Recent reviews by shattered fractal

The biggest question about this game seems to be: Is it a game?

EVERYTHING is an experience, a behavior, an adventure, a vague profundity, a search, a treasure, and an idea.

EVERYTHING is also unfulfilled (as opposed to unfulfilling), confused (as opposed to confusing), gentle (as opposed to gentile), and relaxing (as opposed to relaxed).

For those who enjoyed Mountain for its ambiance and randomness, there is more of that for you here; for those who didn't like Mountain for it's slow pace, there is more of that here as well... until you dig deeper.

This review is rather like the game itself; you kind of have to play around (as opposed to playing) before you know what the game is about, and then you know what it is. After that, you get to explore (or turn on autoexplore and just watch for a while) and discover new things and how they sing in order to grok them fully into your experience of EVERYTHING, which exhibits the philosophical tendency toward a literal circle of... everything... as you descend into smaller and smaller realms, down to Planck lengths and quarks... and then come out the other side as a Universe.

If you're an action hero type or want a "fun game" this probably isn't what you're looking for, but if you want to see what someone's idea of everything means, how it is all connected, and what a thing breaks down into or is a part of, this will be a profound observational exercise that allows participation when you're interested, and allows you to walk away for a while when you're interested in seeing where the Path will take you.

Pros:

• you can be literally all things, from a gnat to a house to a comet, etc
• you don't have to do anything if you turn on auto-explore and just watch to see what the explore finds
• stopping auto at any time allows you to delve deeper either bigger or smaller, and see the new thing closer or farther
• animals move like cubes, literally turning end for end, which is very silly
• getting a group of different 'things' together and singing with them makes some very interesting sounds

Cons:

• S..L..O..W.. "game" isn't really a game, but more of an app
• it can be very difficult to understand the ascend/descend mechanic until you've learned it - at which point you'll wonder why it was confusing at all
• random other observations will both inform and frustrate as the game goes on, in the form of messages given by various entities in the world, but are not always apparently relevant

That last "con" may be part of the "Pro" list as well, depending on how much an individual wants to explore the world, but at times it can be hard to find the next clue, and I have felt sometimes like some of the messages are simply messages, rather than part of the story.

Perhaps I am not yet ascended to the highest level.

In fact, let me just say outright: I am certainly not ascended - despite being many things, I have much yet to learn.

Props David OReilly for a fascinating, thought-provoking adventure in enlightenment and patience, frustration and discovery.

THIS IS AN XCOM/2-COMPARATIVE REVIEW, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THIS GAME IS TRYING TO COMPETE WITH.

tldr: game has all the right elements to fulfill anyone who wanted XCOM/2 to go a little further with management and options and details, and still be XCOM/2. It's a good value at this price and will have some surprises.

(Told you it was XCOM-heavy.)

It's been a while since I played, but as it's on sale now and I have several pals with the game on their list, here's my little take from ~5 hours actual play. (Yes, I explain why only 5 hours, second half.)

First, YES, this game is trying really, really hard to be XCOM(/2) in the Cold War - that is exactly the niche this is trying to fill - and in some ways they do a pretty good job:

• Map size in relation to missions appears consistent to the XCOM series: appropriate to the missions and to a good 60-120 minutes, depending on your playstyle and attention to detail
• Mission objectives and secondary objectives are both important, as to fail one is... well, it's a failure... but secondary objectives include finding items in scenario as a choice: files, computer equipment, signed letters, and other such items as a Cold War spy would seek
• "Random encounters" (enemy reinforcements) will appear at plot points in each scenario and give some indication of where they will deploy; if you are not yet revealed, there is a chance to move in response to this information
• Period decor, general style, agent appearance, office and building layouts, essentially accurate weaponry, etc

In short, it's a good game with all the right ingredients to be a hit, and I'm sort of surprised there aren't more overall reviews with as much as it has to offer.

Additionally(/However?), you will have to manage your operation - sort of be a combination of the XO in XCOM and the shadow man who met you for teleconference and missions/payment - which includes sending operatives (or not - an apparently losing strat) to several functions that quickly makes the game much more tedious to 'play' as compared to XCOMs fairly straightforward "retrieve in mission/study as time passes/buy" method.

(This was where my eyes glazed over a bit; it was unexpected, and more than I wanted to think about at the time; I just wanted a Cold War XCOM game with some things that made it be its own thing. Why mention it here? So you know it's there, duh... geez.)

All in all, this game is surely it's own thing.

