Recent reviews by Gromlak Beardgrip

I've had this game on my wishlist for a while pre-release, so I was excited to get it when it came out and in it's current state I would and wouldn't recommend it

Firstly, I'll start with things that I dislike about the game so that I end on a high, but do not that the things I am about to list will likely be subject to change (I'm hoping) and is the reason I marked Recommend as opposed to Not. (Also, for those who want to know absolutely nothing about the game, this might include what counts as spoilers, so continue at your own risk)

So, How the game works is that you are meant to find blueprints across the map at Points of Interest, which is fine, however, you don't have the necessary blueprints to really survive an attack - For example, you need a sawmill to make planks, which are used for many things including building, yet, you have to unlock this by finding a randomly placed blueprint in a randomly generated world... It took me a couple of hours.

(I also played for about 2 hours and quit because I figured it would save, but it quit the game like I chose but then came up with a prompt that I didn't finish the tutorial so it didn't save... I saw the quests at the side, but i figured the tutorial was roped into the game and not seperated in such a way because you have free-roam of the map during it - So, it should tell you that it doesn't save, because I almost refunded the game I was so annoyed, but I gave it another chance)

The next point is the player speed - During the beginning of the game, you are told that you can run away from zombies if you need to, which is obviously a valid tactic, however, the sprint speed is only very VERY slightly faster than normal walking speed and zombies match or outpace you. Due to the small difference in walking and running, it would be more smart to have "Always Sprint" as an option and simply hold or toggle shift to enable walking as walking is used far less (Due to time contraints) - This wouldn't be too problematic but the zombies attack while running, so they just score multiple hits on you and you are forced to engage in every single encounter that you come across which can be tiring and it wastes daylight too.

Progression is slow, and on the difficulty I chose (normal) you get a bunch of zombies attacking the machine every OTHER night (Bi-Nightly), but each time a waves comes around it is stronger than the wave before, but your defences are as weak as they were at the start because the stuff you need to actually defend yourself is locked behind hidden blueprints or "energy" requirements - This also makes solo play less and less enjoyable and viable as the game continues, especially when you are trying to solve the puzzles and things to continue the game

Lastly is the enemy types, all zombie games need variety in their enemy roster, its a tried and tested things and that isn't the issue - the problem is the types that are in there, seeing as the damage you can deal is very minor each zombie doesn't feel like a frail husk of a once human, it feels more like a fleshy tank that requires constant pummeling to whittle down - add this to a group and you're gonna have an awkward time - But one enemy type has armour on and doesn't respond to any form of recoil-inducing attacks, and thus just attacks through them to hit you and another is one that wears a black coat and has a shovel, he charges a move up and spends the next literal 8 seconds or so spinning around like a beyblade doing damage to everything he touches, and not only is he faster than a sprinting zombie, he is also invincible during this time too, every single option you have available does 0 damage - Guns, bombs, kicks, melee, literally invincible.
And while these zombie types are kinda reasonable and kinda managable individually, when you have 15 in front of you, its annoying to say the least - couple this with the fact that they run extremely fast, you get basically 3 shots from a crappy bomb launcher which does about the same as 2 melee hits each to hit them before they are already on board. Its a huge balancing issue imo.
You get a buff to increase harvesting efficiency when out solo, but playing the game solo just becomes less and less fun because you will always be on the back foot and never in a position where you think "Yeah, we actually have a chance", you literally have to repair the stuff while they're destroying it just to buy yourself some time.

With those gripes out the way, I want to focus on the positives:

The game does a very good job of streamlining little gamer woes which I think is very good for a game that relies on time sensitivity, for example, if you have another axe in your inventory and the one on your hotbar breaks, it automatically switches to it so you can continue without having to stop - if you don't have a backup, only then do you need to reassign it, but that is fine because you can prepare

Weapons don't have ammo - guns have magazines, etc. but there is no need to constantly make bullets or arrows, which is good for a pick up and play vibe, you can stock pile guns you make or find, pick them up and use them, and combined with the action reloads (which reminds me of Gears of War) you have a skill element to it too allowing for more powerful shots or the choice to load quicker at normal firepower the items just have a durability and that is the only thing you need to consider when using tools and weapons and that is a good thing because it means your focus can remain where it needs to be - It also takes me to my next point

Durability - The durability is well done in this game, in many games, durability can be an annoying factor, and though you cannot repair anything (at least in early game as far as I know) it is just about recycling old stuff to remake new ones, and, one thing this game does which so many other games does do is give you an actual numerical value to the durability (100 out of 120 for example) and you can this in the bottom corner at all times so you know how close it is to breaking, which for the above is important - the two things just work together well.

