Recent reviews by Tamaster

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3073099283

Overall the writing, even if it uses some tiresome clichès such as the “advanced, forgotten civilization” one and the “you’re the chosen one” type of thing, still manages to involve the player enough between fairly-unique characters, their backstories, and events that aren’t always as plain as one might expect. While the choices you’ll make won’t always have the same impact, it’s good to have a say in the event, instead of a streamlined linear story, which wouldn’t do justice to a RPG after all. Don’t expect a heavy roleplay component dependent on skill-checks and such, though, as you won’t find it here.

The worldbuilding is adequate for its setting, however an excessive repetition of biomes, locations and structures can be noticed between dungeons and story areas. While there are some lore pieces in the form of notes or examinable environment objects, this game isn’t lore-heavy at all and doesn’t require a lot of reading - for the better or worse. Some more elaboration on the Ancient civilization would have been interesting and welcome, same for the various sub-cultures and factions encountered.

Each location on the world map, revealed in a linear way after specific events came to pass, is a self-contained area in the form of a dungeon filled with enemies, traps, secondary areas, and usually one or more objectives. Your party can explore dungeons freely, and even evade enemy encounters using a rudimentary stealth system – I wouldn’t recommend it, though, as you’ll need as much XP as you can get. Other than the main path, dungeons usually will have secondary areas with color-coded chests, with matching randomized loot and resources.

There won’t be any breathtaking secrets or Easter eggs in any dungeon; at most, you’ll find optional puzzles and relatively secluded areas containing extra resources or equipment, but overall everything is laid-out on the global map pretty easily, with a wide exploration radius. The level of interaction with the environment is minimal, with at most you having to find some keys to open locked doors. Still, the ‘unknown factor’ is strong enough to promote exploration without knowing what’s behind the next corner.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3076209870

Combat plays out in real-time, with the option to either slow it down or completely stop it, to better issue orders to your party members. On its own, the flow of battles is rather fast-paced, however it doesn’t really matter given the pause-anytime system. Fights can and will become chaotic soon, especially when involving a dozen or more enemies - you’ll have to frequently micro-manage your party’s positions, skill casts, active abilities and such, because even if there’s an “autonomous” AI mode that can do so for you, it just isn’t good enough.

With six active skills and four passives to choose for each hero depending on their class, and the possibility to respec anytime, there’s a lot of flexibility to adjust your party’s focus based on the fight ahead. Facing a boss soon? Swap to more single target abilities for that specific fight. Speaking of bosses, they’re very inconsistent, ranging from extreme difficulty spikes far overpowered for their level, to pushovers you won’t have a problem with even on the hardest setting. While they’re all unique and have multiple, evolving phases, they don’t all feel equally epic.

At each Xp-based level up, your characters will gain 3 attribute points (also respec-able at any time) and two abilities and, when unlocked, two specialization points. You can freely invest them to unlock new skills, or more powerful versions of existing ones. Each character can further choose a specialization from level 7, and an additional one later on - but these can’t be respec, so choose carefully. You’ll get the most XP from quests, and a little also from slain enemies, so it’s worth doing all side-missions and companion assignments. All characters are very much gear-dependent, as in DE, that will bestow massive attribute and stat bonuses depending on the type of armor or trinket, and is also further enchantable with passives for a cost in resources.

Speaking of crafting, you’ll be able to acquire blueprints from merchants and loot chests, that you’ll then forge using the materials at your disposal - the better the material quality and rarity levels, the better the stats of the crafted item. To unlock most enchants and crafting options, you’ll have to research them, using points found in dungeons or bought - at a high price and limited quantity - from traders. Merchants can also source powerful items without you having to dungeon raid for them, some may even be Unique in rarity, but they will cost a fortune.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3068075602

It's free, but it's garbage, and here is why:

- Credit where it's due, the graphics are phenomenal and capture the essence of the backrooms, same for the audio. Atmosphere is spot on, and as an avid Backrooms Wiki reader i couldn't but appreciate the care. But that's all I have to say for positive things.

