Recent reviews by D3Jag

This first release to early access is mostly stable, while being very taxing. Playing at 4K, max graphics, on an RTX 3060 does pull it well below 60FPS.

The graphics are a solid step up, from the sheen of ships and water surfaces to the more interactive sand modernized UI. Subtle details like contrails and how Kerbals react to G forces definitely enhance the visuals.

Sandbox mode and some tutorials are available. The tutorials are a fantastic leap ahead from the previous game, but aren't as needed for the experienced KSP player. The tutorials are baby-step and you can leave after each step then pick up where you left off later.

The VAB is consolidated for rockets and space planes and the game seems to do a decent job so far of figuring out whether your new vehicle is headed for the launch pad or the air strip.

It is not yet the immersive campaign or mod rich experience of its mature predecessor, but it seems to have made a solid start so far.

28 hours in 2 weeks. Roughly 2 hours per day. I went from knowing the basics of how to hold a guitar and play single notes to being able to play riffs in some of my favorite songs and play the whole bass line to some songs I like. YMMV.

I found the variety of training tools to be a great way to balance learning time so it didn't feel like a chore.
Have a particular skill you need to hone? Try the Guitarcade for things like string or fret selection or slides. Need a more detailed walkthrough? Try the lessons. When you're ready for practice with covering songs, Learn a Song takes you through from the basics of rhythm to the full note sequence for each song, at your pace. Feel like you want to just jam and play around with the sounds of your guitar? Try sessions, where a virtual band will back you up to help you hold a rhythm and sound more full.

It's been a blast so far. I expect to sink many, many more hours into this practice.

Only con: Getting it to work with certain audio configurations was a pain, and I did need the Realtone cable to get it to recognize the notes on my bass cleanly. Exclusive Mode may lead to higher sound quality, but it also killed the audio all together on my MS Surface Pro 7, so I had to turn it off in the hardware control panels per output device in order to hear the game at all.

Main Assembly is a hoot. Precision control and organic creation including deformed planes and direct vertex manipulation make it more free and more challenging than games like Scrap Mechanic. There isn't much for story, but there's a ton of challenges to face with detailed worlds.

It's a sandbox. That's the first thing to know. There are scenarios (vanilla, DLC, and workshop) to help you find a story or an objective, but it is definitely a sandbox. The multiplayer aspect is enjoyable. The modding community produces prolific content. The vanilla game is configurable to throttle difficulty extensively.

Too many mods or pushing the limits of the game with certain types of blocks in excess or simply ships that are too large will bog down your computer or the server and drop sim speed or cause the game to crash.
Certain blocks can create challenges for the physics engine, namely wheels, pistons, rotors, and hinges. When used with care, these blocks are not a problem. When used recklessly, clang is easily summoned, and your creations will take on a life of their own (typically leading to destruction of that creation and anything in its path).

Space Engineers is immensely entertaining as long as you can respect the limitations of your computer or the game engine. When you start to push the limits, the results can be even more entertaining or very frustrating, depending on the context. Steady sim speed drops from 1 to 0.7 or so can still be playable. When it drops further, or spikes from 1.0 to 0.2 and back up on a recurring basis, the game experience becomes infuriating.

Know the limits of the game, know how to address those limits when they are being approached or exceeded, and the game will serve you well for a thousand hours or more. Shift+F1 and Shift+F11 are your friends. Use them to help you understand where the problems are, and remember, they are hints, not guarantees.

Keep talking (and listening) and nobody explodes!

Worth noting, by default this is a LOCAL multiplayer game, which definitely works well for me for trips with the kids and such. It also works very well over Teamspeak or similar, because the manual is downloadable by anyone, and the point is the other player(s) is(are) not supposed to be able to see the defuser's screen as they play (and you're not supposed to look at the manual). The adrenaline spike and the requirement to communicate clearly with your experts and let them ask you all the right questions make it that much more intense.

As the expert, you can view the manual in paper form or on the web. You need to be able to ask the right questions and listen for extra details from the defuser, and not get frustrated when things don't line up.

Spintires is still under continued development from Oovee, and what's coming shows promise. Much like other games in early development, there are some core changes that are making modding difficult, but drastically improving the game. From using the tech demo to playing the inital release on steam to today's Spintires, I can see the promise in the engaging off-road simulation. The game isn't about speed, but skill in maneuvering and controlling a variety of vehicles, with specialized equipment available for each. Completing each level alone is quite entertaining, but the full exploration of the beautiful scenery and the challenge of navigating washed out roads or blazing your own trail further enhance the game.

Valuable points added since initial Steam release:

• Mod support (only in beta/legacy right now, but still there)
  
• New, challenging map (Flood) much like River, only more water and less overall work to complete
  
• Map Fog - Navigation without clearing "cloaking" is much more feasible, with strips of the map being revealed as you drive through them
  
• Drastically improved physics, including but not limited to: locking diff balancing, debris (rocks) bouncing fixed, and tires clipping terrain fixed.
  
• Improved muliplayer - chat now works, as well as joining game in session
  
• Improved saves - though not immune to damage through patching, multiple maps can be in progress in single player at one time
  
• Garage cart!!!! (and utility cart, but not nearly as cool)

Personal wishlist:

• Ability to cut and clear trees, similar to Farming Simulator 15, and pick up downed trees for lumber to haul
  
• Additional winch points on target vehicle (when using one vehicle to tow / upright another)
  
• More traction enhancing options, like chains, on more vehicles (even at the cost of extra fuel)
  
• Improved lighting, esp in multiplayer. Seeing the effects of additional lighting, and of other players' lights would drastically improve night driving.

This is a 4X game with tabletop grade gameplay. The cinematics are impressive, but rare. The actual gameplay is turn based and on a strict node system. The screenshots and videos paint a poor picture of the actual game content, and I found Star Ruler to be much more satisfying, with its 3D galaxies, extensive expansion capacities, and customizable ships for realtime combat.

If you like freeform strategy, I wouldn't recommend this title.

What a blast, literally! Sanctum 2 balances the tower defense and FPS elements quite well, and never removes you from the first person view (aside from that whole respawn delay thing if you manage to die). Support towers allow you to pick up and place generated items (like slow fields and mines) even where towers wouldn't be allowed. Up to 4 players in a cooperative match also adds to the experience, and the difficulty scales (or at least it seems to). If the game is too easy, or if you're looking for more end-game experience, you get credit for each "Feat of Strength" earned by completing a level with the option turned on; the Feats are 5 options for increasing the game difficulty, and can be used in any combination.