Recent reviews by Smotanu

Destroying clankers with the bros? Check. Stellar soundtrack? Check. Immaculate vibes of Italian retrofuturism? Check.

The game has an astounding ability of generating organic stories that make each round feel so different. Of course, sometimes you only play the part of a loot mule NPC to some amoral rat, but that only makes the time of laying down the justified fury and anger on other players that much sweeter.

Balls, boxes and vaguely phallic shapes against a background of your choosing. Also makes you feel like ♥♥♥♥ about your aim. What's not to love?

Do I like the game? Yes. Do I feel like a boy in bath playing with my toyboats? Also yes. Do I also suck at this? Yes.

Occasionally you will be pissed off by the RNG and the game requires quite a bit of studying for you to play it effectively, but the game is rather compelling. There is a certain joy in releasing a broadside to an enemy ship and sinking it that you cannot get from elsewhere.

Fancy a bit of management simulation in the law enforcement? If yes, this is simultaniously the game and not the game for you. The game starts with almost 40 min of cutscenes with some slight breezes of at least seemingly consequenceless decisions and it serves as an image of the game to come.

The game focuses very heavily on the story telling, which would work for some, but I found it a bit tedious at times. Managing the sheriff's department and the cops with their idiosyncrasies is fun, engulfing and challenging at the same time, I often found myself audibly cursing at the drunkards and the lazy POS in my force (DAMN YOU PERKINS, DAMN YOU TO HELL) and whilst I was peeved in the beginning, I did get sucked into the story as well. The tactical operations still have some kinks, but are mostly fun with plenty of different strategies available.

Overall I would fancy a bit more choice in regarding the corruption as there is no other way to "survive" than diving deeper into the corruption, which makes it seem less of a gripping decision. Granted, I only have one playthrough under my belt, but this is my take on the game.

Tl;dr Fun and fairly detailed management and tactical operations, but if you absolutely abhor the excistence of long cutscenes, give this game a skip.