- Absolutely zero options whatsoever, not even a basic menu for resolution selection or setting the audio volume. Even flash games from 2007 you could play in your browser had this, yet somehow this doesn't.

- No explanation of the control scheme, if there's any. Is there an interaction button? There isn't? How am I supposed to know without a controls menu?

- There are situations where if you go through the wrong door, you'll have to repeat large sections of the game you already have passed. I am not sure if this is is by design or instead if it's an oversight, but it's not fun and add nothing to the experience other than useless repetition of a linear section.

- Limited controller support: you can move with it, but you can't press ENTER which instead must be done with a keyboard in menus. How hard is it to add A = ENTER when a controller is plugged in? Apparently, hard enough for this game to not have it.

I gave up on this game when, after repeating the initial area TWO times because I went through a door I probably wasn't supposed to, I found myself stuck without anywhere to go, and nothing could be interacted with (if there's an interaxt button at all, I can't know, because there isn't a f**king controls menu!).

Just don't waste your time with this indie trash.

• If you want to know more about the original KONA, here’s my review.




https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3063060986

Set in 1970s rural Quebec, Canada, this Kona sequel follows the investigation of private detective Carl Faubert, former military official, into the dealings of Hamilton Mining Corporation (HMC). All contact was lost with a scientific and mining venture in a remote, snowy region, so now it’s up to the detective to find out what happened - this investigation will turn out to be a lot more paranormal than expected.

As far as the world design goes the environments, infrastructure and architecture typical (and expected) from this region in the 70s are well-made; locations feel immersive, desolate and eerie, a good thing, since there’s a clear horror connotation in how the story develops. While you’ll be spending most time outdoors, weathering snowstorms and finding your way to the next cabin for rest, there will be several indoors sections that are just as well-made artistically and visually. The graphics are good, but don’t expect the latest engineering in terms of eye-candy; if I have to be fair, the game doesn’t look that much better than the first Kona - but that one was ahead of its time.

For a narrative-focused title, the story is passable and won’t be a chore to play through, however it won’t be great either. From Carl himself to all the sparse side-characters, none of them will truly feel like a standout with either their personality or the interactions you can have with them - if anything, they’re static NPCs that serve as basic lore-dumps, and give main objectives at times. The amount of side-lore, expanding upon local folklore, culture and past events is of adequate writing quality, and will be sometimes interesting to sit down and read as a diversion from the usual loop.

Kona II uses a semi-open world approach, as it’s divided in three main areas you’ll be able to explore freely - however, several doors, gates and obstacles will need specific items to be unlocked at first, so there’s no “real” free-roam from the get-go, especially in the beginning hours. At first on foot, and later with the aid of a dog sled, you’ll be exposed to the rough climate of Quebec, and slowly freeze in the process - heat management is the only ‘survival gauge’ present other than HP, and it won’t be a worry at any point, since not only it degrades very slowly, but is fully replenished at any campfire or with plentiful herbal consumables.

Exploring every area accurately, and opening all containers, chests, drawers and so forth, will transform Carl into a walking general store (I ended my run with 137 flashlight batteries in my backpack!) filled with ammo, herbs, medkits and consumables to counter each and every malus that the game may throw at you. A handy general map with height levels and markers for nearby points of interest will be useful to make sure you won’t miss a thing, although some things aren’t marked on it and will be for you to find (mostly collectibles). You’ll also be able to save unlimited times at any campfire, and there’s one pretty often, on top of a backup autosave, and use Spare Parts, the only “resource”, to repair elements in the environment so that you can access additional supplies.

In many cases you’ll have to find key items to unlock parts of an area, and sometimes arrange them in a certain fashion, during simple puzzles that won’t be a challenge even for those new to the genre.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3065824333

Combat feels like a side-gig more than anything, despite the various weapons you’ll eventually find. You’ll be fighting both regular wildlife and their paranormal versions a bit later on, which don’t take many shots to be dispatched and deal negligible damage. The fact you can stop time ‘à la Fallout’ to select weapons or use medkits, which regenerate your health instantly by the way, means that as long as you have medkits, and you’ll have a lot of them, you’re basically immortal. I never died even once for the entire playthrough, and I’m not some “mad skills pro gamer” by any means. Don’t expect a realistic handling of weapons or any complex fight mechanics; it’s usually point, shoot, headshot does extra damage - that’s it.

