Recent reviews by Lung

While at first Rimworld looks exceptionally boring, with a hint of nothing in terms of graphics I must admit.


There are plenty of reviews but don't let the high price fool you, despite the game nearly never going on a meaningful sale, it's genuinely worth it. There hasn't been any games in recent memory that have pulled me in the capacity of Rimworld. I got this game on my birthday, the 11th, and it's currently the 28th, I've been playing it non-stop. It's addictive. And it's addictive because of everything inside. I go to work, and plan out what I am doing in this game because when I get to this game I don't know, I can listen to podcasts while playing sure- that's really nice, but trying to just survive in itself is a challenge, especially when your colonists are puking everywhere and refusing to clean it. It's just- a mess. And a fun mess. That's what I love about Rimworld. If you were skeptical about it, Try it. You can refund it if you hate it- But hours melt into minutes as I play this. Rimworld is just, fun.

Pros
1: Excellent Concept
2: Entertaining Tech System
3: Engaging Gameplay with Modding.

Cons
1: Bad ending- Doesn't infinitely play.
2: Not a large gap between tiers.
3: Not worth the money per time spent.

Overall consensus: Volcanoids while it looks full of content or interesting currently lacks the raw amount of hours to make it worth your money. The fact that when beaten, it abruptly ends with a cut scene and the ability to continue- but at the same time removes the enemies really does trivialize all your work. My favorite part was arriving at COG Hill & fighting a horde of bots assaulting my base, but this only happened once. Every other time it was just a wave system of robots that could be nullified by my base going underground, which seemed like an excellent idea as your idle base consumes coal, and you never find coal, can't trade for it, etc. As it stands, this game has a long way to go if it wants to be truly great, but the foundations are there. I suppose this is why it's early access but as stands, it has a long way to go.

Things I'd like to see: Character customization. For some ungodly reason the devs made this a mod instead of just adding it to the game, same can be said for housing interiors just, why is that not in the game? Seems like they took things they considered cut content and just, threw it in the modding section for the game hence the need to release it? I would rather see this stuff in game however... And some of it actually is already which is confounding. Larger gaps between tiers, I feel like I quickly jumped from 1, to 2, to 3, and beat the game faster than anticipated. Cores could be expanded upon, more specifically the turret system. A dinky pistol turret is 5 cores, where as a Gatling turret is also 5 cores. While I understand the gatling is an upgrade, Why is it that my pistol will always take up 5, and not just 1 core? Especially nearing the end. Oh and, Trading / more coal, but additionally the ability to actually play when you beat the game. While I can continue after the COG The game just becomes trivial and pointless.

Geez you think the Beta would be time for feedback and critical thinking but I guess not.

1: Much akin to a Shoot & Loot there are varying quality "rarity" of weapons which means that you may find a shotgun you're happy with but have to toss it later because it's "Common quality" And not rare. Bothersome utterly due to a myriad of things. (Ammo, Feels, & More)
2: The Survivor AI is garbage, sometimes unarmed civilians shoot invisa-guns, meanwhile if a player leaves and a bot takes over the player, bot will just function as a turret with legs. Wayyy too accurate, but also dumber than a box of rocks! There's a variety of glitches tied to AI within the game. And all of them are unpolished if they're the survivors!
3: All the "Special infected" look the same. Tallboy is a funny name but it being the same thing as a Bruiser and a groper and a whatever makes it very hard to tell the difference. It's like they took the same infected and instead of just pooling it in the same group named it differently to confuse normal people. So I just call every zombie I see a tallboy lol.
4: Weapon attachments are cool but here's a really cool way to annoy me, equip them all on a weapon that's low quality, then proceed to trade that weapon for a better quality one and- hey I'm too stupid to take the attachments off my old gun oh well. It's a complete and utter waste sometimes to invest when cases like these happen lmao.
5: Bugs. I crashed an entire server by picking up a rare glock, when I was already carrying a rare glock. Their equipment was different but since I had the same glock the game just went haywire and crashed the server. Amazing really. This is quality you can expect.
6: Spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead and definitely plays better at times but with the AI being dumber than a box of rocks, there being no modding, & the variety of errors found in the AI this game leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
7: Multi is the only way to progress, and requires you to connect with a variety of randos who may or may not be stupid. You can't just start a lobby with 2 people which is a bit annoying, but you can still play even if both randoms leave. Which makes me really curious why I need the randoms in order to play.
8: There's no modding support lmao. How can you be a successor without what made the OG game you copied succesful?

