Recent reviews by M1styczny

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is a mashup between Vampire Survivors style game and DRG. I am a fan of both of these games but I think it fails at both styles. It is trying to be something new but taking wrong lessons. I think all my gripes with the game can be resolved but I don't think the developer is going to change the direction of the game.

Visual presentation is great but the game has visibility issues, some mission side objectives are obscured by terrain (you can still see on minimap). XP orbs are too bright and can obscure some small enemies.

Upgrades would be OK except you can't have overclocks unless you upgrade weapon to level 12 in one dive before. This is artificial game length padding and very annoying.

Another problem is how you finish the level, because if you kill enemies too fast you will have to end it too soon to gather enough nitra/gold to upgrade weapons. It punishes you for killing enemies too fast. Levels are generated so if you don’t find resources in the first few minutes (RNG on top of RNG) then you will have a hard time finding them later. This is also why mining speed is the most important upgrade (another RNG).

This would be fine if enemies were arriving in waves but they are just arriving constantly so killing them faster will not work and will spawn bosses faster. You have to remember that you can't avoid shooting bosses other than just running away so again you need mining speed.

All of this is frustrating and has nothing to do with difficulty, but everything with not giving you enough control over your actions. I cannot recommend the game at this time.

I am a fan of co-op games and always look for new ones. Every game will get old after many hours so it is a joy to find a new fresh co-op experience. I played almost all popular co-op games like Warframe, Destiny 2, Vetmintide 1&2, Darktide, Division 2, DRG.

Helldivers 2 is another great one and without launch issues beside technical or anticheat controversy. This game is live service but it has a lot of content from the start. You can earn paid currency in game, there are two very different enemy factions that you fight against. There are many planets with different biomes, many main and side objectives and more points of interest with materials, currency, supplies.
Another important thing is the vibe that this game aims for (Starship Troopers with a dash of WH40K). It is done perfectly and drives the community even outside of the game.

The most important aspect of co-op games is gameplay and gunplay (or melee). It is great but you have to get used to it. Weapons here have weight and you can’t swing an autocannon just like a pistol, most light weapons with magazines can’t save bullets when you switch magazines so you should fully empty them. Recoil and sound are solid during shooting, with quality like from Division 2.

Two factions feel almost like playing two games, Tyranids are mobile with large numbers always trying to swarm you or drench in acid from close range or artillery. On the other hand Automatons will try to overwhelm you with lasers, flamethrowers or artillery. They are slow but tough to kill with lighter weapons, some will try to rush you with power swords or chainsaws.

You have a lot of tools to use from support weapons like LMG, sniper rifle, autocannon, railgun, expandable anti-tank, grenade launcher, orbital strikes, bombing runs, sentry turrets to name only a fraction of it. There is no random loot progression so eventually you can unlock everything.

My only gripe right now is locking super rare samples behind seventh level of difficulty (of 9) and not even bothering me personally because I am not a casual player. The problem is that it locks around ⅔ of ship upgrades (that can give you a significant boost). As far as I know there is no other option to earn them and if you don't like playing on higher difficulty you will end item (stratagem) progression without super rare samples.

It is a great game that has technical launch issues and some people think anticheat will take liberty from them. I think everyone deserves a cup of this liber-tea.

Len's Island is a very enjoyable game and after the last major update I think there is enough content for around 20 hours of play. It is not finished yet but I like what is there.

Core gameplay loop includes dungeons and farming/gathering/crafting. Survival element is minimal (hunger bar and health bar) and sleeping is optional as far as I know.

You start on an island near town and start your typical gathering/building/farming to prepare for dungeon diving.

Your progression comes from a few sources, every activity gives you XP for perk points. Skills are impactfull but you can unlock all of them easily. Another progression comes from town upgrading and crafting, that gives you more shops and better gear. Building is simple but you have many options to customize the look of your house.

If you want to progress to craft better gear you need to explore other islands and dungeons. Some crafting materials can only be found in dungeons or other islands. One piece of advice is to look for olives on mediterranean islands early.