You’ll encounter a number of NPCs in select locations; thew may give you tasks related to your investigation or their personal circumstances, but in the latter case, they won’t be like ‘side quests’ with optional rewards - they won’t give you a thing in return, and don’t seem to have any impact on the NPCs situation either. For instance, a certain character will ask you to make repairs to a house to help the survivors get better living conditions - you do that and… nothing happens. Why did I just waste my spare parts for this, again? We’ll never know.

These characters can also be talked to, mostly asked questions using a linear, simplisting dialogue tree that is a bit clunky to navigate at times. They’ll reveal info on events and local areas, but rarely any revelation or topic brought up this way, will be exciting or captivating.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3063270717

Disclaimer: I already played and finished this game on Uplay back in 2016-2017. Screesnhot of my Uplay stats[i.imgur.com] if you want proof.


1. One of the worst control systems ever engineered for a third-person shooter.
The utter clusterf**k of controls in Division 1 is a pain to endure for the entirety of the experience. Despite key rebinding options, it won't get any better. Especially in combat, every action feels clunky and slow, particularly those related to movement and skills usage. Overly-long animations and bizarre hard-binds, such as double-tapping the cover button to dodge-roll instead of having a dedicated key for dodging, add even more misery to your journey. In the heat of battle, don't be surprised if you'll mistakenly vault a cover instead of using it, or perform one of the bizarre, useless, time-wasting "tacticool" cover-to-cover moves that will only get you killed, due to their ridiculously long execution times. You won't 'get used' to it, you will only suffer. Devs, this is not a tactical shooter, this isn't Ready Or Not and it's not paced appropriately to be one - yet, the actions pacing - yours at least, while enemies act as fast as a greased-up Irishman at times - seems to be set for that standard.

2. There never is a true sense of build progression or specialization. That's because of how terribly designed progression is as a whole.
The Division wanted to do something new, by forsaking the standard class archetypes of regular "Looter Shooters" (terrible term, by the way) / Action RPGs and instead, allowing players to mix and match active and passive skills, alongside armor and weapon traits, to create their custom builds. On paper it sounds great, but at the end of the day this system has one big issue: it takes away the identity of single, specialized classes in favor of blander, shallower builds that, as specialized on some aspects they may become thanks to sets and specific Exotic weapons, will never feel like standalone classes with their own identity on the field. Don't even get me started on the amount of grinding for those exotics, either.

Basically the designers thought that giving more freedom, by diluting and bloating the total available skill / trait pool would, in the end, result in more diversity for the end user, without the need to commit to a specific build and sticking to it (like in most other RPGs, where you choose a class / a hero and that's it). Well, that ended up backfiring, making everything shallower with very little upsides. During your journey from level 1 to 30, you won't feel like you have passed milestones that further define your playstyle, you won't feel like you have been doing some real progress; it will be the same weapons and skills you'll unlock relatively soon, only upscaled due to higher level stats.

3. PvP (Dark Zone) is a terrible, flawed, issue-ridden experience you will not enjoy.
Implementing PvP as a main game mechanic / mode in this type of game is pointless enough, given how success is far more gear-dependent / build-dependent than actually skill-dependent, but let's say you're suicidal or naive enough to want and try PvP - don't. Seriously, don't do that. Let me describe you the worst crock of s**t imaginable: the Dark Zone, a large part of the map which is dedicated to a PvPvE (so that means hostile NPCs and players all in the same area) experience.

Do you like to endlessly roam to find that specific Dark Zone-exclusive named enemy that drops that particular piece of gear / weapon (MAYBE, drop rates are dogs**t in general for Named / Exotic stuff), only get gang-banged by a group of 3 people while being solo? Do you like people having permanent wallhack because it's one of the actual skills in the game? Do you like horrible netcode that wasn't structured nor programmed with PvP in mind, screwing you over with miserable hit detection and trash polling rate every other fight? If the answer is yes, then you only live to suffer, and I salute you, but you still shouldn't play PvP in this game.

