Recent reviews by Commissar

A game I didn't expect to like but now I'm pretty sure I... love?

Its odd. The big, hetero chest pounding machismo of hiring largely middle-aged "badass" actors from the 1980s and 1990s was why when I first saw the trailer for this game I wrote it off but after the abject failure of Payday 3 I decided that, hey, its got the right price point so even if it blows chunks it'll be worth it, right?

And it is. Even if I don't like the roguelite singleplayer mode and with it was elsewise, the actors who are clearly not good voice actors (hi chuck norris, your line reading is so bad it makes me laugh) stand out in a cheesy 1980s mid-tier action movie kind of way rather than an issue of development. Likewise with the game: any scuff marks on this diamond are flatly because its a mid-tier game, not a AAA powerhouse release.

The further we get from the 2010's the happier I am that mid-tier games are returning and the anachronistic, odd Crime Boss: Rockay City is the epitome of why we need them. The gameplay loop is fun and satisfying, feeling like an evolution of the heist game genre while not having eyes bigger than its stomach in terms of what they could accomplish with their budget, the gunplay is snappy and fantastic and the fact that it can be entirely singleplayer is phenomenal and really helpful for me and a game of this price point. Nobody can say what multiplayer games will live and breath forever, but ensuring that there's a healthy and robust singleplayer that more or less has the same features (and then some, tbh) was inspired on INGAME STUDIOS' part and I applaud them.

The part of the game that really rocked me most noticeably was that it allows you to tell the bots what to do and even control them directly depending on what part of the heist your on. You're not pigeon holed into playing as Michael Madsen's titular crime boss, and thats good because a lot of situations will ask for different gadgets, guns, or perks. My first run was dominated by a southern belle in heels named Alleycat who straight-up was as fast as a motorcycle thanks to her perks and it was capital-F fun to just be allowed to exist and experiment in this gameplay loop.

I'm also not a roguelite/rogue-like fan in general but the fact that almost immediately after the first run it feels more manageable is a nice change of pace. A lot of roguelites feel like you're just supposed to die, die, die and die until you have a good set-up but on my second run alone I was able to get more of the stories and characters than before and that was really nice! I didn't feel locked into a "forever game" where I'd have to sit and suffer for nine million runs to experience a fraction of the game bits and pieces at a time.

My largest complaint is that in the single player mode you really can't experiment without consequences, and sometimes some heists are a little less intuitive to me than others. More than once I've ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up because I misread something or other, particularly in taking down the defenses of the more in-depth heists - this isn't just a problem with Crime Boss: Rockay City, though, I can firmly say that this is just a problem with a lot of heists. The man-on-the-radio exists to ameliorate this from becoming too present of an issue and for the most part this game doesn't do it too often but the few gaffes I've made have felt cheap or otherwise out of my control than a screw-up of my own making.

There is also a specific job type where it glitches out and a gas tank starts to explode shortly after spawning in for no reason, immediately forcing the job to go loud. Pretty sure its not intended, and its on a smaller game map so its not TOO bad but when I bring a solo character to a map like that I'm expecting being able to actually utilize my awesome stealth abilities. Disappointing but not spirit breaking, I've not experienced many other downsides beyond a typo in one of the cutscenes, some UI faffery such as me trying to buy a crew member and then inexplicably buying the member next to them (might be an issue with mouse controls? Not sure.) This is probably one of my longer Steam reviews just because its bewitched me in the same way that other charming budget-friendly titles like Road 96 have. The clearly non-American spin on Americanism pipe fed by pop culture is truly a delightfully fun setting, and Crime Boss: Rockay City avoids the misogynistic and homophobic tendencies of similarly set settings like Grand Theft Auto. Its just genuinely a fun setting that is enjoying itself, not ripping down others.

Overall this feels like a solid, AA, mid-tier heist shooter with a laughably juvenile 1980's story that sweats popcorn, spits bullets, and has Michael Madsen laconically slurring one-liners while better voice actors like Danny Trejo, Danny Glover, and Michael Rooker chew the scenery whenever they're allowed to.

Not a fan of roguelikes that don't do more than just focus on being roguelikes with nothing special added in- Bunker Punks hasn't given me the impression that it will do anything more than just fit into a genre because of... reasons.

It feels clunky, samey, and some of the weapons border on nigh useless. Great music, OK art style, snoozeworthy gameplay and supremely uninspired enemies.

Not for me and I wouldn't recommend it but if you like to sweat and enjoy roguelikes it may be for you.

