Recent reviews by Hadrian

Even if future developers who find their player base angry and disappointed at launch took detailed notes on everything Sean and his team have accomplished in supporting their game and vision since 2016, very few would actually be able to emulate No Man's Sky's turnaround successfully. They've done *too good* a job.

To do again elsewhere what this team has done here would take extraordinary, unquantifiable passion, and even more extraordinary will and determination spread across an entire team. Others might come close. But Hello Games is a once-in-a-generation development team.

No other game, or developer, better embodies the epic comeback story of No Man's Sky.

It is a truly incredible game, crafted by a truly inspiring group of people, with a (growing) community of truly loyal fans behind them. Play it.

I'm writing this as someone who received a press key and who enjoyed the 1.0 release immensely.

Hold on. Don't throw up your arms just yet.

I remember reading and understanding some of the frustrations of those who didn't like it as much as I did. I found myself nodding, solemnly. A lot. Paradox customers definitely shouldn't be expected to pay full price for a base game that isn't "up to snuff." Complaint was warranted.

While Imperator's 1.0 was enjoyable, it wasn't nearly replayable or in-depth enough for me, and indeed, for many in the community. That lack of replayability, combined with the community's absolute—and, at times, hyperbolic—furor and malcontent over 1.0 turned me away from the game for a while.


It's safe to say that Imperator 1.2 reminds me a lot of Stellaris' initial patches and post-launch trajectory. This is something I've pointed out to friends before, but I'm even more comfortable saying it now that the work Johan and team have done continues to support the comparison.

If you didn't know this: When Stellaris first dropped, it was met with a bit of frustration from Paradox faithful who expected more from the game, or perhaps from the company.

Of course, this comparison isn't perfect, as the frustration toward Imperator was orders of magnitude more vehement.

What can we say? People like their Rome games.

Still, it's worth observing the parallels that are now coming into clearer view, and I think it's safe to feel reassured by them.

What you're wondering if you're still reading is whether Imperator (a) is worth purchasing now, and (b) is on the right track going forward. Both of those questions, for many, were answered with a resounding "NO" back at launch.

Now, however, I'm comfortable in saying that the answer is "Yes." To both.

"But wait, Hadrian," I hear your skepticism, "Are you saying it's now the fully-fleshed out grand strategy experience we expected?"

Is Imperator a fully-fleshed out grand strategy experience? No. No Paradox title at 6 months in is fully fleshed out. There are literal years of free patches (free like the massive 1.2 Cicero update that this review is based on) and paid DLCs ahead of us. My take is that, as someone who has been playing Stellaris since 1.0, it's finally safe to say that Imperator seems to be on a similar trajectory. Which is one heck of a compliment, because I love Stellaris.

"But you're saying it's still worth buying, even though it's not fully realized?"

Yes. It's as worth buying as any PDX Grandstrat at 6 months, and it's on the right track.

If you're going to buy Imperator at 6 months in, and you know Paradox's business model, you know that you're buying an insanely complex and replayable game in cocoon form. Imperator v1.0 was a bit too ethereal and lacking in depth/polish to be thought of in the same way. I liked it. Most didn't. Holding off on a purchase, or being frustrated that you hadn't, was fair.

Now is a good time for the legions of us who know the value in following a game like this from its inception to hop on board and start playing. Yes, they're still working on it. Yes, there will be kinks. I'm now confident they'll be ironed out, and that the developers will listen with passion to our concerns as the ironing happens.

So, I'll say it again for the people in the back:

Now is—finally—a good time.

An exquisite survival title in which a man's (or woman's) only obstacles are hunger, thirst, exhaustion, a few angry wolves or irritable bears, and the bitter, bitter cold of Hinterland Studios' apocalyptic vision. Sounds simpler than genre average, right?

Good luck to you.

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*** A few things for the record. First, I have owned this game since early summer, 2015, meaning I have been with the game since there was only one region (Mystery Lake) and the Desolation Point, Timberwolf Mountain, Tireless Menace, Penitent Scholar, and Resolute Outfitter content patches had yet to arrive. Second, I have produced ~100 hours of monetized YouTube content featuring this title and continue to add to that number as an ardent devotee of the game, its developer, and its community. Some may see that as a biasing factor (though I have never had any "skin in the game" beyond my own content).