Icing on the cake? Some of the legitimately best gear to have is ONLY dropped in Dark Zone, but it's not worth the pain of this mess. You CAN do without. And you better.

4. Far too much repetition in enemies and mission archetypes, even for this genre.
The definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again. In addition to all of the above, you'll be facing enemies that much too soon become very repetitive, with even the majority of Named and Boss tier ones being only upscaled archetypes of normal ones, just with a whole lot more health, damage and abilities on steroids. In comparison, Borderlands, to name another "looter shooter" most normies will know, is highly varied in this aspect. That says all, I think. The same goes for missions; there will hardly ever be unique ones, and anything outside of main missions, which do have some more uniqueness from time to time, will be a slog to grind, again, I know this RPG subgenre is meant to be like that to some extent, but Division 1 takes that extent far past what is acceptable.

5. Uninteresting story with anonymous, forgettable characters.
Granted, story shouldn't be taken as a main expectation from this genre of game, but at least some effort should be made to make it at least tolerable or somewhat pleasant. While the atmosphere regarding level design, and the detail, effort put into building the environments are all highly remarkable, credit where it's due, the story surrounding these evocative locations will never be more than mediocre, or at worst, listless. I didn't remember a single character from my 2016 playthrough - no surprise there.

So that's all folks. I wanted to focus more on why you shouldn't play this game rather than why you should. Simply because I felt like that for this review. Until next time.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3054288478

After the world got absolutely totaled due to the appearance of nightmarish creatures, the few surviving humans are on the run for their life; near-immortal, blood-sucking individuals known as Revenants battle each other and the monsters over precious resources. With a typical ‘deus-ex-machina’, you happen to be the only revenant whose blood code is ‘special’; this unique feat will soon gather a following, and embark you on a quest to retrieve certain artifacts.

Most characters you’ll encounter won’t be totally uninteresting, but also won’t show any real development past their initial archetypes, either, thus being one-sided in the long run. The story itself feels more than anything a Dark Souls ripoff with vampires added to the mix, but none of the great pathos and evocative setting, and isn’t really interesting at any point.

The anime-style, cel-shaded visuals are modern enough to be pleasant, even if they don’t have the detail of other titles with similar production value released in the same year. Artistically, CV is a success, with most locations feeling unique and visually-appealing - too bad for that Anor Londo plagiarism, which was sad to witness.

Save for a few specific cases, most locations in Code Vein will play out as linear levels that won’t really have any interconnection or shortcut between them. Sure, you can teleport in-between Mistiles (bonfires) at any time, but the world feels detached, incohesive, as if each stage wasn’t part of a larger picture in any sense. As customary, there will be secondary areas in each zone, oftentimes housing unique items, memories of departed revenants, resources and even fearsome Invasions, which are just a truckload of normal enemies coming all at once, really.

Exploring is enjoyable for the most part, however the power creep is noticeable and you likely won’t have a lot of problems clearing out entire areas once you get stronger and have access to upgraded weapons and armor. That feeling of dread, not being able to reach the next bonfire before you’re exhausted, typical of souls games, won’t be common here. The fact CV includes a map is great, something more souls games could have, however said map lacks height levels, so it becomes a bludgeoned mess when you’re exploring highly vertical locations.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3050894193

The combat plays out in third person, with the general canons of Souls games as baseline: dodge, block, parry and backstab your way through levels crowded with respawning enemies, with or without the aid of a companion, keeping an eye on status effects, stamina and limited healing. If you choose to be ‘hardcore’ and play solo, consider that most levels are designed for a companion to play with you, so don’t be surprised when you’ll get gang-banged by 8 angry pepes and stunlocked to death - your companions can revive you a number of times, and you can do the same with them as long as there's HP to sacrifice.