1: The core gameplay works. You think I have more to add? Lol. For the most part it works.
2: Beautiful textures (well. Somewhat some are just overtly detailed over things that need detail in them lmao) but textures never made any game good, did they?
3: A variety of weapon attachments to go with your guns, that additionally change the model makes each gun feel really unique when used. It's a shame that weapon attachments are also a con, as above.
4: Special infected are all pretty unique, especially the Ogre which functions as a re-occuring tank. They just all seem to lapse in using the same model at times which is confusing for callouts. Overall though the model detail (aside from same model repeats) is quite nice for these fella's Especially some of the ideas behind some of the special infected.

And that's all she wrote. Overall, $60 for this? $60 Dollars, for this game? No, don't bother. Wait for a sale or time but believe me, you're not missing out on much. This game plays like a more restricted Left 4 Dead. The details are there, and it's quite spiffy don't get me wrong, but without the modding? Without the ease of access for the player? It uses Easy Anti-cheat too which is a joke, I'm sure it won't take long for a save editor to release in order to dodge around what it's attempting to prevent here which is- progression.

My overall review is negative. I really do wish the game could be better, and I feel with time maybe it can redeem itself but, Honestly? I'm not holding my breath lmao. without modding support, this game will never be Left 4 Dead. And I really hope that changes.

Summary
The Battle Of Steeltown seems as if it was planned before it ever arrived. As to say- was referenced within the game before this DLC even showed up. So what is it? The Battle of Steeltown adds 1 new place to the world map, Steeltown. It adds 3-4 new armors? There may be a little more- a new type of weapon, and a few extra weapons. What one can expect from Steeltowns lethal weaponry is not an actual weapon but in fact- makeshift worker weapons. Perhaps you don't like Worker weapons? Then go the Undertale Pacifist route. You get some guns that stun / disable enemies after 10 consecutive hits. Many weapons in this DLC for some reason- must reach x10 debuffs before applying a greater effect.

Plot
The Battle Of Steeltown takes place in Florida. No, it takes place in Steeltown in Colorado. You arrive at the gates to a bunch of refugees seeking an answer, a strange land where people let a robot that's very clearly malfunctioning control their lives, and an intimidating Guard personal. In reality, these guards are about as harmless as they could be- but still can be a nuissance. To explain Steeltowns plot in whole would literally spoil it in less than 3 sentences. So to sum it up bluntly- Steeltowns Plot spans across 3 different missions. None of which are very big. You go to about 3 different areas within the factory, fight (as you always do seemingly.) and then end the game with one big fight at the end. Is Steeltown Lore Friendly? Well, I'm the type of guy that likes to use Wild Wasteland in Fallout so- I'd say yes. However I can see some issues here and there. The Grime, Dirt, and Hellscape that is Wasteland 3 is lost on Steeltown. If you got yourself immersed in the apocalyptic side of Wasteland 3, Then perhaps save Steeltown for later. Steeltown does appear to actively scale with your party, So no worries on the challenge dropping off. Steeltown opens at level 11.

Let's go over what I like and didn't like.

