Recent reviews by _DauT

Very big thumbs up.

I've been playing shooters since I first played through the original Doom cooperatively with my dad in around 2002. I was Global Elite in counterstrike circa 2014, which I still consider its hayday. I don't really play many online shooters so much these days.

But oh my god. Believe me when I tell you the finals has been one of the most fun experiences I ever had. The atmosphere, gunplay, movement, commentators - everything has been polished to a mirror shine.

If you only play one online shooter in the next 10 years, make it this one.

EDIT (24/11/16) With the Summer Sale upon us, and many many more hours spent enjoying this game, I feel comfortable with updating my review. I'm happy to say I would recommend this game - if you have money spare or are dead set on space combat that absolutely blasts anything else out of the water, do not hesitate, buy this game. Elsewise, if you are on the fence or buying a lot this sale, maybe wait until the games price lowers. I stand by my original comments below that the game lacks longevity and some of the features it had in the Alpha, but fresh off the bat with however many hours logged, I can say that they can be forgiven. This is a game full of lore, history, glorious cinematic stages and fluid and dynamic combat. Sound design is glorious, as are the space vistas that accompany you from campaign to campaign. There is enough variety in ship upgrades and what I originally labelled 'pseudo-content', the recently added wave mode, is engaging enough to always warrant another run.

I am extremely pleased and happy to recommend this marvellous game.

YOU CAN READ MY ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW:

TL;DR: Game features are amazing, but lacks longevity and therefore immersion. Not worth $20.00 AUD.

EDIT (14/6/16) Don't let the 'early access' tag fool you with the promise of more content. The developer has stated that the 'early access' labelling is purely for bug fixes, and he plans to add no more additional content to the game, aside from a wave gamemode: "House has had a ton of iteration put into it before even hitting Early Access, so right now I have no plans to add or change anything major to the game. The remaining work will center around bugs, weapons, upgrades, wave clear, and mission balance. " http://www.dyingsungame.com

Similar to what other people have said, this game has amazing potential. It's atmosphere, design, gameplay, optimization - the list goes on - are top notch. It's sound design is phenominal and extremely emersive.

The issue is a severe lack of content.

The game contains a total of 14 missions, each of which can be completed 3 times and higher difficulties, some of which you will have to return to once your ship is better equiped or you have a larger fleet. However, these missions take, at a max, five minutes to do each. Crunch the numbers and you end up with around 4 hours of gameplay (and that's being generous). For a game priced at $20.00 AUD, this is a pretty big rip-off.

And maybe it's a product of the industry - other games do worse. But this game is already so good, and has the potential to be so much more, it feels like you're being treated to a proof of concept or a fancy paid tech demo.

From what I've read since following this game a few months back, there was actually an implemented feature in which you would jump between systems, earn money for upgrades by completing various missions within them, and use this as a way of boosting your overall capabilities. Why this system has been removed completely, I cannot for the life of me figure out. While it's true that the 14 current pre-defined missions need to be set (timing is extremely important), there seems to be no reason that this could not be implemented as a side feature, adding a beautiful eliment of RPG and immersion to what would be a fantastic game.

Rodina comes to mind. Rodina has all the sandbox elements that make it a wonderful game to explore and become immersed in, whilst lacking all the refined combat, sound design and graphics that are offered by House of the Dying Sun. In the perfect world there would be a single collaboration between the makers of the two games. In the mean while, we can only pray that the Marauder Interactive listens to the people who want to see a return to this form of freeplay, and takes a leaf out of Rodina's book.

The only other niggling issues I have is freelook is currently limited to people with VR headsets. This is a pretty massive oversight for a game of this nature, and hope it's resolved soon. (EDIT 10/6/16: the developer has responded to threads saying he will implement actual freelook in an update). Additionally, it'd be amazing to see an increase in 'simulation' focuses, letting you interact with your ship in greater detail.

All in all, the game is beautiful and fun to play - but the game itself prevents you from playing it for long, and does not seem to be worth the $20.00 it is priced at.