Bugs - As of yet, I have not encountered any bugs outside of the occasional janky zombie movement. everything works as intended from my current play experience, which is a huge win for a new release, it shows they took the time to polish it before releasing, and I appreciate that about devs who think this way.

Team play - I have yet to play it with a team, but, if the game progesses the same way (per zombie attack) as it does in solo play, then 2+ player would have more viability and could be really enjoyable as you can cover more areas that demand attention - one on defense, one on repairs, etc.

Game fusion - I like the fact that they have added a nice spin on the survival craft game, mixing harvesting with a looming threat mixes up a grind and keeps it fresh and also highlights where priorities lie in your supplies and things and makes teamwork more important too - The features of the huge vehicle are good as well, like sending a flare to a location on the radar so it is an actual in-game marker that lasts for a short time, so someone being at the cockpit can actually communicate with teammates using actual mechanics and not just pings on a map, it adds to the flavour of the game, and couple the grind and the fighting with basic puzzle solving and loot chests dotted about for equipment and things, it rewards you with some small things for doing tasks that you need to accomplish to get blueprints and things and also gives that RP element (in order to move on, you need to remove the blockades that stop the vehicle, like opening massive gates for example, which require fighting lots of zombies, or finding a way up a tower), it add little elements of minor achievements that also act as hurdles stopping progression and it balances nicely in respects of the genre types

It has potential, but it is really poorly made - It has no real potential for any kind of solo play, sadly, which removes a large part of the audience to begin with (and you could play online with randoms, but ive never been much of a lover of that kind of gaming), So only play it if you have a group of friends (for optimal experience).
For those unsure of how the game plays:
There is a hub where you can buy armour and things and select missions, you select a mission, stand on the APC, you enter the mission area, do the mission, return, repeat. - Which is a tried and tested gaming system, it works (much like how Deep Rock Galactic works for those who know it), Except this has a kind of power-struggle mechanic, where a win gains the blue side pips towards intel, and loss gives the enemy (red) pips towards their overall win..

A few issues i have with the game are:
The combat feels terrible, the enemies respond well to hits (which is good), but they have a habit of randomly one-shotting you which is frustrating, because any loss just kicks you out the game and back to the hub - I personally find one-shots boring on both sides.
Missions expire which is annoying, because at any given time there are 3 randomly picked missions on a roster, each with "2 days" period to complete (1 mission = 1 day), So you don't really get a choice of the mission you want to do, because one you clear one, you have to do the next closest to expiry otherwise the enemy just counts as winning - And you can use tactical "Increase days" , "Reduce Anarchy" or "Reroll missions" for 500, 500 and 1000 coins respectively, and it basically forces you to use these if you want any chance of actually doing it.
Before each mission you need to buy your equipment which you lose upon death (that, i guess is the cost of dying), however, every missions (pretty much) requires the use of non-lethal weapons, like Subduing Perps, Extract Perps, etc - and while some missions like rescuing a hostage would be fine to use lethal, if you accidentally hit the hostage, they die, if an enemy so much as grazes them, they die (Loss).
During each mission there is also a bar that slowly increases over time and once full, it spawns a bunch of enemies basically around you which obviously results in death, unless you run to the beginning when it is close to triggering and then re-progressing through the map - I see the point behind it, but it is really badly done. The game tries to use "Choatic Gameplay" as a cop out (excuse the pun).
The game doesn't facilitate solo play much at all, too, which is really unfortunate, because RPing a guard had huge potential, and couple that with the fact it forces you to spend In-game money (No Microtransactions, btw) on the stuff for the power-struggle for intel/ mission selection, you're left with very little in the way of customising or upgrading.

The good points however are:
It doesn't require much memory on the PC/Laptop and runs smoothly, which ordinarily would make for a nifty little backup pick-up-and-play game without much storage commitment.
The style of the game is always a winner - This stuff is open source, but it has allowed a creative vision and still makes for humourous action if you can look past the above cons.
Co-op has good potential (Yet to play co-op, but) with a good team, or a bunch of mates just up for a a quick dose of action, i can see its potential and is the only reason I will retain it in my library instead of seeking a refund.
Customisation is good - Considering that you don't even get to see your own character (as its first person), there is the possibility to chance the look of lots of different bits of armour, like gloves (left and right individually), boots (L and R individually), Shoulders (again, ditto), Helmet, chest plate, leg armour, etc and even the colour too, which is really neat as it opens up more RP for a guard/guild colour-scheme, etc. Good for RP, and I always appreciate customisation.
The theme is really well done too, for Olde Time kinda vibes, the medieval weapons, the scenery, the banners, the armoury, etc. Thematically, it is really good and I would have really liked to have continued with this because I like that whole aesthetic.

