Recent reviews by CommodoreEvac

Imagine not playing RC before doing Cartesian Theater in GFL.
Imagine that.

Comparing this to Vampire Survivors feels reductive and unfair to both games, but they share the same core mechanics of kill hordes of enemies for exp and upgrades.
What's interesting is how pretty simplistic the guns, characters, and upgrade system works.

You choose 1 character with 1 trait and 1 gun.
This is the only gun you use and each one has it's own stats and a unique trait.
The upgrades then affect your gun's parameters or your character.
The upgrades have very small upgrade paths (3 tiers) but you make up the difference by choosing a wider variety of upgrades.
You're also not locked into completing the upgrade paths which is an important feature (not all upgrades are useful for your chosen gun).
This is the game's selling point, finding the wackiest combinations of upgrades that work well for your gun/character.

Oh, and there's a punishing health system (2-3 hits on ave without upgrades).
Thankfully there's a high HP crutch character you can unlock pretty easily to help you learn the game.

Oddly addictive due to tons of unlocks, secrets, and constant updates. A tad grindy if you want all of the passives (not really necessary) but then again, game's like $3 so getting like 20+ hrs out of this game's pretty solid in my book.

Have you ever wanted to see what a Korean game, voiced by Japanse VAs, set in basically LA, with (new) XCOM mechanics would be like? No? Well too bad, it's good.

The best way to actually describe it is XCOM Chimera Squad with JRPG equip/skills plus most of the QoL UI improvements from XCOM2 mods. Where it differs is that combat is more focus on melee and closer engagements and the game uses an action timer similar to many JRPGs. Cover exists for you to close the distance to targets, not necessarily to take pot shots from. To compensate, there's both block or dodge mechanics, just don't get too cocky with that dodge tanking. You can get punish quite heavily out of cover and most of your characters are melee oriented so positioning matters a lot more when you might need to survive several enemy actions all at once.

Ah right the story. Ever wondered what would happen if the government decided to privatize law enforcement like in My Hero Academia because it didn't have the resources to actually enforce the law? Yeah it's that, but you're taking on SWAT team type missions... It's messed up and the game is well aware. It's all fun and games until you play your first Violent Case and you realize you're sending students with the SWAT team to kill 50+ gangers or pull trapped officers out of a firefight.

10/10 gimmie weeb XCOM urban firefight simulator again. It's also about the same cost as the actual XCOM Chimera Squad too.

Look, you don't need to cry at the end to enjoy this game, I was just smiling and that's fine.

It's good when the bad reviews have valid points to make, primarily that you're not really buying a game per se, but a VN.
As long as you're aware that that's what this is, then I'd say your expectations are already lowered in terms of gameplay.
When you're not reading or solving little audio puzzles, you're exploring the galaxy, juggling resources and money for you ship.
It's not a complex gameplay loop and the game's set such that it's pretty hard to fail.

What you can fail however are the skill checks which is the other neg point I think everyone can agree on.
They're annoying because there's not way to reroll/redo the event without quitting and reloading the game.
The rewards for passing them however include collectible items for the journal which means that you'll need to do some old school save scumming to fill everything out.
I say old school because there's no manual saving, it's all autosave.
(it's frequent but still annoying that you can't manually save)
It's not mandatory to fill everything out the journal, but the game encourages you to find as many of the pieces as you can, so it's just bad game design.
(after you finish the game there's a chapter select which makes things marginally easier)
It also just feels bad because every location and item has flavor text for world building and it's quite impressive.

Anyways, it was a great experience overall despite it's flaws and I'm glad I bought it on sale.
The standard price seems pretty fair to me so buy it whenever you like and play when you're in the right mind to just read.

PS. I actually don't recommend 100% the achievements or the journal, they feel like busy work with diminishing returns. I say this as someone with about 70-80% of the journal filled with 1 run.

This is less of a review and more of a neat thing I noticed in the combat. It's basically based on kendo (Japanese fencing) sparring matches. No, really. 1 strike to kill, only the tip counts as legal strikes (or in this case, the hit box) on legal body parts (which you chop off), and the actual counters for enemy swings are more or less what you learn in kendo. It's amazing.

Oh and I guess there's some other mechanics like time slow and kicking. And guns. (Funny, I don't remember kicking as a legal strike in kendo)

Important:
I highly suggest people use a controller for this game, and/or rebind the mouse+keyboard controls if you've played VC 1 before. They changed both control schemes such that it feels too weird using a mouse+keyboard.