Homeworld 3 is fun. It looks like Homeworld, it sounds like Homeworld, and it overall feels like Homeworld. There are some issues with pathing and utilizing larger formation sizes but overall it just kinda has the vibe of Homeworld. It isn't bad, its about as much of a downgrade that was between Homeworld 1 and Homeworld 2. The War Games mode is hella good fun and the multiplayer overall provides a better Homeworld experience than the single player, even if that's also where the map design (an S-rank feature of this game) shines as bright as LED headlights.

I still think strikecraft auto-returning to carriers is necessary as well as them having fuel and munitions - this may be "skill issue" of me but some sort of feature to auto-reinforce groups based on unit production type would also make it just a more enjoyable game. I LOVE strikecraft but I feel like every game since Homeworld 1 has done them dirty and wrong. Ships smaller than capital-class feels wafer thin in singleplayer, some of them (like railgun corvettes) not worth caring about at all.

The lack of locational/system damage is really sorely needed and makes larger ships feel either arbitrarily squishy or arbitrarily spongy. But the ballistics are fun and feel impactful, it's just a lot of the more complicated bits that need work. I am hoping that BBI gets that in time and I genuinely believe they will, given the scope of future updates.

Additionally, the visual design is perfect. Some ships - frigates especially - are a little samey but they're still gorgeous. The comm chatter and voice acting overall is fantastic and exactly what you would expect following Deserts of Kharak.

Now where the game falls apart is its story. Homeworld was a grand-scale story and that's more or less what its always banked on and remembered for, no matter what the gameplay junkies say. That's why Deserts of Kharak was good, that's why Homeworld: Cataclysm was so sorely missed in the Remastered collection. Homeworld 1 is a masterclass in 'less is more' storytelling. Homeworld 3 is 'kitchen sink' storytelling.

Idiotic (but beautiful!) cutscenes involving random giant people in the hyperspace mind palace is just an awful idea. It doesn't work, Homeworld had this sweet spot of science fiction and it did not include psychic mind palaces or hyperspace wizards. The animatics of Deserts of Kharak were wonderful and memorable and in their place are a very sterile obsession with AAA-style presentation. I'm sure it works for someone but it doesn't work for me. It doesn't even work for the game. Remembering the villains of Deserts of Kharak, we were robbed of some genuinely cool people and in their place is some one-note idiot who at least is nicely sent off in the only part of the story that I like: the end.

The story fails on multiple levels but the general gist of it is that it tries to be a grand-scale story and interpersonal drama at the same time. Imogen S'jet is not especially annoying or even written poorly in comparison to others but she is just exceptionally human, which is something I really do not want out of a navigator and I think it makes the story lesser because she emotes too much, acts too much like a 'call to adventure' fantasy protagonist instead of a pilot or scientist. I think if the protagonist was Intel it would have been a better game and I think that every Homeworld story shackling itself to a S'jet is an active detriment to how far Homeworld can grow and go - look at the Somtaaw from Homeworld: Cataclysm and the supporting cast of Deserts of Kharak - we do not need only one Kiith getting all the glory. It just comes off as pedestrian.

If story is important to you I cannot recommend it, but I will say the ending does "reset" a lot of what was wrong in Homeworld 3, giving me some hope for the future. However if you like Homeworld games, space games, or multiplayer offerings then you could do worse. I do not regret my purchase but I hope that BBI learns from the major missteps of the story here and adjusts accordingly now that they've really pissed a good amount of their goodwill away.

It isn't a bad game, though, not by a long shot. Its just not a great Homeworld game. Just good with the potential for a lot more.

I'm not really the target audience for this game. I have no knowledge base for Korean idols and I am not into visual novels, especially not the tropey ones. But Angel Wings is really good! The art is fantastic, the music (while intermittent) is nice and sets the mood, and the stories are surprisingly entertaining with a good combination of humor and seriousness.

Overall it is the composition of the work that really sells it. This is exceptionally well put together and presented and the hook of needing a NG+ with some characters, two different endings, secret routes and more really kept me coming back for more despite me absolutely flunking out of any good endings on my first 2 playthoughs. It also really helped that it let me play a girl! I am a girl who loves girls and this let me do that! The writing didn't TREAT me like some random guy protagonist 80% of the time and that was really what kept me hooked.

Overall for fans of visual novels I wholeheartedly recommend. For those who aren't - well, its free so what do you have to lose?

Road 96 is interesting. Its entirely vibes based - a Unity game, for all the good and ill that such a thing entailed around the time of its release. Controls are clunky, minimizing risks nuking your game into oblivion if the Unity engine feels like committing virtual seppuku, and the overall physics present are a suggestion at best and disembodied and odd in cutscenes at their worst. Despite that, I loved Road 96 - its a simple narrative game that surprised me by having writing that was sometimes juvenile or pedestrian but then also genuinely brilliant, with the overarching story far more mature than its goofball or saccharine moments would indicate. Overall, it reminds me of some blustery mix of 1990's era teen drama and 2000's era French comic books. There's such a genuine oddness to the mixture of culture (somewhat like, say, Silent Hill) that appeals to me. No matter what, these guys know the one truth: Petrians (AKA Americans) absolutely LOVE burger. We really do.