Overall though, I wouldn't recommend it.
I got this on major discount and I am still not overly pleased with it because i didn't find myself having fun while playing it - Simply, the negatives (for me) far outweigh the positives and its only redeeming factor is something I have yet to try and can only theorise as to its enjoyability.
My suggestion would be just to get Deep Rock Galactic - even though the styles are different (Guns as opposed to swords and Alien bugs as opposed to "perps") the general play theme is the same, except you're not penalised for not doing a mission you don't enjoy, there are more missions types to choose, Solo play is supported much better, progression feels more rewarding, you're not penalised outside of the mission for failing inside the mission, etc. Across the board it ticks all the boxes this doesn't.

A mastercraft of a game and unassuming too!
For those who don't like any *potential* spoilers: Recommended 100%, great for casual gameplay and mixes lots of types of games together

For those who might want to risk any potential spoilers:
Incredible mix of genres, there is diving aspect which is akin to that of a platformer, the sushi place mangement (in staff, menu and performance), there are puzzles to solve, a really cool and sweet story, there are also a bunch of different mini-games and button-prompt-action parts too,
There are smile-humour moments throughout which make it very light-hearted, and the game also seems to keep unlocking parts slowly in a way which keeps the game fresh and interesting.
The combat/balance is perfect, and the penalty for death is fair - The challenge is still there, but you can still play it casually while laying down, it is full controller compatible and has kept me occupied for hours so far,

It is low-tax on the PC/Laptop and for the price is an absolute steal - 100% Recommend this to anyone with an ear to listen :)

Really fun game - The elements of DnD are really accurate and the way it is carried out and displayed is really user friendly and thematically awesome,
It is a pity that the dungeon creator is really bugged and doesn't save any custom-made monster stats, vendor lists, prices, loot kits, etc, because it would have been fun to make a campaign based off of actually DnD games that have happened around my table - But, for a DnD fix, it is the closest thing you'll get to it and I think it is awesome
(Purchased while it was on offer, but now I've played it , i can say it's still totally worth full price. if you like DnD)

Really slow paced and boring, sadly, the game uses a luck system when determining available upgrades for each "end zone" of a floor, so you just have to hope that you have some good choices that compliment your playstyle - Another frustrating thing about the game is the lack of healing that you get, the things you get are really weak compared to the damage the enemies do and once the enemies start getting shields that effectively negate you first attack every 6 seconds or so, it just becomes stupid.
Starting over from the beginning of the bounty each time too

And while it certainly has potential for good Co-op play, i would suspect that splitting the scarce resources for upgrades between two or more people, AND having a random upgrade system would result in very unbalanced combat in the confined rooms that they put you in

The game is fun for the first few bounties because its introducing their mechanics and things and you learn how best each class functions, but, once you have literally 30+ enemies in one room against 1 player... you're kinda doomed just to start over - So, it becomes a waste of time IMO

I can't remember how much I paid for this, but I played it a little while before and got bored, returned to play it again some years later, got about an hour of play out of it before I got bored and couldn't be bothered with the slow, clunky combat that has poor hit-boxes and balancing issues. So, whatever i paid for it at the time, I honestly don't think i got my money worth. Save your money, there are far better games out there that give you better freedom to play *how* you want

I have enjoyed this game quite a lot - Currently at about 46 hours at the time of this review,
and there are a lot of pros about the game but a few major cons that I didn't much like (but, they might not bother other people)

Pros:
1) The feel of the game is fun, having to do the different jobs is what sim games are about, and this fits that role brilliantly, especially for the early game, you really start with just the bare basics and salvage a pittance to buy your first drill and things and it feels quite rewarding (though, that does quickly die off, admittedly)

2) Planning your build and how you want to set everything up is very fun, it gets the mind working and it is also really cool seeing your planning come to fruition, and planning is also key because of how long-winded it is to buy and transport the parts you want - But remembering the parts you need, taking pressure into account, planning how things will be sorted into their respective items along the way, adding logics with wires, etc. Having all these options available to consider when building an auto-mining thing is fun, and if you do it all right first time round as you envision it, and it works perfectly, I must admit is very rewarding and feels like a 3D schematic that's come to life - Its awesome

3) Having the different vehicles, different patches of land and higher tiers of drills to aim for is also a nice factor to add to the game as you can try different ideas in different areas and work on better ways to make your build more efficient, while yielding results the whole time - There are also more vehicles than I first thought too, with more being found as options to buy in other towns (some with tokens, others with coins) - It would make hardcore grinders have something to show that really shows they have spent hours on the game

