Recent reviews by XeroMan

Diablo style gameplay but far more depth and complexity.
(Original Positive Review: 31 Aug 22)

Update 19 July 23
Sadly the game is pretty much dead outside the end game content. This creates the following issues (not exhaustive, but enough to give you an idea):

For new players there are very few players doing islands, low tier guardians & abyssal dungeons. This means you will be prevented from completing those achievements (ie Island Souls), but your progress to tier 3 isn't impeded too much with all the boosts they now provide.

The end game content has a lot of challenging, unforgiving mechanics, which alone isn't so bad, but when combined with many group wipe mechanics makes for widespread gatekeeping. If it only takes one player out of 8 making a mistake that kills everyone in the party, then the veterans will be unwelcoming or even hostile to players new to that content.

As a result of the above mechanics, the community has become quite toxic. While there are good vets out there that have training runs, they are rare. So effectively there is a hard wall to end game content (where the majority of the dwindling player base is parked).

I still enjoy the game, but in its current state I can no longer recommend it to new players.

Played for the boats, but the player base is too small so the tier spread in players is large. Most battles you'll be killed by boats of a higher class that you can't even damage. Add in the experienced players bringing in their highly trained crews and it turns into a stomping for any new player. Waiting 5+ minutes in queue just to be cannon fodder isn't really a productive use of time.

I've played PS2 off and on for years, and it was always enjoyable until now. With the recent patches they've broken the game yet again, not just with new bugs but by throwing the balance off. Especially aggravating was the new reward mechanic for alerts that simply doesn't work - you'll play for an hour or more on an alert and get no rewards. This happened several times, and after the last I uninstalled the game. The progression system is broken, and I don't see a point in playing anymore.

I played the game when it first came out, and it was quite enjoyable. It was relatively balanced, and the players worked together in a friendly fashion. The only issue for me was the weird mechanic that required you to orientate your map so your target was in the corner of the screen in order to maximise your range (corner aiming).

Having come back recently, my how everything has changed. The corner aiming still has not been fixed, but the logistical side has been altered in such a way to vastly decrease the results of your efforts. Everything takes longer, and requires more base resources, with fewer refining points available. This translates directly into more time spent moving between resource nodes and refineries. While this would lend itself to greater teamwork, in practice you have a network of experienced logi players that have a well established network in place with *some* of them viewing newbs as disruptive and not welcome.

The worst change in the game though is in the community. Clans have taken over the game, and of the two factions the Wardens have become massively OP. They have larger, better organised clans that are very toxic. The Colonials ("Collies") have fewer dedicated clans, and seem less toxic, but typically are fighting a losing battle. Generally new players, not knowing how the server population has stratified, end up playing Colonial. This is to the delight of the die-hard Wardens who love harvesting newbs in order to claim an easy victory. It didn't take long for this to become apparent when I came back to the game. There is no population balancing unless the imbalance is extreme, and only then by forcing new players to join the Colonial side. This does not help.

Just to be clear, the factions are the same gameplay wise. It's the community that ruins the balance in this game. Those that love an easy win and rofl-stomping newbs are die-hard Wardens, while new players and masochists tend to play Colonial. I'm half-joking about the masochism. There seems to be die-hard Colonials that fight the good fight for the good of the game, knowing that if there are no good Colonials, then nobody will play Colonials and the game will die.

I can't recommend this game to anyone looking for a balanced, competitive fight. It's too bad. Even with the newer, more drawn out logistics, the game is a great concept. From scrap in a scrap yard to the fabrication of weapons, all the way up to front line troops, this game is unique and highly rewarding for all sorts of gameplay styles.

Here are some threads from the discussion forums if you want to delve deeper.
Discussion on Foxhole issues: https://steamproxy.net/app/505460/discussions/0/2763442118809217303/
Discussion on Foxhole pop balance: https://steamproxy.net/app/505460/discussions/0/1637543304823627348/

The devs recognized the drone problem, but made only slight balancing changes with the patch. Still seeing drone squads of 4+ players carrying on as if no patch happened. So still thumbs down from me.

Warning: The game doesn't have a large player base (yet) so teams are usually terribly mismatched in experience and skill. New players can be greeted by rage from vets when they start losing. A small toxic part of the community can ruin this game. I feel bad for the dev's - they can't generate a player base out of thin air, and can't change the one they have. Maybe the devs could enable a mute feature like World of Tanks so you can play in peace.