You’ll be able to get all classes at once and even create your own in CV. Unlike most Souls games which focus on a single playstyle for a “run”, Code Vein has Blood Codes that dynamically can be swapped to alter your stats, abilities and playstyle. The unique abilities of each blood code can also be mastered, and used in other ones at will. A great amount of possibilities is there for those willing to experiment, but this comes as a double-edged sword, sacrificing replay value massively.

You’ll gain items, weapons and souls from defeated enemies, pickups and the occasional quests, which usually entail fetching a specific item or clearing a marked enemy on the map. The upgrade system for your character and for gear is straightforward and in-line with other Souls games, with the exception of Blood Code talents which are leveled up in a “use to master” fashion.

Combat plays out fine at surface level, but its biggest weaknesses are general inconsistency, and clunkiness of animations. It feels off, unresponsive and frustrating to handle, even with a controller. The ridiculous animation lengths will be your death, as in some cases you won’t even be able to heal in time for how long it takes. Forget playing a caster or ranged class, since mana in CV is only gained with limited consumables or by striking enemies in melee; no matter your class, you’ll have to go melee eventually - pretty soon actually - all for using spells that aren’t worth the trouble.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3055690250

You’ll be able to trade souls and specific resources with NPCs at your home base, in exchange of reputation credits that are, in turn, used to purchase unique weapons, cosmetics and resources, trade maps to gain access to optional dungeons that, as well, house unique items, but are otherwise copies of already-cleared levels with the same enemies. Once you finish the story, some challenge dungeons open up, with nothing new gameplay-wise, and only oriented to achievement hunters.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3045705183

Only a shade of your former self, neurons annihilated in an ethanol holocaust, thoughts irradiated by the fallout of sorrows and what-ifs. That’s the sorry state of your yet-unnamed protagonist, a police officer tasked to investigate murder in a post-revolution banlièue called Martinaise.

With melancholy being the centerpiece of its entire leitmotif – hell, it’s the entire leitmotif - you’re resuscitated into a world that is just as crumbling as your own self. If the demons of your past weren’t enough, you also have a case on your hands. With this premise in mind, Disco Elysium builds a world that couldn't be farther from its ‘Elysian’ namesake, and doesn’t pull any punches in depicting the true-and-gritty nature of it. You’ll come across the worst of human nature, and have a choice whether to improve or indulge even deeper in your own self destruction. Or both, as the writing is flexible and farseeing enough to have middle-grounds.

The painted-canvas like art style is subtly-entwined with modern graphics tech, as it does deliver some splendid light effects and impressive visuals, but only at the right times. It’s not a game that doesn’t look good because it can’t, but more a title that knows exactly how it wants to look, and doesn’t care about flashiness in order to pursue a style that integrates with its mood. And that’s great.

The Martinaise district and its environs trade extension with saturation, as far as content is concerned. Jam-packed with interactions, NPCs with endless dialogue options and thought-provoking caricatures of cityscapes at every corner, you’ll likely take hours to get to the bottom of each building, street and locale. Of course, you may even revisit already-explored locations once you have the skills or the specific tools to access previously-unlikely or downright impossible areas, interactions and skill checks. It’s a rewarding exploration system that works organically and intelligently, but at the same time doesn’t give second chances in many cases (unless you reload, but where’s the fun in that?).

There’s a metric ton of optional locations, secret items and unique interactions for you to be discovered -admittedly, some exceptionally obscure and nigh-impossible to figure out, unless you stumble onto them perchance. The lack of a detailed map and inconsistent fast travel that just doesn’t always work are minor issues, as the sense of direction and uniqueness of each environment are strong enough for you to not get lost.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3046360878

Crown jewel and core of the experience, the dialogue system, and generally the interaction framework with the environment as a whole - including yourself - is a highly-advanced one. As in any RPG, you’ll be presented with skill checks at every turn, testing one of the dozens of attributes you may invest into. Dodge a bullet with Reaction Speed, avoid blacking out from pain with Pain Threshold, formulate logical conclusions with Logic, become a (quasi)human trivia machine with Encyclopedia - these are just a few of the many skills, each governed by an attribute.

