Recent reviews by ansumana

The combat is fun, especially once you get through the story and start raising the difficulty. The item/set variety leads to wildly divergent builds, and taking them out into this fast-paced chaotic backdrops keeps the loop engaging.

That being said, engaging has a shelf-life and especially as a "live service" game...they could do with a few updates. At the time of writing this there hasn't been a major update, with Joker coming at the end of March. A new game mode/mission-type, goal, story element....those are definitely needed to give the life blood pumping.

Still, this was a great game. I'm annoyed at the crusade that was launched to bury it because the story, the main thing I was hearing complaints about, was fantastic. It's full of dark, nihilistic humor that jives with this motley crew of anti-heroes balancing their self-interests with the impossible odds stacked against them. Yeah, Captain Boomerang taking on Superman doesn't make any sense...and that's the fun of it. It's an uphill battle with no reasonable path to victory, and that was different and, if you can embrace the amoral-ness of it, kinda endearing.

As for "politics", I really didn't see it. There's a rainbow sign in the Hall of Justice that says "We Welcome All Heroes", but even that's played as part of the false, saccharine image the heroes try to present to the world. Brainiac doesn't mind-control them, just tweaks a few of their darker impulses...that's closer to the real dark message/politics of the game.

Anyone who rails against this game for being "too woke" just reveals themselves to be another anger lemming, who either didn't actually play through the game or didn't understand what they were being beaten over the head with.

Either way it's a shame, because rallying to get this game to fail will just mean companies will stop taking a risk on known IP games with this level of quality voice work, the cut-scenes, and a polished combat engine.

I really hope we can all get back to just playing games and leaving the big political crusades out of it.

The core gameplay is extremely fun. To the point where even when issues at the beginning like crashes and missing crafting options were prevalent, I still kept going back to get a few rounds with friends.

Now the latest patch has improved a lot. The loops is fun and the grind isn't annoying. Performance is much more stable.

This is easily one of my top 3 games at the moment, and definitely top option for co-op play. Read between the lines on the negative reviews, the bottom line is this one is just good fun in tight 20-30 min chunks.

Came back for the New Horizon update and not disappointed. Forgot how good the shooting and mechanics felt, and with timers gone on expeditions my friends and I have had a lot more fun playing around with builds. Still just been a couple of runs since the update dropped, but already feels like a good place to vacation while Back 4 Blood gets their act together.

It's a fun co-op rpg shooter set in the new Wolfenstein universe. It's clearly not a direct sequel or continuation of the main series gameplay, it is exactly what it says it is. If you want a sequel to New Colossus, skip this.

But for 40 bucks you get a co-op shooter with light rpg elements where you can bring along a buddy for free (Buddy Pass). If that's your bag, it'll hold you over until Borderlands 3.

And the sisters are fine. Not everything has to be so damn political. Just relax, don't take it so seriously, and kill some damn Nazis like a good American.

If you enjoyed Vermintide 1, you'll love the sequel.

The first was one of my favorite games, but it got tiresome quickly with the way loot was handled. And there was no real way to customize your character's gameplay.

The second addressed those two main detractions directly, and for me that's placed it in Game of the Year contention. For 30 bucks you get a great 4-person survival game, with a wide variety of playstyles, RPG-style leveling and talent trees, and a much more forgiving itemization system than the dice from the first.

It's just been fun.

But fair warning, this is not a MMO substitute. It's not going to take you months to hit "endgame," and the game is more about getting better at dealing with the difficulty through mastery of the mechanics....rather than getting higher levels and better gear. This keeps the game challenging, rather than just a grind that eventually makes all content trivial until the next update.

For me, that's a big part of what makes it ideal. It's got just enough RPG-style stats and character building to make theory-craftring worth it...but doesn't require tons of invested time to get ideal builds. Just develop a playstyle, do a few runs a night, Git gud.

Highly recommend.

This is a great Fighting/Arena game.

It is not, however, an action/adventure game or a MMORPG.

If you are expecting the latter, you will be disappointed. The "story," plays more like a guided tutorial. A short romp across the PvE map designed to show you a variety of fighting styles and moves which you can then learn to build your own customized deck/set of moves.

Once you've done that and hit max level (60), which doesn't take too long, the game becomes mainly about queuing up to fight other people online.

And that's it.

And for 30 bucks that's enough, because they really have built an amazing and pretty balanced fighting engine. If you're a fighting game fan that always wished you could build your own character, this will probably scratch that itch. An arena fighter with a touch of RPG stats + equipment. You can spend hours customizing move sets, hunting for new ones both in PvE and PvP), or just farming for gear.

But if you're looking for an adventure game to "beat," or a big open world to explore with big boss fights and a story that ends....you'll definitely be disappointed.

Secret World Legends Review.

The Secret World was the MMO I always felt like I loved but everytime I went back to it I couldn't stand playing for more than a week or two. The horror theme, world and stories were great, but too many systems (combat, etc) just grated.

Legends didn't fix everything, and personally I don't think the combat is even that much better. A little better, but the game does show its age. More importantly the world is still there, progress is more streamlined, and a lot of the quests are more group friendly.

Plus it's free. And while the monetization can feel annoying it's also not as bad as people say. Purple caches drop like water from mobs which require real money keys, but you can just sell them for game currency and move on with your life. You're just missing out on some cosmetics and a few boosters you can get from elsewhere.

If you only slogged through the first few maps in the original, then I think it's worth your time to grab a friend and play this version. Play at your own pace, and enjoy this gem of a horor MMO.

I'm personally having a lot of fun with this + friends. I'm not sure if I've just been lucky but not too many performance issues either. Definitel a couple EA bugs here and there, but nothing that has killed my enjoyment of the game.

I would say if you understand that this is Early Access and run with a friend or two, the game definitely worth your time.

If you're looking for a finished product/polish, give it a few months.

So far so good.