, and only phony guys like Adams or Tyler can even hope to survive. What the hell do we have in TiS 2? Oh yay, Tyler and Ryan are BFFs, they didn't kill each other at the beach cause the power of friendship won... That's garbage! The outcome of that duel on the beach wasn't ment to be clear because that's the quirk of this standoff, so you interpret the outcome on your own. They're supposed to be arch-enemies, period. Tyler crossed the line when he killed Kenny, no going back from that. Everything in TiS 2 reeks of cheap entertainment and directly contradicts the themes of the first TiS, which was very nuanced about telling its story and sought to defy the cliches of many DYOM mappacks. Don't even want to speak about the OCs of the sequel because they're all worthless. Even Adams, the only saving grace of TiS 2, has gotten worse. The quirk of Adams' project was that it's ambiguous, just like Adams himself. That's the gist of it. Adams is like Half-Life's G-Man - his true personality and motifs are always up to interpretation. That's the fun part of mysterious characters. Here, Adams is a goddamn idiot too! Microchips? MICROCHIPS? What kind of a doped-up tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist would unironically suggest freakin' microchips as the ultimate goal that Adams fighting for? It's like a sh*tty fanfiction made by a fourth-grader. It's as if there was a sequel for No Country for Old Men about Chirugh passing out because of a broken arm and seeing a dream of his Catholic mommy telling him that killing people is bad because it's not the Christian way, and after that Chigurh decided to mend his way and convert to Catholicism. The rest of the sequel is a slice-of-life comedy about Chigurh making peace with civilian life, finding the love of his life and becoming the happiest man in the world. Brr... At least you didn't kill Adams, because then I would slam my face on the table til my head reaches the center of the world.

 

Most and least favorite things

- Most favorite level: Double Imposture. Nothing too fancy, just a big, awesome action level with some intense carnage goin' on inside Adams' ship.

- Least favorite level: Straight Shot. Jesus H. Christ! What were you thinking, Jimmy? Did you seriously think that digging through papers was worth the entire level? I don't care how good you are, I WILL verbally abuse you for that mistake. I spent hours in that damn corner of the room waiting for the guard to do his round before realizing he wasn't even coming. Goddamn San Andreas AI and its raggedy-ass pathfinding. The frustration was immense, AznKei can attest to that. In fact, I would gladly sacrifice that guard's life to resurrect that shopkeeper that Tyler killed.

- Most favorite good guy: Dwayne. He's just such a goofball that you can't dislike him.

- Least favorite good guy: Tyler. Just fуck him... 

- Most favorite bad guy: Why Adams, of course. Whether he's a purely evil Machiavellian tyrant or a well-intentioned extremist, I would still vote him for San Andreas governor any time.

- Least favorite bad guy: Clyde. He had such potential as Tyler's rival, but screwed up gloriously.

TL;DR. TiS rocks cause it's dark and edgy, Adams is my senpai, @Jimmy_Leppard made 100% accuracy again, dammit. (just jk) Took me 8 hours to write this review. Sorry, if I get some things wrong or if my vision of things doesn't go along with yours because I didn't quite entirely understand all of the depths of the MP, but I still did my best. Please read and respond!

PS. Don't sweat about me bashing the sequel. I honestly hate it, but if you have good reasons for making it, then I won't judge you. Not all of my critisism can be constructive.

[Jimmy_Leppard]

2 hours ago, thermal7 said:

Hey Jimmy, here's the promised review of TiS. Gonna try to outdo myself again. Spoilers ahead...

  Reveal hidden contents

Pros

- Cool story. Very much cool! Personally, I think this is Jim's most ambitious story of its time, before Shadow Ring made appearance. Firstly, the idea of one story being told from 2 separate perspectives of 2 different protagonists has already been tackled in GreenGoo's MP "Bribed: Blood Money" (actually, Bribed was released a year after TiS, it's just that Bribed is my first experience with this thing). I really liked Bribed for its smart use of custom sounds and objects and the plot was solid, but bad english can mess up the otherwise perfect experience.

