Recent reviews by Wolf

Its a single player Everquest-like MMO with simulated players. I am not into doing reviews anymore but wanted to thumbs up this really good game.

My hours tells how much I am enjoying it. Just look at some vids on youtube and see if it is your cup o tea :)

Not bad

TLDR: I would wait and see what future patches do for the game before purchasing.

A-Life, a feature that made previous games seem alive with 'offline' tracking of NPCs is currently not visible in the game. It has even been removed from the store description which is a bit dodgy sounding if you ask me. This leads me to believe it was never in to begin with or that maybe could not get it to work with Unreal Engine.

Apart from periodic massive stuttering when say approaching a settlement I found performance pretty good and I do think the game does look pretty decent too. Mostly.

Sadly the way the NPCs spawn in are entirely immersion breaking. Sometimes literally spawning in front of you. There is no stealth. Enemies can see you wherever you are and whatever concealment or cover is between you. It is like enemies spawn then fire on you immediately (if human). All enemy stalkers also have infinite grenades and keep lobbing them at you with damn good accuracy.

Some mutants are literal bullet sponges that killing offer no reward but will leave you in debt with repairs, so best to just run. Speaking of repairs, the cost to repair is excessive to say the least and stuff wears down very quickly. They also have a funny habit of running behind any cover if you say jump on a wreck to avoid a pack of dogs. They also know the second your foot touches the floor and come charging out even if they cannot see you.

There are other issues but the NPC behaviour (or lack thereof), completely remove the feeling of playing a Stalker game in my opinion. It is just a Fallout like clone set in the Stalker universe.

The Devs are working on fixes, so like I said its best to wait. I feel there is a great game here, unless the whole A-Life being in game but not working 'story' is nothing but a lie.

Time will tell on that.

Edit: Everytime the game boots up it compiles shaders, which for me takes around 9 minutes. Not fun!

TLDR: Uninspiring and bland.

I tried to like this game, kept playing hoping it would get better... but alas.

It is basically a fast travel / fetch quest / load screen simulator with the most bland and boring characters and dialogue I have ever seen in a game. There is no emotion in any of the endless voiced conversations. I feel like i am talking to people who have missed sleep. The characters have no lives either, just stand wherever waiting for you to interact with them.

Compared to previous Bethesda games this is a down grade in everything bar graphics, and while they look 'decent' maxed out at 4K, it looks like a much older game. This is a game devoid of soul. Such a shame considering how much time allegedly went into its creation. If this is the new Bethesda standard, I think I will pass on anything else they have a hand in.

Such a shame.

I was supposed to go to bed 4 hours ago then I found this game.

Simple yet addictive :)

Visions of Giant,
but hole.

Civilian Collateral Damage Simulator 2021

First impressions. Well so far i have done the tutorial and first mission and i am surprised how well the game looks and runs. Only bug so far was the stash popup staying on screen all the time and needed a reload.

Performance wise, super fluid @4K ultra (up scaled to 8K). Atmosphere is on point and so far the story is really immersive. Combat is a lot of fun as is hacking.

After reading many negative posts i was not expecting it to run like it does. So far hugely recommend if you have the hardware.

My only gripe is i am left handed and like to use arrows for movement in games (mouse on left), but i cannot seem to rebind WASD to this unfortunately.

Hey guys,

TLDR: If you like dungeon crawlers, especially futuristic (ala Starcrawlers) there is a good chance you will like this game too.

Conglomerate 451 is set in and under (water) a cyberpunk style city. Actually my favourite map is the 'entry' cityscape. I love the look and the rain/water effects are pretty nice. Would liked to have had missions based in an offshoot of the outdoor area but currently all missions are enclosed. After the tutorial mission you can skip this part and head straight to the mission, which i do not recommend as buffs and map hacks and shopping can be done in the city and can make the mission itself more rewarding and easier.

You as the Director of your corporation are in charge of recruiting agents to perform the main missions of the game. This is done by creating your own clones. They each have a class, four skills to pick out of a small list (which you can swap out later if you wish - losing any advancement in them though) and a select dna trait. You do not start with any but with research you can unlock more. So essentially the clones that come later will have a bit of an advantage in this matter.

The initial classes you can pick are the Soldier (DPS/Tank), Infiltrator (Sniper) and drifter (support) but others unlock as you progress. These are the Splicer (healer), the Bodyguard (Tank/support), the Techie (Hacker/support), the Juicer (Nutjob... i mean someone who gets much stronger when abusing drugs but will suffer for it) and finally the Binary (mini DPS/Support).

You can go through the game with no problems with just the initial three but i prefer the Soldier/Infiltrator + either Bodyguard/Binary. Credits and tech (Tech essentially a crafting/training resource needed for pretty much everything except unlocking memories (more on that later)) are the resources you need to advance.

