Recent reviews by Shap_NZ

DEMOCRACY HAS OVERCOME THE EVIL TRAITOROUS SONY!!
Good job Helldivers!!!!!
For Liberty!


This 'WAS' the greatest game released - rivalling DOOM, Quake II, Half Life and so many other original, earthshattering releases that have shaped the way forward for gaming.
It was a benchmark and a refreshing one, giving us all hope.
But now, with the enforced PS2 account being demanded in order to play, it seems that the devs too have sold out on us.
Yet another nail in the gaming coffin.
Forcing a PS2 account to be created by those wanting to continue to play is absolutely NOT in keeping with how the players wished to see the game continue.
It will mean a considerable drop in players online.
I for one, who have played this to the point where there is nothing let to upgrade or achieve, will probably NOT make a PS2 account to continue. The sharing out of my information, meaning yet more invasions of privacy and personal information sharing to big corporations, will see yet more spam in my email inbox.
Good game?
It was.
Worth it? Oh my gosh, it's been iconic.
Good to buy into - now - ?
No. Just don't.
It was a phenomenon while it lasted.

Hell Let Loose *was* the go-to for Historical FPS shooters and their creators Black Matter set an indelible standard on historical accuracy, game play balance and world immersion experience.
Team-17, a company with no experience in this genre, purchased the game from Black Matter, stepped in and.... colossally changed everything - and not in a good way.
From Call of Duty Style movement, micro-transactions, arcadey combat and buggy gameplay to historically inaccurate representations and sudden, low quality models including weapons, uniforms and maps.
It is a definite tragedy to see the King laid so low so suddenly, but most of us have seen the writing on the wall. The golden years of Hell Let Loose are over.
As a Lvl 276 player who was an early kick starter supporter of this game, I've seen it develop into something incredible, be sold and watch it turn into a mess by new owners.
It's sad, but there's something new in the wings: Burning Lands.
Hang in there team - I recommend HLL for what it is now, a run and gun FPS with shades of past glory, but having experienced what it WAS, I'm sorry but, don't waste your time or money.
The King is dead, long live the King.

Connectivity to this game can be patchy - and trying to join if you're not in the US or One Euro server is diabolical.
HOWEVER - the one game I managed to get all the way through was epic.

Just like the original, but with interactive 'gopher' buddy.
Less crafting things, like no sleds to carry logs, or a means of making rope, but the game holds up really well as early access.
Great graphics, very easy and streamlined MP system, good physics and simple combat mechanisms.
Highly recommended.

As it stands, RDR2 is visually breaktaking, immersive and comes in two parts - story [offline] and online.
The story is incredible with an ending that will take your breath away.
Online is populated by griefing hackers who WILL break your gameplay by doing things to stop you, kill you or merely to impede what you are doing.
Only a handful roam about, looking to help people level up and to you I say bravo.
To the rest... you'll pop your cherry some day, don't worry.

Coming out just over half my lifetime ago, this classic game echoes everything that was great about the Personal Computer revolution.
Original, good gameplay, graphics that are good enough to understand without needing imagination or high end GPUs. Just an all round excellent game that isn't too hard to get the hang of and good for hours and hours of gameplay.
I had it then in 1994, and I've come back to it.
If it's got an old-timer coming back to play it, it's worth getting.

Bought this for our family to play together - excellent resource manager, engineering and logistical gameplay too.
There are many bugs to fine tune however, but this does not detract from the satisfaction this game brings us so far.
Re-railing a derailed car or engine is damn near impossible and clunky, and frequent 'kicking' or crashing occurs in multiplayer, so save often.
My boys have now bought their first engine and are managing log delivery on their own.
Great stuff. 7/10.

Having logged 8600+ hours over the years on ArmA3, may I say it's been a wild ride.
Grossly outdated graphics engine, poorly optimised, it remains the closest game you can ever play to the real thing. During its heyday, milsim communities and modders made this more of an experience than some simple combat simulator - I was able to don exactly the same equipment, uniform and loadouts that I served with while in the army.
NOT worth it if you're playing vanilla arma - terrifying and immersive if you use mods.
You can eat, climb walls, abseil, drink, splint fractures, dress burns, dig foxholes, engage in melee, interrogate, be suppressed and find yourself in a house being breached and cleared by the enemy.
Unless it's vanilla...
Mods are everything.

Stuck in a pink screen glitch. Deleted, reinstalled. Doesn't work.
Til they fix that bug, don't bother.

Zany and fun, but is beset with continuous crashes.
Until they fix these crashes, I can't recommend spending money on it.