Nylige anmeldelser av Justicier10-7

A flawed, but still well done fleet strategy sim.

The first major complaint I have is that the AI is very basic, and often will collide with each other and... even worse, run full steam straight into an island, beaching their entire fleet. The campaign AI is... odd... I am not sure exactly why it feels odd, other than the fact that it "cheats" and has more deployment points available than the player to make up for its oddness. The combat and campaign AI is the primary area that should be focused on for improvement, because when it goes wrong, it kinda kills the enjoyment of the game.

Though many improvements have been made by the Devs, there are still a few seemingly minor annoyances that... over time, become quite irritating. One major point of contention has to do with the handling of air assets. On the campaign map, detecting enemy aircraft will halt the campaign time compression, and if the aircraft are bombers, will force an engagement that cannot be auto-resolved. Now, if this happened infrequently, it would be no issue, but in the stock campaign it happens a bit too much. Add in a mod like "The Tokyo Express" that adds MORE air assets... and you get what I call "Sky Cancer."

In battle, fighters have little to no strategy involved in their usage... they basically just "Auto-Dogfight" and you watch and wait for a resolution. While you can give altitude and speed change orders, neither of these seem to factor into combat effectiveness at all. Fighter against fighter combat is very disappointing, but bombers, dive bombing and torpedo bombers are more interesting to use as you have control over setting up attack run angles.

So how is the ship-to-ship combat? The name of the game is "War on the Sea" after all. For the most part it is very, very good, and the Devs are still making improvements. This is really the core of the game, warship combat is a blast and makes up for much of the current shortcomings in other areas. But just be aware, this game leans more to the "Sim" side of things, so the combat is slower, more methodical, and less idiotic than that one warship combat game that so many people rave about.

There's still room for improvement, but thankfully the Devs are very active in the game's continued development, and updates come often with new features and improvements. I'm confident that the annoyances will get lessened over time, and the core game is a darn good one.

Microsoft really dropped the ball on the updater/downloads being In-game, which not only puts strain on your video card when you are doing nothing but downloading the game and updates, but it also gives a false impression of your overall play time. At the moment I have 316 hours in-game, and at least half of that was just downloading. It was a terrible, terrible idea at launch, and it still is. Microsoft's servers are stressed enough from the constant downloading of sim elements, let alone the world data streaming for world meshing, air traffic, texturing, weather. Having all these elements centralized is foolish, and hopefully Asobo/Microsoft will make a separate application just for downloading that can use 3rd party contracted servers for core game downloads and update patches.

That tremendous downside stated, I am still recommending this sim. There are bugs... Microsoft pushed Asobo to release an unfinished product... put bluntly... and I put the vast majority of the blame on the publisher. The developers continue to work on improving the game, though since it is such a highly complex product, it will still remain buggy for some time. Now, the big reason I recommend the sim despite its shortcomings... there has never been a flight sim that integrates so many elements seamlessly into one product. The 'real-time' weather engine is phenomenal (though still a bit buggy), the flight physics are good, the 'real-time' traffic is good to see and hear flying around as well. The AI-assisted terrain rendering is well done, and will be continuously improved. With the multi-player air racing soon to be implemented, it also appears that more 'activities' are in the works to be added if landing challenges, bush flights, and discovery flights are not interesting. Microsoft has stated that they are committed to this being at least a 10-year development product, so for at least 10 years (well, 9 now) Microsoft will be authorizing the developers to release more content/improve the game and engine.

TLDR;
If you are patient and willing to endure some hardship in downloading and setup, there is a good product underneath that offers what no other sim can. It still needs some patching before I can call it a "great" product, but even in its current state I can recommend it, especially if you catch it on sale.

Had a non-steam version of the original Skyrim release... wonderful game. Now, all these years later, I decided to try the special edition with a few combat mods and community patches. It is still a bloody good game to this day, and with some mods it feels like it could have been released yesterday.

