Recent reviews by x8

I've completed a few play throughs on this one, and I've enjoyed each journey. There's a lot of fun mechanics (although some are not fully balanced) and lots of things for one to micromanage. Some systems aren't as fully fleshed out as I'd like (diplomacy is a bit lacking and opaque, for example), but given time I suspect that can be improved. It feels like the devs have paid a lot of attention to the mechanics, the pace at which new things are introduced, and fitting all those things together seamlessly. It's joy to discover a new age and new mechanics to try.

The feature I'd be most excited for would be simultaneous multiplayer (not yet in the game) so that I could enjoy this game with friends.

If you're a turn-based 4X fan and are open to new ideas in the genre, I think you'll enjoy this. If you're hesitant, check back in a year once the initial round of patches are applied.

Man, I LOVED this game. I have probably hundreds of more hours over on Origin before it moved to Steam.

But oh my god it is so unenjoyable to play this game anymore.

And it's not necessarily the game's fault it's more of a community issue - every quick play everyone wants to Rambo their way to early kills and when they inevitably get killed because they've overextended and are alone they immediately quit thus essentially dooming your entire game. You have to queue up 10 times to get a single enjoyable match and its just not worth my time to do that anymore. Ranked is also way worse off than it used to be and that's not the refuge it used to be. Even though the game is still technically competent, Respawn has not payed enough attention to nurturing its community.

Unless you constantly have a group of friends available to play with you, I cannot recommend this game.

This game didn't have the best start - the studio absolutely released this game before it was completed and its becoming a trend for this studio. That being said, over the last year the game has finally rounded into release form and it's a very compelling offering.

The main draw is that combat - Fatshark has absolutely nailed the gun and melee combat in this game - it's frenetic, visceral and kinetic. This is 100% the thing that keeps me coming back for more missions. Additionally, the art direction and music are top notch - they've absolutely nailed the 40K vibe and it's each level is a real pleasure for the eyeballs and the music keeps up the intensity.

I think the game still has a progression issue - the game is just has way too much grind for very tiny improvements to your build once you get to the max level. The new talent system opens up way more opportunities for various builds you can attempt and keep your runs fresh, but I'd really love to see a new level of itemization that can result in whole new builds and strategies being viable - that's simply just not in the game to a significant degree although there are certainly some bones to make it happen.

If you liked Vermintide or Warhammer 40k universe and/or are a big fan of co-op survival in the vein of Left 4 Dead, I can definitely recommend this game with the caveat that you will hit progression wall unless you are juggling multiple characters. I think that's still worth the price of admission and I think we can trust that Fatshark will give you the occasional reason to come back and purge the heretics once again.

Incredible game, one of the best ever made. Great story, characters, setting, cutscenes and voice acting, and the cherry on top is that Larian gives you the freedom to tell the story you want to tell.

I kept seeing reviews for this game that had threatened put me off and I have to say that I found none of them helpful.

One common refrain was that progression wasn't shared in co-op. This is not true. It's a bit wonky to be sure, requiring the player quickly jump into their own solo lobby to unlock characters and such, but it's really not as big of a deal as many are making it out to be. And good news! Amplitude has committed to quickly patching the wonky behavior so it won't be here for long.

I was a little sad to hear that some had felt it was a step back in decision making, but I've found this also to be untrue. There's a lot of tough decisions to make on each run, especially on larger level sizes. I thought originally the spawner system was a step back, but found I was wrong and spawners keep up the intensity of each level while letting you plan your defenses and exploring around them. Spawners also have elemental types that inform what kind of weapons you are carrying as well as what kind of turrets you should unlock and place. I really enjoyed the drilling mechanic that has your crystal move to a location but then it follows a character until it's placed back into a slot while you fight endless waves - I really hope more interesting mechanics like this can be added.

Another really cool addition is the boss fights! I was just blown away with how cool and fun they are, and each fight has some unique mechanics. Also the music absolutely rocks.

There's also a decent bit of progression - character have 3 mod slots each that are unlocks by doing runs and achieving goals, and each of those slots can be customized with several unlockable mods. All guns also have mods that can be unlocked. You can customize your crystal with mods as well! You can unlock level modifiers to vary your runs. You can buy powerups to give you an initial boost on each run. It's all there and would be excited to see the options available grow.

Some have even said the characters are boring, but I found it was very similar to the original - there's a lot of unique perks for each character than can be unlocked in a run that can be game changers (I think many have missed these since you are given 3 random choices at a time, so these perks may be missed initially). Some characters have some really unique abilities and passives as well that really alter play style.

And none of this even touches the wonderful art and animations. The procedurally generated levels are excellent and very immersive. The game runs very smoothly and is well optimized. It also works beautifully on the Deck.

I'd urge people to give this game at least a half dozen hours and few runs so that you can really experience all it has to offer. Each time I found myself disappointed something was missing, I would very quickly discover that the feature actually exists but hadn't been unlocked yet. 1-2 hours in the game is not enough to see everything it has to offer and those reviews should be ignored.

I really like this new game from Shiro. I fell in love with Northgard, and this game really carries forward the tradition of Shiro developing interesting and fun RTS games. I would best describe this game as an RTS version of one of my favorite board games Twight Imperium, a massive board game with politics, war, and sly maneuvers. The fact that it also takes place in the rich world of Dune only makes it that much more engaging.

There's a lot to do in this game and you'll always be busy with making clicks, but the pace is such that it's not too overwhelming once you grasp the basics. The factions are varied in really important ways so that each faction feels unique from the rest, and the map generation is top notch - you'll always be playing on a world that feels fresh and new.

As a single player game it's not particularly robust right now, but it's a lot of fun to play with friends in multiplayer.

If I had some complaints it would be that the length of games can be a bit on the long side, there's only a max of 4p multiplayer (whereas Northgard supported up to 8), and there's a lack of in-game information regarding various modifiers and mechanics - it feels like adding contextual tooltips would go a long way to enhancing the in-game experience.

Incredible expansion! Adds a TON of new systems and levers for players to pull as well as some new content. Really opens up many new gameplay avenues for different play throughs. Amplitude really exceeded my expectations here. There are a lot of people who love to hate on this wonderful game for whatever reason, but Humankind is a gem and this expansion is a welcome addition.

Amazing!!! Just checks every box for me. There's a few quirks here and there, but a very solid release.

Oh hey 6am... where did you come from?