Recent reviews by acegfx

REAL TALK REVIEWS
-------------

VISUAL: 4/5

No Man's Sky visuals provide a mixture of art and fantasy with science and realism. While that might be confusing to understand, once you boot up the game from any mode and load into your planet, you'll know what I mean.

The wildlife and its inhabitants are cute and plentiful. However, after awhile you'll notice that the humanoids eventually start to look similar, and the wildlife in each planet - while different - also start to displaying similar body shapes.

Water looks good, especially during storms. Ships are futuristic, with a touch of realism. The cockpit view is really fun to be in when flying the ship. My wish is that you could see your character's arms and legs in POV to provide extra immersion.

The UI is clean and easy to understand. The menu for the game is pretty straight forward using a hover menu system. Screen indicators noting when you get hurt or low on levels.

The visual gem of this game is when you finally get on your ship - fly out to space - and then explore the universe. The visuals you get to see are dream like. Colors are bright and vivid. Some galaxies with multiple stars, planets with rings and moons. Some filled with shipwrecks. Heck, you might even see a shipwreck in space! Did I mention there's black holes too? Ahh!

AUDIO: 3/5

The music in the game has a nice sci-fi fantasy feel. It's not an epic orchestra award-like soundtrack, but it fits the game. The sound effects for lasers during battles or mining; sounds of cooking and processing materials are spot on. Ship sounds are good. Explosions sounds good, and storms really do sound like you're in a crazy storm.

The dialogue could be much better though - but it is what it is. And eventually, some sound effects start to get a little annoying (like the robotic narrator that tells you when the storm approaches or if your shields are low). Acquiring items sounds start to take their toll after awhile. Sometimes I do wish the game included more sci-fi sounds. I miss me some Star Wars/ Star Trek effects.

CONTROLS: 3.5/5

The controls pretty easy to learn. Switching between build mode and world mode is quick and easy. Engaging your tool to mine or use it as a weapon isn't hard at all. Flying your ship doesn't require much practice, same with the other vehicles you get later on.

The Minotaur sometimes is annoying to drive. It just feels like it fights your control at times and doesn't respond as well as you'd like. I honestly prefer to have it as an AI bot companion.

Mining and combat have very similar controls and are pretty straight forward to use. The only gripe is that the multi tool has so many.. "tools" that sometimes it gets annoying to switch between modes to finally find the one you need.

Base building isn't bad on the controller. However, I do recommend using a keyboard + mouse - like any base builder. It's just easier. Plus, sometimes switching first to third (and vice versa) helps with some camera angles.

A fun wish - but not required - is to be able to fly my Freighter manually and have my fleet follow. Just to feel like a boss. But maybe in a future update...?

MECHANICS: 4/5

This game can be experienced both solo or with a group of players. Admittedly, I've only played with a few people for a short period of time during my play-through on consoles, and seeing others on the Anomaly.

Personally, I prefer to play this game in single player. Being able to start it from the beginning alone is how the game should be played at the start. The game does a good job of slowly introducing you to the game mechanics.

Right away you start to get the hang of mining resources and learning how to craft common items needed for everyday things in the game. Soon, the game has you building your first base. Then the game has you flying out into space, and so on. Following the quest line is easy. Figuring out what to do later on - well, that's a different story.

This game provides so many things to do (these will be spoilers):
- You can fly around and explore space - maintaining and upgrading your ship as you go.
- You can hunt for resources and build unique bases throughout the galaxies. Since the last update you can also build bases underwater!
- You can find and manage a settlement as mayor. This includes building new buildings, settling dispute between inhabitants, trading resources, accepting refugees, defending your settlement against attacks!
- You can scour the galaxy and hunt for pirates with a squadron, board wrecked freighters for riches
- You can swim underwater areas and explore new creatures
- You can captain a freighter and build a fleet - sending them to missions - while base building ON your freighter.
- You can build and grow resources, using them for upgrades, base building, or for cooking.
- You can visit other players bases and experience their creativity
- You can continue with the main quest line and make it to the center of the universe

This game continuously gets support from the developers after a very rough launch. Since then, they've given free updates and the game has completely transformed from a train-wreck - to an absolute gem and counting!

