Senaste recensioner av Justicier10-7

Having played the original Stalker games, and many mods for Call of Pripyat, I am a long time fan of the franchise. So there is some unavoidable bias in my review. That said, how does this compare to the original games (unmodded)?

I don't usually start with the problems, but in this case I will as they may be a complete deal-breaker for some.

1: It is an Unreal Engine 5 game and the performance/optimization is bad. If you've played other UE5 games and had problems with framerate/stutters you know about what to expect here. Some areas are smooth at 60fps at 2560x1440 resolution, but other areas, such as "hubs" or settlements, frames can plummet to the 20s and become very stuttery. This can be somewhat mitigated by using "Frame Generation," *However*, doing so will introduce an input lag which is very off-putting for rapid, precision shooting in combat. Optimization is something the developers have committed to, but the fact that it was released in this state is frustrating.

2: There are a lot of bugs... "affectionately" known as "anomalies"... because Stalker. This to include serious bugs with the AI detection/reaction, spawning, and odd graphical glitches. These are the most major, and the AI and spawning issues have been enough for some players to shelf the game to let it get patched up. One other thing I will mention (that is subject to change) is how tanky some enemies are. I understand an opponent wearing body armor, or a big mutant/monster being able to take a lot of damage, but right now it does feel a bit too much. Personally I would much prefer enemies to do more damage, but be able to take less damage than what is currently in-game.

3: Many keyboard keys cannot be rebound! There is also a quick use radial and a couple buttons that will need to be rebound if you are used to "leaning" controls being assigned to Q and E. I have also heard that playing with a gamepad is frustrating due to deadzone and sensitivity, though I cannot speak from experience.

Those are the BIG downsides, and now that they've been highlighted first, lets cover more positive things.

To me, it feels very similar to the originals. The difficulty of the zone is there... the "Artificial Life" in combat is about on par with the old games (aside from being very buggy at the moment)... the story (so far) is fairly generic, but functional. One complaint I do have, as is the case with many "modern" games, is the introduction of more advanced equipment, and combat against advanced enemies... in the tutorial prologue. I hated this in Fallout 4, and its similar here. I understand the desire to have a story "hook" to get people invested, but having iconic, 'higher level' enemies in the prologue really detracts from encountering them for the first time "In the wild." English dubbed voices are not fantastic, but if you're playing in anything other than the native language with subtitles you're doing it wrong.

So, what does Stalker 2 do *better* than the originals?

1: Graphically it's a big step up. Anomalies look great, ominous, and intimidating depending on type. Weather effects look good, storms are very cool. The game is dark in many areas, making the flashlight very important.
2: Sound FX is excellent across the board, from ambience to weapons to anomalies.
3: The immersion is definitely there, with a lot of great animations from the first person perspective... to include eating, drinking, taking meds and clearing weapon malfunctions.
4: The world itself is quite large, with many locations that will bring back some nostalgia to old fans of the franchise.
5: Combat feels much more satisfying and polished than the originals.
6: Overall, the game *plays* more smoothly and feels more polished than the originals (Despite the aforementioned bugs)

So, to sum up, it's a Stalker game. It has bugs like the original did when it was first released. It has optimization issues. But, it is very atmospheric, immersive, and gameplay is good. It feels like a natural progression of the franchise and I do love it. Once bugs are squashed and performance is improved, I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a brilliant survival/scavenger experience.

P.S. I have not heard one utterance of the term... "Cheeki Breeki"... I nearly downvoted for this reason alone. Completely gamebreaking, GSC, please fix ;)

Fun strategy game that nails the Homeworld storytelling and aesthetic. Unfortunately never really gained popularity in multi-player, and multi-player skirmish versus bots is not very dynamic. Single-player campaign is pretty "on-rails," and there won't be any branching paths to warrant more than a couple playthroughs. It is still fun, but not quite as good as it had potential to be. Grab it on sale, the single-player campaign is worth it. Because of this, it's a thumbs up. However, if you do not like Epic Game's intrusive practices, pass this by.

Very fun single-player freelancer-like space game, but with rogue-like elements. Works best on gamepad, though I suppose you could punish your flight stick with constant hard maneuvering if you'd like :)

At first I stayed clear of this because the gaming community commonly referred to it as "The Sims - U-Boat Edition." Frankly, I was looking for more a sub sim with some... depth... and passed it by as a subsim with a gimmick that perhaps doesn't work well. But in spite of my initial misgivings and having fond memories of previous WWII subsims, I decided to take the plunge and try UBOAT.

