Recent reviews by Tarv

For the company!

Just a very fun game, a lot of content for being early access with really no hiccups whatsoever. Extremely active Devs. We are really enjoying the farming element, with the new basically "Pokemon" and Cattle update it has been a lot of fun!

A game should not be this addicting, but here we are.

8-bit Jelly never looked so tasty... hope there's a 2nd Stardew or something.

I want to love this game, but I can't.

I do want to say, if this is your first installment, then yes it could be really fun however if this is second or third installment of the series then I feel you will be let down by it.

The Campaign while interesting, more so than Vortex, pressures you far more than Vortex to not play the game in the way you would like it.

Secondly, pathing issues are major; fighting in settlements is a battle of which troops do not get stick twitching back and forth in movement animations.

Third, it's just missing a lot of the features that TW:2 has time to bake in.


Now, I WILL say that I'll likely be returning to the game with a fresh set of eyes and most likely positive review once immortal empires and modding comes out. I can't tell you to buy the game but I would advise taking a look at it once immortal empires comes out in a month or two. Also wait for patch 1.1 to come out, it's a major patch and it's going to hopefully fix a lot of things.

Anyway, meantime; I'd say save your money, keep enjoying TW:2 it's the best TW in the series by far and you'll have a great time with Mortal Empires.

I've played in the Alpha's, Beta's, Preview, Beta2 and Launch. I've logged a few dozen hours.

At this time I cannot recommend the game.

1. Content dries up at lvl 40
2. A dev team that tears out core features (Individual Economies/Stagger PvP) and replaces unique ideas with Themepark MMO's that you've already played in WoW/FF/ESO
3. A dev team that blatantly asks for feedback in their testing realm, and ignores nearly 100% of it
4. A new duplication bug every other day


Look, I want to enjoy this game. When the game previewed, it was by all accounts a potential EvE meets Medieval Fantasy, a Survival title and Runescape lite, an absolute dream game that I poured my heart into writing quality feedback by the numbers, pages upon pages. All of that however has been overshadowed by a development team that opts to just rip out core competencies and replace them with half baked "copied homework" versions of themepark MMO's.

If you've come looking for a MMORPG with a diverse economy, interesting PvP, or in depth PvE mechanics then you will not find it here. They've torn the prior two out and they have a half hearted attempt at the latter.

The only, and I do mean only reason this game is even afloat right now is because people are leaving WoW in droves because of their own Greed, and Final Fantasy's aesthetic does not appeal to everyone in the west.

In closing,

Save your money. If you want themepark mechanics, then play a Themepark MMO that has baked them in at the core, ESO, WoW, FF. Don't settle for mediocrity. There are better Devs, better companies and better MMORPG's that deserve your money more.

If you do anything, before you purchase; go check out Ashes of Creation before you open your wallet for New World.

Thanks,

~ Truly a disgruntled "OG" of New World who bled his heart into a title, only to have it tossed back when the masses arrived.

I'll edit this review as I go.

It's not Fallout, but it's better than expected. Not a bad pickup for sale.

The first game in a long time that has reignited a childhood love of gaming. Designed with the depth and passion of older rpg/sandbox titles with modern quality of life features. If you love survival games or feel like other titles just never went the extra mile in depth then I encourage you to get Valheim. Solo or with a group there are just so many things to do.

Look I could spend all day telling you why you should get this game, but it's honestly a game you just have to take the jump and buy, for once this isn't just streamer hype, this game has a lot of love behind it.

Oh and I understand it says "Early Access" but this is "Old-School" real early-access, you're buying a nearly complete game with little to no bugs, and they're planning on adding more. So don't worry about that.

Edit:

I still suggest the game, but note if you're not running with a decent sized group, you're going to hit the "tablet" wall, which is make equipment for fragments, find fragments, make equipment for torque, gather torque, then drop 100 fragments and 400 torque in random spawn fabricators, that you can find 2-3 per hour maybe longer, that'll give you 0-3 fragments (3 different types) which you need a number of the same type to get something. I.e if an item needs 16 tablets to be learned, you'll need 16 of the same type of tablets out of the various 3 types. You can only get these tablets in hardzones which are infested with Zergs.

Game is fun no doubt, but this one crap mechanic is holding it back in a huge way.


TL:DR
1. Graphics 9/10
2. Immersion 8/10
3. Handling/Connection/Stability 8.7/10
4. Progression 8.9/10
5. Concept/Unique Mechanics 10/10 - Does some industry firsts
6. Skill based PvP 9.5/10
7. Anti-Grief Mechanics 8/10
8. Solo players ability to play 4/10
9. Community - 7/10


I'd like to preface this article with I'm still in the throws of the starting stages of the game.

So overall, I'm deeply saddened that this game was review bombed on its opening week, as a game Last Oasis is a unique take on the survival genre that rewards skill, dedication, exploration and ingenuity in your approach to problem solving. When comparing other Early Access Survival titles, Ark, Conan, Rust, you'll quickly find that not only is Last Oasis more optimized, it looks better and just generally feels better than its predecessors.

