Recent reviews by Kilrathi

If you find this review in the stream of hot, steaming, dumpster-fire takes, just know the game itself is actually pretty fun. It plays like a cross between Remnant, Rust, and Fallout76. The servers are kinda scuffed, much like any new game that comes out, but they're getting better every day. Certain things could be better explained, such as fishing, elemental weapon stats, and permanent progression vs server progression. Fun game, can experience almost all of it completely free, and doesn't shove pay mechanics in your face.

Now, onto the "controversy"...

"If you give us your information, we have your information!" Shock! Awe! Horror!

Don't listen to twitter. Don't join another brain-rot echo-chamber. Just read the documents yourself. It's an industry standard ToS and Privacy Policy. The only information they collect is stuff that you either give them yourself, or are required to give them based on your country's applicable laws.

Good luck, Meta. We'll cleanse the stardust yet.

I'm doing MY part!

A great sequel to a great game. Though it may feel sluggish at first compared to the previous entry in the series, combat and movement really open up and are much more natural once you get the hang of it. The parkour combat introduces a level of critical thinking and technique (much like a fighting game) that the previous lacked.

The story (so far) is decently written. It's no magnum opus, but it serves a purpose and is backed up by a ton of world-building and hidden / collectible documents that further expand upon it. In terms of graphics, the game is quite beautiful, but it does have a constant series of post-processing filters that can severely detract from the game; mostly blur and smear style effects that detract from the overall presentation. As of current, there's no way to fully disable them within the game. There may be an option hidden away in an .ini file somewhere, but even if so, this is far from ideal.

Even with the slow start and mildly annoying graphical effects, I've had great fun with it so far. It's much more open than the previous game, with more to do. Not an overwhelming amount like a Ubisoft title, but plenty to keep you busy, and with enough variety it never gets too stale.

Highly recommended, if your computer can handle it.

Non-consensual spit-roasting 24/7, in a good way! Don't matter what team you play on, it will always feel like 2v1, in THEIR favor.

Not complaining though; more targets is good! Especially when your choices are SPANDEX, The Empire*, and 'MURICA!


*Note, for legal reasons, this does NOT elude to the Terran Republic being eerily similar to the Galactic Empire from Star Wars. At all. Nope.

Even in its unfinished state, Darktide is everything I'd hoped it would be. After this experience, and finding graphical settings that allowed for a steady 60 frames, I'm going to be buying in and playing day one.

Gameplay wise, everything works. Weapons, grenades, class abilities, all fully functional. Enemies have decent AI, and know when to duck into cover or charge forward, some even waiting behind for better opportunities. The atmosphere is very specifically 40k. There's just nothing else like it on the market, the closest *maybe* being GTFO; but even then, the sci-fi gothic thematics, music, and personalities all come through in perfect fashion.

If you love co-op shooters, buy in. If you love 40k, buy in. If you want to have a damn good time and possibly a horrendous time-sink, buy in.

Damn fine work, FatShark. I know you'll keep doing good by us well into release and onwards.

My Personal Day-Zero experience and Review below my specs. TL;DR and recommendations below that.

Nerd Stuff:
CPU: i5-6600k @ 3.5 Ghz (no overclocking)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
RAM: 16GB G-Skill Ripjaws
HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda
Boot SSD: 500GB Samsung 850 EVO

MOBO: Gigabyte Z-170XP
PSU: OCZ Silencer MKII 80+ Gold rated @ 950W

Monitor: ASUS VH236 running at native 1920x1080


Nerd Notes:
Can run the game just fine at native res. on High, with certain lighting and shading graphics tuned to better run on the 2060 (as opposed to a 2070 or 2080 which should have NO problems). VSync enabled, capped framerate at 60fps. (I'm not picky about graphics, but it looks and runs great!) 3 Hours update: Still running well. Lowest dip was 45, in a heavily populated zone that also spawned cops on top of a gang I was already fire-fighting with.

Due to my HDD I have a dip in performance when first loading into a new "zone" as it were, and hilariously the "slow HDD" option seems to make it worse instead of better? As I've come to learn from multiple day-zero launches on Steam, Mileage will vary! Know your rig, know your tolerances, and you can haul anything.


First Impressions:
The game takes a decent amount of time to boot, but that's to be expected with an open world this large and cram-packed full of STUFF. Assets, textures, models, everything. EVERYTHING is populated, as long as you keep your settings tuned to your machine. Voice acting is wonderful, as should be expected from CDPR at this point. With the Witcher series under their belt, most of the dialogue is believable and heartfelt.

Playing through the opening segments before the previously seen "Rescue" mission (the basic introduction) is really just baby's first RPG tutorial. (This is how you move! Press this to talk! DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN LOOK AROUND?!) But they do it well, and it really helps set the mood for the world, as well as how your particular "V" fits into it. The gunplay is nice and chunky, with hefty animations and passable sound design, but I think the real star is the melee combat. As a cyberpunk fan, I highly recommend a classical street samurai build, because HOT DAMN is the melee combat buttery smooth and satisfying.