As you generally start new games with a tutorial, this means that your 2 hour timer to return the game will be half or more over when you're through with the tutorial mission; I suggest nevertheless that you play the tutorial because if you don't like that part of the game, you won't play anyway... and at list price that's TWO lapdances' worth.

• I want to come back to this game again and try when I haven't the heavy Xpectaion (yuk yuk)
• This game is pricey for it's offering in a crowded genre: not an A-title, dev, ad campaign, or publisher, and not significantly better than what else is available. $25-$30 sounds about max to me, and at the current $8 sale price this is a steal.

@CreativeForge and Good Shepherd - Thanks for filling the niche of my desire to LARP The Americans, hope to see more from your outfits.

(edited for text and code)

It hurts my heart to give an XCOM product a thumbs DOWN rating.

Why would I do it?

Because although I like the franchise and the combat system in this game is the same as that I love in XCOM2, I could not recommend the game without a caveat that the characters, dialogue, and presentation of scenario and world information is not up to 2K standards, is juvenile in nature, and is annoying.

My 5 hours (probably 6 scenarios and learning the GUI - see notes on GUI) tells me that the game is technically sound and the combat system is the same tried and true as that of XCOM2 (including missing 3x 90% shots in a row on an enemy in the open...); if you liked that game you'll find the same elements of combat to your liking here, as well.

Aspects of the GUI seem like a step backward to me. Things that were easy to find/see/remember in XCOM2 (menus, information, dropdowns, character equipment are - for a reason I cannot pinpoint or critique - simply unmemorable. For example, the 'menu' for things to interact with are a group of (to me) meaningless icons, rather than a list with words. I know, "ok boomer." Is it a big deal? Nah... but still, it's annoying.

However, the failure for me is in the casual attitude of childish resistance fighters whose attitudes are similar to the trust fund college man-baby genre in the real world; the lack of a map larger than the encounter - by which I mean you never lose sight of an enemy because of map size being small; the lack of aliens being believably alien; and the lack of seriousness with which the apparently PC-minded player group NPC officers wearing sweatsuits and casual street clothes.

The plot feels like what a sheltered revolutionary with no fighting experience (let alone combat experience!) would think war would be like if only people with similar views could get over their prejudices and just all work together as a team.

Simply put, I'm somewhere between bored with the linear plot and irate with the juvenility of the MTV-like characters (again, after about 6 missions). But how long do I have to play to know if I like something when it's annoying?



This seems like an excellent test of changes that might make it to a future XCOM3 release. For example, the Breach system (choosing point of entry to an encounter, with advantages/penalties for attacking from certain places like window, door, roof, etc) is an amazingly satisfying addition that I hope to see again.


I hope this product is a mid-release "hey remember us!" shout out to keep us primed for the series, and that the rumors of XCOM3 are integrating aspects of this release that will give us another huge success in the XCOM franchise.

I don't think my $10 investment here was a bad one, don't feel like I want it back... just don't feel like throwing my time after my money anymore.

@Firaxis & 2K - You guys could have done a little better on this one... but it's not a failure imo. I just can't recommend it to others without a disclaimer... but for God's sake, no more college kid hipster voice actors for veteran alien commandos, please. Splurge and get us a Bruce Campbell already.

This ain't your Daddy's BattleTech.

By which I mean it's not the BT I grew up with (any 30+ year vets of the box set recognize how I didn't need to specify "CBT"?)

If you came here looking for 3025, anything remotely Mechwarrior, or mekwars - or even anything from the old tabletop setup out to about the late 3055 releases - of the original sourcebooks or box sets, you're in the wrong place.

That said, this product gets my UP vote for some good reasons.

Why it's not the same (list is NOT inclusive, just hits highlights):

• Initiative system is based on weight class and in some cases pilot skill (vet pilots with certain skills can activate faster than new pilots)
• Stability/Damage that requires a piloting skill roll (PSR) is changed; ergo 20+ damage means nothing; when you reach a certain threshold of damage, your mech will fall
• Indirect fire (IF) is much easier than on the tabletop or in MechWarrior games
• Movement and combat takes place per unit activation - not all in one phase: a mech moves, then it shoots, then the game continues to the next unit

Why it's (still) a good game:

• Light/Fast units activate first and all units can defer/hold move until later in the turn
• These lighter units play a huge risk in closing to within physical range of heavy units, but you can defer light mechs to move last and then in the next turn move first, thus making them the flexible units that light cav and scouts should be
• This turn-based style is common to TBS games these days and is easily understood
• The HBS team includes many of the original principals of the board game, including Jordan Weisman and other FASA staff, so the feel of the game is still.... Battletechy.