4) The very start might feel like a monotonous grind, but actually, it is quite charming to have to pan for different resources and pick up the individual pieces and pop them in a crucible to melt - Making your first weapon is satisfying too. You can make hundreds of swords or daggers from very minute amounts of metal, but they sell for sell (obviously), but having the freedom to mix and match resources when crafting as well as using different amounts of resources is a good touch to the game and if you wanted an RP kind of game, I would wager that it would be more fun with friends

5) Stockpiling resources and forging weapons to sell is quite a fun mechanic, which is charmingly basic and simple to understand - Its also fun to see the highest value item you can make will be (my current record is 1.7 mil, which would have been more, but i was curious and wanted to know so i built it sooner, instead of waiting longer)

6) The furniture and housing parts are a nice touch to the game, it gives you something else to do and each town has different parts available too, so you can mix and match styles in any way you see fit, then pick one of the plots of land that you have, take all the pieces you have loaded into your truck and start building your own homestead

Cons:
1) After some time, the game does feel quite grindy, once you have a good automated system in place, you are basically golden on the money front - I only have about 4 x Tier 2 drills (which remain inactive most of the time) and I already have over 3 Million Hydrocoins, So, now there isn't much I really *want* to do - The game has other currencies in the form of tokens which are earned for different guilds by completing villager requests (the results of which can be used to buy things to make the respective guild requirements easier, like sprinklers for gardening, etc), but the game by no means requires any of them, so you can forgo the extra effort and pain as the results aren't *that* amazing.
It basically makes it so, the only "reason" you need better drills and would want to dig deeper is to get the two better materials, "Cloutium" and "Corestone" to make T2 and T3 respectively, but you don't *need* them... you can do everything with T1 things, the T2 drills also have a different orientation, so you cannot simply substitute your currently build with the new tier drill, it requires an entire rework of your build, which I thought was pretty sucky, tbh

2) Farming is something that is so SO slow, the plants themselves grown quite well, but the game is linked to a grid system, so that things line up nicely (which isn't the issue), however, when a pipe is connected to a water source and is not connected to anything the other end, it trickles a single drop out repeatedly, this drop can be used to irrigate 1 plant hole (Which, when digging, are NOT bound to the same grid system), So, having to have LOADS of pipes to get a large yield of crops is a nightmare, and while the sprinkler solves this issue (i would imagine), each one is very expensive in tokens and would require hours upon hours of growing a plant, waiting for it to grow, destroying the crop, replanting one, waiting, and so on, just to get enough crops to make 1 soup to get 88 tokens, when a sprinkler costs over 2000... And seeing as the only *real* reward from a large plant harvest (after you dont need tokens for maximising efficiency) is just getting more Hydrocoins, you might as well completely forgo that side of the game and favour the mining

3) While novel at first, having to load up a car with each and every single piece of equipment takes a very long time, and there are pallets which somewhat make this easier (and trucks can hold endless stuff as the pieces merge through one another when in that area), it still takes forever to load up the truck with things, especially with pipes (which you always need loads of) or building pieces - I like the feel of going into a shop, picking up the item and placing in the "buy zone" and paying for it, that's a nice touch, but having to pick up, drop, buy, pick up, move to truck, place in truck, and so on, PER ITEM takes an ungodly amount of time

4) I have over 50 drills mining chunks of dirt for processing, and production is great, however, the amount of items that are on the belts (as each lump counts as an item) makes the frames take a serious hit, I have a nice Laptop that can run many games with ease, but the frame rate drops massively to the point where I had to isolate a whole 27 drill segment of my build just to make sure the game ran smoother, which for an autonomy game is annoying

5) Lastly, (and this is just a personal gripe), For some reason, it ALWAYS seems to be night time - You can sleep and make it day time, but night comes around every 15mins, which, in a grind game, (and a game that takes FOREVER to shop en masse for things), isn't much good, because 15mins goes REALLY quickly, without even noticing - But, when night falls, the darkness just makes it next to impossible to see on the land patches, and requires you to sleep (or use an annoying mining helmet for a small circle of light) - Like i said, its a personal gripe, but I've had to resort to shopping in the dark so that by the time i get back it should be light (which it rarely is and still requires a sleep) - I just find it annoying, and as "Sleep" and other survival factors aren't actual mechanics, it wouldn't be out of place to maybe put the option to take the day/night cycle off

