Recent reviews by Agares Tretiak

This game has been consistently updated and improved since I started playing back in 2009. It is perhaps the most comprehensive WW2 shooter I've played, thanks in no small part to the dedication of the community and the devs. It puts more recently developed games to shame.

This game is sad, funny, and achingly beautiful at times. It doesn't hold your hand, and it expects you to closely consider how you see and understand what you're reading. I love it. I understand that it may not be for everyone; the premise of a text based game in this day and age places it very much in a niche, but it has good music and excellent writing.

I have played this game, without great consistency, since around 2014 or 2015. I can say, without a doubt, that this game has a hideously exploitative business model. The game, and specifically its economy are designed to frustrate, irritate, and confound a player at every turn, to try to strong-arm them into paying for one of the many, many money sinks that the game has integrated over the years.

As an example, I can make a solid showing of killing of 5 kills and 1 lost vehicle (total) in a Realistic battle, end up in the top 4 players for my team in a match, and still end up losing more than 10,000 silver lions in repair costs and the like, despite such a solid showing. I'm a slightly above average player, according to comparisons with other players and I can tell you, especially at high tiers, it is nigh-impossible to earn even a modest surplus of the Silver lions you need to buy new vehicles and train crews, much less repair vehicles.

I have looked at how the 'free' repairs works and it seems like my vehicles would take several IRL months to completely repair for 'free', but with how the interface is set up, there is no clear indication of what the order of these repairs would be, the cumulative time for all of them to complete or any other useful information for someone trying that route might have. I do know that, after leaving the entire top tier of the German tree to stew in 'free' repairs for more than 30 days, none of those high BR vehicles were repaired.

The only option you really have if you want to play at higher tiers and make some SL is by paying for premium and buying/playing your way through their season bonuses, which you can't enjoy the full extent of until you put down money for a ticket. Otherwise, more than half of the 'bonuses' are locked away from you, including regular injections of around 100,000 SL.

Gaijin is entirely aware of what they are doing and how they have designed this economy to operate, which is to take every cent they can squeeze out of a player, and give practically nothing in return. War Thunder's devs claim that they could never possibly offer this game with a different model of operation, ignoring counter examples like MechWarrior Online or Star Trek Online, both of which have the ability to earn and convert premium currency during in game events without having to pay any real world money to their respective companies. Gaijin has never to my knowledge, ever offered such an opportunity during an event unless someone wins some sort of contest with limited slots or a tournament. These aren't the only FTP games that have more generous models for the players and it is a source of continued bewilderment why Gaijin doesn't bother to even try to court the goodwill of its player base.

Never mind that there are ongoing bugs and issues with the game that have never been addressed, poor game play decisions that detract from the player experience, uninspired/uninteresting maps and objectives, events that are less about having fun, and more about subjecting yourself to a horrifying, onerous grind unless you pay them money to shortcut it, ignoring all of that, I still could never recommend this game to another person because of how broken the core economic model is for me. If it wasn't so broken, I might feel like I was paying for a product I enjoyed, getting a little boost from premium or some golden eagles once in a while, instead of paying that money into the game just to try to unlock the next module or vehicle and feeling constantly exploited for it. I'd rather not get spit in the face, and then get told that I should thank Gaijin for the honor of that experience. To that end, I'll continue to caution all my friends and anyone else who will listen to look at other games and experiences that aren't designed to insult the player's intelligence or exploit their pocketbook. And it's a damn shame, because under all the warts and stench, there's a unique and fascinating game waiting to happen, if only the Gaijin were willing to let it be that.

Stormworks is one of the most impressive build-and-survive games I've seen. Not just in terms of features, but of how hard working and dedicated the developers are, and how they try to work with the community to improve features and add new content. They've made a really unique and enjoyable game. There are options that allow players to choose a low-stress experience, letting them focus less on engineering their vehicles, and more on gameplay, while also having an 'advanced' building mode that allows all would-be engineers make highly specialized and complicated vehicles. While ships and boats are perhaps the primary focus of the game, a player can build ground vehicles and aircraft with relative ease. There's still a bit of a learning curve involved in building an understanding of how different systems work, but learning how to do new and interesting things can be an incredible amount of fun.

This is for the VR version of IL-2 Sturmovik (it can be run in Steam VR), rather than the more traditional game format. More than anything, this is about the VR implementation and how incredibly awkward has been using the game in this format.