Last Oasis aims to stand out with a compelling back story to its world, paired with an in-depth combat style that not only rewards you for min/maxing your gear, but the way in which you approach fights, the way you move your body, the points you strike an opponent and the speed (imagine diving off your walker to crack someone in the dome at 20mph) all contribute to the damage received and dealt. Furthermore Combat is directional, push up with your mouse as you strike and then pull back for a beautiful overhand swing, swipe to the left and right for directional swings, pull back to block low etc etc. What is most surprising is just how much effort was put into the directional combat, and in many ways it feels more smooth than games which entirely focus on directional combat such as the beautifully crafted Mount and Blade Bannerlord.

Progression feels gritty, you'll need to earn the items you need, but aside from the expected resource gathering, you will not find yourself scavving 10,000 berries to make a dinosaur end its life through terminal bowel movements. No, I've found a steady progression to the materials I need/want, and in a common sense delivery, I want cattails to weave into forester armor, well they're down by the lake, I want bone soup (cement) to make some weapon and armor pieces with, I mix purified water and bone fragments in a cooking stove. Etc etc. You pair this with a wonderful on-going story driven tutorial that gives you lore of the world (I'm lvl 30 and still have quests) and it's a steady progression that I enjoy.

Now here if where it gets truly interesting however, Last Oasis has taken a concerted effort to get rid of the cliche "Get griefed restart" mindset of other survival games. As a player you can build your first walker, whether you decide to run solo or as a group, you don't want to be offline griefed, you want people to fight you in your prime, so not only can you build an entire base, and with a simple click of a button store said base into your walker (yes I mean foundations, walls, all of it, store it as it is, and place it back into the world fully constructed as you left it), but you can go to the edge of the map and enter your walker into a sort of limbo (lobby) which cannot be touched at night. This means PvP guilds are fighting eachother at their best, and solo players don't have to restart every other day. Furthermore, large guilds are incentivized to protect solo's and small guilds living in their territories, because as long as they survive, they'll contribute tax for that first life that they're on. So the pressure is there to protect your solo's living from baddies.

Physics are also a huge part of Last Oasis, whether you're swinging on your grappling hook, shooting harpoons to hook loot and drag it to bust it open, or piloting your walker, physics come into play. Torque build up, gradual acceleration, on your walkers, and the quickness of which you turn your body to slice are all directly coded to have a gradual impact on the world and how you as a player can skillfully interact with it.

Now I could go on, I could tell you about weapons, armor, land claiming, and or how this is the dream game 100% of you wanted Atlas to be but failed completely, but I think I'll just continue to play, pull my friends in and recognize Last Oasis for what it is, the absolute premier survival game hands down on the market. I really hope you won't be swayed by the review bomb that happened, the devs listened to feedback, took the servers down and offered refunds on their opening week, they're truly committed to their craft. I hope you'll give them a chance.

Bonus:

The Community outside of some Chinese Zerg elements, has been wonderful, friendly.

Edit:

I7-6700k
1070
32GB RAM
------------------
Settings: Maxed across the board

**IMPORTANT**
- Most of the Negative reviews you are seeing are from nearly 2 years ago when the game first released in Early Access. The game is now feature 1.0+ and fully released. The information said below is all current. There were 2 major patches in November to set the game for release. As of right now, this game is a 9.0/10 easily.

Runs better than Ark, Rust, Conan.

Looks better than Ark, Rust, Conan.

Harry Potter + DnD + Elder Scrolls + Ark

Rich incredibly detailed world.

Bandit Camps, Monster Camps, Dungeons and Delves.

Zombies, Orcs, Dragons, Skeletons, Fairies, Ents oh my.

Multiple Magic Skill lines.

Fluid and fresh easy to follow, simplified build/crafting system with easy to get into, hard to master setting.

Every shape of floor and roof without requiring mods.

Taming Monsters, and Flying Broomsticks with Quidditch.



This is such an amazing game that is truly in need of more love from players! It is easily better than the other survival games in FPS, Graphics and ease of getting into, but it takes it a step further and offers a living/breathing fantasy world where monsters interact, bandit camps and dungeons, quests etc. Real difficulty you can see up front and have to plan/craft and pve/pvp around.

The only thing this game is missing is a sorely needed Steam Workshop. I'm convinced if this game had a Steam Workshop with custom mods it would be one of the most played games on Steam.

Do yourself a favor, don't watch any tutorials, pay the $40 and get lost in this wonderful adventure. Love it playing with people or solo.

My review of HoldFast: Nations At War.

Let me first start by saying that it has been well over a year since a game has been able to bring an actual smile, applause and a quality chuckle from me. I am very pleased to say that HoldFast: NAW has remedied that.

When I decided to buy into NAW I wasn't expecting more than a few hours in such a game. A quick hold-over until say the next Total War game or BannerLord. I quickly learned that I had made a mistake in judgement and as I sit here at work typing this up I can't help but feel anxious to run home a play! At a price of $19.00U.S it's a relatively cheap and for what you will be getting its well worth the purchase. So let's talk about some of the Pro's and Con's that make this game.