I have to say it up front... I believe this is the best WWII sub sim since Silent Hunter 3.

Everything has a familiar feel to SH3, but with a fully modeled sub that you can walk bow to stern unhindered and interact with a multitude of stations, better graphical fidelity, decent audio, and good variety of mission types (Some not historical, but can be disabled if you aim for the monotony of "full real") in a "Dynamic Campaign." The customization options for difficulty are plentiful as well, ranging from highly automated "arcade-like" to hardcore sim which doesn't hold your hand and requires you to plot intercept courses, gather all information for torpedo firing solutions (which you can then input into a fully modeled, realistic, TDC), and manage any crises that can and will arise.

If I had one major complaint, I would levy it directly at the audio, which is a bit of a mixed bag. Thankfully, there are sound mods and full steam workshop integration. There are even mods which add many new ship types, both ally and enemy, to encounter in the world which can add a great deal of unpredictability.

The "Sims" aspect is present, but not as annoying to manage as I expected. Depending on how much micromanagement you wish to deal with, settings can be customized so that sailors and officers will, for the most part, go about their duties without your interference. However, if you want to get the best out of your crew, you can set specific schedules and tasks, assign specific sailors and officers to priority tasking, and even assign what priority level your crew should give to individual tasks on the boat. It can be either complex, or simple, your choice.

In addition, when combat starts and things begin to go wrong, you may see crew get hit and knocked out, ragdolling down, while your medic rushes over to help, carrying them to a bunk where they can be stabilized. An example of what can go wrong... I was on a patrol near Tobruk in poor weather and my watch crew were minimal because I thought the visibility was so poor, we'd never stumble across a warship. I was wrong. A corvette opened fire on us just after the watch sounded the alarm. I looked to the conning tower and was presented with the explosion of a cannon shell... which was close enough to one of the watchmen that it knocked him unconscious. The blast knocked him back, off the rear of the tower, bouncing off the deck, and into the water, where he drowned as I heard the calls for man overboard. I ordered the crash dive and we were able to get away safely, but lost two sailors in the process.

Another interesting example of what can happen: I recently intercepted a carrier group, at night in a light rain storm, and rushed at them on the surface at flank speed. The hope was to get into a good position, close enough to get hits on the fleet carrier with a full salvo. At great distance, I see star shells being fired to illuminate the area. I know they couldn't possibly have spotted me as I was still just over the horizon and could only see the tips of their masts. I then observe... explosions... jutting up over the horizon. It took me a moment to realize... another U-Boat had also intercepted the carrier group, and had scored at least two torpedo hits... and the destroyer escort was now hunting him. After diving, my sonarman confirmed this theory when he was able to identify the screws of an allied U-Boat... desperately trying to evade the destroyers.

Seeing things like this happen is something that sets UBOAT well apart from its predecessors. It can look and feel a little "janky" at times, but no more so than other sub sims on the market today or of yesteryear. It's a very well done sim, and if you are interested in the strategic, slower pace of submarine combat, it has a lot to offer.

Very fun horde survival shooter. Obvious comparison is to Helldivers 2, but this is more "large scale" and hectic, with up to 16 people in a server, against a mind-numbing number of bugs. The carnage update with persistent corpses is pretty insane... seeing bug's stacked up corpses at walls, giving them a "ladder" to climb over "World War Z" style is pretty cool.

The weapons are fun to use as well, though it would be nice to have more weapons and variants... for example... where is the Twin-trigger Morita rifle with underbarrel pump-action shotgun? You know, the one so prominently used in the first movie by many troopers including Dizzy and Rico? I know the developers are fans of the franchise so I can't imagine its omission is for any other reason than to simplify controls, not necessitating the second trigger or a "mode switch".

Granted, there is still a bit more development to be done before release in October, what we have right now is a lot of fun. The game has apparently underwent many major changes during its early access development cycle, and they look to be a net positive. Performance/optimization is still in-progress and can be a little rough at times, and Unreal 5 tends to run video cards quite hot so beware.

The only major complaint I have thus far is the network lag issues. Arachnids warping around is a big technical issue with the netcode that needs to be addressed as it can greatly detract from gameplay. That said, it's not an easy thing to fix given the hundreds of arachnids and potentially thousands of projectiles being fired everywhere that the network has to handle.

I know there is also a Single-Player component on the way in October as well (With the man himself, Johnny Rico, in command), so hopefully with the final polish phase fast approaching, we'll get a solid all-around Starship Troopers shooter with its exit from early access.