TL;DR - VR implementation is awful, and the technical support personnel apparently lack experience with the VR version of the game and do not seem to be able to help with the problems I experienced. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME FOR THE VR EXPERIENCE.

When I got a VR headset (Rift-S), iwas rather excited because I would get to try flight simulation in a real 3D space, and I'd heard great things about the IL-2 game. So I purchased the game, downloaded it, and ran it in VR, and that's where the problems began. In other VR games, when you start, you generally have a flat interface to interact with before you get into the game. This includes things like menus and the like. However, generally they show up relative to the headset position. In my case, I play my flight simulators seated, including in VR, but when I start the game, it renders my position a few inches above the ground. IF I stand, I can somewhat see the menu screen in the hangar, but then I have to step back about 3 feet to actually see it properly, which takes me away from my desk and keyboard entirely, which means it's practically impossible to use the menus with out constantly changing position. This is extremely difficult to do in VR, because you are blind to your physical surroundings while the headset is on. It takes me about 10-15 minutes of fumbling to get to create a pilot and try to fly an aircraft. When I do, finally, get into an aircraft, much to my horror, my head is outside of the aircraft entirely and nestled to the left side of the engine cowling and I cannot see the cockpit unless (in a paused game) I stand up and position myself three feet from my keyboard and flight stick. I have tried to describe the problem to Support, which literally gave me a two sentence response that was essentially "save your position with F10 or send a screenshot" and I can do neither of things while in VR. I have tried reinstalling the game, moving my desk, and none of these seem to work. I have to conclude, then, two things:

1 - The support staff do not have any experience with the game in VR, or VR in general.
2 - The VR implementation is extremely flawed and janky.

I cannot recommend this game to anyone with a VR headset after my experiences and I do so sadly, because this game seems like it would be a lot of fun otherwise. The engine cowling was rather lovingly rendered from what I could tell and I was practically screaming in horror when I attempted to unpause the game and proceeded to crash into the ground because I could not effectively control the aircraft. I'm tempted to get a refund, but I'm hoping that 1C Game Studios will take my experience in mind and find a way to resolve the problem, so that I can instead write about how immersive and fun the game would be in VR.

BattleTech, as presented by HBS in this game, is an enjoyable (if limited) game for those of us that enjoy a deliberative turn-based experience. It offers a solid grounding for potential future expansions and offers a growing modding community a lot of breathing room to make numerous tweaks, additions, and adjustments to the base game, despite it being relatively new. If it has a single, glaring flaw, it is the disconnect in the sense of urgency in combat, versus the actual act of fighting, which can sometimes grind on due to lengthy pauses between switching turns and the spectacular if time consuming animations and camera switches.

In-Depth Review

Having the summary out of the way, let's look at some of the great and not-so-great aspects of the game, so you can make a better choice about if this game is going to work for you. As always, depending on the kind of gamer you are, Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV) on a number of points.

First, the game looks good, though it may lack polish. While some may object to some degree the abstractions in the graphics, the effect of the camera and environments gives both a good sense of scale for your 'Mechs as well as gives the sort of feeling a player of the original tabletop game might feel, without being overwhelming. The effects, especially for missiles are rather nice, though I feel somewhat underwhelmed by some of the LosTech weapons effects and general usability. Cut-scenes are done with stylish tableaus, partially animated and feel distinctly comic-book like to me, but they serve to move the plot along and are overall rather enjoyable, if not outstanding. In your second play through, however, you may find yourself breezing past them like I have, as HBS has mercifully permitted us the ability to curtail any and all of them. The one sort of... cinematic/cut-scene that I can't help but watch repeatedly is the intro, however. For some reason, it is one I consistently enjoy watching, which is a rarity in games.

Voice acting by the main characters is good, verging on great at times, but never quite crossing that threshold. The MechWarriors you get to play with are generally not anything to write home about, but neither are they entirely insufferable sounding. The music is great, and I intend to obtain the OST for the game as soon as I can, though this is one of those “YMMV” features, as the game would have been great with an almost Doom-esque metal flavored soundtrack as well. Weapons and 'Mechs are pretty good sounding as well, though sometimes a little lackluster at times. They are sometimes, but not usually, as epic sounding as you would hope, but neither are they entirely whimpy or underwhelming.