Here, the story is about the rivalry of 2 of San Andreas' best assassins who, despite having a lot of similarities, still end up being mortal enemies due to a variety of reasons. In Shadow Ring, I remember admiring the story for its moral ambiguity and all sides being morally grey, but here everything is pitch black, really, and that makes me admire the story even more for its uniqueness among the DYOM fandom. Every single character is fückin' evil, no kidding. The protagonists are killing civilians left and right and the antagonists shamelessly betray everything and everyone, including said protagonists. Thanks to the likes of Miller and Stackhouse, San Andreas is a dog-eat-dog hell on earth where innocent people are nothing but cannon fodder, mere sheeps to be slaughtered by wolves. And you shouldn't feel sorry for them either because they were too weak to protect themselves (at least, that's what I think the story insinuates.) The fact that made this MP's story so unique amongst the DYOM world is that TiS presents its characters in a very raw, matter-of-fact fashion, allowing the audience to interpret them on their own. Not many stories have the guts for that. No Country for Old Men comes to mind when I think about a story like this, that defies this sentimental, black-and-white morality thinking and shows a world where evil can be prosperous.

- Cool levels. I really appreciate the sense of integrity that TiS has to it. Unlike Bribed where the 2 protagonists' paths are mostly disconnected from one another, and they mostly go separate ways unless they're in direct opposition, the paths of Tyler and Ryan cross all the time and levels convey that consistency perfectly.

- Cool details. TiS values realism greatly and it shows. The cars always spawn in the parking lots rather than just somewhere close the player, the protagonists always conceal their cars behind buildings or in the bushes for ambushes, cars are always ditched after being witnessed in a fight, and the crime of grand theft auto is treated like more of a challenge because of things like lockpicking and being on the police's radar, etc.

- Cool difficulty. For once, I did not find myself raging at 100% accuracy, even if it was there. It just seems at lot more balanced to me, is all.

- Cool characters. As always, they are the center of universe and their unique presentation is what sets TiS apart from the rest of Jimmy's work (expect for Shadow Ring, of course). Here's my Top 5:

 

1. Adams. This man is, beyond doubt, the one that matters most. The one who started the entire premise. In my opinion, he's one of the best DYOM antagonists of all time. Not a single other bad buy was framed in a way Adams was.

The one thing that sets him apart from the others is that you never know what to expect from him. His character is as flexible as a rubber ball and you can always interpret him or his motivations however you wish because they remain ambiguous. One peculiar thing I noticed about him is that the 3-second scene where he grieves for his deceased wife is the only scene where Adams is entirely by himself, without any of his men around, and also the only scene where Adams displays such vivid emotions. All the other scenes where Adams is present are shown from the perspective of those who talk to him, how others perceive him. Which brings me to another topic; aside from that one 3-second scene, Adams is always accompanied by someone and is always talking to that someone in a very impersonal and apathetic fashion, as if nothing ever affects him anyhow, as if he doesn't even care about the world. In other words, he's never honest with anyone and is always wearing a "mask" (funny how someone named Frank is never really frank), and that one 3-second scene was the only time his mask slipped off.

Other than that, Adams doesn't seem to have a genuine self. He's like a Biblically accurate angel - dozen faces at a time, seemingly nice but also very uncanny, always showing whatever face the man in front of him wants to see. He acts innocent to you (despite having a suspiciously large army of goons and shady connections) while preparing a backstab you and, aside from occasional flashes of passive-aggressive smugness, there is no way for you to anticipate it. It's actually pretty creepy because a lot of con artists, CEOs, bankers and politicians in real life operate like this. But at the same time, there are some indications that Adams believes his actions are necessary because of the environment he's in, and he's simply trying to survive. At the point Adams says "Sometimes you gotta play the hand you're dealt", which implied that he's not proud of having to do what he does, but he still does it out of necessity. With all that in mind, it's very hard to say if he's a genuine sociopath who does not care or believe in anything and only sees Miller and Stackhouse as competition, or if he's just a guy who lost his innocence and who had to adapt to the cruel rules of the cruel game to thwart Miller's and Stackhouse's evil, and he's so unfeeling with others because he doesn't like to express his grievances in public. Or maybe Adams' more sentimental moments are simply him putting on a show to appease his men and make them convinced that he's a good guy.

Another thing that sets Adams apart for Miller and Stackhouse is doesn't prey on innocents, and only goes after those who, in his mind, are a threat to him. Being a brilliant manipulator, he "plays chess" with his two arch-enemies and ultimately masterminds his way to victory. Adams' ultimate goal is something called Omega Core. Once he says that it will allow him to "have the world wrapped around his finger". That implies something related to world domination which doesn't exactly paint Adams in a pleasant light. But at the same time, since the true nature of the project isn't revealed, there's a 50 percent chance that it's something for greater good.