I had initially played it when its first demo was released during an event and found it intriguing. Its premise appealed to me but the slice offered I had a few issues with - none of which were present in the actual game itself. While I think it would've been cool to pick your avatar (or at least gender) a little more consistently, the roguelike element of your character's identity (remember to call home to get those sweet slivers of lore) over the course of the game ended up selling me. My biggest complaint lies in how utterly liberal the writing is - most of the "good" endings being tied behind a literal "vote blue" mechanic was hilariously optimistic and unrealistic to how it worked in real-life, especially with a country analogous to America. I am staunchly antifascist - and I believe this game also to be so - but the liberalism on display with the Florres stuff is remarkably tone deaf to the actuality of liberal regimes in a system backsliding into fascism.

All in all it is a nice, strangely hopeful tale in an odd pseudoamerica which I visited first in the prologue sequel, the CYOA book, and now here and I can say that whats here is good but the prologue was infinitely more mature and I really hope to see more from this small group of developers.

A quirky, fun little game with a lot of spirit. Much longer than I expected it to be, too! The rhythm segments feel a little underbaked and the controls across the board are heavy and clunky but if you like to control a teenager into making good decisions and then see them inevitably make bad, brash decisions (as teenagers are often wont to do) then this is a solid little narrative title with a lot of love put into its music, visuals, and universe.

A dead game, but it IS good. You - as a team - man an airship and keep it in good repair and pilot it into battle. Without Guns of Icarus we probably wouldn't have the much more simplified but crowd pleasing affairs like Sea of Thieves or any multitude of sci-fi offerings.

A fun artistic style, good ideas, and a well realized aesthetic... and completely abandoned by players. Still technically playable but unless you're starting a raid then you won't be seeing a game anytime soon after over 10 years in the wild.

A pretty great tactical RPG (or XCOM clone if thats how you know them) that manages to hold onto a great style, good music, and fantastic technical design in its levels, enemy mechanics, weapons and abilities. A polished affair that only lacks lip syncing, really. The linear method of progression may be offputting to some but it really enraptured me - the pacing is top notch with adequate spacing between down time and combat segments and the voice acting (as well as the ambient writing for the announcer) is all fantastic and entertaining. The combat is meaty, bloody, and VERY satisfying. The open world puzzles are more hit or miss (some moon logic will absolutely nuke an Ironman mode playthrough unless you have played through it before) and the DLC adds some long, fantastic fights and a cool enemy. I cannot stress enough how fully realized the art, music, and ambiance in general feels. Some stuff isn't what I personally enjoy (mostly weapon designs) but even when it isn't I can see what they went for and they knocked it out of the park.

The biggest downside to Showgunners is its story. The concept of The Running Man style game show rules, as do pretty much every character except the "main two." Tybalt and Scarlett just kinda suck. They're nowhere near as interesting as the other companion characters and Tybalt is only brought down because he's such a package deal with Scarlett. Scarlett's motivations are played-out and boring, her visual design is god-awful, and she comes off as genuinely repellent to the concept of compelling writing. The fact that Showgunners provides us with a big, beautiful universe that's bustin' with style and pizzazz but the entire central conceit of the story is some one-note growling genderswapped male protagonist from 2010's gaming? Its bad. Its just so bad. There could have been so much more fun in the story and characters if it wasn't absolutely obsessed with the most hackneyed "obviously we the people making the game disapprove of blood sports!" style writing I'd expect in a high schooler's short story. Painfully childish, I really hope that the studio working on this takes this as me - an adult - not being satisfied and, y'know... works to improve on their next project. I'm only as disappointed as I am because everything ELSE is so fantastic.

Overall if you enjoy tactical RPGs you should very much look into this game. It has a good, solid 20 hours if you do every little bit of Showgunners and in the end I left feeling satisfied in a way a lot of modern games don't let you be. I almost regret buying it on sale because I really do feel the developers deserve every penny they ask for on this one.

Rollerdrome is the best combination of Rollerball, The Running Man and something like Jet Set Radio or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. It's an beautiful looking, mechanically unwieldly and ugly beast of a game and I absolutely adored every moment of it. It's gorgeous to look at, fast and fun to play and as long as you have a controller its one of those games where you can enter a flow and build up momentum.