Dungeons are the main “story” progression but the game does not have a story. I am fine with that and glad that there is nothing to block your progress.
Dungeons are full of enemies and crafting materials, enemies inside are made from the same material that looks like glowing black ink. Combat mostly depends on the weapon you are using, all weapons have active skills and move patterns. You have dodge and jump that are very important to avoid damage, you can use shields if you like a more defensive playstyle but it slows you down. Animations are fluid but a little janky and imprecise while using skills. It looks flashy and sounds impactful. Enemies are not sponges but you can also die quickly if you get surrounded. Unfortunately combat lacks depth to be more enjoyable.
Dungeons are dark and you need a torch to find all loot, harder dungeons have more jumping puzzles and traps but there is nothing frustrating. You can light lanterns or braziers so you can regenerate health. There are only two bosses and the first one can be difficult if you don't have enough food to tank damage or skill to avoid his attacks.

There is nothing in Len's Island that is great other than graphic and art style that would pull you in but the sum of it all is greater than its parts. During my playthrough I was not bored or frustrated with some artificial mechanic (except shop gold limit) and no stupid fetch quests or excessive grind. I also would like more islands to explore and pipes for water pump so I can build my farm where I want.

I have been a fan of tide games from the start, I have played them since 2015 when it all started because it was something new and was focused on melee combat instead of another shooter. I know that Fatshark is a flawed developer and did not expect Darktide to be a perfect game. I played all the beta. I had my concerns mostly about performance and stability but both of these got better and were not bothering me too much but I know it is a deal breaker for some.

Combat during missions is the most important and Fatshark did not disappoint me there. It is hybrid melee/ranged and some classes are better at one or the other playstyle. It is almost a 1:1 melee system from Vermintide II and many ranged weapons with good gunplay that feels satisfying. There are a good amount of special and elite enemies that are interesting to fight against (unlike B4B) and on high difficulty action becomes hectic.

Graphics, voice and music are all great but it is a very demanding game (too much I would say). Lighting is what can show the potential of RT technology and this is the first game where there is noticeable difference.

This review was negative before but after recent updates I can recommend this game without hesitation. It is not perfect and crafting is better but still in a bad spot, mission choice is RNG but there are much more of them and they added more difficulty options with auric and maelstrom. Map variety is still lacking but it is not bad, you can play many hours before things go stale.

What really changed my mind was the class overhaul added recently. It is paramount in games where you repeat the same missions that you have multiple options to build and alter your playstyle. Classes are now much more flexible than before (including V1&V2). New difficulty options added modifiers that alter how you play every mission and what build you should use to be efficient.

I think Darktide is in a state that should have been released, it is not perfect, mission variety and crafting still need work to be in acceptable state but gameplay and build variety are great.

I played many co-op games and a lot of Vermintide (both 1 and 2). This is the best of them for me because of a few factors.

Combat is probably the most important in this genre and Vermintide does not have competition in this regard. It is easy to pick up but hard to master and difficulty scaling is great without feeling spongy (base game, modded is but some people prefer it). One of my gripes with other co-op games is that the ammo economy becomes paramount and melee is just an afterthought. In Vermintide melee combat is the main feature but range combat is still important. Your skill is most important and having maxed out gear will be wasted on bad players.

Cooperation is another key feature that Vermintide excels at. In my opinion a good co-op game needs to be good with random people but still punish you for going alone. There is a tradeoff unfortunately and Chaos Waste mode shows that good game/mode can be bad with random players. If you add any progression during or between maps you risk that joining players will have a bad time.

I can write about graphics, sound, map design, voice acting and other aspects but these are secondary yet important.

Nobody is perfect and Vermintide has its problems. Occasional bugs and glitches can be frustrating and peer to peer have its issues. Darktide at this moment is soon to be released so maybe most of the veteran players will migrate (like me) but if you are a new player then starting with V2 is a good option to try the best melee co-op combat on the market.

Game is fun at the start but then it get tedious fast. No changing of speed couse that you are too slow (or mash keybindings like in RTS) or you wait for run to end. Moving crafting patrs is tedious and grindy.

Now i know why dwarfs are short melee focused warriors - u can shoot over their heads.