Recent reviews by Ank

One of the best RPG since Genshin Impact!

Mad Games Tycoon 2 is a simulation game about how you become a video games developer or publisher from Eggcode Games. It is a sequel to the previous game Mad Games Tycoon.

There are lots of improvements and new features from the first game, too many to count. It's very fun and I can live my imagination of creating my own games studio and make games I wish exist.

Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront is a real-time strategy developed by Barbwire Studios and published by Digitalmindsoft. It is supposed to be a successor of the Men of War series, although Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront is not exactly belong to the Men of War franchise since that franchise is owned by Best Way and 1C Company.

[GAMEPLAY]
Long time players of Men of War series should be familiar with the gameplay of Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront, as most of the features are similar, with some improvement taken from the Call to Arms. Unlike Call to Arms though, Gates of Hell are more realistic and more resemblances of the old Men of War series, such as no hitpoints for vehicles and more realistic penetration and damage system.
One improvement that is brought over from Call to Arms are third-person camera for infantry and vehicles, like you can drive your tanks like in World of Tanks/War Thunder, not just driving them from top down camera with the old direct control mode. It's really awesome driving a KV-2 and blow up everything with its 152mm super cannon.
Conquest mode from Call to Arms also made a return here, with is much more better than current Call to Arms. You are given a little bit more time on attack mission to conquer your enemy and in defense mission the enemy actually spawn after a while so that you can have little time to prepare.

[GRAPHICS]
One of the notable improvement from Men of War is Call to Arms - Gates of Hell: Ostfront has way much better graphics, and thanks to the Call to Arms improved engine, performance is also much better, especially with bigger battles. The graphics looks similar to Sudden Strike 4, but with little more detail and since the camera can be zoomed closer, you can see better details here.

[SOUNDS]
The soundscape design is marvelous! At first I thought they're going to be similar with Call to Arms, which is nice but somewhat quiet I think. Gates of Hell have incredible sound design, it's loud, but not that crude loud that could break your ears. Explosions, tank firing, machine gun fire... it's a real war out there.

[MAPS]
There are 20 maps for multiplayer and 18 maps for conquest on release. They're supposed to be based on real locations. So far, I feel like the maps are so detailed, some provide lots of cover for infantry too. Imagine when they actually made western front maps... or maybe Africa and Pacific?

[CONCLUSION]
While currently there are only 2 factions in the game, the Soviet and Germany, they are planning to add more factions as DLC in the future. With all the game offers currently, I say this is a highly recommended game to play.

Rating 9/10

Downloaded, it won't even let me play the game so... there's that.

Halo Wars: Definitive Edition is a real-time strategy developed by 343 Industries with Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. It's the first installment of Halo series in real-time strategy genre. It's also originally a console game, ported to PC and remastered for both PC and Xbox.

GAMEPLAY
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition has standard real-time strategy gameplay but simplified for console, which is Xbox. Start by building a base, gather resources from supply pad, get a power going, train units and go to war. It's simple yet so satisfying, infantry behave really good, auto firing on enemies even while on the move, air units also behave the same, so does vehicle units. Each unit has role, good against this unit but weak against that unit. Base building is also simplified, with a center core and building slot around it and 4 defense slot on each base corner. There are 2 main faction, the UNSC and the Covenant, each with their own unique gameplay style and technology. The campaign tells a story around the Covenant invasion of colony planet of Harvest, with the protagonist being a ship called Spirit of Fire and its crew.

GRAPHICS AND PERFORMANCE
Halo Wars: Definitive Edition has very decent if not good graphics. I never played the original from Xbox, but the definitive edition is beautiful. Everything has really good detail, from small soldiers to a big flying gunship, the world map, the buildings, everything is great. Unit animation is also great. Infantry animation is not stiff and vehicle has good effect like smoke or damaged state. All of this with no performance issues. No lags or stutters, animation plays smoothly, overall it's great.

CONCLUSION
I just recommend Halo Wars: Definitive Edition. The gameplay is good, the campaign has good story, the skirmish mode is fun, just a really good game for me.