And last but not least, Adams successfully outmatches and kills both Miller and Stackhouse and also tricks his last two liabilities, Mahone and Quaid, into (almost) killing each other for him by luring them both to Miller's death place because he knew they would both show up. His victory is well-deserved because he was the true hero of the story all along, because the story has really been about him and his battle against the two men who want to kidnap him and use him, about how Adams turned the tables and used everyone else instead. The Invisible System in question here is the one that Adams had created to combat those who oppose him. Adams, from his own mind, was the true hero and Mahone, Quiad, Miller and Stackhouse were all villains who were out to get him, only to be defeated, because in the end, the hero always beats the villain. But instead of telling Adams' story in traditional way from the man's own perspective, it's told in "inverse third person" - the story of one man from the perspective of all others. In short, Adams is the epitome of true neutral, whose exact nature and motives can never be fully understood, nor do they need to be.

 

2. The Two Protagonists. Tyler Mahone and Ryan Quaid are two people who dive face-first into the gritty world of San Andreas' political underworld, and naturally they are every bit as bad as the rest of the cast because both of them are cold-blooded killers who don't care about anything but their own survival (especially Tyler).

First of, Tyler Mahone. Normally, you're expected to feel positive emotions upon seeing the actions of the protagonist. Well, not this one. Mahone's entire presense evokes fear and aversion. He's dressed all black, kills everyone in sight whenever he draws a gun and, aside from occassional pangs of professional courtesy, he personality is based mostly around his arrogance and desire to intimidate everyone around him (apparently drawing some inspiration from Anton Chigurh, of all people). Though, in this case, it rather speaks about how the evil of San Andreas shaped Tyler and made him accept the rules of the game, and honestly he's not particularly worse than Ryan, or any other hired killer for that matter. At least at first. This is where Ryan comes in and proves that even despite being an assassin and having a bad temper of his own, he's still a man of relatively strong convictions and also capable of developing attachments to other people (like Kenny), something that Tyler detests and denouncers as a weakness.

Then there's the comparison of the two protagonists carry on with their actions. Tyler operates on the principals of convenience and intimidation, barging into a fight without hesitation and only sneaking when he absolutely has to (like when he's trying to reach Miller at the casino without being spotted). Meanwhile, Ryan, despite his hothead-ness, always tries to be strategic and goes for stealth kills whenever he can. Case in point, Tyler is introduced when he massacres a diner full of innocent customers just to reach his target, and then blows it up just to make an example of him (I'm sure if Tyler were to go swipe some papers from the City Hall, he would blast his way through accountants and janitors and blow it up as well, for posterity). Meanwhile, Ryan simply snipes the targets, because he's fine with just handling targets and their goons without making too much of show.

Honestly, when it comes to picking favorites, I strongly dislike Tyler and like Ryan. Why? Well, Tyler's literally introduced commiting mass murder and explosive terrorism, something that seems very disproportionate for eliminating a single target. Seriously, why the fück did he have to that? Just why? That already paints him in a very negative light, presenting him as a senselessly violent person who, unlike Ryan, doesn't really care to think about anything other than surviving and killing people. Then, there's the fact that he works for Governor Miller, a thoroughly evil and rotten man, who would likely task Tyler with "troubleshooting" his secretary because he harassed her and wants to expose this, and Tyler would gladly stage a "suicide" via several shots to the back of the head for her. After all, this is exactly what happened with Mrs. Adams, didn't it? Oh well, just politics, I guess.

Anyway, another terrible thing that Tyler did was killing that nice shopkeeper. I don't care whether it was necessary or not, it was fμcking atrocious and it proves that, despite going after governer Miller, he's no better than him in any way. Then, there's his personality, which is just as bad as his actions. Unlike Ryan, whose anger is only occasional, Tyler's hubris and lack of empathy is persistent. Not to mention how Tyler is insufferably condensending to Ryan because he's an "amateur" (which he isn't). Even being a hitman doesn't give you an excuse to be an αsshole. And I believe killing that shopkeeper wasn't necessary either because the cops knew who he is anyway since he almost killed the freakin' governor and concealing identity wasn't worthwhile after that anyway. And yet Tyler still did this unjustifiable act out of convenience. Ryan also kills a diner owner in Fort Carson, but that was a different situation and concealment of identity was more into play, so I'll cut him some slack in that regard. I mean, you can't always afford to be a nice guy with sh!t like that going on. I'll just act like that man's diner was infested with rats and because of that it was a service to the community. Funny thing is, no one (not even a softy like me) bats an eye about slaughtering hordes of cops and cilivians in-game because in-game protagonist and in-story protagonist are not the same entity, so when in-story protagonist kills innocent people (think of No Russian for instance), it always feels beyond outrageous, and I love how TiS creates such potent shock value that furthers your immersion in the story and reminds about what people you're playing as. Tyler was already bad enough, but when he killed Kenny (you bastard!), that was IT! He crossed the line in both mine and Ryan's eyes, solidifying himself as Ryan's eternal arch-nemesis. And then he has the audacity to claim that Ryan should just make up with him and be buddy-buddies like nothing happened! To sum it up, the final confrontation at the beach demonstrates exactly why I find Tyler such an unlikable character. He's completely self-centered, and has no principals, no convictions, and only ever cares about killing and surviving, contemptously ridiculing the idea that Ryan would want to kill him in revenge for a friend. Not to mention that phrase - "We are who we are" - which he uses to excuse himself of all actions, just saying nothing was ever his fault, while also disregarding any notions of decency that Ryan has.