PLOT: 3/5

You wake up on a random planet, not knowing how you got there and who you are. The first thing you know is that you're in a space suit and you have a multi tool. Your suit system is telling you what your next steps are in order to survive.

Eventually, you get the means to fly into space. You intercept a distress signal. Who is this person? What's going on here?

That's really the start of the plot of the game without spoiling too much. I did enjoy the story, especially the mystery it gives. It was surprisingly shorter than I thought it would be. It feels not complete. While I do appreciate the open-ended(ness?) of it - I wish there was a more flushed out story-line. But doing that would require an extensive overhaul to many things. More detailed NPCs to help push the narrative (rather than just a select few on the Anomaly), more scripted moments, more 161616

FUN FACTOR: 4.5/5

No Man's Sky is the standard for what games can be like if the Developers are not greedy and continue to support, continue to develop games for gamer's, not for profit.

Their various modes of play really give room for players to come back and try new things. The replay value of this game is very very high.

If you enjoy base building, you can easily lose yourself in this game for a few hours. Once you start traversing into space and being able to build more things - the hours just continue to add up.

With the added seasonal expeditions and its rewards being able to be transported to your main save - this game just keeps getting better and better.

Feel like winding down and shoot down some pirates? Sure! Want to farm some illegal grass and sell for profit? Heck yeah! No Man's sky provides such a wide variety of things, it's hard to put down.

--------

VERDICT: 4/5

A space exploration, base building game with combat, farming, settlement building features. With great visuals, and easy to learn mechanics - No Man's Sky is a game that I can recommend to all ages.

While the game does come with many things to do - it is not a master of any of them (at least not at this time). Underwater portions of the game were just upgraded, so there is a chance that everything in NMS can continue to get improvements.

With all of these features coming out of the box, and the replay value of the game - NMS is a gem that should be in every gamer's library.

--------
RTR OVERVIEW
--------
4/5 - VISUALS
3/5 - AUDIO
3.5/5 - CONTROLS
4/5 - MECHANICS
3/5 - PLOT
4.5/5 - FUN FACTOR
---------
4/5 - VERDICT
--------
BUY: YES (Full price - yes, I said it.)
ADD-ONS: None - All free updates (so far).
RTR GAMER'S CHOICE
--------

REAL TALK REVIEWS
-------------

VISUAL: 3/5

Streets are bloody, blood and guts everywhere. This game does a good job giving you a good visual of how it is during the apocalypse. All the models looks nice, with good lighting, and the dark areas not being too dark. UI effects when getting shot or infected is a nice touch.

AUDIO: 2/5

Sound effects are what you expect it to be. Zombies groaning, bullets firing. You can distinguish the different noises each special zombie makes and sometimes the characters do have some funny one liners. After awhile it does get a little repetitive. Soundtrack is nothing great.

CONTROLS: 3/5

This game is better played as a third-party camera view. The controls are pretty straight forward and easy to learn. There are times when you accidentally toggle first person view - and that honestly messes up the flow of the game sometimes.

MECHANICS: 3/5

This game is your basic CO-OP live service game. While you can play this game solo with bots filled in as partners, this game is made for online CO-OP play. I do wish there was local co-op, but unfortunately it does not have it.

The game is split into episodes, with each episode containing about 3 levels. Within each level are different tasks the players must complete to advance the level. There are certain sections where players must survive the "horde" attacks. During this time, players are given time to set up some defences before being swarmed by the horde. You work with your teammates to go through the level and survive.

After completing (or dying) each level, players earn points that can be used to improve classes and weapons. This system is pretty straight forward. It does have enough perks to provide various builds for each class. Some provide better survival skills, while others give more offensive perks.

This game does suffer from lots of bugs, but luckily this game is still being supported by the developers.
Frame rate issues, connection issues, ghost zombies, balance issues, grievers, etc. are some problems players face. However, even though there are lots of bugs, the community is still somewhat active.