The checks are both active and passive, some can be retried after a day passed or after you leveled up, while others have only one chance of success. The system deciding the outcome is RNG-based, however in many cases, such chances can be boosted by performing other actions that give that specific check a boost. For example, knowing as much as possible about someone, before questioning them or their motives, will give you a better chance at understanding them and tell if they’re lying. Works in the same way for everything else, in a system that is contextually-plausible and realistic (most of the time).

Despite the world and your own mind saying anything but, you -can- actually improve, and become a smarter, faster, stronger, savvier alcoholic wreck with each XP-based level up. Passive and active checks award experience, needing 100 each time to gain a Skill Point that you can use to improve your skills - or, invest them to unlock Thought Slots that, when filled with more-or-less insane metaphysical, social or philosophical digressions, award a great variety of passive bonuses (and maluses).

Other than that, being Martinaise adequately-filled of abandoned junk as any post-revolution liberal dystopia should be, you may appropriate such junk in the shape of clothes, accessories and consumables that might as well boost your stats, or even have more special effects - changing your apparel frequently based on the task ahead isn’t only smart - it’s suggested and implied in the gameplay design. Lastly, fun-based consumables like drugs and alcohol can boost your core stats and give great bonuses, especially when stacked, but there -will- be consequences for fueling your self-annihilation.

Lastly, you can get various archetypes stuck to your sorry sketch of a human being; some of them political, based on the opinions you voice about social issues and circumstances, while the others strictly archetypal, classifying you as one of several “copotypes” that express the kind of cop you have become. While none of these massively influence the experience, they do unlock interesting stuff.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3044205345

Endless network errors and disconnections. Using two PCs in the same room with the same router. All other online games have zero issues.

Do not buy this game for co-op. The netcode was written by someone clearly incompetent.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3034610854

Earth has gone to hell because humans fiddled too much with technology - who would’ve thought! Despite this clichèd premise, MC introduces a world that feels and looks unique from any other in the realm of sci-fi. This tale is about Elvis and Diggs, a human-robot duo living in a ramshackle settlement called Sedentary, in what’s left of the former USA. Ruled by an allegedly immortal posse of tyrants dubbed “The First Family”, this setting couldn’t be farther from the Land of the Free it once… was? Pushed more by organically-created necessity than some ex-machina crap, the duo ventures out in the Miasme-infested lands and, incidentally, finds their true purpose.

The situations and characters encountered by Elvis and his party, be them companions or NPCs, are all believable and plausible in a post-apocalyptic setting. Bearing in mind this isn’t a RPG with choices and skill-checks, but by all means a linear storyline, the way events unfold and how those involved react, is well-written and acted at all times. Despite getting a tad too dragged-out towards the end, the story is overall interesting and manages to keep player interest up without fail. The amount of optional dialogues, lore files and indirect narration are copious, there won’t be a shortage of interesting facts for the avid explorer.

The world is divided in three main areas spanning the entirety of the USA, from coast to coast. Despite such an extension, there will be relatively few self-contained, linked locations to visit in each, so forget any sort of open-world exploring - that’s not happening. All stages are fairly large in extension, and house a number of optional locations that often contain resources, hidden weapons, key items, unique enemies and upgrades to collect. This makes exploration perhaps the most important source of character progression, far more so than quests - only by searching every nook and cranny can you hope to acquire enough skills, mods, weapons and additional XP to be strong enough for what’s ahead. The amount of secrets is generous, many of which hidden behind logic-based puzzles whose solution can be found by reading documents or using environmental hints.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3041023615

It can be said there are two types of combat in MC: Stealth and Loud. This title emphasizes stealth a lot, especially on higher difficulties, by providing you with silenced weapons and certain abilities that allow taking out enemies without being heard - but only if they aren’t seen by other foes, and only if you defeat them without raising alerts. The benefit of doing this is that, when things inevitably go “loud”, you’ll have to deal with fewer foes in a single encounter - and that is almost mandatory to pass many areas, especially on the hardest settings. It would be better if the stealth system wasn’t unreliable and bugged at times: that’s why I heavily suggest NOT trying “Ironman” mode, this game’s stealth system isn’t reliable enough for that to go well.