I will start out by saying that the majority of these negative reviews are coming from people who bought modules on steam for the base free to play game, but apparently cannot follow basic directions on how to activate the modules off of steam. Every. Single. Module. Has on the product page instructions on how to activate the modules purchased on steam. Read the directions, follow them, and the game works fine. Just remember that Steam has moved the "CD Keys" tab... it now resides in the "gear" (manage) icon which drops down options on the right side of the game's library page.

Other negative reviews complain about it requiring you to purchase planes in order to play how they want. Well, the base game is full-featured, but with only 3 aircraft available, one German, one French, and (oddly) one Russian variant aircraft. For playing the career mode, you will have to play in a time frame that those aircraft are fielded, which is later in the war, but even with just the free aircraft you can still have a great deal of fun in career mode. Purchasing modules just opens up further options for quick battles, campaigns, and career start times, as well as an extra map with it's own unique combat opportunities if you want Channel Battles.

The negative review issue addressed... in 2021, how is the cost-benefit analysis? Are all those modules worth getting at the listed price, for an aging game? If it's on sale, absolutely, yes! If not, only buy the modules you are most interested in and don't worry about the rest. Are you going to want to *fly* heavy bomber missions? No? Then don't buy the bomber pack... if you view bombers as targets (they are), they'll still show up in game whether you own the aircraft or not. Only buy what you will actually fly yourself!

Now that I have addressed what I consider an injustice to the portrayal of the sim itself... how IS the sim itself? Put simply, it is the best WW1 flying game made thus far. The flight model fidelity is top notch, every aircraft has a different feel with their own 'personality' in handling characteristics. From the rapid-turning and unforgiving handful that is the Fokker Dr.1 Triplane to the fast and forgiving S.E.5, there is a different personality with every aircraft, with their own strengths and weaknesses. Weapon modeling is excellent, with machine guns being very deadly to pilots, and engines, but requiring some effort to compromise many aircraft's structural integrity. When integrity is compromised though, the physics are awesome to watch. In a turn fight with a Camel I was able to manage a solid deflection shot on his wing strut... and because of the G's he was pulling, the upper wing ripped clean off, and I watched those detached pieces... until one of those pieces (an aileron) slammed into my Dr.1's propeller and killed my engine, forcing me to land it in a field.

TL;DR:
This is a really solid Great War flight SIM that provides some excellent gameplay, just don't come at it thinking it's going to be War Thunder in WW1. And for the sake of Pete, read the directions on how to activate the purchased modules, it's not difficult, there's no need to perpetuate the old PEBKAC error.

I must admit, I almost didn't purchase IL-2: BoS due to the mixed reviews it had received. When it went on sale a while back, I took a chance on buying and I'm quite glad that I did. I played the original IL-2 series for years... from the original to Pacific Fighters to 1946. Now, the IL-2 Great Battles series, beginning with Battle of Stalingrad, feels like a natural progression from the original series. It was a relatively accessible sim back in the day, and while the complexity of things going on "under the hood" has increased, the sim remains forgiving. Multiple assist options are available to build confidence before venturing into the realm of "full real"

Some points compared to IL-2 1946:
The graphical fidelity was obviously increased as well as audio, it looks good and sounds good.

The flight dynamics were improved as well as individual aircraft system modeling... the developers have gone to great efforts to do each aircraft justice.

The damage modeling was improved as well, and even more complexity to the model is in development.

Now, one of my original complaints for the Great Battles series was the AI being passive and not really interesting to fight at all compared to the much older IL-2 1946. But this too has undergone continuous improvement over multiple game patches. The AI now has a good range of capabilities... both in defensive and offensive maneuvers and tactics and gunnery skill.

Another minor criticism is a lack of 4-engine bombers, (IE: Targets), but this is forgivable due to the time and resources necessary to fully model such aircraft and their systems.

IL-2 has received support from the developers for years and continues to be improved upon with feedback from the community.