Gameplay is solid, but somewhat lacking in major variety once you play through enough of the randomly generated missions. There are some that seem to be weirdly inconsistent or even possibly broken and on several occasions I was somewhat irritated that I did not feel rewarded for a tactically brilliant flanking maneuver or attempt to seize an advantageous location, only to discover the enemy was distributed in such a way as to specifically render such maneuvers largely ineffective. That being said, this is a minority of the missions and discerning players will quickly recognize which of these to avoid if possible. I enjoyed the Mercenary company management aspects, from the consequences of a mission gone horribly wrong, to the lengthy or costly results of an injured teammate, and even the repair times early in the game do not bother me. What is more, the game offers mechanics later in the game to improve on these and generally makes your life a bit easier, even as the difficulty can ramp up. Story missions were overall quite fun and I enjoyed them. However, I feel a bit underwhelmed in the relative freedom the game offers your 'Merc company after you finish the main storyline, as there are no real side quests, subplots, or major benefits or emergent narrative to pursue outside of the primary missions. Getting to take on numerous random missions is fun, provided you enjoy the slow pace of combat (like I do generaly) but leaves the game feeling... desultory. This lack of direction and context after the main story is perhaps not unexpected, but it feels like there's a lot that could have been done that simply wasn't by HBS, even if I am certain there are good, practical development and design reasons for it (such as a time frame to get things released).

As for combat in general... its fun. I enjoyed it on my first play through, but on my second time through, despite the high replay value of the game, I found myself more impatient, and the way HBS handles pauses between switching mechs and turns can be a bit frustrating, even if I overall greatly enjoy the game play as a whole. If you are looking for a really fast paced, action packed RTS like experience, you are going to be sorely disappointed. If you enjoy things like XCOM, however, you will feel a little more at home and will probably get more than your money's worth of entertainment out of this game. I can say honestly that I look forward to and hope that HBS will release future patches and content for the game, as well as anticipate what the BattleTech modding community can cook up to help bring this game up to its potential.

Fallout 4 is a disappointment. Bethesda reached high in some areas, at the expense of other, perhaps more critical elements of the game. It's a severely flawed, ambitious attempt, hindered by attempts to broaden its appeal or monetize beloved aspects that have grown up around the Fallout series since it fell into Bethesda's lap.


Perhaps the weakest element of the game is the story. The characters feel heavily restricted in what paths you can take, what options you have available. At various points, you lack the ability to talk down or overcome conflicts through dialogue, and while the setting is intriguing, it more or less fails to live up to the potential it had. Even more so, I had more difficulty finding an emotional attachment to the character due to the voice acting, which made me feel removed from the scenario my various playthroughs have always inevitably led to. It's not my voice that is reading the dialogue, not my way of speaking, and so I feel like I'm watching a character in a movie, rather than being drawn into the setting and scenario that game puts forth. It discards interesting character development in lieu of a trite revenge story that feels tacked on to the rest of the game. Bethesda should strongly reconsider its approach to writing mainline story elements and take a hard look at what players really want. But this is a theme that is repeated throughout other parts of the game.


Some of the gameplay, especially shooting and weapon manipulation is significantly superior to its predecessors, but it has weakened the skill system a fair bit and makes progress through the game feel gimmicky and less natural. While I applaud the changes to power-armor and how nice it is to not use VATS for combat, I feel that the dialogue progression trees were severely hampered by the interface choices made, and the overly simplistic, unimaginative character lines you deliver break immersion. Faction building, something I looked forward to is largely a bland slog of "go-here-and-do-this" type quests that feel like they have no real impact on the Commonwealth or improve the actual status and standing of the Factions you may be working with. Furthermore, you have no options to really be a 'bad guy's and join one of the mercenary or raider groups in the game, during vanilla, non-DLC choices and quests. While settlement building is fun, it feels tacked on and doesn't really make you feel like your settlers are anything more than generic figures who have no real impact on the actual story line. I cannot, for instance, convince a settlement to become an outpost for the Brotherhood of Steel or set a building project up and watch settlers complete it. Instead, immersion is broken by giving me near god-like powers of creation, without other options being available. Furthermore, enemy factions do not seem to build their own settlements and you cannot have larger scale faction conflicts, an element of gameplay that would have made the game and its setting feel significantly more alive and interesting.