Rating 10/10

Fallout 76 is a first person/third person MMORPG by Bethesda. It's an attempt to create a multiplayer Fallout in a Fallout 4 engine. It is set few years after the nuclear bomb drop.

At release, Fallout 76 didn't do so well because it has so many bugs, and one big thing that really important... the absence of Human NPCs, making Fallout 76 world, the Appalachia an empty and boring wasteland. It has been updated with few patches and content updates ever since, with the big one being the Wastelander update that brings the one thing people really want... the Human NPCs.

GAMEPLAY
In terms of gameplay, Fallout 76 is pretty similar with Fallout 4, so if you like Fallout 4, you'll like Fallout 76. Many features has been changed or improved in Fallout 76, such as survival is now part of the main gameplay instead of difficulty, workbench now has multiple function, it can craft, modify and scrap weapons and armor, it can also scrap junk. Ammo can also be crafted here with the new Tinker's Workbench.
But the one features that receive significant changes is settlement building. You can still claim settlement and build it like in Fallout 4, but they are not persistent. Once you log out, everything you have build will reset along with the server. You can however build your own C.A.M.P. It's quite similar with settlement building except you can set it up anywhere far away from named locations. It has small build area but enough to build house and some farm. Anything you build in camp is persistent and you can take them server to server.
Player level and perks also changed. You still receive a perks points everytime you level up until you're level 50, that's basically the limit although technically you can level up indefinitely. After level 50, you stop receiving perks point and everytime you level up you'll get a chance for re-spec your build instead. Perks also works differently in the form of Perks Card. Most of the perks is similar with Fallout 4, while some are changed to balanced things out.
Being an online MMO, the End Game of Fallout 76 is no really satisfying. The most common things to do is get a nuclear code, assault a missile silo facility, launch a nuke, go to the blast zone, if the blast zone is the fissure site, fight the Scorched Beast Queen and get legendary stuff, if the blast zone is not the fissure site, farm end game materials for crafting end game stuff. Repeat.

NUCLEAR WINTER
Nuclear Winter is another game mode for Fallout 76, a battle royale mode with Fallout twist. Currently there are 2 maps, well it's basically from the Fallout 76 Appalachia maps but shrinked for battle royale mode. The maps are Morgantown and Flatwoods. It's a decent game mode if you like PvP, gameplay works different there. You also gain an Overseer Rank, which gives you some rewards everytime you level up. I don't play this mode that much since I don't really like PvP.

GRAPHICS AND PERFORMANCE
Graphically, Fallout 76 is quite similar with Fallout 4, with some updates with the lightning effects and the worldspace now has better color palettes. The rest is pretty similar to Fallout 4. I don't know about the 16 times the details but it looks quite the same to me.
Performance however, is a mixed up bag. Sometimes it runs smoothly no problem, other times it's stutter and feels really not optimized. Remember Boston in Fallout 4? Something like that. I run medium settings and the stutters still there a bit. There's also many moments that I called it "Really Bethesda?" moment, such as clipping stuff in the wilderness, strange ground textures... just ruin a little immersion.

FALLOUT 1st
Like other Bethesda MMO games, like TESO, there is a subscription membership for Fallout 76, called Fallout 1st. The current benefit of the subscription is:
1. 1650 Atoms each month. It's kinda a good deal because it's cheaper if combined with the other benefit.
2. Private Server. I tried it for a while and there are some difference with the public server. Performance is somewhat better in most cases. Server will last 20 minutes after you log out from the server so until then everything will stay there, your workshop and stuff.
3. Free NCR Ranger Outfit and Helmet. Pretty nice if you ask me, but since this is a one time benefit I think I prefer a free stuff each month.
4. Scrapbox for storing Scraps, you can store unlimited amount of scraps there. This is a game changer stuff because unlimited scraps is valuable.
5. Survival Tent you can place anywhere in addition your standard C.A.M.P. This is another game changer because you don't have to spend caps anymore to place your C.A.M.P. Instead place a small tent that already has a bed, cooking place, Stash Box and Scrapbox so you can store your loot anywhere, anytime without a hush.
6. I think I get another set of Outfit and Helmet but forgot the name.