Aside from the usual shield/hit points you have two smaller bars for Pain (combat damage) and intoxication (drug use and some enemy attacks). As these build up you can end up with negative trauma/disorders which if not treated in healing/detox tanks within a certain amount of weeks these problems become permanent. You are given a percentage chance of how successful treatment for each issue can be resolved per week in the tanks.

Between missions you spend time at your Headquarters where you can clone more troops, heal and detox your agents. try to unlock memories, research the various trees (Clone/health/training/Military and Cyber), view the agent graveyard where your failures go, Directors office (overview), train and manage agent skills and slot mods into weapons, shields, cyberdeck (for hacking - doors, containers and people) and even cyborg parts you can unlock via research. Careful though add too many new body parts in a short time can cause the agent to die of cardiac arrest as i found out :) though you are given a heart rate que which of course ignored first time!

There is a background pre-story which i wont spoil and to find out about it you must find and unlock (hack) memories of the past. You find on occasion these pulsing orbs on a level which you can hack and if successful you end up with one of the 20 memories that need decrypting at H.Q. To do so you decide how much money you are going to throw at the problem with a min of 5k. Essentially you are buying a better percentage to unlock but RNG being what it can be i have spent fortunes before finally managing it.

The main goal is to take out the Leaders of four rival factions to make allegedly the city district safer. There is no story that runs concurrently with the present.

Wow review getting to long (you can probably tell i dont usually write them :) ), so i will sum up in the usual fashion.

Pros +

Cyberpunk (for me anyway).
Stable - not one crash in 87 hours or so.
Pretty decent looking for what it is on max settings and fluid gameplay.
Decent controller support.
Lots of customisation.
Good price. I certainly got my moneys worth!
Trauma/disorder mechanic that feels Darkest Dungeon esq.


Cons -

Cannot customise agent other than tattoos with a change of portrait direction.
The five biomes (random gen) other than the city could use more variation in my opinion but is ok.
Once you take out the 4 bosses which you can do fairly early (20-30 weeks), even on hard you are left with just random content to finish the game at 75 weeks. Some achievements do not unlock till you do this. So if you are an achievement ♥♥♥♥♥ you must grind for it.
Endings are to the point but compared to the intro upon starting a new game seems rushed and VERY abrupt, though hints of a sequel maybe in the offing :)

Im sure there are more things to say both positive and negative but i do recommend the game, it is addictive and im planning my third replay to get the third ending.

Cheers!

Have not written a review in quite awhile, but i feel this game certainly deserves one! TLDR at the bottom.

Expeditions Vikings is a cRPG set in the 8th Century. You begin as the son or daughter of a Thegn (Thane - Lord) who was lost on a raid to Britain some time before. Your stead is in a poor state and the way things look at the beginning, your clan will not be around for much longer... unless you act.

Its hard to write a review without spoilers so i will try to keep it free of them. You have a great deal of freedom to decide how to save your clan, be it raiding, trading, diplomacy or a combination of all three. How you deal with others will have consequences for good or ill later down the road. You can and infact must if you wish to be prosperous, strong or both expand and upgrade your holding.

You will also need to gather together a strong Viking Hird (personal warband) to accomplish your goals. These men and women have their own personalities and varying loyalty to you depending on your actions. Not unlike the previous game Expedition Conquistador by all accounts, which i have not played but anyone who has will understand how it works.

The combat is turn based and tactical. You have a cover mechanic, attacks of opportunity, morale, consumables, ailments and buffs and the weather and time of day can have an effect too.

I thoroughly enjoyed this game and i cannot say i have played a game as good since i finished the Witcher 3 (on GOG). Its one of those games you wish did not ever end.

Pros

For the type of game the graphics and hand crafted locations are simply gorgeous and immersive. A real feel for the time period and history.

Music score is excellent and the old celtic ballads really add to experience.

Combat is a lot of fun and an cRPG fan will enjoy it in my opinion.

Plenty of locations, content to explore to plunder or otherwise.

Memorable characters throughout the game.

Do it your way, mix it up or focus on a set goal to get you on the road to power, prosperity or both. With consequences.

An interesting camping mechanic to keep your Hird at its peak.

Superstition and witchcraft realistic for the time period.


+/-

Some mythical references and experiences which while i think add to the lore some might not agree.

Archery is deadly in the right hands. I like it but if you do not plan or are plain unlucky it will hurt. Needless to say this works both ways.


Cons

For me whenever i quit the game, steam would freeze and eventually close. Could be because i run more than one game at a time.

One consumable in particular is not very realistic and hugely overpowered but cannot be crafted till mid-late game.

Without spoiling anything, lets just say certain fortifications cause more problems for you and your Hird than help. Yet later on the enemy use them fine.


Overall personal rating for enjoyment: 9.5/10. Loved it!