Recent reviews by Puss

Loved the demo, loved how the game evolved since then. Dev clearly cares about this project and it shows. The gameplay is just plain fun. The combat is chunky, violent, and glorious. Enemies have several death animations, which I think is sorely underused in many games; it just adds so much personality. It almost feels like you're playing with your victims, and the gameplay clearly encourages this.

Game kicks ass. Combat is some of the best in recent memory, and the sheer amount of world detail is insane. You can interact with damn near everything.

Let us perform the ritual of Prematuris Ejaculatoris, brother. This sequel is worthy of The Miracle.

In His glorious name. By His glorious will.

The Emperor protects.

Thou has't stumblest across a medium of divine fury, of holy light and purpose. With thine instrument in hand, smite the heretic as they slither in the foul earth that deserves not His holy gaze. But be forewarned, O steadfast pilgrim, thine journey will not be undertaken alone; such reckless solo endeavors tempt the cursed tethers of Chaos into thine heart. Yet, on November 30th, one may choose to wander solo if one wisheth.

This medium is not without subtle blemish as it manifests from the Beta mold, yet are we not all imperfect in the light of our Emperor? Examine thine own actions and reflect, young warrior, for there is no such thing as innocence. There are only degrees of guilt. The time for penitence is hither.

Show humility. Act without thought. Purge the heretic filth forthwith.

For only in death does duty end.

It's beautiful.

From the mountains that scrape the sky to the smoldering ruins that litter valleys of festering poison, every environment contains a raw majesty that was clearly birthed by a team that cares about the craft. The influence of George R.R Martin is honestly rarely noticed, and for me, that's perfectly fine. I couldn't care less.

The game drips with Dark Souls flavor and atmosphere. The bosses are myriad in both their scale, style, and difficulty. One can crush a boss in one attempt, only to get ground to paste the next encounter. Every corner will leave you guessing... and hungry for more.

This is hype done right, and it couldn't be more deserved.

I'm really enjoying my time with this one so far, but it's not without its flaws. I guess that's to be expected with most early access titles. With some TLC from the devs, this could shape up to be a worthy successor to They Are Billions, with which I have dozens of hours in.

The medieval setting is great; I love exploring the map with swordsman and archers, and the bleak atmosphere and rudimentary architecture really sets the tone for a Dark Age apocalypse. Like TAB, the timer starts once you begin, and almost immediately, you are balancing exploration with economy and defense. The urgency is compelling and hunting around the map for points of interest to beef up your units helps keep you engaged while you're waiting for the inevitable "Death Night." While you are faced with thousands of units during these events, the game cleverly uses a gorgeous fog to conceal most of the numbers until they're right on your doorstep. Despite the sheer volume of monsters, my framerate never chugged, so that's good!

The things I don't like, however, are pretty significant, but are absolutely patchable/fixable. Unit pathfinding is a little inconsistent at best, and downright game breaking at worst. I've had some unit freeze in place and refuse to move more than once, making them useless. Since you cannot delete units, you're forced to just leave them there until the fog rolls in and dissolves them. Speaking of the fog, if the player does not have direct line-of-sight of his or her territory, enemies will spawn every time the fog manifests. This is normally fine, however, enemies will often spawn inside of treelines or other objects, making them a visual nuisance. You can't distinguish on the minimap what is a threat and what is a benign mob that's stuck in a wall. One feature I do hope the devs implement is the ability to tell units whether to focus on higher level enemies or enemies nearest to them. TAB did this, and it's essential in a game like this, in my opinion. The arbalests are elite mob killers, but when there's 5,000 enemies on screen, it can be hard to click on a single one for them to prioritize.

In summary, AoD is a fine game so far, just a bit rough around the edges. It's quite tough also, so steel yourselves!

Enormous potential, but it's got that early access feel, so be forewarned.

The game opens with promising atmosphere and a great soundtrack. After a short intro, you're cut loose into a beautiful, but grim world that's at the mercy of a mysterious plague. The character models, and graphics in general, have a very familiar Quake Engine feel, while simultaneously possessing its own unique style. Overall, I love the presentation, and can't wait to explore more of the world and its lore.

The combat and weapons are fun, but it can be a bit janky at times. Zombies will lunge quickly at you, regardless of the terrain, and you will stare with amazement as they quite often fly over you as if lighter than air. The "shotgun" crossbow is awesome, but when it gibs an enemy, more often than not, the model will simply disappear, with no viscera to mark your gruesome kill. How disappointing.

Another quick pet peeve; the maps are quite large and labyrinthine, and you're given very scant info in your journal. I spent more time than I would like navigating paths already trod upon in my efforts to figure out where to go next. Not a major issue, as exploration is part of the fun, but perhaps if the map system could provide more detail about landmarks, locked doors, etc, that might make it less tiresome.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops, as I think it could be a mighty fine boomer shooter/caster.

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Nietzsche

The Revolution may be upon us, but you'll be too busy blowing leaves away to care.

Great game for jammin to jams

P.S. nominate the game in the 2020 awards, homie