Now, I have seen many complaints regarding pricing and I feel the need to address this issue. The major modules typically include 8 flyable aircraft that are meticulously modeled, a large map to cover the area of operations and a career campaign. For the price I believe this is a reasonable offer especially considering that each module's content is essentially at the level of a stand-alone game. Compare this to another flight sim that offers a *single aircraft* for a similar price... with campaigns, maps, and even ground targets sold sperately. Yes, the other sim has clickable cockpits, which is nice... but when I am in battle, do I really care about that? If pricing is a concern, sales are offered at regular intervals, and it's more than worth the money.

From what I've seen, IL-2 has a bright future, and very exciting content coming in the future with the Battle of Normandy module.

See you in the skies, aviators.

This is more of a sim than a shooter, so it has an inconsistent pacing that will likely not appeal to the majority of modern gamers. What I mean by "inconsistent" in terms of pacing is that it has a lot of down time in between firefights... this isn't like Call of Duty or even Insurgency with consistent action from start to finish. There's a great deal of strategy involved as well and supply lines are necessary to win the battle, and travel times from base to front-lines can be especially punishing to new players who do not realize how important movement as a group (IE: Squad) actually is. Now, while there is down-time, the combat itself is immersive and excellent. In fact, I would say the down-time actually makes the combat feel far more important and rewarding.

UPDATE as of October 2023:
New infantry combat system is much better, more teamplay-oriented, and is making a lot of immature people angry. It's fantastic.

Ahh the P-40, certainly a workhorse and beautiful aircraft... though commonly referred to as obsolete and inferior compared to its closest competitors. Is that reputation justified?

In a word, yes. The airframe is sound, the weapon loadout is powerful, the maneuverability is adequate, it's well-armored especially for its deployment year... so what's the problem with it? What makes it sub-par? It's the powerplant.

The Allison 1710-39 is truly the one factor that puts this aircraft at a severe disadvantage. The power to weight ratio is inadequate, the engine just doesn't pull the heavy airframe hard enough. It bleeds speed incredibly fast in any sort of maneuvering due to the heavy airframe, and acceleration is quite limited. In addition, due to the lack of manifold pressure governer, YOU must monitor the manifold pressure constantly and adjust throttle and RPM to get the most out of the engine without blowing it up. It's a handful to manage in a fight. Mismanage it and it will die quickly... and make no mistake, you will be forced to push its limits in order to not die fighting even an older German fighter like the Bf-109E-7. Running away from a fight is usually a lost cause as well because the 1710-39 cannot be used in emergency power for any more than a few seconds without seizing up.

Now, the down-sides being stated, It's not *completely* bad. Given the heavy airframe, the P-40 out-accelerates most opponents of its time frame in a dive. Starting at a higher altitude to the enemy, diving down on them, and killing them quickly with the 6x.50cals is the best way the P-40 "dogfights." She also has decent bombing/attack loadouts available, and is actually great fun in the ground attack role.

It's really helpful to think of this aircraft as the "B-40" instead of the P-40... treating it like a bomber provides a much better chance of survival and success in missions. It's under-powered, difficult to manage, and obsolete compared to nearly everything it will fight against in the air. Yet... I love it. It's a challenge, It is just a fun aircraft, and scoring a kill against superior German fighters is a great feeling.

tl;dr... only purchase if you want a "Dark Souls" challenge in your flight sim.

My favorite aircraft design of WW2, and it just so happens to be a very good multi-role aircraft.

Ground attack is a blast, literally, as she can mount up to 4000lbs of ordnance in various configurations ranging from 2x2000lb bombs, to 6x500lbs, to a combination of two bombs and 6 rockets at the same time. In addition to the devastating external stores, it also is an incredibly stable gun platform with no need to set convergence and very little felt recoil from the guns/cannon.

As a fighter, the '38 is surprisingly competent, though its main disadvantage will be its relatively low roll-rate and average top speed at low altitude. You can't out roll a 190 or 109, don't even try. But you can out turn them... this aircraft has a turning radius that will easily give a 109 a run for its money. When you get them in your sights... well... remember that stable gun platform I talked about earlier? It easily shreds anything short of a He-111, and even that will go down quickly with some well placed bursts. And for this precision gun load, you have 2000 rounds of ammo for the 4x50cals, and 150 shells for the 20mm hispano.