On paper this system sounds fresh and interesting, but it’s actually a pain in the butt. While you have tools to pull enemies, like throwable bottles or static distractions, getting rid of single enemies is heavily-tied to critical hits - one bad roll and that enemy will have enough leftover HP to alert all their friends, ensuring your doom by sheer overwhelming numbers. You’ll have to reload, and a lot, if you want to do sections stealthily and save resources. This isn’t always possible, though, as some encounters start loud without a chance to use stealth at all - THOSE are the ones you should save up all your resources for.

The loud combat plays out as any run-of-the-mill turn-based title, with a basic low/high cover system, 2AP per character to move, shoot and use skills, a rage system ensuring a crit once filled up by kills, and a swathe of consumables that expand tactical options considerably. You’ll always be underpowered compared to the full strength of enemy numbers and skills: there is no way to defeat any encounter without moving them down with stealth first.

Bosses, in many cases, are named, amped-up versions of normal enemies that boast unique skills, better stats and even have their own lines or special behaviors. They’re always formidable, and can usually bolster their allies or summon new enemies to the field every couple turns.

You’ll gain XP not only from combat and quests, but also by finding collectibles in the world, dubbed “treasures”. This will actually be an XP source on par with or better than quests. Leveling up gives a small Max HP boost to all characters, and also skill points to invest in one of the four separate trees each character has at their disposal. There’s no way to get all the skills; you’ll have to specialize - luckily, respec is free and can be performed at any time. Quests will usually entail finding a specific item or killing a particularly horrible monster, or rescuing someone in need.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3038884068

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031520408

This prequel to Daymare 1998 puts you in the shoes of special agent Dalila Reyes, a HADES military combat engineer sent to the iconic Area 51 in order to secure vital intelligence, after an unexplained loss of communication with the facility. Of course, some secret experiment violating most ethics and treaties went terribly wrong, so the President called the cream of the crop to clean up that mess, and cover it up in the process. The story is narrated well-enough despite its unoriginality, with decent VA and cutscenes; however, the character animations are definitely stiff in many cases.

It’s a clichè, overused premise, that doesn’t introduce anything new in its sci-fi horror plot; it inspires mainly to the Philadelphia Experiment and the innumerable Area 51 tales to build up its lore - if you’re a sci-fi enthusiast, it will certainly feel already-seen. Nevertheless, the atmosphere and visuals are top-notch, much better than you’d expect from a small Italian Indie studio - combined with the exceptional sound design, they can really deliver an atmosphere I’d put on-par with AAA titles, without doubt.

Each level takes place in a different section of the gigantic Groom Lake facility, and plays out in a linear fashion, meaning that there will be one-way points you won’t be able to backtrack from once crossed. The notable absence of a map, usually customary in the genre, isn’t a big problem given the modest scope and size of each stage; you’ll unlikely lose your bearings, as there aren’t many side-areas to get lost into, enemies don’t respawn, and the way ahead is rather clear most of the time.

Exploring every nook and cranny won’t be as satisfactory as in other titles of this type, as the interactivity with the environment is down to a minimum: there won’t be opening closets, chests or rummaging through debris to scavenge ammo or consumables: everything will be conveniently-placed on shelves, crates or inside bodies, and highlighted with a marker when close enough. Still, it’s definitely worth it to spend extra time scavenging, as you’ll need all the ammo you can get, especially on higher difficulties. That being said, there won’t be “secret” areas or entirely optional chunks of levels, or any meaningful backtracking; at best, you’ll have a few side-rooms with an extra minigame to get some extra resources, or an upgrade if you’re lucky, and that will be it.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031821980

Your foes will be lethal, and fast even more so. DSC detaches completely from the relatively slow-paced enemies found in most survival horrors, instead opting for blazing-fast, teleporting, grab-heavy foes that will hit like trucks, and may still be dangerous even after death thanks to the corpse-reanimating mechanic that migrates one enemy’s “soul” to another to either create a new foe or upgrade an existing one to a fearsome Red variant. Luckily, the Frost Glove, acquired early–on, is there to help you in slowing and freezing these monsters - the only way to kill their red “upgraded” variants, and generally a good way to deal with the rest.

