Recent reviews by JackieTheJackie

The absurdity of this game is what sells it. You're just a shmuck with a rifle shooting down hordes of gigantic bugs, armadas of alien fighters and carriers, and even apocalyptic city-destroying robots.
A simple premise and mostly non-existent story (Lightning squad kill this, Lightning squad hold out, Lightning squad kill the new thing while Intel tries to figure it out) lets it focus more on the moment to moment gameplay. Though clunky by today's standards, and having somewhat lacklustre gunplay, it is still well worth your time. The depth comes from weapon selection and movement. Your weapon categories dictate your role and what to focus on, and your legs are what keep you alive.
Highly recommended if you're looking to just sit down and shoot things without having to think too hard about anything other than little man shoot big bug.

If you're looking for engaging melee combat dealing with hordes of tough but fair enemies, with friends watching your flanks and picking off high-priority targets, this is the game for you.
Each melee weapon has an impactful moveset, cleaving through limbs and bodies or sending them flying with crushing blows. There is an alright variety of weapons, especially when taking into account the differences between characters, and all the classics are there. Greatswords cutting mobs to ribbons, maces crunching through armour plating, bows and guns for sniping elite units or mowing down the oncoming tide. Overall, excellent kit.
Characters have 3-4 (depending on if you have the DLC) playstyles, each with their own abilities. Though most have access to the basic moveset and equipment, there are specific weapons and powers unique to each, helping to reinforce the differences between careers and making each character feel truly unique. All the DLC careers are well-balanced, not overpowering the base careers available, and are all well worth the money for what they bring.
The story overall is meh, and not really the main focus. You run through instanced missions, completing objectives while staying alive and slaughtering your way through the masses. Elite and special enemies spring up occasionally, throwing in added danger and needing to be dealt with in different ways. You need to charge your attacks or bring an armour-piercing weapon to kill the hard-hitting and tough stormvermin. Make sure the snipe the sorcerors before they incapacitate your team mates, stuff like that. Occasionally a miniboss spawns, a powerful and large beastie that can quite easily wipe out your team if not taken care of properly.
Gameplay aside, the character work is top notch. Like I mentioned before, the story isn't all that focused on, so most of the characterization comes from their banter and interactions with each other. Whether you're in a mission or prepping back at the hub, there's always something interesting to listen to and find out about each. Even if you don't care to look into the lore, their jokes and jabs at each other are amusing to listen to and help make each character feel even more unique. Dialogue can change based on careers, as well as who's currently active.
While an excellent game overall, it's not without it's flaws. The AI bots are competent, but having a proper team of friends is essential when getting to the higher difficulties. Solo play is not encouraged, but there are tools to make it viable. My other main issue is that while each mission is quite long and filled out, having a large number of objectives to fulfill, there aren't quite enough of them. The main campaign/base game is about 13 missions, with 3 arcs capped off with a boss, all culminating in one final overboss. Each of the DLC (all of which I'd recommend you get on sale if possible) add 3 missions each, with the exception of Winds of Magic (adds 1 mission and an okay gamemode).
To summarize, a wonderful game that knows exactly what it is, and what it wants to do. Powerful fast-paced melee combat with crowd control and target prioritization, well-written and varied characters with differing playstyles unique to them, great teamplay and one of my favourite games in general.

f you can get it sub $30, it's alright. After the initial novelty wears off, it's fine as a turn-your-brain-off-and-wander-about game with the occasional good joke here and there. Don't expect much more.
It feels like you should be able to do more, like you could deep dive the combat, that the story is truly impactful, but no.
Everything feels.... adequate. Combat is fine. Doesn't feel great, but I've played with worse. The leveling up is.... fine, but I've seen it done better elsewhere. The story is.... servicable, though the same kind of forgetable as Farcry or Just Cause. Visually the game is excellent, I love it's style, but that's really the only thing they nailed. I love the look of my little scrap gremlin and his cobbled gear, but that doesn't save it.
One note is that it's very easy to break both the balance and economy. I'm playing on Hard, and 6 hours in I can buy out numerous merchants and melt bosses with my gun. Fights are a joke now. I take so little damage that nothing is a threat. I have yet to use any of my constantly-growing pile of healies after the tutorial. Only time I've died is due to me falling off ledge into some goop.
The "moral system" is very Fable-esque. You have the evil option and the good person option, which can grant you different psychic powers. I have yet to use any of them, as I literally have no reason to do so with how stacked my pew-pew is. Dialogue will change based on your karma, but otherwise I have yet to see any other results.
The dialogue "options" feel very token, with a good, bad and neutral option
The narrator from Stanley Parable voices just about everything, and is the narrator. He translates what other characters are saying and constantly comments on what you're doing. Though occasionally funny, I think it was mistake. It gets annoying rather quickly, and prevents NPC's from using interesting delivery to differentiate themselves.
It just seems to lack soul, to summarize. It hasn't found it's footing, has no niche feel to it with which to stand out. You've no reason to pick this up over Fallout or Farcry.

