Recent reviews by THEINVISIBLEWAFFLE

People like to hate on and/or get easily frustrated by it but it's really fun. You just have to look past the toxic community and the fact that if you've got a weird schedule and play at abnormal times (not evenings or weekends) then there may not be enough players for the big fights

Wanted to try out total war but I didn't know where to start so I googled best total war game and a lot of people said this was it, for the life of me no idea why. Sure it's got diplomacy, army management, dynamic relationships between factions in your nation, and character progression, but none of it is really good. You don't actually have to pay attention to any of it and I don't because it's boring and most of your problems can be solved by pressing a button. After a few playthroughs I still have not had a:

-civil war or secession attempt
-war that was hard enough that I was at serious risk of permanently losing territory
-character that I actually cared about or mattered for my faction
-ally that was worth the effort I put in to securing them
-ally that I didn't immediately invade/want to invade after I was done with them bc I realized they were worthless
-client or satrapy that I didn't start the game with bc they're worthless except in maybe a few very specific situations
-food or public order issue that led to a revolt

So the gameplay loop is just invade > secure territory by building the right structures (which is easy and repetitive) > grow army so you're ready for next enemy (also easy) > invade next enemy

And that's it. That's a tutorial for the whole game.

There is some good, the battles are fun to watch and if you're in to roleplaying the expansion of a nation state in antiquity then you can have some fun watching your empire just keep growing. There's just nothing to hold you back or make conquering your 357th nation interesting. Your expansion will be very one sided in your favor after a few hours of gameplay. If you want something like a civil war, revolt, network of alliances, etc. you can do it but there's really no point outside of rp. So my history fan side is like "okay, this is mildly interesting," but my gamer side says "this is the same thing you did last time, why are you still doing this?"

I hope you like exposition!

I don't recommend buying it on steam bc it didn't work on my pc (after trying numerous fixes) until I refunded it on steam and got it free through prime gaming (which doesn't go through steam, I just got a code that I redeemed on origin) and it worked. Evidently not everyone has this problem but be warned. You will still need origin either way.

As for the game itself, it's basically the child of dark souls and force unleashed, but imo not as good as either.

Criticism: there's a lot of long, boring dialogue (but you don't have to listen to all of it), the characters are pretty simple/predictable (we've already seen many characters in star wars that are extremely close to these), you know how the story will end already if you've seen the movies, and the plot is not exactly creative. Many of the plot points are not tied together well, as if the plot is sacrificed for gameplay that turned out only mediocre. The map design is so atrocious it should be banned by the geneva convention. You fight a lot of wildlife, which are both uninteresting to me and also usually not well made. There's a few puzzles which don't add much bc they feel like they tried to add a bit of everything into this game but didn't really nail anything down, which means the puzzles are basically simple time killers. There's no real "wow, this aspect of the game is really good". A lot of the "obstacle course" portions of the game are very repetitive and feels like all they're trying to do is increase the amount of hours it takes to finish the game. Also there's no fast travel, so get ready for a lot of running. Even with all of the extra time it takes to run everywhere there still isn't half the play hours of dark souls or other AAA single player story-driven games in it.

Praise: so the game may not be ideal if you're looking for an in-depth cinematic story, a detailed puzzle-solving game or a casual version of dark souls, but it does do a bit of all of those. You'll probably like it if you want a decent experience in the star wars universe combined with passing grade gameplay, just don't expect anything mind-blowing. The graphics are fantastic, of course, and if you care to there's plenty of scenery to enjoy and photograph. There are a lot of unique events and the game will throw you a curveball gameplay-wise every now and then that you're not expecting. If you're in to star wars outside of this game then you'll recognize some of the characters from the movies/shows, but most don't have contributions that are impactful or memorable (with a few noteworthy exceptions). Fighting the somewhat large array of imperial units, minor factions, and bosses with appropriately-scaled difficulty stays interesting and doesn't get bland too fast. Also if you're a completionist there are a large number of hidden cosmetics and bonuses to find, maybe not dark souls amount of items but still decent.