Graphics were acceptable, verging on good at times, but it's not the most technically beautiful game, without mods,you can play.


The Creation Club is the single worst choice Bethesda has made regarding this game and the desires and interests of the thriving community that surrounds its games. It is a tone-deaf, blatant money-grab with a hamfisted and undesirable set of features that do not let people opt out of downloading the content it 'offers'. It is not just a naked display of greed, it was done in spite of what players wanted out of the game and demonstrates an ever growing arrogance and disregard in Bethesda towards the fans of its RPG series. While I get that they would like to monetize the game further, this was entirely the wrong way to go about it, and players are savvy enough on a whole to see it for what it is.

The sum total of these factors makes me incredibly reluctant to consider purchasing any future DLC, content, or Fallout games from Bethesda, much less any of their products. I have even gone so far as to contact as many of my gaming friends and family members away from playing, purchasing, or supporting Bethesda as it sinks deeper into its own hubris and discards everything that gave their products appeal in the first place, which is unfortunate.

If you have not played, seen, tried, or heard of this game, you are probably incapable of even reading this recommendation, as living in caves tends to preclude internet access or modern living. You are therefore excused for not owning this amazing game. Everyone else should be laughed at.

This is -the- tactical shooter. If you're tired of the often trite and rediculous "military" shooters out there, and want a more realistic simulation of military endevour, give this game a try. Not for the faint of heart or the incautious, it's by far the best military FPS experience I've had to date. That is not to say it isn't without it's faults or problems (touch on those in later on) but the overall experience, the sense of scale, and the frankly, the amount of fun I've had in this game are what make this game my go-to for tactical combat.

PROs
- Scale of the environment; you're not going to find anything remotely like this in scale, save possibly in WWII Online, which is comparitively more dated than this. The enviornments are huge, even on Stratis it takes considerable time to simply walk from one location to another. Both maps offer a good variety of cover, concealment, and terrain to fight in, from forested hills and mountains to underwater stealthy goodness.
- Realism; What I mean by this is that the game provides fairly realistic expectations on human limitations, such as the amount and types of gear one can carry, fatigue, and the surprising turns of fragility and endurance of the human body. Marksmanship is important and vigilance is key in firefights. It's easy for the unwary to lose track of a target if you don't keep your eyes peeled and your rifle ready, creating a sense of tension in combat unlike most any other I've experienced. There are swells and lulls to it that speak to an environment that lends itself to a more realistic combat experience.
- It's pretty; While not the top tier of graphics, this is certainly an accessible and sometimes stunning gaming experience. It takes a poet to describe the sweeping vistas that reveal themselves at the oddest moments. With your intense focus on the environment around you, you can be trekking to an objective location in multiplayer with some friends, and crest a hill to see a marvellous Mediterranean sunset over a quiet sea-side village. And there's a poignancy when that serenity is broken by an artillery barrage from the forward observer on the opposite hill. The character models can be customised in a way previous titles of this series could not, giving voice to the inner tactical fashionista (really, sometimes dressing in all-black gear just feels -good-).
- Modding support; Mod support for this game is building slowly but surely, and for a few of my gripes in the CONs section, there are mods that help alleviate the suffering somewhat.

As a niether here nor there sort of observation:
The game interface is much improved over previous versions of the game, especially the inventory system, which is a marvelous improvement compared to the frustration generated from the previous title. However, it's not perfect, and especially the contextual menu needs some major tweaking and re-examination by BI.

CONs
- Optimization; the game could do with some. Settings I can use on most games with comprable graphics simply do not hold up in ArmA III, but it's rarely crippling. I still wish it'd be less of a struggle to have settings on a level that makes the game as pretty as it is, without a lagging frame rate.
- Lack of choice; this applies more to gear and weapons, than anything. While the stable of available gear for use has been increasing gradually since the Alpha Supporter edition, there's still a surprisingly low number of choices for small arms and vehicles in particular. I'm hoping that the Campaign extensions will also continue to provide more variety to the in-game gear I have to choose from.
- Dinky guns; It's a bit of a pet peeve, I'll admit, that some of the weapons feel weirdly underpowered in this. Perhaps its simply because I'm less used to using them, but a few weapons take more than half a magazine at short range to bring down relatively lightly armored foes with well placed shots. I'm looking at you, SMGs and 5.56 weapons.