Cons

1: Shield type enemies are a nuisance. The game relies on Elemental effects to remove them- in most cases you won't have unless you pick up a lethal weapon from the factory. Making any equipment you bought into steeltown, near useless at times. What's worse is that- these are immune to any other type of damage, making enemies invulnerable until you deal with the shield or it wears off. Great! I love it! No, not really I hate it!
2: The game doesn't state if the Disruption effect (pacification effect) is working or not. In some cases- enemies are completely immune to it. You won't know this however- and continue to get x10 stacks if only for them to do nothing.
3: Sometimes, story elements are poorly played out. A prime example is at the end, If you make a promise to do something, the game will not let you fulfill it unless another critical figure is in the factory. If they aren't- you must no matter what fail the other party. If you somewhat fulfill the request, you still ultimately lose the prime goal in the end. The biggest f*ck up I've ever gotten in a game because I don't have any saves back to revert this, and I spent all day in this factory.
4: Disruption weapons are a hit and a miss. Literally! You see- my party relies on the following. An engineer medic mechanic, with a pistol, a heavy class that uses a shotgun and a big gun, A sniper, and a SMG / Melee wepaon guy. Now- Disruption weapons go as follows. Disruption Shotgun, Disruption Baton, Disruption Sniper Rifle, Disruption Power Fist, Disruption Assault Rifle. What's the issue? My engineer was forced to use a shotgun because I couldn't buy or get any other disruption weapons until when I ended the DLC- just before I realized it was the end, I spent an extra $1k, on a single disruption assault rifle for my SMG class. This was an entire waste of money. The shotgun was so bad, I almost wanted to just use a gun. Every other disruption weapon worked, but the Shotgun, Somewhat the Baton, and Power fist were debatable. Well- at least the powerfist worked with the brawling skill (1AP per hit).
5: While not entirely as bad as one may expect, Bugs were there. And they hurt me. They hurt my feelings. Not really- they annoyed me. A lot. They weren't as heavy as one may expect, but they were there. Don't come into this DLC expecting to escape them.
6: The Final Issue, Length. This DLC has to be the shortest thing I've ever played. I beat it in less than a day. I paid $14, so it's fair it's not incredibly long, but what was there just doesn't feel as juicy and enveloping as the main story. I would have gladly waited longer if this was worked on longer. I would have gladly paid more too. Oh also who ever added the "end game button" at the end- I hate you. I had to redo that whole room and if I wasn't a paranoid save freak and anyone else, I'd have to had saved just before I entered the room. Luckily- I am a paranoid save freak and saved just as I got to that room but- thank you for making me redo it with that end game button. Very cool.

Pros / What I liked

1: I loved some of the story writing, It wasn't amazing but it was serviceable. Characters and more felt alive in the scenario & the factory gear one may get really does feel like its supposed to- right out of a factory.
2: There's a lot of skill checks that were genuinely appreciated. I had to wrap my way around a myriad of situations such as navigating someone through a factory vent until my skill check failed and- oops rats ate them. Oh hey is that their mother? Yeah your kid just got ate by rats...
3: I did enjoy the idea of using the Disruption guns to pacify & subdue people. It helped me numerous times, even when I needed to talk to a specific group but they were hostile. I simply stunned them into submission, and they gave me what I wanted. Perfect! Meanwhile in the main game- I couldn't just, taser someone and interrogate them. This isn't a solution to the main game, but it's a cool idea here.
4: I loved the numerous times the people of Steeltown new of and detailed my exploits, even knowing my fame. This made exploring it so much cooler because instead of being dropped into a random town as a nobody, they knew exactly who I was and was freaked out or amazed by it. Applauding my actions and more.

Overall Consensus

You get what you paid for. The Battle of Steeltown is an OK DLC but as you can see above in my view the cons outweigh the Pros. Does that mean you should avoid this DLC? Eh. I enjoyed it a lot, Can't say I'm happy with the ending I was forced to take because, the game wouldn't allow me to do the main thing I wanted to. But I will say for $14 I do feel it was well spent. Gave a lot of cool gear, and the idea of crafting elite rare variants is also interesting to me. Overall, I'll leave it as a thumbs up but be warned that this DLC will absolutely take you out of the main game in a literal and metaphorical sense, it doesn't carry any of the heavy grime and weight the main does that makes it so charming.

What can I say? It's a Weapon Skin. It fancies up your weapons in an odd looking aesthetic but still they look nice I suppose.

There could be complaints such as "un-immersive" but you get what you paid for.

As the only way to currently remove it from your gun is by going to the DLC within steam and un-toggling it. Just QoL "Click to add" would make this better, even if this game doesn't focus on cosmetics I can't help but think my AK looks a little. Too odd for the setting.

Fallout 76 is boring. There's no other way to put it. The Core objective of Fallout 76 was to gear the Fallout 4 engine for multiplayer. They succeeded! The art is visually amazing, even down to the 2D art shown all over this store page, so what's wrong?

