Recent reviews by Chris (CHA)

A tad on the expensive side, but a solid WeGo-genre Strategy game.

Really enjoyable if you are super into capital ship space battles, bonus points if you're into galactica.

Let's keep this short:
This is one of the best RPGs around.
Tons of fun alone, and even more fun with the right party. It is a video game that comes close to the true freedom that pen-and-paper RPGs, such as D&D, allow.

One of the biggest surprises of 2017 for me - It's simply incredible.

In Burst, you play as a soldier who fights for FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY IN ALL OF THE MOST DISASTROUS AND APOCALYPTIC ENVIRONMENT...

This game is a meme - play it for that reason alone. If you actually went into this with hopes of a genuinely good game, I feel sorry for you and your inability to see a train crash coming from a mile away.

Addicting and brain teasing to the point that you could probably feel your head tingling.

Simply put, this game is fun. It's a simple game based around simple mechanics that is elevated by its visual style and reactive soundtrack. It's not the greatest game in the world, but it's definitely deserving of a few minutes/hours with it. Also IT'S FREE - it's a free game, why not wake up your brain?

This game has come a long way from what it was during release, and even further from its predecessor, 'Ultimate General: Gettysburg'. For a time, the reinforcement pool that the opposition would draw on would be relatively static. This lead to a number of negative reviews due to the game being unfairly difficult. You'd destroy the enemy army in a battle, but the next one they would be even larger and well equipped despite the casualties inflicted. With the 0.90 update of a dynamic enemy army size, this is no longer a problem and I am enjoying my Legendary difficulty run right now.

Let's start off with this. The game is grueling, with the lead game designer being the man behind the DarthMods of several Total War game. The AI is much more difficult to handle than any present in the Total War franchise, especially the entries with the closest in era, (Empire & Napoleon).

The game also plays much more differently than the aforementioned games. Instead of infantry regiments, you'll be working with entire brigades as a singular unit. Battles will require you to manage multiple divisions at once. In more ways than one, the game is very macro-tactical. You're not so much worried about the formation of a single unit, than you are about your entire force as a whole. If this wasn't clear, do not play this as if it were Total War. You're going to have a bad time and be frustrated if you do.

For those interested in getting attached to their units, much like XCOM, you'll be happy to know that brigade names are completely customizable. Considering how valuable veteran units and officers are, you will get attached to them as if your battles depended on them... because they do. It is rewarding to see scruffy units full of recruits turn into battle-hardened heroes throughout your campaign.

It's a must-have for anyone interested in this period of conflict and strategy. Considering it is on sale, I would grab it. This is a promising game coming from an indie studio that surely will bring quality strategy games in the future.

Edit [18 July 2017]:
The game has finally released out of early access and there's a few things that I want to add to the consumer that wants some straightforward info that I left out in my original review - note that I still wholeheartedly recommend this game.

Even at release, there are some frustrating things with the game and that comes down to the level design or at least flow design of certain campaigns. You'll find yourself managing different parts of a battle at different times. Sometimes when the part of the map switches, you won't have access to some trips that you were relying on, or the position they start in isn't optimal and you have no say on how they are placed. I found myself forgiving this in early battles, but in later battles I found it annoying since more was on the line. I found it especially annoying since many of the early battles still allowed you to place units in certain positions even when "taken by surprise".

I found that sometimes the enemy reinforcement pool would not apply to certain battles, most noticeably the final battles of both campaigns, (Washington and Richmond). By that I mean, I would crush the enemy army to only have 50k troops, and yet there would be 105k+ waiting for me around Richmond. I only barely forgive this because it would be a dull and anti-climactic end to a campaign. It is rather depressing to get to the end of your campaign after many hard fought battles to attrit the enemy, only to find that it was useless just within arm's reach of the final goal.

On a historical note, I noted that casualties for battles, especially on harder difficulties, would be extraordinarily high compared to history. Battles like the 2nd Bull Run would have 90k in casualties. To put that in perspective, Gettysburg had ~40k casualties for both sides total. This can be a turn off to some, but a more accurate representation would just result in units running away more - so for the sake of mechanics, this is fine in my eyes but it may not be for you.

Again, I still recommend this game. The fact that a game with a relatively static campaign can allow for more in-depth tactical and strategic-level thinking than the open campaigns of the newer Total Wars can is fantastic.

A game that's radically changed since launch and its middle age.
Here's what you might wanna know if you're coming back into this game:

Good:
- No more microtransactions
- Desync is being heavily fixed
- There are a lot of great heists added in
- Fantastic new soundtrack additions
- From what they've said, all DLC past this point are going to be free. (Which is why they are doing the ultimate edition)
- Ethan and Hila (h3h3) free DLC coming out
- It's FREE at the moment

Bad:
- If you DIDN'T like Payday 2 for its base gameplay and how over-the-top it is, it's still payday. That won't change.

Meh:
- Currently you can't buy DLC. There was a month's worth of warning and an impressive sale to boot so this is justified. The only reason I mention this is because for the people who bought the free game, there's plenty of great characters, perks, weapons, etc. that you won't have access to unless you buy the upcoming Ultimate Edition.

Thanks overkill for being able to adapt to a market that never gives you enough credit.

You ever just spend 6000+ hours playing pretend soldier?
Yeah, me neither.