This is a (quick/early) mechanics overview regarding VC 4, if you came for a opinion, please look elsewhere as I'm super biased in favor of this series.

Classes:
1. All VC 1 classes are available, Scout, Shock, Lancer (with AT guns), Snipers, Engineer, and now Grenadier (perma mortar support)
2. You CANNOT change classes like in VC 2 and 3
3. Engineers now have the ability to revive units who have been KO'ed
4. Engineers have been reverted back to their VC 1 form (second highest AP and use rifles) and can repair/sap things
5. All units can equip 1 misc item (like in VC 3) to boost their stats
6. Altered stats for most units (snipers begin the game with significantly more AP)

Tank:
1. VC 1 tank customization with some VC 2 and 3 additions like decorations (which provide buffs like in VC 2 and 3)
2. Most likely no full customization of vehicle like in VC 2 (no construction arms, breaker attachments, APC chassis, etc)
3. Standard AP rounds have an ammo count
4. Tank costs 1 CP to use

Menus and HQ:
1. VC 1 format with a book navigation system
2. Order and Potentials unlocks now show up in training grounds (So if you have lvl 3 Shock troopers, it will state that lvl 4 Shock troopers grants a new Potential for them)
3. Weapon/Tank upgrades are VC 1 style (no more searching for materials and weird upgrade charts)
4. Shock Troopers now have their own Heavy Armor set (as opposed to them sharing armor with scouts like previous VC games)
5. Choosing units and equipment can be handled before missions

Combat:
1. Grenadiers can Intercept Fire, however, you must end in the setup position during the turn before. This means that if you move, shoot, then move again, you CANNOT Intercept Fire. If you move, shoot, then stay stationary, you CAN Intercept Fire.
2. Grenadiers it seems cannot use sandbags and shoot at the same time (you stay in the setup position if you choose to shoot), so you cannot take advantage of the defense bonus
3. Enemies don't appear to "Double Tap/Select" the same unit. This may be because I have not played past the basic missions.
4. Battle Potentials when active, will flash on the screen like in VC 1 and will state what the bonus is
5. Units can now "Change Shoulder" when firing (In VC 2 and 3, units had the option to shoot from the opposite shoulder, thus allowing for trickier shots around corners)

Misc:
1. All control layouts have been rearranged. Neither the Mouse+Keyboard nor the Controller (with respect to VC 2 and 3) have their original keyboard layout.

Despite being a rather large, overwhelming, mass of lore, Dawn of War does well not to alienate non-Warhammer fans (such as myself). The campaign for Soulstorm and Dark Crusade do not rely on a player’s knowledge of the universe as it quite literally styles itself as a conquest-capture campaign best seen in Risk. The flexibility in choosing what areas to reinforce, capture, defend or move to enhances the player’s immersion, every piece of land must be taken and held with care less they fall into the hands of one of the many rival factions. The factions themselves vary in playstyle with some very minor similarities between a couple of faction units. However, note that these similarities are deliberate as they are canonical to the Warhammer Universe.

Unit (and building) variety exists between factions but most have equivalent counterparts within a unit tier. For example, all factions begin with the option of creating a builder unit and a basic infantry unit. The price for both starting units will change depending on the faction as will the build time and unit size. Dawn of War stresses the fact that every unit, including builder units, have differing squad sizes which can affect a unit’s overall performance. Most infantry units can be reinforced with additional soldiers or commanders in addition to being outfitted with more specialized weapons to better improve the unit’s fighting ability against certain enemies. The maximum soldiers in a unit varies between factions, so while some units are inherently the weakest in a class tier, they might have the largest unit size, or fastest reinforcement rate, or have the widest variety of special weapons to outfit. In saying this, not all units within a tier will have the same weaknesses or strengths. For example, some units are effective or exceptionally effective in ranged or melee combat while others simply cannot function in one or either category. A good portion of units have both melee and ranged combat abilities but will still have a preferred type of engagement. As the player constructs more advanced buildings, more faction specific units will be unlocked and will most likely dictate the playstyle. Certain building types within a tier may differ in function depending on the faction.

