Recent reviews by UR|Zuzuzu

At its best, it's a decent RPG, with lively characters, dialogues, and situations. Locations look amazing, full of love for old Warsaw architecture. I never imagined that mud on the cobblestones can look so alive and diverse, you can almost feel it squelching and slipping under your feet.

It's not always at its best though. Combat is an unbearable chore that doesn't bring neither fun nor tension, just a mindless repetition of the same actions vs identical opponents, that can't be sped up, nor bypassed. Whatever mechanics there are outside of combat, they fail to impress just as well. You just tolerate it as much as you can.

Overall, the game is a bit iffy and mediocre, but if you're in the mood for some authentic Polish stuff, it's well worth it.

Better story and characters than in most major RPGs.

Better turn-based combat, too, with free restarts to try different tactics.

A simple, but pleasant game.

Unfortunately, it's a deeply derivative product. A vintage recipe of Commandos series was brought to the 21th century by Mimimi studios in their brilliant Shogun Tactics, and now everyone, including Mimimi themselves, feels obliged to copy that winning solution pixel by pixel, ability by ability. And that is very much the case here.

Having said that, what this game lacks in originality, it makes up with craftsmanship. It plays great. Character abilities are grossly overpowered, but the levels are complex enough for all that power to have a proper application. Visuals are great. Story is decent enough. No technical hiccups.

Basically, if you are at all predisposed towards this sort of games, don't miss this one. It's a good bit of casual sneaking.

First, the obvious: Factorio is a better game. Bigger, harder, faster, stronger. Tighter in design, richer in quality of life features and interface, yada, yada.

But herein lies a problem: I don't want to deal with hardcore gigabrain multiplanet megaprojects, resilient to bug waves and supply shutdowns. Instead, I want to relax on a beach and fiddle around with a few belts and wires, making them look nice. While also contributing to a production chain. Less is more.

And that's what Satisfactory does in droves. It is serene. You are never in a rush, nor in a danger. Whatever you built, will work forever, undisturbed and safe, with all the pretty bits you've put on it, and all the amazing scenery around it. And I love it.

Great piece, both as a standalone, and as a second installment in a series. Comprehensive story, neat visuals, handy controls.

Provides tension and challenge at all stages of the game, while being approachable and open for experiments: free restarts, mid-combat checkpoints, multiple build options, etc.

The star feature of the series is its aiming mechanic. It brings a tangible, interactive way of both judging and controlling your chances. Most tactical games incite massive outrage with misses on 95% shots, but this one doesn't: if you miss, it's entirely on you. Fair. Good sport.

It starts as a hilariously dumb and grimderpy noir antiutopia, wrapped into a mediocre walking sim. That's good. So far.

But it drops hard from there. Devolves into endless, unbearable scripted sequences of moaning and puking and schizophrenic visions, interspersed by pointless button prompts.

Murky non-sensical plot remains unresolved. Puzzles are limp and atrocious, but thankfully few in number.

The only reason to play it is to see for youself how bad it is. Oh, and gawk at a couple of decent cityscapes, I guess.

If any game ever glorifed a war, this is the one. The shared, communal exultation of utter righteousness. A mindless glee of violence against an enemy that unquestionably deserves it. If you ever wondered why war crimes happen, play this game, and you'll recognize the obvious: it's fun.

Combat and landscapes are visually glorious. The heft and make of issued weaponry is authentic and powerful. Detailed damage model turns fighting every enemy into an involved mini-game with a rich feedback. Fair unmissable monetization soothes the mind.

Pretty much everything is done right here. It's a titan among 4-player coops. An absolute must-play.

A dreary and tedious walking sim. However, I struggle to think of a better medium to convey the intended experience of traversing an alien planet. We're not a Doom Slayer, the very act of getting around *is* a core challenge, boring as it may seem.

But that's just the shape of the product. Once you get through it to the essence within, it is delightful and refresing. A strong straightforward sci-fi novel about smart competent people dealing with unexpected problems. A flawless adaptation of a true classic.

Add to that some breath-catching landscapes, awesome industrial design, passable controls, lack of annoying puzzles, and we get a genuine gem that really shouldn't be missed by anyone who's at least marginally interested in space exploration.

It is exactly what it apprears to be: a simple topdown stealth game. Kinda like Hotline Miami, but on heroin instead of cocaine.

Everything is solid and handy: interface, controls, weapons, enemy behavior, no issues whatsoever. A genuine joy to play.

As a game, it's a shallow primitive slog.

As a narrative, it's an exquisite masterpiece. Extaordinary, sublime, full of talent and passion. A true work of art, both literary and visual.

Also, how often do you hear of a game having a *bibiliography* section in credits?