Ryan, on the other hand, represents a better hitman, who tries his best to stick to his principals. One thing that make Ryan more likeable is that he's a very good friend to Kenny, the hacker guy, who he tries to protect from the underworld of San Andreas. Ryan values his friend greatly and starts a vendetta against Tyler for killing him. Also, he was very desperate to protect Dwayne from Tyler, even though Ryan was initially annoyed by him, indicating that Ryan can still care for another person. It's not much, but it's still good. Also, unlike Tyler, Ryan strongly believes in the principal of vengeance and he sticks to it at any cost. That's I especially like about him. He shows nothing but hate for Tyler and has no intention of ever forgiving him for his act. I also love how he just gave away Adams' car to a random dude to do a kind thing and fool Adams simultaneously. Nice character moment there.

 

3. The Two Antagonists. Miller and Stackhouse are the two rat-snakes who ensure that lives of protagonists are as hellish as possible.

Governor Miller is what I believe to be a caricaturic depiction of a corrupt republican. He's just so blatantly evil that he might as well be an american [email protected] On a serious note, Miller is what I believe to be the darkest villain in all of Jimmy's work, even barring the likes of Rubio Villa and General Mills. Why? Because a lot of his villainy is applicable to real life. For starters, he made Tyler kill Adams' wife, and you know you're very bad when even Tyler is visibly disturbed at you want him to do. It gets worse when you consider that Belarusian dictator Lukashenko also orders the assassinations of his political rivals' wifes. There are a lot of people like Miller in the American government and the sheer scale of atrocities commited by them would make Miller himself look like a baby.

Stackhouse, however, is a whole another deal. He's up-and-coming spymaster who seeks to usurp Miller and become the governer himself, elevating his Shadow Identity org in power. The one thing I noticed about him is how, unlike Miller, who's a slippery republican slimeball full of startard political lies, Stackhouse is incredibly blunt and has no pretenses of chumminess with Ryan and always responds to any infractions on his part with death threats, while Miller has this faux-friendly way of speaking with Tyler, while still threatening him with phrases like "There will be consequences". Also, Miller is a shameless backstabber who apparently hopes to kill Tyler "with kindness", while Stackhouse, despite condemning Ryan, is more appeciative of an honest bargain and, who knows, maybe he would have kept his end of the deal with Tyler.

However, the one thing these two have in common is that they're both impulsive, reckless idiots who had literally no reasons to betray their respective operatives. To put into perspective, imagine if you were a criminal mastermind or a very powerful dirty politician who sought to capture a certain Frank Adams, a seemingly harmless bureaucrat-turned-whistleblower, to use him as a tool to make your way to or secure your power. You send your best operative to deliver that Frank Adams to you with a pretty little bow, you absolutely have to send in your best because of how high-profile of a target Mr. Adams is. So, your best operative tries to approach Mr. Adams, but fails because somehow this Mr. Adams has developed an entire group, with hundreds of guards, high-tech equipment, lots of strategic locations, etc. In short, kidnapping Mr. Adams is not the same as kidnapping your average Joe. In fact, the matter of doing so could take months because of how hard it is. And now, here comes the question. Would you, the criminal mastermind or the omnipotent head of state with large resources, take into consideration that Mr. Adams is very difficult to catch and that your best operative is not slacking off, but having genuine difficulties, and give your best operative at least 3/4 weeks to get him, maybe even send him some additional men for assist because your best operative is not doing so well? Or would you do a thing that is profoundly illogical and counter-productive and condemn your best freakin' operative, despite him being so useful when on your side and extremely dangerous if against you, deluding yourself into thinking that your average goons can somehow overpower your personal pocked-sized one-man-army that has advanced your organisation in past? Both Miller and Stackhouse gave the wrong answer, and that's just so stupid, so Bond-villain like I can't even fathom it. At least Adams is better at double-crossing people.

