Recent reviews by Simon the Wicked

I really like this game. It masterfully blends old-school Resident Evil mechanics with a retro aesthetic, offering a relatively unique survival horror experience set in WWI—without resorting to zombies to fill the setting. WWI was horrifying enough as it is. The combat is janky as hell, but that’s almost a given in this genre to ramp up the challenge. Most enemies are fairly simple and can be easily kited, and you can reset their positions by leaving and re-entering a room or area, which is a handy trick.

The rat mechanic isn’t too frustrating since the rats are easy to kill (unlike the Crimson Heads in RE1), so they’re quite manageable. Plus, you’re given a decent amount of fuel to burn corpses. However, the spawn rate of rats is inconsistent. Sometimes they spawn after you leave an area twice, and other times it takes four or more loads. Still, rats aren’t a major issue if you don’t kill every single enemy or if you manage to stack them and burn them efficiently with a single use of fuel.

However, the one thing that prevents me from fully recommending this game is the excessive backtracking. My frustration began around Chapter 3, where it was just barely tolerable. But once you hit Chapters 4 and 5—oh boy, it becomes too much. I’ve played almost every survival horror game out there, but I’ve never encountered as much backtracking as I did in CONSCRIPT. Nearly 50% or more of the game time is spent backtracking, retrieving items, and then trekking all the way back to open a door, only to find yet another item that needs to be used on the opposite side of the map.

To make matters worse, certain parts of the game have "world events" that change the map, making the backtracking even more tedious. Just when you think you've learned the layout, you’re forced to navigate it in a convoluted, snake-like manner. The Town section nearly broke me by the end.

If the backtracking weren’t such a huge pain, I would definitely recommend this game. This issue seems entirely fixable—unless it’s just me and I’m not seeing something others aren’t.

I’ve never had a problem with backtracking in any other game, but in CONSCRIPT...man, it’s a real ball-buster.

First impressions are pretty good, however some things to consider.

Gore is less modular than it was in RE2. Zombies are slightly faster, probably to compensate for wider areas and your ability to dodge. Corpses don't persist, so you don't have the same feel of exploration when you clear our zombies. Ammo is plentiful, unless this is only intended for the demo version. You can just open crates by using handgun ammo. You can take an extra hit, before going to Yellow state on Standard difficulty. Dodge mechanic is fairly nice, because it promotes reflexes and timing - you can't just dodge into zombies, like this was a roll mechanic from Dark Souls to avoid damage, direction where you dodge also really matter. You can also chain dodges, if you are fast/good/lucky enough.

Now, next big point is Nemesis. He is fast and relentless. If you thought Mister X from previous game was annoying - prepare to prostrate yourself. Nemesis lunges at you from massive distances, dashes into you can chains punches that can get you from "Fine" status to "Dangerous" in a single go. I'm certain the red barrels that can be used to clear out zombies will also a part of decision making process "Do I use this to clear zombies, or gain temporary breathing room from this butthead?".

Some of the technical weaknesses still persist from previous game, like 30fps animation rendering from distance - you can really see it here, due to larger areas. Otherwise, the game looks just as good as RE2, if not more.

I still wish we could use a laser sight like in RE4/RE5. I don't know, for some reason I really dig the laser sight option and wish it was still a feature in these games.

Full game is most likely not going to disappoint overall.

Loads of good fun. Except:

- Platforming sections in DOOM, really? Hope the guy with this idea in id Software is fired.
- Too many progression items. I mean armor upgrades, crystals, runes, weapon mods, weapon upgrades (to upgrade the mods) then it's the weapon mastery... TOO MUCH NONSENSE, JUST GIVE ME GUNS AND DEMONS TO KILL THEM WITH SAID GUNS, HOW DIFFICULT IS THAT?
- Level design is a step down from Doom 2016. Yeah the game is faster, but the platforming sections ruin the flow of the game and break immersion.
- Low ammo cap. Like really? I always have to stop and chainsaw enemies to refill ammo. Don't worry about the players not using all of your weapons. Often it feels like I'm playing Resident Evil or something, when the max you can carry without upgrades is like 16 shotgun shells.

Otherwise, it's fun - combat loop is very engrossing and addicting. Game is relatively short and the multiplayer Battlemode is super forgettable and lackluster. Progression unlocks are lazy, and feels like they were implemented 10+ years too late, since Modern Warfare 2 (cards, icons etc.).

Overall, Doom 2016 was a better game. Not to mention it had a level editor - which was really fun to come back to after 2-3 months, to see what autistically creative people made.

Oh, the soundtrack is awesome. Mick Gordon ftw

7.5/10 , if you're not a massive DOOM/FPS game fan - I would suggest waiting for a sale.

Hey hey, people.

