Recent reviews by Eztrelle

Very good. I hope that Paradox do not listen to the very vocal minority who always seem to want to see <insert game title> 3 as <insert game title> 2 with a few extra tweaks. These are individuals resistant to change where change makes them uncomfortable and anxious. You see them in the workplace all the time. Dont get me wrong, there are improvements needed and the direction that Paradox are taking in the road map looks very promising. At the moment I would summarise the game as good, interesting, playable and worthy of purchase especially in light of the roadmap.

Fantastic game. just so much more than i imagined and actually not really too hardcore... I am coping as a 61 year old gamer. Best game i have played in this sort of genre since Ultima Underworld 2.

To be honest I am on the fence with this one. It is OK. It turns into a very dry.... wall of stats... would be my first impression. In terms of comparable titles.. I don't think that Civ (5 or 6) and Humankind are it's main rivals from a functionality / content positioning point. I think players should look closer at Imperiums: Greek Wars. I need to spend more time with Old World.. but at this point in time I think Imperiums does it better, The sad thing is Imperiums did not get the big EPIC cash injection as part of its development.....

Absolutely fantastic turn based tactical combat. This game is essential if that type of game is your gig.
The mean, moody and dark atmosphere is well implemented. The arthurian flavour I really like and finding all the characters from arthurian legend in the game is fun.
I like the clear distinction between activity on missions and activity on the strategic map and camelot. The mechanics here are very XCOM-like and well implemented. For example.. no access to your character sheets or equipment changes whilst on a mission. I like that. I like the vitality/HP/armour mechanics.. a nice combo especially in conjunction with persistant wounding on vitality damage. It great trying to manage that between missions.
Graphically it is good and fits the atmosphere well. I have one gripe... lack of access to AA controls. The game is blurry.. no doubt. Hopefully this will be addressed.
My one development decision that does not work for me is the choice of main protagonist .. or rather the lack of choice. You play as Sir Mordred... no choice. For me that character does not really resonate with my own gaming personality and that is a bit of a struggle from a role play perspective.
Apart from the above, which is a personal thing... it really is a great game.

I bought this game at release and negatively reviewed it. It was a real mess. I have come back with the last big patch and DLC release and it is a game transformed. This is now a worthy successor to DWU and so much better than Stellaris. I love all the varying degrees of automation... a fantastic feature. The scale is staggering. It even looks good at 1440p with HDR on. I think my only issue now is the audio and music.. but hey that's a real minor point.If you like 4x and especially space 4x this game is now, for me the leader in the genre, and the title that all others should be compared against.Ez

I bought this game in the steam sale. I waited that long because of all the hate I have read for it. Well.... just goes to show you shouldn't believe what you hear.. best experience it for yourself. The game is amazing. The atmosphere is really good and so immersive. I am enjoying the story.. I really like the Brain Dance editing stuff.. that's a nice touch! Not far in yet but it is good.
From a technical perspective, the game is visually stunning. I am running on "Ray Tracing - Ultra" preset. So everything at max. Playing at 1080p. I am capping frames in game at 70fps (Monitor dialled into 144Hz).. If I leave the cap off.. I get up to 93fps.. but my CPU starts to get a little warm (82-84 degC). At a locked 70fps I am running my CPU in the low 70s which I am happy with. Am using a 11700K @ 4.6Ghz overclock and a gaming RTX3070. My 3070 stays in the high 50s and is not being worked that hard. Seems the game might be CPU intensive.

I have held off buying this for quite a while, based upon the fact that quite often the 40K branding is an excuse to develop and present a mediocre or sub par game. Well... Gladius turned out to be something fantastic. If you like turn based tactical combat this game is an absolute must.... its fantastic. What it does not satisfy is any strategic itch you might have. It is a title that does beautifully what it sets out to do....... in offering a tactical unit based 40K combat fest.

This title is a superb addition to the Imperiums game. It provides some very nicely thought out and intelligently considered new elements to game play, including the reworking of corruption and implementation of regional capitals to help maintain big empires (which have to be balanced with their own lower loyalty).. a very well implemented mechanic dealing with the usual 4x strategy snowballing. The new map has led me to enjoy some truly epic battles and conflicts as I, playing as Carthage, along with my allies in the North take on the might of the Persian empire. I was completely absorbed and enjoyed the detail.

The AI in this game I would say is better than any of the normal 4x that are out there and I have played most of them. As an example, in my current game, when persia sailed a troop laden series of ships up between Sicily and Italy and landed them on the shores of western Italy and subsequently took Rome out of the game and effectively splitting my empire in two.. I felt wow... I almost felt like i was playing against another human. Just very good.

I ought to mention the resource management which again is intricate, nicely thought out and consisting of many interwoven mechanics.

I get the feeling this game is a labour of love for one small development studio and that love and attention to detail in creating their game, shines through in every aspect of the game play.

One last comment on the developer, they are very active on the forums, always looking to help and provide advice and working on improving their game over time. There are many larger and especially AAA studios, who should take a look at this and learn.

In terms of gameplay, there is the new campaign, you can also play the origional campaign using the new rules and you can also create your own random map games like other 4x titles, so there is huge value for money here in terms of longevity and the developer continues to work on the title too.

In my opinion this game is a must buy if you like strategy 4x style games.

PS.. I notice Steam reports me as having played 0.0hrs of this DLC. That is not true, the time is recorded against the base game.

Enjoy.

Ez

This.... this is a beautiful game.
My main positives:
+ I love the combat and combat engagement scenarios with the AI.. use of terrain etc
+ The war score mechanic is really good if you take your time to understand it. In fact it is refreshing to see a developer introduce something like this.
My main negatives:
- The pace of the game is off. Disparity between culture and science, especially in the later eras.
- Forced game end at 300 turns. I want no turn limit at all.. just end of game based upon on a defined set of criteria and KPIs like science or industry or whatever. Then the highest fame wins. Forget the turn count.

Ez

An update on my review from when the game first became available as early access. I played for a few hours.. really loved it and decided I would park it until full release. So... I came back to it at 1.0 launch and I am absolutely loving it! Beautifully made, atmospheric, exciting, great controls (using a PS4 controller). I can't fault it.. just remember it is a superb looter shooter... it is NOT a space sim like ED and X4.. don't expect it to be one!!!
I think how the developer/publisher handled the development through early access.. always communicating with the players, listening, publishing a road map that they kept reasonably well to... releasing more and more of the game in increments... this in my mind was a really successful development strategy.

Great job Rockfish!!!