 

4. The Two Cousins. Kenny and Dwayne are gangsta' cousins that Ryan is friends with. These two goofballs are perhaps the only flashes of light in the dark, scary world of TiS. I mean, sure, Kenny is a hacker and also displays homophobic tendencies in regards of Stackhouse's first name, and Dwayne is a gambler who's fine with killing his loanshark/hustler, and who's also a bit of an idiot, but that hustler was lame anyway. Seriously, what retard would unironically wear a leopard fur coat. He deserved to die for that alone! Anyway, the two cousins are like wide-eyed babies (in a good way) in the gritty world of TiS, they're just so entertaining with their goofy gangsta' slang and their lukewarm relationship with Ryan is a reminder that, unlike Tyler, Ryan has a heart. Unfortunately, in the world of TiS kindness is not meant to last. Both of them die in very undignified ways. Kenny is executed by Tyler for refusing to rat out Ryan (though my experience with Mrs. Adams suggests that even playing along wouldn't change the outcome) and Dwayne is unceremoniously gunned down by Stackhouse, with whom Tyler teamed up by the way, simply because he was in the way. Their deaths heavily impact Ryan, making his vendetta against Tyler and Stackhouse much more personal. Their tale is a tragic display of what happens to decent people in the gritty world of TiS, where the innocents are expendable at best and disposable at worst.

 

5. Adams' bodyguard. The guy in a pink-ish shirt accompanies Adams throughout the whole MP, but is never given a name and that kinda rubs me in the wrong way. I'll just call him Damien in this description. I mean, there are characters like Clyde and Karen who die shortly after their appearance and they're given a name, but Damien is present up until the end and he remains officially nameless. That sucks! Sure, he's a minor side character, but he almost has as much screen time as Miller or Stackhouse and I honestly think that Damien at least deserves an official name.

 

Cons

- Straight Shot. May this abomination burn!

- Lame-ass Sequal. Rant up ahead. Of all the IPs Jimmy created, TiS was the one that did NOT need a sequel. Seriously, man, I hated TiS 2 with passion. It just forgets what the first TiS was about. It was a shameless realistic and ugly story about how hopelessly corrupt the underbelly of San Andreas really is. Innocent people are sitting ducks, prey for the wolfs, who don't stand a chance, and only phony guys like Adams or Tyler can even hope to survive. What the hell do we have in TiS 2? Oh yay, Tyler and Ryan are BFFs, they didn't kill each other at the beach cause the power of friendship won... That's garbage! The outcome of that duel on the beach wasn't ment to be clear because that's the quirk of this standoff, so you interpret the outcome on your own. They're supposed to be arch-enemies, period. Tyler crossed the line when he killed Kenny, no going back from that. Everything in TiS 2 reeks of cheap entertainment and directly contradicts the themes of the first TiS, which was very nuanced about telling its story and sought to defy the cliches of many DYOM mappacks. Don't even want to speak about the OCs of the sequel because they're all worthless. Even Adams, the only saving grace of TiS 2, has gotten worse. The quirk of Adams' project was that it's ambiguous, just like Adams himself. That's the gist of it. Adams is like Half-Life's G-Man - his true personality and motifs are always up to interpretation. That's the fun part of mysterious characters. Here, Adams is a goddamn idiot too! Microchips? MICROCHIPS? What kind of a doped-up tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist would unironically suggest freakin' microchips as the ultimate goal that Adams fighting for? It's like a sh*tty fanfiction made by a fourth-grader. It's as if there was a sequel for No Country for Old Men about Chirugh passing out because of a broken arm and seeing a dream of his Catholic mommy telling him that killing people is bad because it's not the Christian way, and after that Chigurh decided to mend his way and convert to Catholicism. The rest of the sequel is a slice-of-life comedy about Chigurh making peace with civilian life, finding the love of his life and becoming the happiest man in the world. Brr... At least you didn't kill Adams, because then I would slam my face on the table til my head reaches the center of the world.

 

Most and least favorite things

- Most favorite level: Double Imposture. Nothing too fancy, just a big, awesome action level with some intense carnage goin' on inside Adams' ship.

- Least favorite level: Straight Shot. Jesus H. Christ! What were you thinking, Jimmy? Did you seriously think that digging through papers was worth the entire level? I don't care how good you are, I WILL verbally abuse you for that mistake. I spent hours in that damn corner of the room waiting for the guard to do his round before realizing he wasn't even coming. Goddamn San Andreas AI and its raggedy-ass pathfinding. The frustration was immense, AznKei can attest to that. In fact, I would gladly sacrifice that guard's life to resurrect that shopkeeper that Tyler killed.