With its good qualities of RTS games comes its heavy emphasis on unit micromanagement. As mentioned, same units can be outfitted differently which will dictate what kinds of enemies to fight and combat stances to take to be the most effective. Units do not auto activate abilities which is not a huge issue thankfully, but also will not activate abilities in unison if you select units of the same type (like jetpack units activating in a group). All of this might happen in a fight against the AI, which can micromanage all their units and maintain their bases with inhuman efficiency. Now, granted with all the hotkeys and memorization one can eventually become a tactical genius, but for casual or non-squad based RTS players, this is a huge turn off and can be a daunting cliff to climb to fully enjoy the game.
Dawn of War however offers plenty of unique mechanics for an RTS including their standard win conditions. One does not have to always push to destroy the enemy base, they can either take (and hold) enough strategic points (to gain more resources) or capture enough critical locations on the map for a certain amount of time to win. Other win conditions in the skirmish mode include hero elimination, total resource buildup, and unit/building faction genocide. Another unique mechanic is the Morale system which dictates how effective (or willing) a unit performs. Indeed, many units can disrupt enemy morale (and strengthen your own) which can change outcomes during an intense firefight.

TL;DR/Summary
Overall, Dawn of War can provide a very satisfactory time if enough effort is placed into it. The high unit variety, especially in Soulstorm with its nine available factions, unit micromanagement, win conditions and playstyles will increase one’s replay ability significantly. There’s even a very helpful tutorial system that allows players to learn how to use every faction and the general basis for the faction’s playstyle. It is cautioned that players who do not enjoy reading walls of text for every unit, building, and ability will find the game quite tedious to get into. And yes, like their originnal tabletop counterpart, one can “Paint” their armies before battle.

Whelp... I'm using what I thought was a above average potato laptop... Turns out, I'm using a very below potato laptop... for gaming... Oddly enough, I didn't run into any issues with the Fullscreen mode, but did get the 'white screen' bug when I tried to quit the game. Had to Task Manager that problem away... So would I recommend it? Uh... Let's put it this way, by the time I come up with the money, time, and willpower to convince myself to invest in a brand new desktop and or PS4+the PS4 version, this game's requirement specs will be so outdated... So I'd play the game then. Until then, it's gonna be sitting in my library now...

Oh and because people keep throwing their PC stats out, I'm gonna do the same.

Computer: HP Spectrex360 Convertable 13 (<2 years old)
Processor: Intel(R) i7-5500U with 2.4GHz
RAM: 8GB (With a SSD)
Graphics: Intel(R) HD Graphics 5500

Performance (All in fullscreen): Well for one cutscene I was able to pull a solid 30 FPS. 1 time. The rest was about single to less than 20 FPS. WIN.

Note: I bought the game knowing the Drakenguard and Nier games.

(Edit)
A good friend of mine recommended playing the game at a low resolution. Good news! IT WORKS JUST FINE NOW! (White screen bug disapeared) Now, I may be using some of the smallest windowed options available (I forgot the resolution, but who cares), I may be playing at 22-25 FPS at max (Even in high open areas), but damn, I'm having fun and am very content with my purchase!

Cutscense will kick up to 30 and 60 FPS at this tiny screen, so that's good, and playing the game at a lower FPS makes the whole dodging thing much more resonable. Also, I'm using an XBOX controller, so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING A GAMEPAD OF SOME SORT!

Oh and for those of you who have God Eater on Steam and who have played it with a controller, you will find the controls to be very similar. VERY SIMILAR. However, I'd personally swap the Gun Fire and Dodge buttons with one another (Finger cramp). Same goes for the Auto Lock (I don't use it because I've played too much God Eater) and the Alt Fire buttons. It makes the game have a movement style of a Hack and Slash (God Eater) , but a gun play of an FPS. Speaking of God Eater, the cutscenes can occasionally have audio and visual syncing issues, but that's because of my potato (I'm giving it all she's got Captain). If you liked God Eater, with all it's weird quirks, then this game will be very pleasing to you. A lot of thing's you'd expect like button combos from God Eater carry over here. Oh but the price doesn't carry over... Unless you add up the NG+ gametime (3+ playthroughs I believe), then you might hit around that area.

Point is, do your research before buying any game and don't be like me. Ok, maybe be like me and be content with what you can get. Even failures.

POTATO LAPTOP FTW!

(Edit for badge)

You know you can kill enemies with food right?

An achievement requires you to kill 10 enemies... With food.