PLOT: 2/5

Loosely based off of the book and movie; this game follows a zombie apocalypse with survivors fighting through hordes of zombies. There isn't really a main story line to follow, but each episode does have some back story that's provided in the collectables section. The characters also have a small backstory to them which is nice.

FUN FACTOR: 4/5

For a live service game, this game is fun. Designed to be played with others over online, the game does provide a solo option to play. However, the computer does not make smart choices and sometimes going at it alone is the better option. Even on higher difficulty! The bots are useful for reviving you when you're down. But other than that, they're basically pylons, or cheap versions of automatic turrets.

When playing with friends, the game really shines. Friendly fire give it a fun challenge and some accidental laughs. The horde portions of the game is really fun. Some levels are more challenging than others. The developers have included a "horde" mode where waves and waves of zombies keep coming at you as you earn points to build defences.

This game gives off Left for Dead vibes and that's a good thing. It's not exactly the same, but nor should it be.

--------

VERDICT: 3/5

A Zombie killing survival game that resembles similar mechanics from an old OG game - Left for Dead. While not aiming to be its replacement, this game does scratch the itch you're looking for to have a similar type game. In fact, out of many clones we've played, WWZ is the closest modern L4D type game. This alone is worth it to try.

When buying, the game is best when ALL add-ons are purchased.

--------
RTR OVERVIEW
--------
3/5 - VISUALS
2/5 - AUDIO
3/5 - CONTROLS
3/5 - MECHANICS
2/5 - PLOT
4/5 - FUN FACTOR
---------
3/5 - VERDICT
--------
BUY: YES (During Sale)
ADD-ONS: YES - for best experience.
--------

Real Talk Reviews

VISUAL: 3/5

The visuals in this game isn't going to win any awards. And while this game is dated, the game holds up decently. You can tell this game has been made more than 10 years ago, but it is playable and not an eyesore.

AUDIO: 2/5

Very simple sound effects for aliens, and weapons. The soundtrack isn't anything amazing either. The audio in the game is good for what it is.

CONTROLS: 4/5

There isn't much the camera needs to do in this game. When you're at the base, the camera is focused as a side scroller with a grid like format of each facility. During battle you can turn the camera 360 degrees as well as move the camera up or down each storey level when there is a multi-level mission.

The controls are easy to learn. Simple hover and click and a confirmation click/button press to make your decision on where your soldiers want to go or perform their action. Base building and mission selecting are just quick mouse prompts.

MECHANICS: 3/5

The core mechanics of the game is straightforward enough. The base building and upgrade is easy to learn and manage. The interceptor/air flight mode is simple where you only have a few options to choose from. Managing the satellites and keeping up with your finances is also easy enough to understand.

Mission choices do affect certain parts of the game, namely which countries/continents you may or may not lose support during the duration of the game. It can also affect income and staff.

The charm of the game is in its battle system in which your team and the aliens take turns moving in a grid mapped level. Each level is littered with buildings, trees, cars, etc usable for cover. Each turn, you move your units and try to eliminate the aliens invading. Using weapons and being hit are determined by RNG. And boy, does the RNG take you for a wild ride sometimes.

PLOT: 2/5

What more can you really say about the story of the game? Aliens invade Earth and a private company that is sponsored by multiple countries of the world fight off the aliens. The dialogue isn't really that interesting and there wasn't any amazing cinematics to enhance the story.

FUN FACTOR: 4/5

This was quite a fun game to play. Thanks to the very random RNG, it made some battles really interesting. The simple mission select system that determines your staff and threat level increases the replay value of this game.

Being able to name your soldiers was nice, but I wish you could name your S.H.I.Vs. More gear would've made this game better with more options for battle.

VERDICT: 3/5

Fun turn based game. RNG can be frustrating or entertaining. If you like turn based RPGs, give this game a try. While over 10 years old, the game can still provide hours of fun, with some challenge on higher difficulty.

RTR
--------
3/5 - VISUALS
2/5 - AUDIO
4/5 - CONTROLS
3/5 - MECHANICS
2/5 - PLOT
4/5 - FUN FACTOR
---------
3/5 - VERDICT
--------
BUY: YES (During Sale)
--------