The developers did an excellent job with the P-38, from the model itself to the cockpit to the flight dynamics, its just a great plane. In short, this aircraft is a hoot to fly and fight in, and it's one of the most versatile fighter-bombers in the game to date.

A fun combination of mining and surviving hordes of bloodthirsty bugs. It feels almost like a strange melding of Minecraft, Left For Dead, and... at least in concept... Starship Troopers. It's great fun even in solo, but the heart of it is definitely the co-op and it really shines there.

The procedural generation of cave systems has come a long way since the earlier releases, and ensures that not only is every mission different, but also every type of cave has it's own unique character. Glacial, Volcanic, Radiologic, Sand, Crystalline, Salty, Biozone, Fungal... they all look different and have their own unique implications to gameplay.

There are also perks and customization to weaponry and loadouts that will keep you busy for a while. Some of these drastically change how different classes are best played. There's a good deal of depth here, and it's interesting to customize a loadout in coordination with the rest of your team to maximize effectiveness in the game's brutal Hazard 5 difficulty.

Speaking of difficulty, there is something for everyone here. Even if you are a skilless Gob, playing at the Hazard 1 difficulty will probably not even cause you to break a sweat... even when playing solo. Hazard 2 is also no big deal for solo and especially co-op. Hazard 3 is "normal" difficulty, and can challenge newer or more casual players in co-op if they get complacent. Hazard 4 is for those who have experience to go along with FPS skills, and can surprise even veterans at times. Hazard 5 is a challenge... and it WILL punish even skilled and experienced players for any and all mistakes.

There's a lot to love with Deep Rock, especially at the asking price. It's challenging, polished, and is great fun with friends or randoms.

For rock and stone!

With regard to gameplay, the vast majority of Subnautica can be summed up in three parts... Exploration, Survival, and Gathering. There is also a bit of building that is worth mentioning, but it is possible to make it through the whole game without building a seabase.

Arguably the best survival game out there. The survival mechanics are fairly standard, with eating, drinking, and oxygen management while diving being the key factors. Basebuilding is not just a gimmick, it can be very important as a safe-haven, and storage for materials you will be gathering in your time playing. And gather materials you will...alot... as in... proletariat-level gathering. This because you are always driven to dive deeper... and diving deeper requires upgrades... and upgrades require materials. Why are you driven deeper? Well, because unlike many survival games, there is also an interesting story and endgame with Subnautica, which requires alot of materials to finish (just want to drive that point home.) More than that I will not say so as to not spoil the experience of what is a well-done science fiction story.

The setting itself is awe-inspiring... or terror-inducing depending on how you view the ocean and what lurks in the depths. There are many beautiful, and creepifying things to be seen and as an exploration game, Subnautica is one of the best I've played. The sense of wonder is palpable, though occassionally marred by graphical "pop-in" of geometry and models. If you have a fast system, the game files can be modified to create an incredible visual experience, but be advised that the game is very graphically taxing.

There are also a few difficulty settings available which alter the experience. An exploration mode which requires no management of food and water; a "creative" or building mode; the standard survival mode, and (in my opinion the best) a hardcore mode.Hardcore is everything that survival mode is, with the added caveat of creatures potentially doing more damage to you, and... it is permadeath. This is not just a challenge, but a cold-sweat inducing, heart-racing, intensive experience that requires your full attention and constant vigilance as one mistake will end the game for you. It's bloody nerve-wracking, and takes the experience to a whole new level. Try it at your peril.

All-in-all, if you're a fan of exploration games, definitely look into Subnautica. Survivalists also have a good amount of content here. Despite the cartoonish graphical approach taken, even fans of horror may be interested in checking this out, especially if they are terrified of the ocean.