Recent reviews by Major Spears

I like democracy

I've played war thunder now off and on for almost a decade, starting in 2014 with the addition of ground vehicles. To say I'm enjoyed this game over the years would be an understatement. I've had more fun in this game than I've had in most, but those aforementioned years have not been kind to this game. I'm sure if you're reading this you're at least a little familiar with the in game economy issues. While that is the straw that has broken the camels back in terms of player good will, it's not the only straw let me assure you, what we players call "BR compression" is a term you'll see tossed around, the gist of this term is that much more powerful (and typically premium IE real money) vehicles are balanced to match with vehicles of lower tiers, creating a progressively more and more seal clubby environment as time has gone on. I've loved war thunder, and have recommended it in the past; but for the foreseeable future, I cannot in good conscience do that anymore. If something changes I guarantee I'll be returning, but at the moment, I'm done. Though I'm not a 5 figure spending whale, so Gaijin probably won't miss me.

Its a fun game

To Rip, or to Tear, that is the question.
And the answer is yes.

Beautiful in every aspect, Visual, Audible, and gameplayible.
The various factors to keep track of keep the next day a constant mystery, maybe a sudden child death has lowered worker morale, so they refuse to work for the day without encouragement.
Maybe that worker was the engineer in charge of your coal plant.
Maybe without that engineer your coal mine can't keep you above the daily threshold.
It seemed like a good idea to let him rest, his daughter was killed in a blizzard, but now you're scrambling to pull workers off of other positions to meet that coal quota, while your stockpiles dwindle and the generator begins to creak, and groan, struggling to get that last vital piece of nourishment before- the hum stops. The generator is down. You start it up again and again with the little coal you have left, starting an emergency shift on your mines to keep them running all night, lowering your hope, and raising your people's discontent. Without being able to heat people's rudimentary homes, frostbite soon begins to set in, the music that was so loud and built when the generator died, is slowing and dying with the will of the people; amputees litter the streets, as there is no warm place for them to sleep, their care house lying just outside the uncertain glow of the generator. They will soon perish. As all will in the Eternal Winter.
Because you gave a man the day off.

gud

Hunt: Showdown is legitimately one of the most intense multiplayer experiences currently on the PC gaming market, even when nothing is happening, the ever present threat of something starting to happen is enough to put you on edge.

AUGUST 2024 EDIT:
With the relaunch of hunt showdown as "hunt showdown: 1896" I can no longer recommend this game. The soul of the game has been sucked out with a his update, replacing long established creative design decisions with dry, empty, confusing, difficult to navigate corporatized garbage.
Little flourishes like the way end of match accolades would appear in sequence of most notable achievements are gone, not replaced but gone.

3 books of lore going over every weapon, enemy type, map setting time peoriod and equipable item were removed. Not replaced, but removed.

The single player trials challenges which took nothing away from the game, even if you chose not to interact with them, removed.

Manufacturer titles for weapons to increase world building and establishment of setting, removed* (technically in a sub menu they're still viewable, but without the manufacturer title on th weapon it kills their identity. Like removing "Thompson" from the M1A1 submachine gun)

Addition of predatory FOMO inciting skin rarities, which they didn't even have the creative ability to name anything thematic; instead they're "epic" "mythic" "legendary" the same trite garbage that every game has these days. The old system of every skin being called a legendary skin was because they were meant to be notable weapons used by notable people in the world, they were legendary because they were weapons of legend, not mythic bevs I got them in a twitch drop.

The addition of bullet drop into a game after the game has been out in full release for half a decade is mental gymnastics levels of absurd. The developer "Crytek" touted this as a relaunch of the game, when frankly it's a different game. And not one I can in good faith recommend.

is god

The game is quite fun when everything is going right, it's built on the Insurgency formula phenomenally, but the performance issues that have been noted by others are simply too great for me to be able to recommend the game, even at it's sale price unfortunately.

It's ok.