Recent reviews by mewds

(Updated 2)
We pushed back the hand of Sony and have secured Helldivers 2 for everyone to enjoy. Hopefully this is the last time I have to edit this review. Thank you for your support (even though my review does not count).

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(Updated Review)
Helldivers 2 and Arrowhead Studios are among the best on the market at the moment bringing us good ol' fashioned fun, but sadly it is now required to login and sync your account with a PSN account. If you're not already informed, this was mentioned during the release of the game months ago but due to an issue the system was not working properly so it was optional at the time until those issues were resolved.

I'll be honest, I never saw this prompt and if it was there, I did not have the impression that I'd be forced to login into a PSN later which has been known to subject me to a multitude of issues in the past because of various security issues on the part of Sony.

As much as I enjoy Helldivers 2, I cannot recommend the game out of solidarity with the devs and all the players (and potential players) who will be unable to play the game because of region-locked and console-locked barriers that don't need to be there.

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A game where you play as patriotic soldiers in defense of Super Earth against the enemies of mankind. Engage in the (literally) constantly changing Galactic War where the actions of ALL players contribute to an overall war effort. You and your friends can actually win or lose conflicts which can impact the dynamics of the war map.

With a discounted price of $40 and features no predatory modern-gaming tactics like season passes, battle passes, or overpriced cosmetic garbage, you get a game you can just play for 30 minutes to an hour of just shooting bad guys with a variety of increasingly lethal weapons and stratagems.

You do not need to be a Helldivers veteran to enjoy this sequel as anyone can pick up the game and play. However, the game is also "not for everyone" as it largely emphasizes a cooperative PvE experience where the majority of the mechanics of the game are built in such a way that your learned-habits from other games can be a detriment.

Game & Server Stability
There are some issues present in the game that are gradually being addressed but overall, the game is more stable than most AAA releases. Arrowhead did not expect over 250,000 concurrent players with a 450,000 peak so connectivity and various online-functionality has been a constant effort. While the first few weeks were rough, the servers are much more stable.

Game crashes and bugs are relatively tame and mild where new issues are often resolved with hotfixes very quickly such as the notorious Snowball incident.

Repetitive Gameplay
Long-sessions of play will reveal that the gameplay can be repetitive because it often does fall into that "deploy-shoot-extract" loop with an average play time of 20 minutes per mission. However, mission types do change up in response to the dynamics of the Galactic War presenting different ways of playing.

Though, it can be said that the expected introduction of new things every couple of weeks (in various ways) through their rather interesting form of "live-service" has shown that while the core aspects of the game are repetitious, they're introducing new ways to play.

Customization
I don't have a finger on the pulse of Arrowhead, but as it stands right now: This game really could benefit from more forms of customization to allow players to have a little more individuality in both their appearance and kits. Currently, you have access to a variety of armor but you can't change their appearance in any way. While full armor customization is not necessary, the ability to apply colors to them would be appreciated.

Some players have express sentiment about some kind of transmog for armor but it goes against the current established design of having armor with traits attached to them. We'll have to see if Arrowhead ever addresses this customization conundrum. I'd imagine they would at least consider paint jobs.

The original Helldivers had weapon upgrades to allow you to specialize your weapons to your playstyle. However, it seems going into Helldivers 2, they've opted for "weapon configurations" instead which makes sense for creating unique weapon identities, but maybe we'll see something in the future. While a full on CoD-style gunsmith isn't necessary, being able to swap optics or changing magazine types might be a welcome addition.

Summary
I highly recommend watching someone else play the game to see if you would find the game enjoyable. This is definitely one of those games you play a little bit at a time and come back to check to see how the Galactic War is going.

- Warbonds are permanent, including Premium Warbonds.
- At a glance, Warbonds look like battle passes but they're more like optional progression unlocks.
- Super Credits can be purchased with real money, but can also be found in-game on maps at various optional POIs.
- There is no weapon customization (currently).
- Armor has traits and values, but you wear it because it looks cool.
- The Galactic War is not run by an AI, it's actually run by someone named Joel.
- Yes, Arrowhead has taken a lot of inspiration from Starship Troopers.
- "New Stuff" is added every other Thursday either in the form of a Warbond, Stratagems, Ship Modules, Mission types, and even environmental hazards.
- All the jokes are true: You play DDR/Stepmania to call in Stratagems. Yeah, you can use macros if you really want.
- Friendly-fire is always on for both you and the enemies.
- Enemies can headshot you too.
- There's a mech and there will be more of them soon.

ICARUS
I could write a lengthy extensive review, but I'm going to keep it simple: Dead Dreams

It lures you in with the concept that you're dropping into a science fiction survival game where you're expecting both something familiar while also alien. However, your whole experience playing this game will make you wonder — where is the science fiction?