It has/had potential, the developers clearly loved the original game. But it appears all 70 people working at the studio developing KSP2, Intercept Games, have been *permanently* "laid off" IE: fired.

This is another example of overinflated, corporate publishers... they couldn't care less about the consumer or the IP, they just want their profit... a lot of it. In this case, that meant pushing the developers to release an un-optimized, buggy, and pre-alpha product before its time, in an effort to make a quick profit off of a fan base Take 2/Private Division thought would buy in unquestioningly.

That probably did happen initially, but when the ridiculous system requirements, poor performance, and sparse feature-set on launch were plain for all to see, refunds abounded. In single neuron corpo minds, this simply means that the product is a failure and it is not worth continued investment past the current contract duration. Of course, it couldn't possibly be that the forced deadlines and pressuring by said publisher had anything to do with the failure at launch... right? It's all just the developers fault... Right? Watch any interview with the lead developer in the past year and try to tell me the man was under no duress.

I will be more than happy to change my review to a thumbs up if development is indeed continuing on, and the advertised feature-set is being completed. But at this point I'm not getting my hopes up.

Very good lite sub sim. Spiritual successor to Red Storm Rising. Official development has ceased, but with DotMod, modmakers continue to develop very cool new additions which breathe more life into the game.

The main campaign mode is a dynamic one, and it is very much a lone-wolf operation. The game is set up where you are alone against the Soviets. This is a big part of the difficulty of the campaign, but also a feature that makes it feel "smaller" than it should. There should be allied submarines on missions, as well as allied fleets that potentially could engage in surface combat with Soviet fleets. This is probably the biggest disappointment to me. It isn't a deal-breaker, but it severely limits immersion to feel like the world revolves around you and your sub.

Actual combat engagements are both suspenseful, and very hectic depending on just how many enemies you may be up against. It's hard to predict what you'll be up against in each mission. Every campaign and mission is dynamic, and this can and will surprise you.

The game is very difficult. Watch some tutorials, read up on how things work (particularly in detection), and it comes together nicely. Failure to do so often results in reviews claiming the AI is "broken", when in fact there is a PEBKAC error afoot.

Overall, I would highly recommend Cold Waters when it's on sale. Primarily to those interested in the slower pace of naval warfare, as it will not appeal to those requiring non-stop action.

Completed my first playthrough so it's time for a little review.

In no particular order:
Positives:
[1:] Very good 'environmental storytelling'
[2:] Pulls no punches, makes no apologies (the subject matter of many missions may bring back bad memories/PTSD from people who have been in similar terrible situations)
[3:] Gunfights are very intense, gunplay feels good
[4:] Suspect AI is unpredictable and in many ways pretty lifelike... can flank, play dead, act like they're surrendering before pulling a weapon and charging, get scared and surrender immediately by a breach, etc. Different suspects also have different AI... Meth addicts act differently than private security act differently from gangbanger wannabes, suspects can take civilians hostage and use them as human shields. It is, for the most part very, VERY good. Hard to believe this released in the same year that we got complete garbage AI like what is in Redfall or Starfield.
[5:] SWAT AI is brilliant. The overhaul that the devs worked on for about a year before release really shines here... They cover angles properly! Watching as they walk backwards while aiming up a stairwell, covering threat areas is just fantastic to see... and their covering of multiple open doors in a room with many openings is understandably stress inducing... you really feel like you are uncovered in the open, but the AI covers their zones the best they can. Often I will move in first to clear a room and ignore an entire section because I know that the AI will cover it... and they do. They follow typical room clearing procedures, and for the most part follow your commands well (aside from the occasional bug/glitch)
[6:] Pacing is slow and methodical... Proper tactics are rewarded. Rushing through things without thinking, Poor tactics, or recklessness usually result in severe punishment.
[7:] Audio design is excellent
[8:] Great variety in missions/map design... and plenty of them to choose from
[9:] Missions play out differently every time... traps will be in different locations, suspects will be in different locations, suspects may be more or less prone to respond positively to commands, number of suspects and civilians can vary.
[10:] Integrated Mods.io mod downloading in-game