I did receive this as a gift, but I don't think that alters my opinions about this game.
This is a very good showing for their 2nd go at making a game. The gunplay feels tight and impactful, with none of the weapons falling by the wayside. Every gun sounds and feels powerful to use. I was using the basic pistol and knife all the way until the end of the currently available content. Movement is responsive and fast, kind of reminding me of Quake but without the verticality.
The light skill point system ties into the game well, not feeling like a simple tack-on or just a selling point, serving as the main method for upgrading your guns and powerups. Most of the upgrades are extremely helpful, either changing how the weapon works or giving it a straight up power-boost, though I do wish there was a way to take back points or to "un-level" as one of the guns you can get turns from a burst-fire machinegun into a grenade launcher without being super clear about it. That was the only case however.
Visually the game is gorgeous, having excellent moody lighting and a hand-drawn comic-book style. Though there may be familiar elements and clear inspiration, each design feels unique and fits the overall visual style the game is going for. At first I wasn't a fan of the black bars on the top and bottom of the screen, as that did force the HUD to the edges and corners, but I learned to appreciate it by the end. Sound is also quite well done, with each enemy having an easily identifiable handful of sounds helping make sure you aren't caught too off guard. The more dangerous enemies have more audible noises, like the fast and tough patients having panic-y short fast breaths for example. Guns have just the right level of base to them, with even the machinegun and pistol variants, making sure none sound like dinky peashooters.
The powerups are mostly helpful, and operate on a sort-of cooldown system. By that I mean if you kill thing good and don't take damage they'll be up faster. The only exception being the aspergillum, which I never used.
It's not quite perfect however. My main gripe is that the soundtrack (also a joy to listen to by the way) cuts out when reading story bits you can find in the levels, which kept yanking me out of the experience and breaking my immersion, though that is a relatively small nitpick more than anything. The lack of a map of some kind also hurts, as though most levels don't need one, there's one or two that definitely could've benefited from a navigation tool of some kind. There are quite a few secrets that feel too easy to find, as I was more stumbling into them rather than actually looking for or finding them through investigation of any kind. Other than that, I don't have any real issues with the game.
Even though a friend bought this for me, I would gladly pay the $18 CAD or so that it currently runs for, as I'm excited to see what the end product will be. The content currently available isn't quite worth full price, I'd say closer to $13-ish, but
once the full game is out I can easily see it being worth the money.
In short:
- Good guns. They feel great and hit hard, with every weapon fulfilling a role.
- Light leveling system that serves to enhance the gameplay and doesn't feel stapled on or forced in
- Mostly useful powerups
- Looks and sounds gorgeous
- No enemies feel like bullet sponges, and they're suitably threatening

What's here is amazing. The animation style combined with the sound design and the gibs give everything a satisfying crunch and impact to everything you do, from firing the starter pistol to nuking things with a quad shotgun (yes, QUAD). The level design is excellent, with where you're supposed to go clearly directed by how the levels are laid out without holding your hand.
Difficulty is also fine tuned (I play on the 2nd hardest for reference), with every death feeling like it's your fault. There's no BS encounters, and though it can get tight, as long as your aim is decent you always have enough ammo to get through. The escalation and power curve are also well-designed, introducing a new weapon or enemy every level while slowly cranking the dial.
It may still be in early access, but the game is still getting updates and has a robust level creation tool, so even when you finish the campaign taster you still have loads to do.
I am super excited to see what comes next, and eagerly await the full release. I really can't recommend this game enough.

TL:DR I recommend this game.
It's short and sweet, as I only beat it in an hour and a half. However, what's here shows promise. The combat is relatively simple, having basic weapon attacks and the occasional ability or item thrown into the mix, but it feels as it should. The little knife has very little impact, whereas the greatsword shakes the whole screen when swung.
The translations could certainly use some work, but I was able to get the gist of what the npcs were saying (I've played a fair bit of Gunfire Reborn, and it's waaayyy worse translation-wise). The characters, while flat for now, seem like they have something going for them, with each having a distinct personality, purpose and look. That will have to wait until more updates and better translation in order to come into it's own though.
However, the bosses and enemy variety are lacking, though I suspect that will be fixed in future updates. The enemies are all quite simple and easy to overcome (I only died 3 times counting the tutorial) and the bosses themselves are simply souped up enemies that you'll encounter later. It could certainly use a bit more difficulty, especially for such a short game.
I am a massive fan of the artstyle (though I am a sucker for post-apocalypse sci-fantasy), giving a Hyperlight Drifter vibe but doing it's own thing. All of the designs are unique and appealing (though that is heavily subjective). Enemies could use more variety, but again that will likely be fixed in the future.
Overall, I really did enjoy what little time I had with the game and wish it had more. Right now, it kind of feels like I paid 15 bucks (CAD) for a demo, though I am excited to see what else happens with it.

Bloody excellent game, with a focus tight rewarding combat with a fair amount of depth through different weapon styles and skills/builds. If you're going to get it, save up and get the Iceborne edition, as it effectively doubles the content and adds a grapple claw.
There are very few games I can just sit and dump over 300 hours into and still not feel like I'm anywhere close to finishing, yet I'm constantly getting new gear and beasts to kill.
It can be a little overwhelming at first, with 14 different weapons with their own combos and styles, plus the clunky UI, it does have a sharp learning curve. If you can stick with it though, it's easily one of, if not the most rewarding game I've played. There's nothing like finally laying the beatdown on a monster that's been giving you trouble all week.

This game is basically a side-scrolling less-depth version of Dark Souls mechanics-wise. Combat is quite satisfying, but a lot of the boss attacks are bull. A great challenge with a good plot, but all-over the place with it's characters. Some were quite good, others were quite bland and somewhat cliche. Just needs a way to customize your appearance more and more weapons. One thing to note is that it very much reminded me of Undertale, though I can't place why. Overall, I give it a 7/10.

This is easily one of, if not my favourite games. I grew up with this game on the PS2, and was ecstatic to find it on Steam. It's got solid gameplay mechanics, a decent campaign, and doesn't have any matchmaking or season pass ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to worry about. Every game mode that's online is available singleplayer as well. The graphics may not be the best, nor the sound, but it's still has that Star Wars feel to it. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes shooters, though it's not the greatest for story or characters.

The entire game is so cringy that it's fun. The voice acting is either absolute crap or cheesier than my mac & cheese, and the animations are off. It's fun, but oh-my-God-so-cringy