Recent reviews by Precursor

TLDR: If you want a game that requires teamwork and can be punishing like Rising Storm or Squad/Post Scriptum but want something thats a bit more accessible and faster paced (but not as much as Battlefield), Hell Let Loose may be the middle ground you're looking for.

I've dedicated over 1,000 hours of my limited time on earth to this game. One may think that means this is a good game, but some people also play War Thunder for 4 times as long. HLL, however, is a solid game that is greatly improved by playing with a communicative squad. A good squad on a bad team can make a match, and even if you aren't the best at shooters there is always some task that you can perform that may be more valuable than scoring kills (medic, dropping supplies, building spawn points, constructing defenses, destroying enemy airdrops, etc).

While the game does very little to onboard new players, a good squad is your best way to learn to play. The game also has a good community with ample resources online to come up to speed, and some classes have an easier learning curve than others. Major content updates at the time of reviewing are free and come at a decent clip considering the dev team, though the quality of the updates in terms of bugs/content/balance can vary.

I got this game for $30 in 2020, and there wasn't a sale going on (at least I don't think). I would've paid a full $60 for it, so the new price tag shouldn't be a huge deterrent.

The uniform looks good and arrived in tandem with a free small cosmetic DLC (albeit goofy ahh in appearance), in addition to a larger free content drop. The price tag is a bit steep just for the uniform, and frankly this should have been a free uniform given the Soviets did not have any other uniform variants for their tankers prior to this DLC (unlike other factions). Still recommending to support the dev team here, but I wouldn't recommend this if you only have $5 to spend on a single cosmetic DLC.

Surprisingly polished for an early access release, and at a reasonable price point. The game is clearly still early access due to the limited content on offer, but there's probably about 15-20 hours worth of progression-gated content in game right now. Beyond that, the core gameplay loop is mostly about killing bugs with friends, and the game strikes a good balance between still being powerful as an individual player but also needing to rely on your team for success. As a 16 player cooperative PvE experience, the game really shines in getting close to the visual scale shown in the source material without compromising performance.

Given the developer's track record with its other (very different) FPS title, Squad, it's probably a safe bet to buy into the game at this stage of development. That said, the game will definitely benefit from having:

1) More maps on offer (I think this is a given), though the game does use a very large map and seed objectives differently to give some variability in the experience.

2) More gamemodes (also probably a given). The current map in game has areas like caves that are not frequently used but are shown on the map. More Search & Destroy objectives would be interesting.

3) More weapons. The devs show in the loadout screen that they are still actively developing many more primary, secondary, grenade, utility, and perk kits, but the options on offer are limited to about 5 primaries and 2 secondaries right now (May 2023, release). Moreover, 4/5 weapons can be found on the Operator class, which also provides the most utility (ergo, other classes don't offer much else in terms of different firewpoer). The Bastion class's SAW is the only other weapon.

4) More classes. The three classes in game right now feel distinct enough, although Operator effectively covers all support roles (medic, ammo drop, rapid repair) and can spec as a grenadier.

5) More enemy variety. The way enemies are handled in this game is great, and foes are diverse and scale in threat. I do think it would be cool to add more variability by adding more types. Right now the foes scale up to 5 tiers, and more enemies means that this RNG-based tier system could create more unique and dynamic battles (think Dreadnoughts in DRG).

Solid mechanics and depth in terms of customization. The sheer volume and breadth of the game with the optional difficulty scaling is great. Its hampered by a lack of vanilla content, but some of the DLCs are solid. The game is most saved by the ease of mod integration through the Workshop and Nexus, which helps to improve the base game's lack of mission types while also tweaking things like difficulty and mech variety.

I do not recommend this DLC for players that are new to the game. I do recommend this DLC for players who are experienced with the game and want more of a challenge.

Pros:
+ Adds depth to narrative and worldbuilding, expands opportunities for "emergent storytelling"
+ Increases the amount of questing opportunities and adds incentives for exploration
+ Formalizes the roles of pawns in the colony, adding specialists and leadership figures
+ Improves the viability of "non-traditional" colonies - like allowing you to bypass negative cannibalism moodlets
+ Introduces new options for challenge modes, like having a vegetarian or nudist colony on an ice sheet

Cons:
- Dramatic increase in micromanagement
- Aggressive conversion of recruits is critical to ensuring that your colony does not become inundated with negative moodlets and mental breaks, but this process takes a long time
- Complex/conflicting ideologies produce interesting narrative opportunities but often create an incentive for the player to pursue homogeneity (Ex: a colony may have a strong desire for diverse perspectives and provide positive moodlets, but this may greatly anger those of another ideology. The best approach then is to eliminate a diversity of opinion wholesale, or to just not recruit new colonists. Or, set your colony's ideology to that of another faction on the world map and exclusively recruit from them, which typically means ending up hostile with those whose beliefs are identical to your own).

All of the cons listed above are subjective and can be addressed through thoughtful and strategic play. They are, however, things that the trailers will not tell you. The cons will make the game more difficult and at times more frustrating for newer players.

There are bugs. There are bugs that will force you to reload a save which may make you lose progress, or ones that will prevent you from completing quests. There are long load times. There are some balance issues that can show up even on lower difficulties.

This game is still one of the best RPGs I have played, let alone cRPGs. I played the second title, and I can say that Wasteland 3 takes everything Wasteland 2 did and improves upon it. It is a distinct, unique experience that departs from the desert wastes of Arizona into a new world with new enemies. Some familiar faces return, but the new lore and worldbuilding make Colorado feel even more alive than distant Arizona. Rumors of the Motor City Gangs and Buckeye Republic further east make Wasteland's post apocalyptic America feel like a whole society rather than isolated cells of civilization.

The writing is great. Characters have fantastic personality. Serious moments are punctuated by dark humor to alleviate tension, but that humor almost never takes over the entire games tone. The satire makes a point, the lines like a trader crying "Reagan bless this arms deal!" before you buy some ammo are witty and funny but also make sense given the context of the place you are.

The decision making is real. The game moves beyond simply looking at the 'good and bad' or the 'morally grey' and tries to make the player choose between what benefits the world and what benefits them *individually*. Does the player pursue the immediate benefit of a unique rifle by killing innocent people? If so, what is the impact on the world? Is being granted access to a cache of high end weaponry (a cache you cannot access any other way) worth selling out somebody to slavery? While the morality may seem black and white to us, the Wasteland is not our world, and the gameplay benefit of having that cache seems much more valuable than the guilt you have over some pixels. You will of course be tasked with picking sides and playing politics. You may regret some decisions. You will think about what you did and reflect. You will ask if you could have done something different to do better.

Wasteland 3 is a standout title in this regard. It is not perfect in its bugs or performance, but it is a game that demands a great deal from the player so that the player reaps a whole lot in return.