Mandalore here

Game keeps kicking my rear, and I keep coming back for more. Pleasant art-style, smooth gameplay and the premise is interesting and story so far is also quite interesting.

Definitely worth picking up, considering it's technically in Early Access but plays better than most "full" release games.

A beautiful side story. If you liked the original Metro design of more linear encounters and world-building, then this DLC is perfect for you.

Tightest first person melee combat system ever. Hitboxes feel accurate, and you never feel like the person that killed you did so from a weird angle or clearly a connection issue was the cause. It's hellishly fun to run into a medieval mosh pit and flay your weapons around until some heads start to roll, or you hear a satisfying sound of a mace hitting a face, that is akin
to hitting a watermelon stuffed with corn flakes.

Found a catapult and started using it towards the enemy spawn. After getting 2-3 accurate shots resulting with multikills, enemy on horseback tried to rush me down, but did not notice a spike barrier placed by an engineer and he instead skewered himself onto the spikes. Made me laugh like a dental drill. Next up, I threw some additional stones to the enemy spawn, but instead one of them hit some guys from my team and I accidentally killed 3 teammates. In the end, I got ganged up by my own team, and some enemies.

It's janky, but loads of fun, without any extra baggage or time wasting unlocks or any other crap that festers in most games nowadays. Load up and jump into a battlefield, kill some peasants, knaves and whatnot. Price is fair and future mod support might add some really cool features, like previously seen footage with lightsaber gameplay.

Oh, and the developers are quite active and ironing out the issues as we speak. This game is sort of like For Honor, but not trash.

Wow, this game is really fun. I mean the first 10 or so minutes seem dull and relaxing, but once the difficulty starts ramping up, and you accumulate upgrade items, fly around and make enemies explode in glorious fashion while running like Sonic on 10x sprint boosts, since all loot items you get stack with each other. Hell you don't even double-jump, you can 10th-jump in this game if you get the upgrades. All classes play differently and some are harder than others. Controls are tight as hell and it runs butter smooth and feels great in 144hz.

You can play it in co-op as well, although you have to share the loot that you find, so you don't end up with 3 guys that are weak, and one is an immortal RNG God. That's the flip-side in playing solo, that you can get ridiculously overpowered and you feel unstoppable (if the RNG loves you that is), but if you go down - that's it. Survive as long as you can , reach the "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA" difficulty phase when the screen is bullet-hell times a thousand and just unleash pure chaos on the screen.

PROS
- Straight into the action
- Infinite replayability
- Cheap
- Love the art style (personally though)
- Runs smooth as silk
- Skill variety and upgrades that you get gel perfectly.
- Lots to unlock and each unlockable character requires some level of mastery, especially when using abilities.
- Perfect game if you enjoy listening to podcasts at the same time.

CONS

- Small level pool. (yet)
- Fall damage. Just why?
- Teleporter often blends with environment, or is placed in a very obnoxious position.
- No story, but is this really a negative?
- You can just get unlucky and die.
- Lunar Coins are super rare. I wish they would drop at least slightly more.
- Music could have a little more variety

Considering that the game is still in Early Access, a lot of these might change.

This is like Anthem, but without any BS attached to it. There are quite a few abilities reminiscent of Anthem, like the back-mounted rocket volley. Just jump in and have fun. I'm really loving it so far, even if it's Early Access. There's secrets in the game, unlockables and future content in the works without additional pay. If you value yourself as a gamer - get this game, it's a steal at this price.

"I need healing" The Game

Great game! Shame that EPIC Games screwed with the publisher and essentially screwed Steam out of selling it on the platform. It was originally advertised on for at least 6 months and was often on the first page in the Store as well. Slimy move, EPIC.

Many of you are probably worried that the open-world take will ruin the Metro experience, and I can confirm that it definitely does not. There are plenty of abandoned locations that you find, some of them even have psychic emanations that have the same kind of anxiety that atmospheric Metro levels in previous games had. Weapon mods are awesome, and it feels like the classic Crysis approach, allowing you to pick what you need for the situation.

Story so far, from what I played is alright, there's a lot more dialogue and world-building around the Spartan characters, which is a welcome addition. Playing on Hardcore feels appropriately difficult, without it being too challenging. Enemies are just as fragile as you, if you aim for their weak spots.

Metro Exodus feels like the true Metro experience, because developers previously did not have the time and resources to make a Stalker-esque experience with their initial plans.

I'm really glad that I picked it up before the sales on Steam were canned, otherwise I'd probably just wait a year to get it on Steam, rather than the crappy Tencent launcher which does not share my entire Metro game library.

If I had to give a quick example, this plays like a polished STALKER game. Only thing it lacks, is the Bandit station for the obligatory cheeky breeki.