Consider who's still playing this game. Who's desperate enough to play this game? Well, It's not a lot of people. And they aren't very good people. It's just people. Existing. I had 0 conversations during my 4 hours.

Lets talk playing. The game is boring. Since I just mentioned the objective, lets talk about the NPC's ETC. I got this game for free, I cannot emphasize how little this game means to me. It's terrible. The NPC's & story were not part of core development therefore the game suffers. You get stuck doing some quests you don't care about and play a game you'd rather not play. The NPC's are essential as expected so, you cannot kill them either.

Microtransactions Via Atomic Shop & Premium plague the game but lets talk about more! There's free events like a crate dropping & player trading outposts. Wanna know what's wrong here? The game boils down to, find a player trading outpost and buy sh*t, or just dropping crates? well the crates are full of nothing. the games gear-towards premium really gives you nothing in terms of loot so you're playing what is a hollow, unfinished, boring, game. Even in 2021!

Creatures & enemies are cool however there's a big issue of the game not being cool. You may say its worth it to play just to engage the wild-life but even they feel soul-less and void of life. I don't know how you make a game so devoid of soul really. I've met mannequins with more personality than anything I met in Fallout 76.

The world isn't interesting, it's a barren void forestry area. Sometimes you get a tiny bit of quest, however aside from this game being a complete and utter lore-destroyer for those interested, what it does leave is not good enough to compensate for all of the cons. Honestly, if this was a mod for 4, I'd feel better. But even when getting this for free, I feel scammed.

I'll end this by repeating my hours. 4. At no point was I excited. Enthralled. Interested. I sat for 4 hours, wanting to tear my hair out and scream, because I was so bored. I had tests in school, more interesting than this. The entire 4 hours I spent playing, I wish I had played anything else, & I got this for free! I genuinely wish you the best of help if you end up buying this game. It's horrific.

This DLC is bad. Why is it bad? Lets delve into that as quickly and short as we can.

1; Criminally insane inmates are just inmates with diplomatic immunity.
Your guards do nothing to them, they're allowed to run about, and ignore all your ruling, and generally the only way to stop them is using the new Orderlies who only work on them. This is silly.

2; Psychiatrists only work on Criminally insane inmates.
Did you think maybe the guy stabbing people had a problem? Or the guy who keeps getting contraband? Maybe they would use him? No. The Psychiatrist sits in his office to his lonesome all day, and I'm not really sure why I have him.

3; Criminally insane inmates just require a prison on top of a prison.
You are forced to have custom padded cells, custom padded solitary, and keep them to their own wing. I'm not a medical hospital. This is annoying.

4; If you happen to play on modes where traits are assigned as they spend time in your prison, be prepared for these annoying b*st*rds
I have 7 criminally insane inmates. None of which I wanted. 2 have escaped because my Guards refuse to do anything to them, and I don't have the budget to hire orderlies. This leaves me at an impasse where criminally insane inmates walk all over my system and ignore my rule, and meanwhile I still have to deal with high levels of contraband. This DLC isn't fun, the mechanics aren't fun. I'm not sure what objects it adds, besides a couple new rooms that only interact with the criminally insane! This is annoying because, this DLC effectively interacts only with itself. It's a layer of garbage, ontop of an already pretty enjoyable game. It's unescessary filler and clutter, and I hate it!

The content in S1 is okay. Nothing spectacular. But if you buy a season pass and go "ok cool don't have to buy anymore DLC" get ready to get walked all over on, because there's 2 season passes. 2 f*cking season passes. Yes. I'm serious. EA isn't even this scummy lol.

Armored Battle Crew pits you in a tank in which you, like War Thunder, attempt to navigate a semi-customizable tank and manage a crew.

Except, War thunder, despite being more limited. Comes off as a Much better game, and it's on steam!

Armored Battle Crew had potential, had it been actually worked on, but the stages it's left at, leave it to a point where. I wonder what the developers really wanted to do. Would it had been a good game? Would it had been an interesting one? Who knows. I drove around some barbwire with an armored car. So much fun. Not really...