Recent reviews by Mister Bojangles

I can waltz around in bushes while stalking pray, setup a bunch of Home Alone-esque traps around a Point of Interest, have the jump on my foes, and still eat ♥♥♥♥

But seriously this game is a double-edged sword and is probably the game I've seen walk this line the hardest. Sometimes, it's an exhilarating experience and sometimes it makes you wish you could refund it at 30 hours of playtime in. You can sneak around and be a rat like I do or go guns blazing and just see what happens.

If you're here for a good time and not a long time, this game may not be for you. $40 price point is a tough ask for such a ♥♥♥♥-chompingly brutal game, but I feel its worthy investment after the rework of the game's loadout infrastructure and other major quality-of-life changes.

My near-500 hour update:

This game has had a stranglehold on me for a good bit. It's definitely worth it to keep taking your shot at getting better at it, whether that's getting away with the bounty or hunting down poor souls. The update is pretty great, in spite of the repulsive UI and weird performance issues. I think those two specific things are getting horribly overblown and the game is still a blast. Especially since they're bound to improve over time.

Mechabellum is basically a recreation of me pretending to make Axis and Allies figurines fight each other as a kid, but with badass future mech technology. And it's round-based, unlike its Starcraft-contemporary Direct Strike, giving you time to analyze what went wrong in a specific matchup or formation, rather than feeling like you're always on the back foot. Some units do have clear cut answers, resulting in Rock, Paper, Scissors shenanigans between you and opponent. But various tech upgrades for units allow them to serve a specific purpose for specific matchups as well, opening the door for some creative synergy between unit combos.

The cards in-between rounds are good for mixing things up and bolstering your forces with more manpower or beefing up bigger units. The cards range from fire bombing your opponent's side of the field to increasing a unit's HP by 200%. There are also special unit cards that grant a specified squad of units at no additional cost. These typically also help patch up weak spots in your army or make openings you may have not realized otherwise.

Unfortunately, these unit cards tend to highlight the game's balance issues. While many units have tech upgrades that greatly amplify their damage or tankiness, things like the Wraith and Mustang either have access to insanely powerful tools or just plain versatile ones. EMP is effective at answering many of these issues, but it still stands that units could still use some tinkering balance-wise. The game seems to update often enough to where anything could change at any moment, so this isn't a terrible drawback.

All in all, this game is 10 bucks. It's fun to learn, hard to master and you're bound to get a lot of mileage out of it for what your paying. My biggest complaint is the UI needs some work *bad* and there needs to be more options for custom games, like changing the bot difficulty or changing deployment timer.

Definitely a fun, spooky, surprisingly chill game to play with friends. Just terrifying alone.

Pros
-Great atmosphere, building designs are basic, but effective (though I'd hate these layouts irl)
-Ghosts are pretty effectively spooky. You get densensitized after a while, but they still do the trick well enough
-Cursed items are hilariously dangerous, both for you and your friends. Some even have actual utility, though Tarot Cards are understandably random
-The game can either be a blast, a nightmare or both. Just slamming on the piano and getting hunted as a result is some good stuff. Or your friends screaming I'M OVER HERE!!! in your hiding spot
-This *should* be a con, but character animations are so janky that they end up being really funny. It's pretty impressive.
-You can go far worse for 13.99 and this isn't even bad
-A no pressure game, unless you're being hunted. If you aren't sure how to play, you can just watch your teammates gather evidence and explore the maps. You should pick up on it fairly quickly

Cons
-Not enough different character skins. Or really, some basic character customization would be welcome and a good use of extra in-game cash
-Store UI is pretty bad. It can be a pain to track down who's bringing what level of item when you get 3 good flashlights and one crappy one. I
-There's a lot of arbitrary RNG for things like Ultraviolet, EMF 5 and DOTS. I acknowledge it's supposed to make those particular pieces of evidence a challenge to find, but it can be tedious when your luck is so bad that it becomes a forced guessing game after too long.
-The level 1 thermometer arguably feels better to use than the level 2.
-Large maps typically feel tedious to maneuver due to the Phasmo movement (presumably) being made with smaller buildings in mind. The farmhouses push this a bit, but aren't as bad as the high school and Sunny Meadows
-They broke the piano/guitar sounds with the previous large content update and they have stayed broken for far too long
-Some of the challenge modes, despite the name, feel
-More of a nitpick/side thought. I wish there was more to do in the lobby. Maybe fit the piano/guitar in there and a few other things to mess with. Goofy physics games are ok, but could use changing up.

Overall Score - 7/10. It's very enjoyable with a full party and a good time killer alone, but there's definitely still room for improvement here. Less obnoxiously large maps and replace em with different regular-sized buildings. Fix the guitar and piano

Doom Eternal, in the simplest terms, is an acquired taste. This is not to say the game does not offer immediate value or gratification upon learning how to play. Upon beating Eternal, especially on Ultra Violence, you may feel confident that you've become good enough at the game. For those who come out unsatisfied with the content, I implore you to step up to Nightmare. I feel you will get the most this game offers in multiple ways when playing on Nightmare.

As a sequel, Eternal delivers on many fronts. From the diversified visuals along with the environments they represent, to the nuances and mechanics of the combat system being *greatly* expanded. Eternal is as rewarding and complex as you make it. The arsenal as been balanced down to the wire, both by weapon tweaks, mods and external factors like the Chainsaw being less of a cheese KO for tough baddies and more of an ammo factory that can be used for an invulnerable state. Glory kills are more varied now, you have more options for tackling various foes, enemies are more aggressive, both old and new. I could go on for days about Eternal, but really just wanted to put a good word in for it.

PROS:
-Expansive natural difficulty, with multiple difficulty levels for various players to try
-Amazing atmosphere, with the landscapes being meticulously crafted to truly make you feel like you are in a different location for each map.
-Weapons feel incredible, from their immediate impact and visual design to the audio design and the way enemies react to being attacked
-Blood Punch, Dash and reworked Chainsaw are welcome additions that create many options for the Doom Slayer to traverse and defeat battlefields
-The music has me in an adrenaline rush each time I hear it during intense fights. Ambient tracks keep me immersed in the many locations and sometimes, I just catch myself looking off into the distance.
-Enemies are no longer pushovers, with additions like the Tyrant, Marauder and Carcass adding their own respective challenges to the mix, along with other monsters who have been tweaked in various ways.

CONS:
-This game is buggy. Not on the same level as a Bethesda-developed game or anything, but it gets frustrating. You will find yourself swinging your chainsaw mindlessly when it was activated right in front of an Imp. Arenas can take an abnormal amount of time to grant you checkpoints and progression after they've been cleared. There's more and I hope they get addressed.
-The purple slime sucks. I know it changes the pace, but its just unfun, especially when you know where the tentacles are. Fortunately, they pop up infrequently, but I would rather they didn't at all.
-Doom Hunters are pushovers and disappointingly so when they are presented as a boss initially.
-Archvile's introduction is supremely underwhelming. I don't need what the trailer presented, but a close-up shot similar to the ones in 2016 would have been nice.
-I wish you could skip the Demon Prison part on Fortress of Doom. Especially for those going through on Ultra-Nightmare. It's nothing really special and I want it to be more than a glorified firing range.