I also caution any would-be purchasers to not buy this if they do not have a controller. The KB+M controls are awful and actively work against being intuitive. Additionally, I'm generally not a fan of challenge hunting in games like these as spending inane amounts of time smashing my head over and over into a wall as I try to accomplish something that the game's controls or map design makes improbable is just not pleasing to me. I don't really see myself interested in the NG+ because of that there's not a lot of content here.

The largest complaint I have besides the controls is the map design, at least how the PC interacts with it. I found myself slamming into walls, getting hung up on geometry, and otherwise ripping myself out of a good flow just because I had a tendency to search for the weird areas that the game didn't know what to do with me being in/on. Instead of a wall jump I'd just sort've flop, or instead of a grind I'd end up dipping down a half-pipe. Not a deal-breaker but definitely noticeable and for the size of the team and the quality of the game besides I can forgive it that.

My five hours was pushing it but I enjoyed every second of those five hours I spent with this game. I really wish there was more money put in here for more story because I love the universe that was made and how it was presented and knowing I'll probably never get more is a little saddening - but I'm glad for what I got in the first place.

I got this on a sale so I am reviewing it within the view of "if I had gotten it for full price."

Gameplay wise, a good portion of this game is teetering on feeling broken. I'm sure someone more familiar with these kinds of shooters can give you the particulars of it on a mechanical level but it feels bad. Movement is either slow, janky, or jerky with a too-short camera distance that makes it genuinely difficult on a lot of the cut and paste maps. After about 30 minutes I feel like I've seen all I need to see and I think if this game was half the price and half as long it'd be a fun little Hotline Miami clone that somehow took a lot of the bad level design attributes of HM2 and decided that really needed doubling down on. The boss fights are also abysmal - the fact that this sort of game has boss fights is a neat idea, a nice iteration on the concept, but they're just spammy spongy bullet hells along the same set corridors.

The PC controls being what they are, the menus themselves are equivalently janky and pretty consistently don't regard key inputs. You may find yourself furiously clicking or tapping the key inputs that the menu asks for (sometimes they're just broken and it shows a controller button for some reason) and realize that, no, you were a silly billy you you must active do the other. I couldn't find a specific rhyme or reason for it but... alright, I guess.

The music also is laughably bad. It just sucks, it doesn't fit the vibe of the game at all and seems to actively make it worse. Whoever composed the music has a hard-on for the bass guitar and that is perfectly fine but maybe something with a little soul? It reminded me most of a generic arcade cabinet's START screen music where a demo is playing. I'm sure if that was the intent then they've done a wonderful job but its so forgettable I gotta laugh.

Speaking of forgettable: if you ever wondered what Hard Boiled would be like if all the dime-a-dozen knock-offs from the era were even less inspired and sanded down into a smooth, unoffensive, and poorly delivered series of badly written exposidumps then you're in for a treat: that is 100% of this game's story. I had thought at first I was in for something moodier and more interpretive thanks to some genuinely striking and odd cutscenes (with awful audio mixing, whoops!) but those are quickly swept away in place of a banal police interview tossed through Google translate and a conversation in a bar that is genuinely so soulless that I'm sure at least part of it was written by someone banging their meat on a keyboard.

Slow motion and diving also feel extremely bad. The indications of the player character doing either are so miniscule and presumptive and get lost the moment you're doing anything. The overall bland visual design does also mean that you will get stuck on terrain quite often largely through no fault of your own and the dodge mechanic is flatly broken - if you're not careful you WILL phase through walls and get stuck on terrain. Thankfully restarting a run is kind've the whole idea of this sub-genre of shooter but it feels really, really half-baked and underdeveloped. It also eventually adds in an enemy that is just annoying - one that always dodges the first shot, even and especially when you get the drop on them. I'm sure that it felt good on paper but considering they visually have a kevlar vest on I feel like if they were just bulletproof for one shot it would've felt a lot less like I was playing something uninspired and cheaply made.

A few things that this game does right is visual flair during combat, weapon balancing, and weapon upgrades. Each weapon feels genuinely unique and upgrading them is both worthwhile and mechanically rewarding. Massively, massively rewarding. The exploding cabinets, windows, doors, and bloody viscera are all on-brand for the movies and TV shows its emulating, too,

Overall, The Hong Kong Massacre feels generic. Its standard, B-rate, and fine but its not much more than that. If you're a fan of Hong Kong action flicks of the 1990's then this won't scratch an itch but if you like Hotline Miami and really want more of that then you could do a lot worse than this. For someone like me who loves the former and is not a fan of the latter's trial-and-error-or-go-suck-yourself gameplay I genuinely don't recommend it unless it's on sale. If my complaints feel unrelateable and you're good with a heaping of jank then don't let me stop you, it just clearly isn't for me.