Recent reviews by Hnefi

Great visuals and sprawling, interesting areas, but the technical side is inexcusable. Frequently freezes for a second or more, probably loading assets, in the middle of a fight! I thought we learned from Diablo 3 that dynamically loading assets in games like these is a very bad idea.

Skip, at least until they sort out the technical side.

Definitely the best soundtrack in 40k. Probably the best soundtrack in gaming, or at least top 5. Not the best soundtrack in all of media, but the competition from movies is very stiff.

There are soundtracks that make me feel sad, or angry, or energetic, or scared. But Mechanicus is the only soundtrack I have ever heard that made me feel technoreligious fervor. I didn't know I had that in me. No wonder people die for the Omnissiah if this is the music they play in his cathedrals.

The presentation overall in this game is absolutely awesome and makes me want more Adeptus Mechanicus games. I previously didn't care at all for this faction, but now I hunger for more, much more.

Gameplay wise, it's a competent tactics game, nothing outstanding. Could do with some balancing and refinement, but it's pretty good as is.

Fun programming game of decent complexity.

Solid game through and through. Awesome ending. Many memorable moments, good combat, very good environments and animation. Sound design somewhat lacking when it comes to things colliding, which is an odd oversight. A bit too bullet-spongy enemies. Overall, best VR game so far. Half Life Alyx sets the standard.

TL;DR: This is the first actual MoO2 remake that's both faithful and modern.

I'm an old-school MoO fan, having played hundreds of hours of both MoO and MoO2. No 4X since MoO2 has captured me like that game did, because they all made fundamental mistakes or oversights.

I did not have high hopes for this game, because the previews looked bad, but I was very, very pleasantly surprised. This game actually does have the MoO2 spirit, and almost all of the important stuff is there. The radical race differences, the simple yet effective economy, the ship design, the battles - it's all there. Some of it is streamlined, in particular the battles, but for the most part the important bits are intact.

If I had to complain, it would be that they went slightly too far in the streamlining of the tactical battles. Realtime is fine, there's a wide variety of weapons and modules, and taking control of the battle does make a difference (particularly whenever torpedoes are involved), but I just wish they would have kept the shield quadrants, the subsystem damage and the ability to board ships.

Other than that minor complaint, this game is great. Aggressive AI, a big and interesting tech tree with almost all the old MoO2 techs, hugely different races (telepathic and tolerant is out, but lithovore and creative is still in!), all in a very polished and neat package. Definitely recommended.