CONCLUSION
Right now, after the wastelander update, I feel like Fallout 76 is... well kinda good. Feels like an expansion for Fallout 4, it looks similar and familiar with so many new things to discover and bigger world... I like it. The Human NPCs are there, camp building is nice, the event is okay-ish, the quest is fine... yeah Fallout 76 could use more updates and content but right now is good. I recommend Fallout 76.

Rating 7/10

Destiny 2 is a first-person shooter MMO from Bungie. It is a direct sequel of Destiny.

Destiny 2 used to be only available at Activision Blizzard's Battle.net. But with Bungie and Activision Blizzard part ways, is now available on Steam and it's free to play. It's Bungie best project since Halo in my opinion. It's not better than Halo, but Destiny 2 is a good game.

GAMEPLAY
Let's talk about gameplay. It is your typical MMO shooter, with looter shooter element. At the beginning you can choose class for your character, such as Warlock or Armored Titan. Characters appearance can be customized later on by acquiring loot as you play the game. There is some story in this game, it's somewhat interesting and you can play many modes of PvE and PvP with or against your friends and other people.

GRAPHICS AND PERFORMANCE
Graphics is really good, especially back then when it was released. It's not really a top class back then, but it was good.
Performance is also good, I played the game on Battle.net before and so far never experience any stutter or lags, not even glitches or bugs. Maybe I'm just lucky, but the game is optimized enough to be played.

CONCLUSION
Overall, this game is really good. You can sunk a lot of hours playing this game alone, and a lot more if you have friends playing with you. And you can always try the free version before buying the expansion packs. I recommend this.

Rating 8/10

Men of War: Assault Squad 2 - Cold War is a real-time strategy from Digitalmindsoft. It's a new standalone game set in the Cold War era.

Sadly, this game doesn't deliver what I expect from continuation of the Men of War series. It's not the setting, it's not the graphics, it's not even because there was already a Cold War mods for the original Men of War: Assault Squad 2. I'm very happy when DMS officially release a Cold War era of Men of War... but not this one.

Let's talk about gameplay. It's an improved version of Men of War: Assault Squad 2 with features taken from Call to Arms. Personally I liked it, and this game stick with Direct Control Mode we know from Men of War series. The armor system has been updated with the one from Call to Arms with hitpoint system. While some don't like this, I personally prefer this one compared to RNG system from the vanilla MoWAS2. There's also helicopter, a great addition, and AI controlled airstrikes which isn't that useful. Overall most of the gameplay here is quite good and can see more improvement.

There's also the new dynamic campaign generator. You get to recruit units, take them to battle and all. But, it's not as depth as I thought.

Graphics... not much changed, I feel like the MGs tracer is too big while rifle tracer is almost non existent. The rest looks the same as MoWAS2 from what I see.

Performance? New x64 engine means better performance, bigger maps, more units maybe... overall the engine improvement is great.

So what went wrong?

Well... it's content. It's Cold War... and we only got 2 factions? USA and USSR? I mean that's fine if each of these 2 factions full of content. But no... USA got like what? 5 tanks maybe... the M4A3 Sherman, M24 Chaffee, Walker Bulldog, 2 version of Patton? What about the USSR? BMP-1, PT-76. T-34, T62? Oh yes we also got like 3 helicopters? Or was it 4? And most importantly... 5 MAPS? That's all? And the dynamic campaign generator only plays on said 5 maps! What's so dynamic about that? The soundtrack... only for the menu and loading? No in-game music or winning/losing music? This game is so lacking in content, it's even worse than the early access version of Call to Arms.

I really don't recommend this game at its current state.

Rating 2/10

State of Decay: YOSE is a third-person zombie apocalypse survival game developed by Undead Labs and published by Microsoft. State of Decay is a single player only game and somewhat a remaster of the first State of Decay complete with all DLC and more content.