After hours of slaying wolves, boars, bears, and the occasional spitting cave worm, you'll find yourself equipped with tools made from rocks, a wooden bow, and maybe a shotgun. You're equipped with a spacesuit, like an EMU, but it offers nothing to the game other than to be a reminder that you can't breathe on this planet.

If you've played Conan: Exiles, Rust, or even Ark Survival, you've played this game already except, you likely had more fun. It is unfair to make comparisons, but contemporary games lean into their themes and concepts. ICARUS tip toes around them and frequently doesn't commit to anything interesting.

All I can say is that it's okay.
Hit some rocks, kill a bear, and get pneumonia hanging out in caves.
At least, when you chop down a tree it actually falls down. So, they managed that!

I can't recommend ICARUS, sorry.

It is a Survival Real Time Strategy game that is solely built upon the idea of building up your defenses, training soldiers, and desperately trying to survive against ever increasingly larger swarms of Nightmares. So far, I'd say the game has a decent feel that makes every Death Night as threatening as the last. You often have to strike a balance between expanding, researching, and building up adequate defenses. There's a good chance that if you're not familiar with this type of game, you'll perish quite often.

There is a bit of a challenge to create a variety in gameplay currently, but with the recent early implementation of Factions, I can see where players may be able to find the style of gameplay they would prefer. Right now, it's sort of following the basic principle of layered defenses and gradual army growth.

Overall, looking good so far during Early Access and definitely worth a follow if you're into these types of games! I hope, that in the future, they implement opportunities for cooperative survival to really push this game to the top of the genre as well as "sidegrade" variations to expand upon the gameplay further to avoid falling into familiar pitfalls seen in other games (see: They Are Billions).

I am a "veteran" guardian who paid for Destiny 2, Annual Pass, Forsaken, and Shadowkeep.

If you took a break, wanted to wait, or haven't played Destiny 2 this is likely one of the most valuable free-to-play experiences you can obtain today. It's a solid first-person-loot-shooter with an exceptional amount of lore behind the stories and characters that sometimes outshine the mainline story itself. It feels great to indulge in an arsenal of weapons of activities you can enjoy with your friends or alone with random Guardians. Now that Bungie has gone independent we will truly see what they can accomplish on their own.

With the numerous changes since the transition to Steam and becoming free-to-play the core gaming experience now gives you significantly more to do than ever before even without the expansions. The power boost to 750 really primes you for enjoy almost all of the base content right off the bat and unlike before you can now choose to experience the story at your own pace or just go straight into the thick of it completely blind.

Give it a play and if you like there's more to enjoy with the expansions!

Conan Exiles is a fairly robust build and craft survival game that is brutal and mythical. Compared to similar games it does a fairly decent job of fulfilling the demands of the genre.

The crafting is extensive, but not burdened too much with unnecessary crafting steps and acquiring resources isn't too difficult save for some of the end-game gear. Your standard fare of survival mechanics are in place such as hunger, thirst, and temperature. They can be annoying at times, but that seems to be difficult for most games to find a way to make these mechanics more interesting for the player.

Unlike similar games, this is not exclusively a PvP game as it does have a substantial amount of PvE content to enjoy for players who don't want it to simply be another slaughter fest.

Building is simple and easy to work with allowing you to build unique structures that are necessary for your survival. It can be annoying at times when trying to push the limits of the construction, but often times it's for the intent of balance.

Combat is brutal and there is actual demand for some level of skill when it comes to balancing your attacks, combos, and dodges against your opponents. At higher level play some of the meta diminishes in favor of just obscenely powerful gear, but often times these items aren't easily obtained without significant effort.

The Exiled Lands themselves are peppered with all sorts of points of interests, dungeons, raid lairs, and even little bits of story that help breathe life in the world. Strangely enough, you learn a lot about the Conan mythos within the game through journals, spooky apparitions, and raid lairs.

Yes, there is an "end" to Conan Exiles and it's literally a long quest line to escape the Exiled Lands which is kind of interesting to think about in a game that otherwise promotes an infinite gameplay loop. Once you've accomplished that you have a fair amount of mods in the Steam Workshop to play with some of which expand on the game in ways that can create even more entertaining ways to enjoy the game.

Also, you can change the size of your glorious assets and be completely nude because that's cool.

Metro 2033 is game overflowing with atmosphere, mythos, and beautiful imagery all bound together in a first-person-shooter package. While the game only features singleplayer it throws you into the thick of a post-apocalypic nightmare born within Russian mythos. Unlike other contemporary first-person-shooters which boast regenerative health, gratuitious mounds of ammo, and flocks of bullet sponges with faces you are instead armed with what is essentially a handful of bullets and a sharp knife against supernormal horrors.

Graphically beautiful, with a "graphical redux" available as well, it only lacks polish and refinement in gameplay and replayability as once you finish the campaign there isn't a whole lot to do other than play again on a harder difficulty. Fortunately, a few playthroughs can yield some interesting details otherwise missed the first time around.

Eager to see what is on offer with the third installment just recently announced.