Recent reviews by Delcore

The look and feel of the game is fine. It sort of gives off an early to mid-2000s shooter vibe, which I quite like. Gunplay is straightforward. Co-op is pretty easy to play and the construction aspect of the game really isn't too complicated.

What the game is truly missing is replay value and variety. It's almost too basic and somewhat caters to a small niche. Since release, the player count has drastically plummeted, and part of this is because the game doesn't really incentivize casuals to keep playing. There's no new bugs, barely any new buildings, limited maps, and just an overall lack of in-game content.

This isn't a bad game. In fact, it's a decently made project. That said, you really can't play this game for over a week without getting bored of the same formula.

If this game is to survive and evolve over time, it really needs some more content and needs to expand on features. This game has some very good potential.

Haven't been this anchored to my bedroom since 7th grade.

There's only a few modern RPGs out there that can deliver content like this.

Pillars of Eternity does not disappoint.

is good

The amount of technical issues it takes to get this game running and to unlock multiplayer features is very draining.

What the F*** was 343 doing for 6 years?

One step forward, two steps back.

This reboot needs a reboot.

Honestly, a lot of the positive reviews for this game are just memes. Yeah, the game is pretty nostalgic, but the development team is not really the greatest. It took years to get some of the core features in the game like co-op and definitive mode. We still don't have the ability to toggle definitive music, and a lot of the bugs from the original game are still not addressed. The devs really tanked on the release of this game and seem to have just skeleton-crewed it.

Multiplayer is very messy and doesn't even allow matchmaking. Good luck trying to find a game if you don't have name recognition or live in the same country as the host. Even if you somehow manage to get into a match, you have to pray that you don't disconnect or that the game lags out.

This remake deserved better. The game is basically non-existent on the community radar unless someone is a hardcore fan of AoE 1.

First they rolled in black German snipers, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Battlefield 1 fan.

Then they brought in black female Nazis, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Call of Duty: World War II fan.

Then they brought in Prosthetic female amputees, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Battlefield V fan.

Then they came for Rome 2's history—and they really f*cked me.

During the course of a few months, my opinion on this game rapidly changed. Coming from a hardcore veteran of both games, I first started this series with the first game and then bought the 2nd. I'd like to say that this game is definitely NOT casual friendly in multiplayer matches and almost leaves no error for mistakes. This game is more or less meant for those who like to take their strategy games seriously and go up knowing odds are against them from the very beginning.

The Soviet Union in this game start off (in my perspective) on a 40 to 60 ratio of winning. The faction requires constant microing and smart moves. Otherwise, you'll end up losing your units very quicky. Even standing in front of MG42s in this game is more deadly than the first game and will cost you a lot more units. Hell, even retreating is more often unsuccessful.

As for the Germans, you'll start off with some pioneers who can be pretty effective at close rage against the enemy. Nevertheless, should you out-microed by a cheeky player (as most Soviet Players are forced to do anyway) you'll end up being overwhelmed by T34s and powerful waves of Infantry & Armor strikes. This game WILL test your thinking skills 100%.

If you are coming from Company of Heroes 1, don't expect to be able to pull out Knight's Crossholders swarms or Ostwind rushes; they won't work like they did in the first game. There is honestly no single OP unit or deadly v1 rocket like there was in the first game, and spawning a king tiger will certainly not win you your game either. To add, if you're a fan of sniper spamming, bunker spamming, or early game infantry spamming, kiss it goodbye because that doesn't apply to this game that much anymore. Almost anything can be countered in a rock-paper-scissors fashion and will land you defeat should you not act quickly.

Any other things to note down is that if you play as the Soviet Union when you first start off (like how many do) you'll end up losing A LOT. To make more emphasis on this note, I've probably played around 20-25 games so far and many have won 5-6 games out of those matches. This game is not your typical "spammer" where you can churn a single unit out and gain victory, it'll just earn you death. If you are serious about strategy, you'll learn that you'll probably lose more battles then you'll win due to the steep learning curve of mastering this game as a novice. Remember that before you cry in public chat that "no one is listening" when you can't even build more than conscripts to support your allied team.

Well, that's it for my lengthy review - hopefully the cold hard truth is beneficial to you looking to buy quite an unforgiving game like this.