State of Decay: YOSE gameplay remains the same, with some improvement like characters without melee weapon equipped now have knife as basic weapon. There also the new supply drop from CLEO, but to get the actual supplies, most of the time you have to fight a big horde with a few number of special infected. There's some new vehicles and weapons too, and characters from Lifeline can now be unlocked in Breakdown.

Graphics of State of Decay: YOSE supposed to be improved, but I hardly notice any of that improvement.

State of Decay: YOSE performance has also somewhat improved. The rare stutter I experience in the first game, I never experience them again here.

If you're looking for more friendly zombie apocalypse game, then State of Decay: YOSE is for you, since the game is single player only, you won't find yourself get shot from the back by somebody when you just spawn in the game. With deep gameplay mechanics, State of Decay: YOSE can entertain you for many hours. I recommend this.

Rating 9/10

Call to Arms is a real-time strategy from Digitalmindsoft, the developer from Men of War series with the latest being Men of War: Assault Squad 2. Call to Arms is taking a new direction, which is modern warfare setting.

GAMEPLAY
Gameplay wise, Call to Arms has the similar if not the same mechanic as Men of War: Assault Squad 2 but with lots of improvements. Most small arms ammo are now integrated into the weapons, so soldiers no longer carry separate ammo for their firearms. Flashbang grenade is a thing here and can actually stunt infantry. The real game changer would be the new vehicle armor system. While it still use the same penetration system like Men of War: Assault Squad 2, but instead of instantly damage vehicles when penetration occurs, it now decrease hitpoints. Yes, vehicles now use hitpoints, in which could use a lot optimizations if they want to keep using this system. Like there should a minimum guaranteed penetration to at least damage the vehicle HP a little bit, especially at maximum distance, tanks can't barely penetrate each other. They'll just keep firing at each other until they used up all their ammo. Helicopter is also present in the game now and they have better flying behavior since Men of War: Vietnam, while still not perfect in my opinion. Guided missile is also a thing, at least something like TOW missiles.
There is also a new game mode called Conquest or basically DMS version of Dynamic Campaign. It's still not perfect, but it's a very fun mode to play. Units retain their veterancy between missions and need to be resupplied too. Captured enemy vehicles can also be obtained and then can be repaired and resupplied to be used in the next mission. By far Conquest is my favorite mode.

GRAPHICS AND PERFORMANCES
Graphics wise, Call to Arms is very good. Many textures has been upgraded with 2K to 4K resolutions to make them looks sharper and better on bigger screen. Many special effects like explosion and fire has been upgraded since Men of War: Assault Squad 2, they look far better. Sounds also has been redesigned that now it feels better.
Performance... it's good when you play campaign. But when you want to play skirmish, conquest or multiplayer, all of which require a connection to server, can used a lot more optimization. The stutters at the beginning is quite bad.

Call to Arms also has introduced the use of inventory system and Steam market items. So far items that included in this microtransactions are cosmetic things like emblem or logo for profile, and some xp boost item. These items can be traded or sold on Steam. In my opinion this leave a lot to be desired. While I understand most people hates microtransactions, but DMS can at least add vehicle or soldier skins here aside from emblem and logo. Maybe let the community submit skins like CSGO does. Otherwise I think this system is just a waste of time.

SUGGESTION
Even though Call to Arms is a finished game, it still leave a lot to be desired. The current faction can use more unit types, such as AA vehicles, AA emplacements, rocket artillery vehicles, guided missiles like the Javelin, light and medium tanks even though there are no such classification anymore in modern warfare, but tanks like M551 Sheridan, Leopard 1, T-72 and many more older tanks are still used today, more diversed vehicle choice maybe, like M1A1 Abrams for the US, bring back the Humvee, M113 APC, or even vehicle that likely to be present in the future such as the T-14 Armata. Then after that maybe you can expand the factions, like the British, France, Israel, Iran, Chinese, Iraq, South and North Korea, Japan, we desire those factions in modern warfare. Maps can also be expanded and more diversed, I mean we could use more urban maps, european location or maybe asian location.

CONCLUSION
Overall, Call to Arms has really great potential. DMS just need to listen more to what player wants. I recommend this.

Rating 7/10