- Most favorite good guy: Dwayne. He's just such a goofball that you can't dislike him.

- Least favorite good guy: Tyler. Just fуck him... 

- Most favorite bad guy: Why Adams, of course. Whether he's a purely evil Machiavellian tyrant or a well-intentioned extremist, I would still vote him for San Andreas governor any time.

- Least favorite bad guy: Clyde. He had such potential as Tyler's rival, but screwed up gloriously.

TL;DR. TiS rocks cause it's dark and edgy, Adams is my senpai, @Jimmy_Leppard made 100% accuracy again, dammit. (just jk) Took me 8 hours to write this review. Sorry, if I get some things wrong or if my vision of things doesn't go along with yours because I didn't quite entirely understand all of the depths of the MP, but I still did my best. Please read and respond!

PS. Don't sweat about me bashing the sequel. I honestly hate it, but if you have good reasons for making it, then I won't judge you. Not all of my critisism can be constructive.

Dude, before I say anything - you absolutely outdid yourself!  Amazingly detailed and well-thought out review. If you're not doing it already, you should definitely start reviewing movies on IMDB. I'm blown away and honored by the fact that you took 8 hours to write this review. I'm kinda lost for words. Thank you, man. But now, let's get into the review!

 

 

I was happy to read your take that TIS is my most ambitious project. For me personally, the most ambitious project I've made (if we're not counting The Shadow Ring) is Edge of High Life which barely edges out TIS. But there are days where I think it's a tie between those two. However, tackling a POV-centered story was definitely one of the biggest challenges I've ever gone through in DYOM since, even though it's all one big story, I essentially had to work on 2 stories at the same time because that's what it boils down to. That's why I thank you for acknowledging it as my most ambitious project.

I really like the way you characterized many aspects of this mission pack - one of it being the story. Yes, it is pitch black and I'm very happy you picked up on that also. It is pitch black because that's exactly what I wanted to do from day 1. And it sure is, to this day, the darkest mission pack I've made, by far. When I made this mission pack, I had been watching many movies (old and new at the time) which were all extremely distinct in the good/bad sides and had all these basically same outcomes, but just different paths to them. So I thought it would be fun if I made something where there is nobody to pin as the good guy, nobody to root for and from that point, completely turn every story aspect upside down, then mash all that in something different and see the outcome. And I really feel like the outcome was good based on the reviews. People actually really liked it and I'm very happy about that.

It's always good to hear that the difficulty wasn't over the top for you! As far as your top 5 goes, it surprised me for 2 reasons: One is the fact that you put 2 characters in the same place a few times. I was expecting a 1-by-1 list, but that's why it was cool to read. And it actually makes sense once you read it. The second reason is - Damien, the unnamed bodyguard. I would've never guessed that!  That was really funny. I also felt kinda bad after I read it because you were right on the money there. I never saw it that way until I read your review. As far as I'm concerned, his name is Damien! Justice for Damien, let's just say that.

Believe it or not, Adams is my favorite character out of all the characters I made. You explained him perfectly throughout the review. When I was making the mission pack, I wasn't really sure about him as a character in terms of whether or not the players will actually understand that he's the central character and his entire purpose. I did it the best I could to signify it and thankfully, many people (you included obviously) understood it. The Invisible System is Adams' story, not Tyler's or Ryan's because without Adams, there is no The Invisible System since he is The Invisible System. It was a real treat reading your take on his character. Your ability to understand subtle things is fantastic, man. I can't even try to explain how grateful I am that you actually understand pretty much all of my characters inside and out. You actually even picked up on the tiny detail with Adams' reaction to his wife's death. That was the sole purpose of that scene, but you can only understand it once you look at the big picture. Adams is a guy of many faces, exactly. He never shows his true face to anyone because that's what master manipulators do. People know only what you tell them. I'd actually go as far as saying - that's what great leaders do. And he's a leader.

When it comes to Tyler, some of your takes surprised me and here I feel the need to explain some things. Tyler is truly a brutal, dark character, but not all the things were as it seemed. Particularly, the opening scene. Tyler actually didn't slaughter a bunch of innocent civilians. Those people were Cole's (the owner) henchmen. Cole was doing stuff behind Miller's back which Miller didn't like. Basically, he was just a bum. His establishment was just a front for illegal things he was doing. He wasn't an innocent dude. So in my mind, what happened prior to the opening scene was that Tyler came to the place demanding a meeting with Cole, but his henchmen tried to kill him on Cole's orders to stop him from hurting Cole. Tyler in fact won't kill innocent people unless he absolutely has to. That's why he initially had an issue with Miller's order to kill Adams' wife. However, being who he is, knowing what can happen if rules are not followed in his line of work, he does what needs to be done. As far as the shopkeeper goes, it's actually a mirror scene with Ryan and the diner owner. Tyler's been in his line of work for a long time and he knows know stuff works. He couldn't have left the shopkeeper alive because he had seen his face. With all the problems at that particular time, Tyler didn't need the police after him as well. He knows he can't leave any loose ends. Was it morally justified though? Hell no. Of course not.