The interface I think is going to be divisive. Personally, I don't mind it, and I understand this is more of a console-focused title, but having certain controls locked behind .ini files and only partially functional if edited is mildly infuriating. I'm not opposed to locking things such as the function row or windows key as is normally expected, but things like "F" and the arrow keys? Those need to be unlocked ASAP. Southpaws, you're best getting a controller for now, or trying your luck with a Numpad config if you gotta play it Day One.

The atmosphere. OH BOY the atmosphere. I'm there, baby! I am IN Night City! Or outside of it. Or under it. Or above it. Y'know, open world stuff. But man, it is SO good. I'm not normally huge on graphics, but if you are, and you have the machine for it, you are in for a treat.

No game is without its flaws, especially after having such a tumultuous development, and from the discussions and reviews, we can see quite a lot of them. I may have been one of the lucky few whose setup just DOES work for some reason, while there seem to be many who DON'T, even when they report having better hardware. Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but tinkering with settings and getting things to run majestically is part of the fun for me.

Misc Ramblings:
That said, the graphics settings are as good as can be expected from a title such as this. You can edit textures, lighting, shadows, ray-tracing, DLSS, all the good stuff. You can even turn off all those weird filters everyone thinks are so wonderful nowadays like Film-Grain, Depth of Field, and Motion Blur. Audio settings are serviceable, with a few equalizer presets to choose from for those of us (like myself) with no fancy audio system.
I believe I stated my previous gripes with the keybinds earlier, but to summarize, yes, there are controls locked behind a dev-screen. For some reason. I've heard rumors they're going to be releasing patches for these in the coming weeks, and I look forward to that.
I began play on Hard, as I tend to do with RPGs, because I believe a story with no challenge is hardly a story at all. A small update, now that I'm a good 3 hours in (and still just scratching the surface), the pain hurts so good. Hard is actually RPG hard, not just shooter hard. The variety of enemy loadouts and possible damage sources does NOT disappoint. Side-quests have their own difficulties in addition to the base difficulty you assign, indicated by "danger level" in the journal.


TL;DR:
In my personal experience, it holds up to the hype. It's a game that looks and plays great. It has gripping characters and obviously intriguing settings and plot. I've barely scratched the surface, and I can't wait to dive deep.

That said, do your research over the coming weeks. Keep eyes on development and patches, and come in when it best suits you and your hardware. Night City ain't going anywhere.

The Atmosphere is Tangible, the Gun-play is Satisfying, the Monsters are well designed and balanced, and I'm running out of commas. Solo player? Go for quickplay and trials, hone your skills before attempting bounties. Duos? Game's meant for you. Stack up and have a blast. Trios? Oh man, are you in for some stupid fun. Group up and get to shootin'.

I am hesitant to give this game an outstanding review, simply for all the things the Bethesda marketing team pulled during it's initial launch, as well as the state of the game pre-wastelanders expansion

However, I also believe in giving second chances, and if Hello Games were able to turn around and make a bad game great, I don't see why I should treat F76 any different.

Fallout 76, as it is currently, is a Multiplayer Fallout 4, with an actually decent questing system that includes meaningful options (or the illusion thereof,) and a sense of personality and customization with your dialogue options and integration of stat-based skill checks that present unique options and reward you for building your character the way you like.

The gunplay has smoothed out quite a bit, though their netcode leaves plenty to be desired. I don't particularly enjoy the thirst and hunger mechanics, but having them gives you a good reason to use your CAMP. Speaking of, the CAMP system is a streamlined settlement system, as well as your bank or vault like you would see in a traditional MMO. It serves it's purpose, and being able to save buildings and blueprints negates a lot of frustration, while also incentivising creativity and personalization.

It's a great game to play with friends, and honestly the quests help it hold its own as a member of the Fallout family. In my opinion, it's even better than F4, which made me want to self Alt+F4 after two playthroughs, due to how simple it was.

I mean, it's solid; but it's older, and FROM doesn't get more lenient with time, so getting softbanned is an inevitability. Luckily, there are watchdog mods that help you avoid cheaters even when softbanned. So go out there and enjoy darkening your soul and screaming at that **** **** **** ******* Dragon as you stab it in the **** **** rear.

This post has been brought to you by the dragonslayers of old. Praise the sun. \ [T] /

Id Software has done it again. They hype that people put behind this game is 100% deserved. I'm only 3 hours in, and I'm already loving the changes they've made to progression, and just how smooth the gameplay flows during combat. It runs well, and even though the textures are brighter and more colorful than the 2016 version, the new(er) art style really fits the theme so much better in my opinion. It makes it not only easier to identify targets (very important) amongst eachother, but the environments themselves are just SO sleek, that I don't think it would have looked the same had they gone for ultra realism.

The series itself is also not up its own arse with how "DOOM" it is. It has a sense of humor, and a unique charm that has only grown since its initial 2016 reboot. I greatly look forward to finishing the campaign, and then towards multiplayer. There's so much here to work with, that I can only see myself improving in the following weeks.

Seriously, buy this. The invasion won't stop itself.

Rip and Tear. Until it is Done.