Recent reviews by TheNightstalk3r

DATE: 30 October 2020.
# of HOURS PLAYED: Little above 1h.

I quite like the concept Ground Branch tries to put forward. Hardcore CQB gun- and teamplay that feels amazing.

HOWEVER...

While of course this game is just in its pre-alpha state (for roughly 9 years I've been told), there's little replayability and an even smaller playerbase.

In its current state you could describe Ground Branch as Insurgency: Source or Insurgency: Sandstorm with WILDLY more customization but without a playerbase. In my 1h adventure on the server browser in the evening (EU TZs), there were two whole public servers occupied(!) with one player, which after joining filled up to a magical 3 players with two of them leaving as soon as the AI got them dead. The sole server with more than 4 player was based in the US with above 100ms ping and of course passworded because yOu NeEd To JoIn OuR dIsCoRd.

As I've said earlier, I like the concept, but in its current state not worth getting into.
I am debating whether to get a refund or not, as I'll hate myself if the game gets its proper release and I'd have to pay a cent more than I did now.

Feel free to suggest ways for me to enjoy this game.

VIVE LA FRANCE

My buddy steals all items.. ):

Gamplay is OK, story is revolting

Ava is a compelling argument for infanticide

Faster Than Light is both the name of the game and the speed of my cursor towards the Recommend button.

Verdict: neutral

The gameplay, gun mechanics and maps are all good, with some new ones and rebuilt Insurgency maps. AI seems OK but has a number of hit-or-miss moments in regards to player tracking.

The first disappointing factor comes from the apparent small (to sometimes non-existent) player base. Servers, especially the ones under 200ms ping, barely have (EU) players on them. There's also a lot of servers that don't allow more than 2 or 4 players (for reasons unknown to me). With that I must point out however that I don't include "versus" in my server filter, I mainly play COOP rounds.

The second disappointing factor of this game to me is the operator customisation;
Back in Insurgency you could swap out anything and everything with the use of workshop mods. Now you're stuck with more or less a level-grind fest to get the look you want. You'll receive 100 credits per level-up with the costs of items ranging from 100 to 1000. Sadly, this is for almost <everything> meaning you'll have to buy each piece of clothing and equipment (firearms and explosives not included) separately.

I've also noticed (and this may be solely my experience) that you won't receive any XP if you need to leave before the end of the <full> session. What I mean with this is that if you leave the server anywhere that isn't the end-screen, even if you've just completed your round succesfully, your gained XP doesn't seem to be rewarded. As a result you can play 2 full rounds racking up a lot of XP, only for it to be voided because you quit (for whatever reason) in the 3rd round, no matter how far you've come in the round.

Played co-op with my friend. Flew into a black hole. We're now 186.000 light years apart

Dead game lol

Meh, it has some OK moments

Story written by a pre-teen on a power trip.
More bugs than a Bethesda game on release day (or CP2077 right now).
Engagement ranges shorter than social distancing.
A pistol gets more use than a sniper rifle.

This isn't a sniper game.

Avoid it like the plague (or COVID).