Recent reviews by Vaelor

UPDATE: IT ONLY GETS WORSE. AI-Generated nonsense (undisclosed by Activision) is EVERYWHERE. You are paying for F-tier garbage that is also putting talented artists and devs out of a job. Pass on this soulless cash-grab and play literally anything else.

EASILY THE WORST CoD TITLE TO BE RELEASED IN THE LAST 24 YEARS.

Multiplayer is an absolute garbage fire of a mess, with network desync utterly ruining the experience for most players... this game should be a case study in godawful netcode for Computer Science students to study (and avoid at the risk of their professional reputations).

This product is an absolute embarrassment for Treyarch, Raven Software, EA, Microsoft, and any developer unfortunate enough to work on it. Players deserve better, and you know it. Do better.

UPDATE: Review revised as promised. Saber responded to community feedback promptly and with commendable transparency regarding their original thought process. Today's patch addresses the majority of the issues that have been brought to them and represents a developer-gamer relationship which deserves praise and support.

When everything is cranking on all cylinders, this game has some of the most fun and rewarding co-op PvE and PvP content available today. If you've come to this page wondering whether or not you should give SM2 a try, I highly recommend that you do.

************ ORIGINAL REVIEW BELOW ****************

Today's patch (4.0) introduced nerfs no one asked for which increased difficulty significantly while reducing fun to a massive degree. Challenge is good; cheap challenge mechanics that kill fun are very bad. Sorry Saber -- today was a complete screwup. Cannot recommend this title unless or until its massive issues are remedied.

It's fun. Bottom line. Ignore the controversies and enjoy the ride.

A fascinating, engaging, and endlessly-playable fusion of single-player MOBA style mechanics and RTS base-builder with RPG elements. My go-to game for mindless Xenos body-stacking and chill fun. Do yourself a favor and get this one.

Challenging, rewarding, delightful.

The learning curve is steep and the mechanics unforgiving. There are many interwoven systems and every choice, from construction to recruitment to events, always comes with a compromise.

Once the fundamentals are well understood, though, every game is an intensely enjoyable experience and time will pass with shocking speed while you are engrossed in this title. If this sort of strategy game appeals to you, then look no further; Against the Storm is already a masterpiece and only improves with every update.

Season 3 finally fixes the worst of Halo Infinite's multiplayer issues.

If you had been holding out until now, this is the time to finally take a look and see if you like it; Season 3 is basically what the 1.0 release version should have been like when it was released negligently early back in late '21.

UPDATE, November 2023:

Review changed to positive. After a year of (occasionally misguided) effort, Fatshark has brought Darktide back into the light of the Emperor's Grace. The game is now in the place it should have been at release, and a genuinely fun / engaging time.


OLD REVIEW:

There is a good game somewhere in this mess... but good luck finding it underneath all of the godawful performance (game is a slideshow even on high-end PCs), frequent crashes, terribly unethical cash shop practices, and frustratingly cheesy enemy mechanics.

Hopefully Fatshark can get a handle on all of this madness, but if you're on the fence I'd wait a few months to see if things improve.

Simple play, deep systems and rewards. Replayability is through the roof. Well worth the money.

A seemingly simple concept, with seemingly simple execution, that contains shocking depth of gameplay and turns out better than it has any right to be.

Valheim is a masterpiece, and will almost certainly be revered for decades. Buy it.

Faithful to the tabletop wargaming original, and exceptionally fun. Regular updates to address issues identified by the community - HBS is committed to polishing their products to a high gloss shine, and this game is no exception. Highly recommended for any fan of Battletech and most fans of the Mechwarrior series.