The first thing that will separate any quality game is many a time the Development team. As some of you may know, this is three young men working in an Indie studio, however don't let that fool you. These three men are well above their peers and have done an excellent job in programming, design, as well as production. This team knows that this game is their baby and their ticket, and they are incredibly active in and out of game with their communities. The time that I've been browsing the discussion board and every match I've played there has been a quick response as well as at-least 1 Dev showing up. This isn't one of those cases where people say "The Dev teams active with the community" and you see a reply once every three weeks to a month. No this is the real deal, daily notification kind of team!

The second most important thing is gameplay, how does it handle? While you be immersed? Gameplay is far from polished but still the game finds a way. Firstly, the game has era accurate rifles in design, as well as uniforms/music. There is a multitude of game options available as would be the norm for Line battles of the Era portrayed. One of the most interesting concepts is the Naval warfare, yes this is what you think it is. You, a few player crew, controlling a ship/boat and living out your Pirates of the Caribbean fantasies, if those fantasies were blowing the holy bajeebus out of your enemies. Pair this with the Combined Coastal siege and your day is made! Oh I forgot to mention, 150 man battles. Now think Regimental Guilds on Community Events. Oh yes I feel that cold chill as well, it's as glorious as you think.

Rifles, Muskets and other weapons while not as accurate as they were in the real world, still pose an incredibly huge threat and if played properly, a Rifleman on a ridge or a Lineman on a Line can and will hold their ground and wreak havoc on the opposing team. There are also other classes such as Musicians (Drummers/etc) who can play a few period era songs if that is your thing, and boy is it great if they are in unison playing the proper song. It really rallies the blue-berries! Then of course there are Flag-holders, Officers, whom are the most inspirational and notably are taken up by the RP guys who even in random matches can get groups in a line which is neat to see. Lastly there is the Carpenter class which I haven't played but they do have a shotgun that rocks me.

Immersion is fantastic as well, the burst of smoke as your rifle fires mixed in with the heavy sound of those era-muskets is an ear-gasm if there ever was for a game. The Cannons, clink of shots, screams of fallen foes, and the music; provided you have a somewhat decent headset (a $20 Logitech will do you justice), will put you on the field. The game also supports dynamic weather which really changes the battle, lord help you if your fighting at night with fog, on top of the smoke from rifles. Que a bayonet to your face if so. This is early access as well so keep that in mind, this will only get better with more classes, sounds etc. -Bagpipe class is on the way-

Graphics are another thing that aren't as important but for me keep me playing a game and the reason for that is immersion. I personally have a hard time if the game looks like a potato macgyvered to shoot a musket. So what does NAW do? Well it takes it's predecessors ideas and puts them together with a realistic quality 3D artistic style. One that clearly defines the roles, the bright uniforms of the era, all the way down to the differing details of faction rifles. I'd also like to point out that it is a real treat to see the fancy uniforms of the French Grand Army, especially the Guards and Musicians. There are many other fine details such as quality grass, water, dirt and grime and the textures (other than the houses) seem to be very HD.

This all being said, it's still Early Access and the game does have it's flaws. I'll put them in order of what I've seen, and the rate at which they've impacted my experience.

Cons:

1st: There is no Auto Ban, Vote Ban, Server Kick yet for the general populous. So expect to be killed by trolls that for some reason dropped $20 to TK. Luckily this is going to be a quick fix and the Development team has responded to numerous threads, first come will be Admin controls for private servers to turn on/off Friendly fire, followed up by community Auto Ban. So that's promising.

2nd: Melee, The Melee is pretty terrible, swings miss that should have hit, and one guy with his cavalry sword can bunny-hop through 10 guys with guns and slaughter them up in 20 seconds. God save you if you try and bayonet against a Cavalry sword. This has resulted in many players filling the Rifleman class and Officer class just to use the Cavalry sword for Kill-Spam. This however has been replied to by the Development team and is the #1 priority fix and will be dropping in the next few updates.

3rd: VOIP, I like to have line battles, I like to lead. I also don't have the time to regiment stuff all day as I wish I could. So to gather a few friends, or few randoms in Community server would be nice to do. The In-game voice is hit and miss, the radius is incredibly small so chances are you'll only hear people at initial spawn. I hope to see more implemented

4th: Customization, this is coming so it's going to be fixed. It will have a realistic approach so don't plan on running with Goku Hair, a hot-pink musket, and a cat tail, but do expect good realistic gear from the era and uniforms that will help you stand out alittle.

5th: Server latency, I personally haven't experienced this but it's a big enough concern throughout the community that it needs to be addressed. Luckily the Development team hears the concerns and from day 1 have already released two updates working on this fix. More optimization required.

Lastly these are my specs, I get 50-60fps (I've gotten Lucky, there is optimization that needs done)

i7 6700k 4.0Ghz
970GTX
16GB RAM
250 SSD
50'inch Vizio TV 1080p

I really hope this helped, and wish you the best! This game is very much worth it, and the community is great aside from a few bad apples! Happy Hunting!