I have spent approximately 35 years interested in and playing the various incarnations of BT, CBT, MW (both RPG and puter, both original MW up through MWO. Literally years of my life have been spent playing, reading, writing, drinking, painting, building terrain, demoing games at conventions, and buying/selling/trading aspects of this game universe, including having a minor hand in some of the canon universe that has been published in that time. The makers of this game are GAMERS and they are true to the genre they all but pioneered, and so this game meets my approval.

Some commentary on the non-traditional aspects of the game:

1.) Each pilot has 4 stats, and can max them all with enough XP. However, you can choose only 2 stats to focus on, and one to specialize in, yeilding some interesting combinations of skills that compliment certain mechs/weapons more than others.

2.) A fully destructible environment is fully destructible, and means that units on top of buildings can be affected by destroying the building, thus delivering falling damage to the legs.

3.) Both legs destroyed = unit destroyed (for combat purposes; depending on your game settings you will still be able to salvage or recover a unit incapacitated in this manner). Makes the game cleaner and faster this way, and prevents a single mech with only a CT and Head remaining from running out a timer even though the mech no longer has a weapon.

4.) Physical attacks against non-mech units (vehicles only as far as I know; you can't kick buildings) do double damage as compared to physicals against other mechs.

There's more here to say, but that's gonna give most of you who are wondering if this is "really" Battletech something to chew on. As a price point, I think $40 is a bit steep, but $30 or less is worthy and if you can get the package at a 50% discount you'll have more than the value you've paid for. At the time of this writing I've had 430+ hours of actual play and most of that was worthy time spent... and I kickstarted this game at $50 with no DLC but for the Shadowhawk package bonus ($4 value at full price).

Overall I give HBS a big salute and props for this project; if you're looking for Battletech to scratch the itch that has languished for 20 years... the campaign and career modes here may just give you the satisfaction that your unit progression thirst has always wanted.

o7 HBS!

tldr: for me, thumbs up. This is a good game concept, decent execution (at least insofar as my 5 hours can attest), smooth world... but also has a low playerbase, legit criticisms in other reviews, and aparently low dev involvement.


I tried to go back to 7D2D and could not bear it (and I have some decent time in 7D, not just nubbin around nude punching grass).

I don't know what it is about this game but there is something awesome here; we just need dev involvement and bugfixes. A better tutorial would also be useful, but isn't really needed for those familiar with the genre.

Higher player count is obviously needed, but would come with some of the dev attention needed.

I don't want this project abandoned, but in its current state I would not pay more for it than I would to see a movie, and given the other reviews, I would not have payed that much to begin.

At $10 or less, if you want the open-world experience with low player density, this game is worth a look - but you'll need to peruse guides and look for helpful information when something stumps you.

I never thought I would boink a shark chick, but I did.

10/10 would get bit again.

A faithful representation of the original with some added function normally only available to the arcade owner: set number of respawns, points at which lives are gained (if any), some minor music/sound options, change size of GUI, etc.

You can play 1-handed if you WASD + Space or Arrows + Enter.

Casual memories and 2D map digging... what could be more fun? Considering the amount I've spent in arcades over decades, $4 was a bargain for this game BUT younger players who are not into the pixel graphics probably won't find much here for a WOW factor.

Regarding achis, about an hour or two would do it unless you have trouble with the dig 1000 spaces or can't get past level 6 in a single playthrough: that achi must be done in 1 game, and the limit of spaces on the board is the minimum requirement for how many levels must be played/dug, which works out to somewhere between level 6-8 or so, if you're diligent about getting every bit of mileage out of your little shovel.

One minor glitch is that if you pause/view the menu, the sound might bug out a little bit with strange 8-bit noises from time to time.

Overall a 10/10 at being Dig Dug, and again 10/10 for the port.

[edit]
I created a guide for the different fruit drop levels, which is relevant to the game achievements. Perhaps someone finds this helpful :D

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1752601079
[/edit]

Trash topic to make a game of, trash sim game.

Developer "Colossal Wreck" is aptly named and if publisher "Back to Basics Gaming," I dunno, went back to the basics of making a GAME, maybe it would be fun.