Let me make a quick note regarding the tone of the community & some of the other reviews at this moment in time.

If it's May 2017 and you are just looking into this game for the first time, it's good for you to be objective & aware of two very important things. (1) This game's story mode, its crowning patch and mark of completion, has been a long time coming, and (2) its fans are really, really, looking forward to it. They want it badly. Even if they seem not to sometimes.

To be clear, I'm not an angry fan. I have always highly recommended this game at all stages in its development, and have no problem publicly professing my disdain for the throngs of players that are brazenly pushing a hyperbolic—and often dishonest—narrative toward the public eye about the villainy of Hinterland for daring not to cave to pressure and to take the time to get this masterpiece right.

Without going too far down that rabbit hole... what to make of all that frustration?

It's straightforward. The anticipation for August's (!!) Story Mode release—and don't believe everything you read; this month marks the first time Hinterland have ever announced a definite release date—has been drawn out over so long, and has been intensified by multiple new, ambitious additions to the game's original vision by a small, self-funded team that has fought hard to make it to this landmark point in development...

...that people are JUST a little bit out of their senses.

Just remember that when you're looking at all the vitriol-laced rants that have been popping up the week I'm writing this. People are angry because, after more than two years in early access, they still very badly want this game. If that doesn't tell you something positive... well, it should. It really should. They'll get mad at me for saying it, but the reality is that no-one would be so worked up about the game taking longer than planned to come out if it wasn't (a) very good and (b) hotly anticipated.

As it stands, you're looking at the game at a great time, because you don't have to go through any of that. Cheers.


Story Mode is on the way in August, and a new update is coming toward the end of this month (May, 2017). You're getting a very fully-developed and immersive Sandbox mode with an order of magnitude more content than early adopters got to start with a few years ago. The objective of sandbox is blissfully, elegantly simple: Survive as long as possible. There's nothing supernatural about the game except for some extra-aggressive wildlife (for which there is a lore explanation). There are no zombies, no monsters, and no NPCs (for now) to attack you in the world. You're alone, with tons of ground to cover and scavenge, an array of tools to discover and craft, countless new types of clothes to layer onto your character thanks to the most recent major patch, and your only adversaries are your own vitals.

You can play the Sandbox on multiple difficulties, from the pacifistic, borderline-therapeutic Pilgrim, where you have to provoke hostile wildlife before it even notices you... to the utter brutality of Interloper, which is bar none one of the most if not the most challenging survival modes in contemporary gaming. The world will literally try to kill you, because as the difficulty setting's name attests, you are an interloper and you do not belong. And, of course, there are two difficulty levels in between those as well. So whether it's a brutal challenge you seek, or a beautiful world to explore, The Long Dark has both in spades, with considerable expansions to the game's features and entertainment value coming just over the horizon.

And that's to say nothing of the game's gorgeous, minimalist soundtrack, of which I will never be able to get enough.

I'd write more, but as I have said countless times, The Long Dark is at its best when you are brand new to the game world, completely unspoiled, and know nothing about where you are, where you need to go, or how to survive for more than a day. The first time your life drops to below 5% and you manage to stumble into shelter, patch your wounds, stuff your face, quench your thirst, and close your eyes in respite just before death takes you, then find yourself waking up to a recovering body the next morning... you will have discovered what makes The Long Dark such an incredible and visceral survival experience.

I'm obviously an ardent fan, so take away from the above whatever extra layers of positivity you feel you have to, but objectively speaking, this is a rare game crafted by rare people. It will make you feel cold, it will make your heart race, and it will draw you in. The likelihood that you will regret your purchase as a newcomer in May of 2017 or later is really quite low. This isn't hyperbole. I'm not that easily excited. I'm actually in my 30s. I had an NES controller in my hand when I was 5, and have been a gamer ever since. I have a multi-genre list, spanning decades, ranking my favorite games of all time. It's populated by Bioware RPGs, City Builders, Real time and Turn-based strategy titles, Chrono Trigger, and more.

This is not only one of the games on that list, but is easily one of the highest. And I'm just talking about the Sandbox.

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