Recent reviews by d3north_vr

An excellent studio putting out a game that finally received the recognition they deserve. A community that supports, and is supported in return. Masterpiece in every sense of the phrase, and an experience unparalleled in this modern environment. All should be able to play, and all will be welcomed to fight. Dive together or die alone!

reminds me of murderbot in how the protagonist, an entirely manufactured character, is the most human of all the cast

Halo Infinite is now in the best place it has been ever. It did launch with quite some number of bugs and bad designs, but through iteration and improvement has reached new heights unforeseen. Firefight KOTH is a grand reinvention of the legacy Firefight, and fits well into the overall design of Infinite. Battle passes are long, arduous, and quite rewarding, especially newer ones now that several cosmetics do not need to be unlocked multiple times. Having armor coatings and helmets be multi-core helps immensely with player freedom and choice. My Spartan is truly *mine*.

It is a great sequel, instantly recognizable to those who enjoyed the first game and easily learned by new players. I found myself falling for the exploration, the new slimes, the new mechanics, all over again. All the major updates (Slime Science etc) are thoroughly integrated into this base game without being overly intrusive and "tacked on". The new map is excellent, with the natural flow that feels so correct that I actually got myself lost because I instinctively was travelling like I was on the Far, Far Range. I'm gonna lose so many hours and a hell of a lot of sleep to this game, I already know it.

Going into this expecting the same formula as traditional TT games will leave you on the wrong foot. This is not a remaster, it is a whole new remake. Having multiple returning Clone Wars voice actors (Tom Kane, Matt Lanter, Dee Bradley Baker, James Arnold Taylor) really helps the voice acting along. The traditional pseudoslapstick of TT games is back in a less overstated way, and there are lots of little easter eggs all over to satisfy even the most eagle-eyed fan.

so many times does the AI cheat, or have little "adjustments" for extra action opportunities. Black Hand helicopters appear from nowhere, with snipers already trained on you. When driving with a wanted level, helicopters will fly backwards and sideways just on the edge of frame, shooting at you, while you swerve side to side unable to shake them. Transmitter missions are gambles whether there is an unmarked enemy. Either you missed them and failed the mission, or accidentally got them and passed with 1% health left. Wingsuit is horrendous, the airbrake just drops you where you are without any "let me slow or turn".

Rico has gained a thick Sudamericano accent, totally obliterating any character development from 3. Tom Sheldon has also lost his Texan, but keeps all the vocabulary, creating a jarring Flanderization of his character.

I've been marathoning the series, from 2 to 3 and now 4. If you ever have the chance to pay less than ten dollars for this game, pass. It would be worth it to not get this game even if it was free. 3 is the pinnacle of the series, not this knockoff.

A masterclass in sandbox design and physics interactivity. If I did have to criticize one thing, it would be the repeated voice lines of available missions playing when you start the game. Otherwise it has no major flaws, and is tied with JC2 for best-in-series.

a masterpiece of emergent storytelling

very entertaining and different style of B/C gameplay, sad to see that the weapons arent automatically reskinned when using non-DLC weapons, but the recolor tool helps. overall a 4/5, wait for a sale.

Its a rough but good game, a hard-to-swallow control system with a very unintuitive design style that allows access to a complex strategy and tactics game with quite a large amount of replayability. Whether this is a good or bad game, I will leave up to you. I will say that this is a game that I will definitely keep in my library.