Other than that, you understood everything else about Tyler perfectly. Basically (since I see you really hate Tyler), he's all about getting things done. He's been in that line of work for a long time now and the ''passion'' and the impulse to prove himself is long gone. He's a veteran at his job and he knows what works and what doesn't. Fear is the most powerful motivator. Tyler knows that and that's why his approach almost always involves intimidation. He's not there to play games. He's there to get the job done and the quickest way to do it is to scare people into submission.

On the other hand, Ryan is not really a veteran. In my mind, there's like a 10-15 year difference between Tyler and Ryan. Ryan's still driven by the passion, his ego and all other stuff that make him impulsive. That's why, in Tyler's eyes, he's still an amateur (even though he's really not). But the fact is, he doesn't have the amount of experience that Tyler does.

You perfectly summed up Miller and Stackhouse. What I can say about them is that they make a series of rushed, wrong decisions because of the circumstances they were in. Both were in very delicate situations and of course, they make tactical mistakes. Anger pretty much got the best of them - Miller especially. Finally, Kenny and Dwayne. At first, I made them primarily to serve as the comic relief of sorts, but just like you said it, something like that can't stick around for long in a world of TIS. That's why I used Kenny's character to be that last straw when it comes to the conflict between Tyler and Ryan.

Just to briefly touch on something before I finish - the Straight Shot mission. It's undoubtedly the most hated mission of this mission pack and for a good reason. I wanted to make it a stealth based mission, but I overdid it x1000!

And lastly, to the funniest thing in this - the quick TIS 2 review. This may or may not surprise you, but I loved reading it. I've said it many times over the years, not everything is for everyone. It would be unrealistic of me to expect that everyone will like everything I make. Of course, I would've preferred you liking it, but it is what it is. The points you made were absolutely rock solid. Looking back at it, did TIS need a sequel? Probably not, but I wanted to make it. I guess sometimes you just gonna do something and simply see whether it's a mistake or not. So, no offense taken or anything, of course.

Thanks for this awesome review, it made my day!

Edited December 6, 2020 by Jimmy_Leppard

[thermal7]

4 hours ago, Jimmy_Leppard said:

Dude, before I say anything - you absolutely outdid yourself!  Amazingly detailed and well-thought out review. If you're not doing it already, you should definitely start reviewing movies on IMDB. I'm blown away and honored by the fact that you took 8 hours to write this review. I'm kinda lost for words. Thank you, man. But now, let's get into the review!

 

  Hide contents

I was happy to read your take that TIS is my most ambitious project. For me personally, the most ambitious project I've made (if we're not counting The Shadow Ring) is Edge of High Life which barely edges out TIS. But there are days where I think it's a tie between those two. However, tackling a POV-centered story was definitely one of the biggest challenges I've ever gone through in DYOM since, even though it's all one big story, I essentially had to work on 2 stories at the same time because that's what it boils down to. That's why I thank you for acknowledging it as my most ambitious project.

I really like the way you characterized many aspects of this mission pack - one of it being the story. Yes, it is pitch black and I'm very happy you picked up on that also. It is pitch black because that's exactly what I wanted to do from day 1. And it sure is, to this day, the darkest mission pack I've made, by far. When I made this mission pack, I had been watching many movies (old and new at the time) which were all extremely distinct in the good/bad sides and had all these basically same outcomes, but just different paths to them. So I thought it would be fun if I made something where there is nobody to pin as the good guy, nobody to root for and from that point, completely turn every story aspect upside down, then mash all that in something different and see the outcome. And I really feel like the outcome was good based on the reviews. People actually really liked it and I'm very happy about that.

It's always good to hear that the difficulty wasn't over the top for you! As far as your top 5 goes, it surprised me for 2 reasons: One is the fact that you put 2 characters in the same place a few times. I was expecting a 1-by-1 list, but that's why it was cool to read. And it actually makes sense once you read it. The second reason is - Damien, the unnamed bodyguard. I would've never guessed that!  That was really funny. I also felt kinda bad after I read it because you were right on the money there. I never saw it that way until I read your review. As far as I'm concerned, his name is Damien! Justice for Damien, let's just say that.