That being said, the game is dynamic with a wide range of ships that are truly unique. A lot of effort has gone into this game, and it shows. It's a great game. Strategic choices to choose grouping up on either alpha or beta lanes, or splitting between the two. Tactical decisions on who to target first, to stick around for a fight, which flank to turn to which enemy. The fact that there is armor to front, back, sides, top and bottom really adds complexity to the game more than you'd think. While not as in depth as world of tanks with their hit boxes, it is very effective at injecting planning into battles. Each ship has a role that when learned can be very effective. So really there is something for everyone:
- cloaked assasins hiding, waiting for someone to jump (very vulerable) then decloaking and wiping them out
- in close brawlers who can deal tremendous punishment
- heavy armor that soaks up punishment and deals it out
- healers
- utilities that vary widely from dropping automated turrets, fighters/bombers, bouys that can detect, heal or reduce damage in an area

Again, each ship is unique with a combination of different attacks, attack arcs, utilities and defences. One ship might have limited arcs but be very strong in that arc (ie broadside or forward firing) while another ship might have fast firing, low damage homing weapons that can fire in any direction. All of this adds up to a tremendous variety in play styles.

I initally did not recommend this game due to some of the people who play it, but that was grossly unfair to the dev's who have done so much for this game. I apologize to the devs for that.

First game, staying in cover, not moving fast enough for some teammates, shot from behind as punishment. Charge up, start capping - shot from behind by incompent teammates. Second game, similar story. You can end up getting killed more by your own team than the enemy, especially if you are at the front of the wave. If you're in the lead and turn around, you're dead because just looking the wrong way is enough for some teammates to shoot you. No effective penalty for teamkilling makes for a crappy game.
Got it free from humble... thank goodness for that at least.

UPDATE POST RELEASE
I've decided to change my review to thumbs down. Upon release the game is still riddled with bugs that ruin the game. For instance while playing a long game I found that after researching techs I would lose the abilities/benifits at some later date for unknown reasons. Specifically the ability to colonize extreme planet types - have the tech, colonized a few, then the ability is gone. The games says you need to research the tech, but the tech is shown as done. Ditto for the ability to buy out rival colonies with influence. It worked... until it didn't. Want to remove a negative anomaly? Nope, same thing. You've researched it, but it just won't register it. Removing the negative effect of a mixed anomaly? The option won't pop up on the system screen when you click it. It'll pop up a window "Select an option" but it won't have any selection to choose. Note that this is all in the same game session.
The game didn't crash for me, but a lot of important features are just too buggy. When the resource you need for high end weapons is only found on lava planets, and you lose the ability to colonize lava... that's frustrating. This isn't EA anymore, so I feel it warrants a negative review. As for reporting the bugs, I reported a few on their forum with no response so there just doesn't seem much point anymore.
It's too bad. I like the game and would have loved to play many more hours. Hopefully they fix it, but I fear these kind of buired coding bugs will be the least of thier concerns and be a long time coming, if at all.

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Early Access Review

I do recommend the game, but it is still Alpha with all the associated bugs, etc that goes with that stage of development. I've encountered bugs that bring my game to a dead stop - not crashing, just an endless loop or a decision/report screen that cannot be completed or closed. It's frustrating yes, but only because the game is fun and I want to finish it.

The gameplay is 4X, and enjoyable. There are less buildings to construct than in MOO2, which simplifies management but lacks depth. That's an impression, not hard stats based off of doing a count of both games. Picking a specialization for each planet in the system is nice and adds a bit of flavour to an otherwise bland system. The rest of the buildings are built once per system and apply to all colonized planets in that system. The bonues may vary, but there is no real management of individual planets aside from the specialization and species management.

The minor factions adds a whole new layer to 4X, and while I've seen similar ideas elsewhere there is so much more depth in this game. Having other species living on your planets can have quite the impact on voting and the bonuses you recieve. A personal gripe for me is that playing as a race hostile to others it would be more in line to get penalties for co-habiting with others. The Riftborn for instance see life as a blight, so why would they be happy to be sharing their planets? This also extends to the planets themselves. Why would Riftborn be happy on fertile planets thriving with life and unhappy on desert, ash or even lava planets? The devs could have made them even more unique by reversing the normal planet happiness bonuses. This touches on terraforming.

