Recent reviews by plot1184

Although the development of the Expansion Pass took longer then communicated it's content is so vast that a game without all the free and paid content that was added to the game during it's development almost seems barren.

The travois is my go to tool when I need to transport loads of stuff (like a whole bear or moose), and the safehouse customization adds a lot to do when the blizzard comes down. Yes, I hate the glimmer fog and the cougar is a real nuisance but it adds a sometimes tough challenge.

The price was and still is definitely worth the content you get with it. Especially in the time where complete games of AAA studios can easily cost up to 100 bucks and more and you get less for it.

Kansas with trees.

Limit, the game.

I really like the setting and the detail the devs put into the game. Sound and visuals are really good (except some shadows over rivers/lakes). This makes it really enticing to play the game.

But there are some down sides I really don't get. The in-game help is a mess, not sorted alphabetically (at least in German) and leaving out things that I have to look online for. The UI is sometimes very clunky and things are hard to find, especially when you're new to the game. As a new player I tried the tutorial but that was sometimes useless. You have to do a certain activity and get notified afterwards what's up with that activity.
I could cope with all that if the game wasn't constantly limiting the player. Building limit, trap limit, inhabitant limit etc. I really don't get, why developers decide to add those restrictions without any hint why they exist and especially how to overcome those limitations.

knock knock knock Penny knock knock knock Penny knock knock knock Penny

What the actual f? XCOM 2 is basically the game whopping your behind constantly and sometimes you are allowed to shoot (and miss). This is highly frustrating when you're loosing soldiers constantly. Whoever thought that the enemy is allowed to move and fight your soldiers everytime you do anything. The "rulers" are a terrible invention. And btw I almost quit during the Julian mission. The whole game doesn't seem that compelling then the predecessor.

Nothing beats a Colonel sniper who is In The Zone and kills all the aliens who didn't get into coverage. But to get there you have to sacrifice a lot of soldiers. The tiniest mistake can cost you soldiers like dayflies. But winning hard fights is extremely rewarding and gets you In The Zone.

One thing makes me sad unfortunately: the mod Long War doesn't work anymore. This mod made the game even more intense and captivating.

Gives Dead Money vibes. Thank you for ruining my playthrough.

So far this game (v0.10.0) is an interesting one. The diversity of animals and plants/mushrooms is intriguing. I played the survival mode first and was a bit overwhelmed/confused by the mechanics. The "single player" mode had some tutorials which helped a bit. I like the sanity mechanic and the aurora borealis is just beautiful.

Since the game is in early access it's still in heavy development and a lot will and has to change.
- Having the blueprints in a "The Forest"-style book is very cumbersome to navigate (the tabs on the sides are too small, the book opens always on the first page regardless where you closed it).
- I play a lot "The Long Dark" and here the stats of the char are directly visible, this way the player can act accordingly. In this game it is hidden in the watch for some weird reason. Instead I have the durability of the tool constantly displayed.
- Since I am pretty audiophile I automatically pay attention to the sounds. Here the devs need to make a lot of improvements. Depending on the intensity of the wind the flora should emit additional sounds. Having a variety of sounds for each "action" makes the game more lively. Like more step sounds, more tool/weapon sounds etc. In addition a lot of things you do have the standard "pickup" sound.
- The syncronisation is ... erm ... unique. I find it pretty annoying tbh. Having the dude constantly shiver loudly is way too much.
- How long does the fire burn? Why do I have to click on it to see a rough estimate of it's remaining burning time.
- Nights are way too bright.
- Since the world is vast a button for autowalk would be appreciated.

The game is on a promising start but still has some ways to go.

Unfortunately I cannot suggest this weapon pack. At least two of the weapons go back to community suggested ideas. So let's discuss:

• The Bow: the bow comes with 3 different arrow types. The standard arrows against metal are pretty ridiculous. Forget about them. Then there are flare arrows. Those might have some form of benefit shooting flares further away then the player can throw them. And then there are the explosive arrows. Those are the only ones a bit useful against smaller machines. But since machines usually don't stand around like idiots and the arrows need some time to travel, hitting one of the machines becomes some sort of a gamble. With explosive arrows a good idea but not against highly agile machines.
  
• The Flamethrower: while this makes some sense against electronics the devs unfortunately gave the flamethrower a ludicrously short range. You need to be closer then 10 meters to an enemy to hit it. WTF? This feels almost like a melee weapon at this range. This weapon can only be used to get rid of some weeds, nothing more.
  
• The Pitchfork: Well, what do you expect from a pitchfork? It's another melee weapon that doesn't make sense against machines. You can try but bring medkits and adrenaline shots. I tried it and gave up soon after. In addition the devs didn't pay attention when implementing the audio. When you thrust the pitchfork almost every sound in the game gets muted for a second and appears afterwards. For example if you walk and thrust the pitchfork just in the air the sounds of the steps get muted. WHY??? You use one of the most sophisticated sound engines out there!

I use this weapon pack to collect flare and explosive arrows because they give quite a lot of "explosive" material when recycled, but that's it.

Crashes way too often.