Recent reviews by Upset Soviet

The answer to the question : What if SnowRunner had an "I win" button?

Ubisoft has successfully managed to alienate their core audience with stupid decision making and the failure to make sure the most basic things like a friends list and invites work.

I have tolerated a lot of their ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ over the years and while technically the game should be in the best state it's ever been, it's soul has been drained completely. It is hard to explain what I mean, but anybody who has been playing since 2017/2018 knows exactly what I mean.

While I'll still return to this game for nostalgic reasons here and there, it's essence has been destroyed beyond repair once the leadership has been handed over to some woke people who think focusing on "inclusivity" with their operators is more important than focusing on the core gameplay concerns, I've had enough of being force fed someones agenda and feel ashamed for having spent so much money and time on this product.

Edit : OH MY GOD, they actually went on and did it. While yes the movement still isn't my cup of tea, the input lag at lower FPS is completely gone. Solid recommend :)

Honestly, my only problems with this game are the lack of good optimization and the movement feeling like you're playing an alpha version. While I was enjoying my time in the 143h I put into the game at this point, there was always a nagging feeling that it could have been much better without the mentioned issues.

But sadly those issues are most likely here to stay due to how mismanaged the whole development process was (developing the game engine and the game at the same time...are they crazy?). You never really feel completely in control of your character, partly due to the really "meh" movement system and also due to the input delay becoming so extremely bad when you drop to 60FPS or god forbid even lower.

The devs have been hard at work patching things up and bringing new things into the game, but the game needs an entire sweep of the most basic mechanics to make it feel like a finished AAA product. I guess you can't market technical things as well as new flashy content. I really hope that they will make me eat my words and focus on those things in patch 1.6.

Look, very few games will drive you to 100% it. This is one of those games, if you're a fan of rogue-like/lite games then do yourself a favor and play this.

A truck so powerful, it doesn't need diff lock. 2 Bucks well spent.

So enjoyable, I bought it twice.

As I am sure many people are, I was very skeptical at first. How can a game about getting stuck in some mud and getting from point A to B be any kind of fun? So when I first started, my initial impressions weren't very good. The starter scout truck had looping engine sounds, the handling felt weird, first truck you get is trash without upgrades etc.
But the magic started happening when I realised that this is a true sandbox. It throws a bunch of missions at you and how you solve those is entirely up to you. Go the long and safe route? Or take the treacherous shortcut which will punish you instantly if you are not skillfully maneuvering and changing gears accordingly.

Starting out is rough, since most trucks still have highway tires. which are utterly useless in mud. Especially if you are hauling cargo and pulling a trailer at the same time. But by the time you reach level 6 (doesn't take too long really), you unlock all-terrain tires. Those will drastically change the performance of any truck by themselves and oh boy do off-road and mud tires improve things even further. It is intensely satisfying to suddenly get through spots quickly where you were struggling for minutes at a time before.

Map exploration is very rewarding, since not only does this game feature gorgeous environments which are a joy to look at, you also find upgrades for your trucks and entirely new trucks that you can repair and use for free.

Since this game features mod support (even for consoles), you will never get bored of the truck selection, because most mods are made so well, you could swear they were in the game all along. New maps? There are mods for that. Change up the core mechanics a bit for more realism? There are mods for that. Want to make all tires compatible with all vehicles? That's right, there are mods. Mods everywhere and they are super easy to manage thanks to the in-game mod browser.

This game will keep you occupied for a while and it's such a relaxing experience. Don't go in here expecting to race around the mud. Rather get ready to get through it at a slow and steady pace, or find a cheeky route to avoid it entirely. You should truly give this game a try, alone or with friends, it's a lot of fun.

Elite: Dangerous is a rare gem, which not everybody will appreciate. Here you write your own story. Be it as a bounty hunter, pirate, trader, miner or explorer. Elite: Dangerous has stunning graphics and sound design which will make you feel like you are really flying a space ship. No other game has ever given me the sense of scale as Elite does. The learning curve of the game is very steep. You can decide to do the training missions if you wish or just get thrown into the huge universe like I did. The learning process is one of the best out there. If you are too lazy or demand from the game to hold your hand you are wrong here. It surely is a matter of taste but for me it felt like learning the game without even doing the training missions was the most rewarding way to do it. The community in the game is amazing, forming events and groups like the "Fuel Rats" to help eachother out. One of the best things in the game is that there is no such thing as "the best ship", sometimes just the amazing sound of a ship makes you want to fly it constantly even if it isn't the best one you can afford for your purposes. When I bought Elite I was so addicted that I started skipping school just to play the game. People say that the game feels empty...what do they expect when there are 400 billion systems you can visit. Usually you meet a lot of players at the locations where there is a community event and then you really start to feel how much of an impact the community has on the game itself, which is great. I have not seen any profanity in the game at all yet, no unfriendly players, no griefers. Who doesn't like meeting other people can play in "Solo Mode" which still requires an internet connection because you are still connected to the global servers and even in solo mode can participate in events and can change the course of a war or make a system have a booming economy. The game can become an endless grind to the next ship you want. In order to prevent that, just play the game for fun and not for the grind. Right now I am in possesion of all the ships I ever wanted and yet the game has it's strong grip on me. Maybe I am just fascinated by space and the game really makes me feel like I am there? The complexity of the game is immense in the begining, but if you are not the kind of person who just gives up easily and are willing to learn, you surely will have a blast with Elite: Dangerous. The game is worth it's price and with the release of the "Horizons" expansion soon it'll become even bigger featuring planetary landings.