Terraforming is linear but has different branches depending on the start planet and the planet you want to end up with. For instance you start with a Lava or Ash planet, terraform to Desert, from there you can go Savannah or Arid. Pick Arid and you can move on to Jungle, and from Jungle to Atoll. If you are industry focused there are a lot of bonues to industry on hot planets, and Jungle is still hot while Atoll is temperate. So even though you get an extra pop on the Atoll you lose out on industry to terraformt the final step. There is no "Gaia" or perfect planet. Start with a cold planet (better science) and you'll end up with something different. It's a cool system, but I wish you could also terraform backwards - ie go from Arid to desert. As of yet the game does not allow for that, and I've seen no inidcation that will be added. As mentioned, it would seem to be in line with the Riftborn story line to desire to go backwards - to a barren planet, be it barren or ash.

The combat is beautiful to watch - but watch is all you do as a predetermined outcome is played out for visual effect. After over 2 decades nobody has made a decent 4x game with similar combat to MOO2 and that is dissapointing. You do get to implement tactics but I'm not sure that this is fully implemented. At least I hope it isn't. The visuals are stunning but to be honest I don't see the impact of the selected tactic in the visuals. When you picked a tactic in Endless Space 1 it was very clear to see the impact as the battle unfolded. So far with the different tactics I've picked the battles look the same. Still stunning, but not much variation. The impact of tactics does seem to apply to the outcome though, and that's the important part I suppose.

One thing that is annoying is how the fleet blockade system works. If you want to create a chokepoint with a fleet to prevent enemies from slipping past to your inner systems you better have several fleets present. A fleet can guard a system and force all ships passing through to stop for a turn, allowing you to engage them. Each fleet can only engage one target per turn though - and you don't get to pick the target of the attack. The AI tends to send mulitple fleets through, and if you have just the one fleet you stop a random one, and the rest carry on their merry way. Perhaps this is intentional, and I can see the logic behind it. It is an effective tactic. You have to pick to split your fleet into smaller fleets and hope they are enough for the battles they end up in, or build more ships. It's different from other games of the genre where one mega fleet can stomp and any and all comers. I said it was frustrating, but in a good way. Adapt and overcomee, etc.

On the dev team itself I don't have much of an opinion yet. I just bought the game, and have been going through their forums reading bug reports. Sometimes they respond it seems, but often not. Maybe at this late stage they are too busy to interact with the community or address bugs. Who knows, certainly not I. Perhaps if I go back, deeper into the threads they may have been more engaged earlier on. I'm not inclined to do so though. I just want a game that works and that is still up in the air.

So all in all, a good game with great potential. I picked it up before the price gets jacked up before release. If you're content to wait, do so. As it is now the chances of not being able to finish a game are still high. If you want to help the devs, by all means jump in. It is very playable, just not really "finishable".

There is no option to reset your play / wipe and start over. The dev's response to this complaint in forums is to create a new account with a new email address. That is not acceptable and after a brief, albeit enjoyable introduction I've chosen to uninstall and walk away. Thank goodness it's free.

Gameplay is good, it's a typical time based build app common to mobile devices. The terraforming is a fun feature that makes building your map to maximize your villages enjoyable.

A great game! I played Savage 2 and enjoyed that a great deal. I do miss collecting souls in order to stomp around as a massive demon, but the core gameplay is still there. Fast paced melee/shooter that adds the twist of a human commander in advanced matches. Some people might be frustrated with that - a bad commander can ruin a team's chances pretty quickly. I also see in other reviews a few complain it's twitchy. I didn't find that. This game requires more skill than other shooters. Using ranged until the right moment, knowing just when to block when the enemy gets in close (for humans) or leaping in and attacking at the right moment and timing your attack or not attacking if the human is blocking (for the beast). The melee mechanic is NOT forgiving to button mashing. Timing is key. As I said, if you're goood with timing your attacks you'll quickly become dominant in each match.
One thing that is a drawback is that the matches can get repetitive. Especially when you're learning the ropes. Build/expand, the best players shoot up levels, start slaughtering the other players. Truly balanced matches are great, but not especially common (yet). Not a fault of the game, just the way it goes with so much dependant on skill and teamwork.
If there one thing I would love to see (but don't expect, not upset by it either) is for a long term reward system for continued play. Something like Planetside 2 or other shooters where you unlock more abilities. It would give a reason for ongoing play. That being said it would be damn hard to make it fair. The trend of good players dominating would be a whole lot worse and you'd lose most players soon after they start. So this isn't a complaint - I don't see how it could be done without shutting out new players. ***I know the loot system is supposed to represent that, but I don't want to spend more $$$ on keys for cosmetic changes. No, I DON'T want pay to win mechanics either.***