Believe it or not, Adams is my favorite character out of all the characters I made. You explained him perfectly throughout the review. When I was making the mission pack, I wasn't really sure about him as a character in terms of whether or not the players will actually understand that he's the central character and his entire purpose. I did it the best I could to signify it and thankfully, many people (you included obviously) understood it. The Invisible System is Adams' story, not Tyler's or Ryan's because without Adams, there is no The Invisible System since he is The Invisible System. It was a real treat reading your take on his character. Your ability to understand subtle things is fantastic, man. I can't even try to explain how grateful I am that you actually understand pretty much all of my characters inside and out. You actually even picked up on the tiny detail with Adams' reaction to his wife's death. That was the sole purpose of that scene, but you can only understand it once you look at the big picture. Adams is a guy of many faces, exactly. He never shows his true face to anyone because that's what master manipulators do. People know only what you tell them. I'd actually go as far as saying - that's what great leaders do. And he's a leader.

When it comes to Tyler, some of your takes surprised me and here I feel the need to explain some things. Tyler is truly a brutal, dark character, but not all the things were as it seemed. Particularly, the opening scene. Tyler actually didn't slaughter a bunch of innocent civilians. Those people were Cole's (the owner) henchmen. Cole was doing stuff behind Miller's back which Miller didn't like. Basically, he was just a bum. His establishment was just a front for illegal things he was doing. He wasn't an innocent dude. So in my mind, what happened prior to the opening scene was that Tyler came to the place demanding a meeting with Cole, but his henchmen tried to kill him on Cole's orders to stop him from hurting Cole. Tyler in fact won't kill innocent people unless he absolutely has to. That's why he initially had an issue with Miller's order to kill Adams' wife. However, being who he is, knowing what can happen if rules are not followed in his line of work, he does what needs to be done. As far as the shopkeeper goes, it's actually a mirror scene with Ryan and the diner owner. Tyler's been in his line of work for a long time and he knows know stuff works. He couldn't have left the shopkeeper alive because he had seen his face. With all the problems at that particular time, Tyler didn't need the police after him as well. He knows he can't leave any loose ends. Was it morally justified though? Hell no. Of course not.

Other than that, you understood everything else about Tyler perfectly. Basically (since I see you really hate Tyler), he's all about getting things done. He's been in that line of work for a long time now and the ''passion'' and the impulse to prove himself is long gone. He's a veteran at his job and he knows what works and what doesn't. Fear is the most powerful motivator. Tyler knows that and that's why his approach almost always involves intimidation. He's not there to play games. He's there to get the job done and the quickest way to do it is to scare people into submission.

On the other hand, Ryan is not really a veteran. In my mind, there's like a 10-15 year difference between Tyler and Ryan. Ryan's still driven by the passion, his ego and all other stuff that make him impulsive. That's why, in Tyler's eyes, he's still an amateur (even though he's really not). But the fact is, he doesn't have the amount of experience that Tyler does.

You perfectly summed up Miller and Stackhouse. What I can say about them is that they make a series of rushed, wrong decisions because of the circumstances they were in. Both were in very delicate situations and of course, they make tactical mistakes. Anger pretty much got the best of them - Miller especially. Finally, Kenny and Dwayne. At first, I made them primarily to serve as the comic relief of sorts, but just like you said it, something like that can't stick around for long in a world of TIS. That's why I used Kenny's character to be that last straw when it comes to the conflict between Tyler and Ryan.

Just to briefly touch on something before I finish - the Straight Shot mission. It's undoubtedly the most hated mission of this mission pack and for a good reason. I wanted to make it a stealth based mission, but I overdid it x1000!

And lastly, to the funniest thing in this - the quick TIS 2 review. This may or may not surprise you, but I loved reading it. I've said it many times over the years, not everything is for everyone. It would be unrealistic of me to expect that everyone will like everything I make. Of course, I would've preferred you liking it, but it is what it is. The points you made were absolutely rock solid. Looking back at it, did TIS need a sequel? Probably not, but I wanted to make it. I guess sometimes you just gonna do something and simply see whether it's a mistake or not. So, no offense taken or anything, of course.

Thanks for this awesome review, it made my day!

Thanks for the response. Thanks for clarifying the opening scene for Tyler. I can now see how my misinterpretation messed up my view of the character. Maybe I went too hard on him. Also, you made realize that Miller was actually keeping the police out of loop about the Tyler issue, so now there's more of a reason for concealment of identity.