Combat is based upon managing the limited gas reserves for the glove, usable to fuel various active skills, and of course being accurate with your shots, while kiting enemies around to not get grabbed or hit by ranged attacks. Ultimately, it’s a challenging combat system, that however feels more like an action third-person shooter than a survival horror at any point; it doesn’t have the methodicalness, deliberateness and pacing expected from the genre – a pacing instead found in the first Daymare. The constant QTEs to get free of grabs and the teleporting instant-kill enemies are unnecessary, frustrating additions that make many encounters more annoying than they need to be. In case of death you’ll be respawned at the nearest checkpoint or save-station, whatever is closest.

There’s only one real boss fight, and it’s not even a “true” one at that. The final boss is a complete disappointment, an escape section with infinitely-respawning enemies and an immortal boss you need to slow and avoid until you reach a certain location. It seems like the developers wanted to make this a “real” fight, given the massive amounts of ammo and resources given before it, but then ran out of time / willpower, instead making it into an anticlimactic “freeze the boss and keep running” meme that feels like a boring chore. You won’t even need ammo for it, trust me.

The limited weapon and tool selection, having only a shotgun, a SMG and the glove as implements, doesn’t really evolve at any point. Despite the presence of various upgrades to all of the above-mentioned tools, they never really feel any different in functioning, despite improved capacity, rates of fire, efficiency and so forth. Sure, they’re fine and do the job, but they don’t feel like improving at any point. This lack of variety, united with the lackluster enemy roster, makes combat encounters repetitive not after long. Upgrades can be useful and by all means, you should seek them by opening all side-rooms and solving all puzzles, but don’t expect the gameplay to be more deep or revolutionized by them at any point.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3031920051

Absolute garbage that goes against the game's own design.

Each level of this dumpster fire of a DLC introduces a new enemy unit, which might seem like a great addition, given that the European Assault DLC had none, save for the final boss. But the truth is far from that.

In fact, each of these units is more cancerous and annoying than the last, with a focus on directly targeting your Core with their attacks. You'll encounter the deployable missile launchers, capable of targeting your core directly from the corners of the map, or the heavy missile gunships doing the exact same thing, but in an airborne fashion.

Then, you'll also encounter the Deployable Shields, which aren't a bad addition, as they protect all units in their radius and are immune to most weapons: they need to be dealt with by AoEs or by yourself using weapons that aren't direct-fire, so antimatter bombs to name one. LAst but not least, the Manticore heavy tanks can disable your fighter for a time, are extremely durable (probably the highest HP normal unit in the game) and will need to be dealt with at a distance.

The really bad thing with this DLC is the amount and frequency of units that can spam missiles to your core from the four corners of the map, on top of everything else. This type of unit goes against the concept of tower defense as a whole, as it won't matter how good your pathing is, or how your routing strategies are: these units will not care and shoot your core directly. Surely, you can counter them with a lot of anti-air, but you won't have the money for that until latter waves, lest be overwhelmed by ground units because you had to spend all your budget to counter missile spam.

Even after collecting most scrap and routing units with the longest possible paths, I found myself either short on ground defenses to counter the massive amount of enemies, or short on air defenses to counter the massive missile spam. I cleared the European Assault DLC on Hard, as well as the main campaign - it's not a matter of skill or strategy, it's a matter of spam. The developers here thought it would be a great idea to bypass the players' strategies and defenses with units that basically "cheat" the game and can hit your core 10 seconds after they spawn. Ah, yes, this happens from multiple sides, at the same time, of course. All. The. Damn. Time.

Personally, I found this DLC frustrating as soon as these units started appearing. Shields that make everyone invulnerable? I'm fine with that, because they have a counter. Manticores disabling you? That's fine too, just keep your distance and be careful. But the missile spam completely ruins the whole thing.

Save your money and skip this DLC. It's frustrating and not fun. Just play European Assault and the main campaign, those are good.