Negatives:
[1:] Will address this up front because it has been "triggering" to many... the AI aiming/reaction time/sensory perception is currently, as a whole, far too good, and occasionally buggy. This has been a source of refunds. (Though it is very easily fixed with a mod)
[2:] Pacing is slow and methodical. Yes, I list this as a positive as well, because frankly, many people will refund because of the slow pace... there isn't a "run" keybind because you and your team do not run. At all. Ever.
[3:] Physics are buggy. Sometimes clipping through objects and "spazzing" out... which I'm sure is a source of performance degradation in some systems... this one's annoying
[4:] The morale/mental health aspect of officer management is nowhere near as in-depth as I was hoping for. It is currently a functional system, but nothing special.
[5:] Officers don't really have any uniqueness/personality... losing a team member may affect morale of your other team members, but it really won't affect you, the player, because there is no real interaction and character building with your team. A missed opportunity here given how heavily the game leans on the psychological.
[6:] SWAT AI will on occasion not exactly follow commands as expected. This seems to be primarily related to map layout.
[7:] Optimization is hit-and-miss. After spending some time in the graphical options tweaking things, I have a solid configuration that performs consistently well... but this seems to differ with every system, with some experiencing extreme slowdowns even with more powerful video cards than mine (RTX 3070)

TLDR; Overall, aside from some bugs, Ready or Not is excellent... it feels like a spiritual successor to the old SWAT series, and with its more dynamic AI... RoN has, in my opinion, more replayability.

First off, Career mode is in Flying Circus Vol.1, reviews which say otherwise are outdated and no longer factual. Mission types and dynamics are being consistently improved, with increased variety over the older IL2GB careers. Right now career mode is just as enjoyable as the other WW2 IL-2GB careers, maybe even moreso based on variety and my anectodal experiences.

FC in its current form is how it should have been on release, but there are still two main complaints I have. First is the AI's ineffectiveness in a dogfight, and second is the VERY inconsistent damage modeling.

In single-player, the former complaint makes career mode less fun, unless you actually enjoy a turkey shoot. The latter complaint is really the most damning, as it severely negatively affects how multi-player works. A good example would be how very tanky some airframes/engines/cockpits are to rifle-caliber MG fire... far moreso than they should be if they are striving for realism.

The most vulnerable bits on these WW1 kites were the pilot, engine, and fuel tanks. Right now, 2 out of 3 of those are too tanky. The pilot right now is the only guaranteed weak point. The rest have far too much RNG damage. Aircraft with radiators should see leaks resulting in higher heat much more quickly depending on the severity of the leak (and the visual effect of the coolant spray should go away when the radiator has no more fluid left). Engines should spray oil and potentially fuel and ignite more readily upon taking even a single bullet, while fuel tanks should ignite violently when they are starting to have more fumes than fuel in the tank. Speaking of fuel tanks... they should not be considered armor plate. Period. Especially since, in multi-player, nobody takes a full tank of fuel... which *should* very commonly prime their aircraft for a violent, explosive, fiery end.

In addition to those areas which are TOO tanky, you have other components of the aircraft, such as the control cables, which are far too commonly destroyed. Right now this is an RNG system, and the percentage for cable breaks is far too high. These are very small cables, and rifle caliber bullets are very small in diameter... taking these cables out should be an infinitesimally small probability, not near as common as we see currently.

Now, aside from these glaring issues, the DLC is still enjoyable especially in single-player, and worth getting ON SALE. Once the issues with damage are addressed I can then recommend it even at full price.

TL;DR: Oppenheimer approved flightsim-lite

This is an incredibly fun, non-bloated, not grindy, lite-flight-sim that combines some of the quick action of something like War Thunder, with somewhat more realistic flight modeling, and very advanced damage modeling. The "Escalation" mission type is essentially a "Dynamic War" that progresses with or without your actions. Once a certain score is reached and both sides have bloodied each other's noses... usage of nuclear weapons is authorized and the fun factor goes up even more. Even a "low-tier" attack aircraft like the Compass can drop a low-yield nuclear bomb from its internal bay, and strategically, one low-yield nuke can be devastating if it can get through air defenses.

Multi-player is a blast... figuratively and literally, with some more unorthodox tactics on display and a real "tug-of-war" feel that really could go either way with successful, coordinated strikes.

Single-player is a lot of fun too as the AI is quite advanced, especially considering it being designed by small development team. Definitely throws some shade at AAA studios and their AI or lack-thereof. And the developers seem committed to continually improving the AI, which is incredible since even in its current state in early access it at times feels as though you're fighting against other people.

All-in-all, for $15 Nuclear Option is an absolute steal. I put 37 hours into the playtest, and now have put 3 hours into the early access build. It's still fun, and I think it is well worth the price. The game has a lot of cool stuff in development. I look forward to the new big steps forward in early access.

EDIT: Put some more hours in. It's still fun.