Recent reviews by Bozzl

I wanted to thumbs this up but i couldn't bring myself to. I was not much for this game when it first came out, which is strange because i'm certainly the demographic for this kind of game especially then, but it was 5 bucks so I figured i'd revisit....and I have opinions.

I needed mods and to reconfig cores just to get it to run. not the worst, took like 10 min, including youtube how-to video. but still not a good start.

The story itself, is kinda better than I remember, it's really bare bones and the writing and cutscenes are simply exposition for the next mission and thats it. you don't learn much of anything about the cast. But that being said, I honestly didn't remember the twist of this game (i wont spoil it, it's fairly unique), which was.....well pretty good. I had found myself becoming kinda bored and the twist gave me a second wind to see it to the end. You honestly get most of your story development from the 'web of intrigue' system, of which i'm sure I ignored as a younger me. It's nothing you have not seen before and done better, but having to drink all the people who know stuff is again, fairly unique and fits in well with the plot.

The gameplay is fairly solid (till later). Run, jump, glide, and drink people till your hearts content in a fairly large, but quite bland Manhattan. You're basically "The Thing" but you're really pissed off, that in and of itself is a great concept for a game. Your powers each fulfill a role and does it as well as you could ask(till later). I found myself using powers I didn't when I was younger, in more thought out ways. Using the whip to grab people to drink them for health in a covered area while enemy helo's circled above is an example. I found myself switching powers frequently in game instead of just sticking with one, not many games in this open world style can pull that off.

As the game progresses infection of the city becomes worse and worse, causing the game world to slightly change more and more, but it never really feels very impactful imo. you cant turn a red area blue and vice versa. But where the blue and red circles begin to overlap especially around the half way mark, things can get interesting if you're willing to spend the time playing around in free roam. Early on, military bases all have big gates, but are pretty far from harm, so seems a little goofy, but as time goes on, there are constant attacks right outside the gates, tanks and MG's around it, the whole nine. Little moments like these where a side quest makes you interact with an area as the fights are raging this game really shines. Those moments are not as prominent as I would have liked. By the end, it's kind of a nightmare, you'll get mobbed by tanky, hard hitting, hard to dodge infected enemies later, sometimes up to five at a time, and many mid tier mobs joining them. Military becomes no better, the CONSTANT rocket spam of blackwater troops is equally as unfun. In later sections it's not uncommon to be stuck in the same spot just getting wrecked, entirely unable to move, attack or react for upwards of 7-10 seconds at a time. When the rest of the game is so much more high octane, these moments REALLY take you out of the game.

speaking of taking you out of the game, The bosses. They all suck. including one that was the final tipping point for me choosing to thumbs down. Every one of them is a meatbag and keeps calling in mobs, obviously its meant for you to drink some, so you don't run out of HP, but one particular later one just keeps calling the worst enemy type of their faction. That same boss is so incredibly uninspired, low effort, unnecessarily frustrating, and derivative of other bosses of the scifi genre, especially in '09 it honestly almost made me quit. The final boss is a redo of an earlier boss. not a reskin, not even the same entity but stronger....it's just the same model with the same attacks with the addition of one new one.

would love to see a new take on this story and world, the potential is there. get it for 5 bucks.

This game is very silly, aesthetic, full of references and is a downright fun time for a great price. the fact I have to connect to the servers at random intervals for sometimes minutes at a time, on a game with 0 multiplayer aspects, is just so annoying to deal with. I payed for your ♥♥♥♥ ubi, you didnt come check my disk for splinter cell in my OG xbox when i was a kid.


lets be honest, all of those fantastic people are long gone and away from this shell of a corporation. yea, I know, im the sucker for buying this and giving them money, but they've been laying off people like crazy so hopfully the bleeding wont stop because of my 15 dollaridoos

No BS, im really curious to hear Miyazaki's take on this. kudos to all involved, this is way better than it has any right to be.

I swear if a smooth talking black man sitting in the dark doesn't make a 9 hour stream about this, I might just be a little upset

I thought it was mostly going to be like "The Thing"....well it is, but also Aliens, Day of The Dead, Lovecraftian Horrors, Event Horizon, and lots of other sci-fi shlock we all love (one enemy even kinda looks a bit like a necromorph). Very different to the other DLCs in many ways. pawns can have tentacles now, which is useful, funny, and affects the pawns mood. lots of good stuff here. I eagerly await what comes next.

pretty damn bad and i only played like 20 minutes. shame, seems like a cool concept for a game.

stop being retarded

This isn't even his final form

Can I just give you $50 and get all the costumes for ♥♥♥♥ sake?

While i'm rating this negative at the moment, im quite sure i'll be back when it fully releases, This is another moment where you wish there was a 'neutral' button for reviews. I only put an hour in, but compared to the first I have the jist of the major changes that will effect your first few hours.

I'll start with what I enjoyed. The art style is nice, I prefer the first ones overall, but I don't hate it's new direction since its trying to be more detailed. The ability to be able to click on a pawn, go where you want him to, then check and see what your hit chance from there is a great addition and will undoubtedly be used by other games in this genre in the future ( if someone else hasn't done it already). It's more clearly shown on screen at a glace what kind of shot you are using and it's cost when prepping. both of these make engaging in combat more engaging and slightly more approachable for an outside player. The addition of having a short burst with your LMG's is equally a great and welcome addition.

Now for what I'm not so hot about at the moment. I was totally down with the first Xenonauts trimming the fat of old school Xcom, while leaving the heart and soul intact. We might be crossing the line a bit in a few area here in this one, I really enjoyed the "belt" equipment system, gave you a few extra spaces and its layout was logical, I see no reason this was removed, setting up your belt was just as important as your pack. Not to mention there are missions where you need to collect multiple items and return them. I don't remember medkits being usable in secondary spots, though I could be wrong, It seems much easier to be able to heal in this game....which not inherently bad, goes against what I paid admission for when I first heard about the first game (I.E. a real hardcore modern take on Xcom). I want to punch my computer 50 times, not 10. I know im in the minority, but thats why I walked in the door. Moving stuff from inventory to hand was a tough juggle you had to manage given it obviously requires time units to heal (and how much) as well. Unless I'm missing something, crouch only gives extra cover now? not a slight increase to aim as well? Blasphemy I dare say! Time units are valuable, If you only have enough time units to shoot a guy VS enough to shoot while crouched is an absolute game changer, even if only to a small degree. These games are known for RNJesus not coming to save you, why remove me being able to get just a small degree more chance if I choose to move my team in a way that gives them position for a shot and enough to spare to get those precious few percents? It's honestly more upset about that change than most others, because unlike inventory or whatever, it was an active part of me playing the action sections of the game. It's a baffling misunderstanding of multifaceted use of those 4 little points and one button press. It was offensive as well as defensive, now just the latter. The human gun sounds are butt, which is wild because the first games early human rifle, shotgun, LMG and shotgun all sounded stellar. They sound puny in comparison. I'm back and forth on how I feel about human enemies, it's fine I guess. It's not going anywhere at this stage in development. 6 turns is a bit harsh for reinforcements. I like getting my teeth kicked in, but at least buy me a drink first and give me 8-10 turns
Lastly there is apparently no endgame yet. enough said on that.

it's good, needs to be finished, hope they make a few changes.