Of all the STCs I've ever bought or traded for, these cards can sit in my inventory and collect dust; I won't even give the devs the penny commission for selling them. In my view, this kind of sociopolitical activism propaganda should not be platformed as a game made available on a family platform - and that's coming from a guy amongst whose favorite media productions include both of HBOs Rome, and Deadwood, both infamously violent in depictions of period lifestyles and events, whose purpose was to be entertaining and succeeded as such.

Steer clear of this clickbait trash; if it was only a waste of time that would be one thing, but this product made me angry, which irony(?) I truly hope is both obvious in nature and visible to other responsible persons.

Play casual, play for fun... this can be a great game. Play comp, or want to... take a pass.

This game has redeeming values, but there aren't many to be found in the administration of the game as anything approaching "fair" in the competitive sense. In other words, the game itself is very good, very easy to learn, and very playable... but Valve has made choices that cause the playerbase to tend toward toxic. This is a hard and fast judgment of competitive playerbase (as opposed to unranked casual play) because comp is a better set of rules than casual (all fires burn all players in comp, rather than friendly fires don't burn allies in casual, for example).

However, casual play being unranked and largely taken quite unseriously, people who cheat in casual don't get punished at all, since the only result of a VAC ban is that you can't play comp anymore, and any inventory items you possess will never again be tradeable or marketable. A comment to this review claims that a VAC will ban play for an entire account, but I am waaay too lazy to go looking for any more information. Some guy said it, there ya go.

As you can see, I've logged 1461+ hours already and I LOVE the game... and yet, this is a negative review. Here's why:

1. They've made the game free, which I view as an open invitation to still more of the unsavory, toxic element.
2. Even following submission of timestamped cheats, no action is evident on the accounts of the offenders (yes, plural).
3. When the game went free all existing paid accounts were promoted to premium (or "Prime") status: priority queue for comp with other Prime accounts, which used to require reaching L21 ingame to enjoy. Now we all play against paid low level accounts run by smurfs and cheats, who aren't willing to lose their rank on their main accounts or just don't care, and so deluge the lower levels with abusive chat, text, and behavior - whether they're on your team or against. As an older guy I just don't have the reflex to compete with kids anymore and whereas I used to find the ranks breakdown acceptable to find a match with others around my skill level... now that's GONE.
4. Finally, and the biggest problem I have with this system, is that when you drop below a certain rank you can no longer OVERWATCH because you're considered an unreliable veiwer. But there's tons of known (bragged, profile listed, YT posted videos, etc) accounts that are smurfs of very high level players, and those accounts largely DO NOT DO OVERWATCH. You're losing the ones who care with this system, and that should be obvious.

I've sold my inventory, save for a few items with memories still attached. This game was a huge staple of my social contact for a year and a half and I'm unhappy about the place they've gone to, but when I call things what they are, this game has become a pig I just can't support any longer.

WIll I play again? Maybe. Maybe this is short-term frustration... but when I look at othre reviews of players with hundreds and thousands of hours, the reviews appear to have pulled this game from mid-90s uprated, to around 70 in under a week.

Listen to your audience, Valve. Find better ways of policing cheats, and find a reason to keep the smurfs in their own brackets. Start IP-banning VAC'd accounts (blah blah blah VPN blah blah, whatever). Do something other than throwing us all under the bus - we who support the game and spend money in your markets, on keys, and bringing friends in with the gift of game.

Making this game free with a PUBG mode isn't what anyone was asking for. Thumbs DOWN.

925 hours. That's almost half a full-time work year. Literally over 38 days of my life.

That's how long I've spent playing this game.

From that wealth of time invested I conclude the following:

• Ogres and Rat Ogres cannot fit through doorways and are therefore not a threat
• Executioners and Crypt Horrors can fit through doorways and will poop on your chest!

Seriously though, this is essentially a turn-based, 3rd person atmospheric game that is just a bit rough around the edges - just like Mordheim is supposed to be. I find the game quite entertaining, with substantial replay value between different races (Chaos and Empire, Undead and Skaven... all have different abilities, skills, heroes, and magics) and a chain of storyline quests for each race that (to my casual eye) feels enough like the canon universe to call this game true to the mark.

That said, there's no end-of-game after the endgame content of the storyline quests; you're free to keep running missions and enhancing your warband. The difficulty of each enemy you face will be approximately equal to the value of your warband (almost on a point-for-point basis, per character: i.e., your 271-point character will be mirriored by an enemy ~271-point character) with a modifier for difficulty level of the mission.

925 hours.

At the current sale price of $10 it's a bargain and the DLCs are all worthwhile, too (who doesn't like a little poison, or some dead things, eh?).