Summary: if you're a star wars fan and you're expecting a game that strikes a jack-of-all-trades balance of souls-like melee combat with a narrative-driven story and that polished AAA touch, you'll probably like this game. Even then I would recommend waiting for a sale just because I don't think the hours you'll get out of it is worth $40. If you're not into star wars or you're looking for a game that specializes in unique, intuitive combat/gameplay, or perhaps a compelling, in-depth story with deep well-written characters, then I wouldn't suggest this game because it doesn't really reach the "excellent" level in any one aspect although it does reach "good" in a few and a "pass" in most.

it's halo

perfectly balanced as all things should be :)

"9/10" "9/10" "9/10"
"9/10" "9/10" "9/10"
"9/10" "9/10" "9/10"

What is this, toothpaste?
but yeah it's fun

Yeah it's free but you know what else is free? Washing your socks and underwear in a swamp.

(plz read to end)
How to play Beyond the Wire:

1. Boot up the game
2. See that only one server is up and it's (at most) half full
3. Close the game and play Post Scriptum

But on a serious note it is a fun game when there is a server full enough to play, and while there are many features that the developers need to add or fix (which I'm sure they will) the foundation for a very good game is already here. Some say the game is dead already, but that's not exactly fair since it's just in early access. I say that's a nearsighted view because I remember when everyone said Post Scriptum was dead and now it has full servers all the time. Beyond the Wire just needs time to get its features implemented.

But seriously devs, put it on sale or give some copies to streamers or something bc it's rare that a server is full even on the weekends. So in conclusion I recommend that you either get the game or keep an eye on it and wait for some updates.

Good game in its present state, with more optimization, bug fixes, and other additions this would be, and likely will be, an amazing game. Very realistic, honestly the games biggest problem in my eyes is how small the playerbase is. I would absolutely recommend it, 9/10.

First off, the game has all sorts of minor issues, but many can be solved with mods. That being said, some problems haven't been fixed and if they can there's no guarantee the mods won't crash the game or slow performance. For example, traffic. I can't find a mod that improves the traffic much without crashing the game (for me, they might work for you). The devs are frequently updating the game, which is great but they almost update it too often, which is a problem if you have a lot of mods. The updates do often make an actual difference, and the mod devs do great updating there mods, but the hassle of updating, removing mods then placing back in when they've been updated will never completely go away. DLC for this game is great, with much more promising DLC on the way. On to the 2 biggest complaints I've seen; physics and lack of trucks/brands. There's really no way around the train sim physics. If you steer the truck in the right direction you can take your hands off the wheel until the next turn because it will go in a straight line. I haven't found a mod that fixes this, so keep that in mind when deciding whether you want to buy this game or not. As for the lack of trucks and brands (4 trucks, 2 Kentworth and 2 Peterbilt), I really think they could have done better here, or added more in later. Thankfully there are a good bit of trucks available through mods, however they suffer from the same problems as the rest, they might crash your game and they need to be updated whenever a new game version releases. Still, some of my favorite trucks are mod trucks.
Next, the pros and cons:
Pros:
- Great community with plenty of mods.
- Often updated and improved.
- Amazing graphics.
- Lots of detail and customization options, down to the nuts on the wheel.
- Solid map, with extra details such as a toll booth or to, weigh stations, and many landmarks.
- You can start and manage a trucking company.
- Challenging trailer pickups and drops.
- A wide variety in cargo, especially with trailer mods.
Cons:
- Poor physics, feels like the truck is on rails sometimes.
- AI traffic is passing grade at best.
- Very few trucks and brands.
- My wheel (Thrustamster T150) sometimes disconnects and reconnects, which has almost caused several crashes, I've also had some force feedback issues, however I'm not sure if ATS is causing it or if its the wheel.
And finally, a summary:
Overall a good game in my opinion, but definentaly designed to be a more casual sim, focusing on fun, graphics, and appealing to a casual audience rather than as realistic a simulation as possible. Be ready to get tons of mods, then game crashes, then figuring out which mod caused it, but when it does work it's very relaxing and enjoyable.