Overall, though, I would definitely say that the pros outweigh the cons - Just view the game as a casual play and don't look towards the "End Goal" and the games is so much more fun - The more you try and aim for something, the further and further away it seems, despite steady progress.
So, i will probably still play the game after this review, and I would certainly recommend it too.
If you use the £1 per hour of play system, i have got about 4x my money's worth from this game (purchased at £12.79)
But, If you aren't happy spending that, when it goes on offer, *then* buy it, because it is a well made game and is very fun

It has potential, but the game is really grindy...
At first, it is quite enjoyable, but the novelty soon wears off, you cannot jump in the game, only roll, and most of the areas have low ledges that which if you could jump would be better to traverse the map on, but you have to run all the way around to find a ramp and it takes forever

The things i liked about it:
Quirky characters that are quite cool
The nordic theme is really good
The combat isn't bad, it's actually quite enjoyable

The things i didn't like about it:
Healing is very awkward to do in that game, and bases itself on potions mainly, which you can only hold 3 of, each oh which only provides a 3rd of your HP bar, so bosses become a bit tedious to fight solo.

The death mechanic is similar to that of Dark Souls, in the sense that when you die, it leaves a recoverable grave for you to loot again (which has a percentage of souls and materials, i think, it isn't quite clear), however, if you fall off an edge, the grave doesnt appear (or appears in the hole in which you fell) and is essentially lost.

The game also uses ships, which is quite cool, however, you get a recall stone that lets you return to a sanctuary, and when you travel to another island, you have to leave your boat on a shore and then explore (which is fine), but if you accidentally tap T (the recall stone activation button) after 3 seconds you teleport back to sanctuary... but your boat remains at the other island, thereby forcing you to craft another, and then there are two boats at the island when you travel back (so accidentally tap T, you in essence lose your boat)

And finally, there isn't really any good places to build a base in the game... enemies spawn in weird places (more at night too) and will just randomly attack, which i wouldn't mind too much if I could pick a place that is accommodating for different base ideas, and while there is "room" for the bases of choice to be built, there is nothing interesting or cool about the areas that could add flavour to a base (like a cove, rock formations, etc.)

The game is certainly well made with the mix of genres and things and it is good to see a game try a different approach than the copy-and-paste things you see these days, but it feels like the game is very inhospitable to solo play.
Death in the game isn't too much of an issue, it is just the right amount of penalising that it needs to be, but i feel it severely disadvantages solo players and they could work on their healing mechanics (because I don't want to stand still for a long time trying to recover HP with rune effects, you can't do that in combat), but if that is where they want the challenge element of their game to be, then fair enough, but I wouldn't be recommending it for solo play

I got this game on a fairly reasonable discount (costing around £5 at the time) and I've played 6 hours and got bored of it, but for a £ and hour, it certainly isn't bad - But i wouldn't go so far as to recommend it (especially at full price)

Amazing game - Feels a lot like Gears Of War with the cover system and over-shoulder cam, but with added abilities. The loot system is good and the crafting system lets you upgrade and mix-and-match skills with relative ease.
I have only been playing it solo so far, but it is drop-in-drop-out Co-op (so it says in-game) and that is really cool, even lets you join random parties that are looking for extras.

The campaign is really good so far and the World Tier system means the enemies slowly get more and more difficult, but you can freely change it to any earlier level if you find it tough. So it has really accounted for *how* people want to play and that is rare these days
Also, by picking up clothing items in-game, you unlock the "Style" of that item, and on-the-fly you can just change any armour piece to *look* like any other you have previously picked up, so you don't have to compromise on style if you find something better than your current gear (Though, as yet, I have not found a a way to change the colour of the gear)

It is a really good game and I am really enjoying it

One of the worst survival games I have played - and i have tried a lot of them.
Firstly, when you load up the game, and click "start new game" or w.e, it drops you straight in the game. No context, no tutorial, no explanation of anything (Which i don't mind too much, as i can figure it out - but to some, this is important, so i will mention it).
Secondly, You get to "Customise" your character, except the only options are a bunch of stupid trendy hair styles and 7 shades of pink for trousers (American: Pants), so you just look like some trendy douchebag with bracelets and earrings walking around with top-knot and pink trousers, which is terrible.
Thirdly, the search for wood is easy (trees are in abundance), however, it takes 50 hits (Yes, 50.) to harvest one tree (2 damage per hit, 100HP tree) - so after a couple, your hunger and thirst suffer, which requires food and drink (obviously and fairly enough) but, the only option you really have is coconuts which spoil every 200 seconds, so you're always racing a spoil time to try and stay at status quo, additionally, you need stones which aren't in abundance at all, you can only pick up mid size ones from the floor (you need 3 to make a sharp stone, that is then used to make a pickaxe, which, when used against a large rock, does absolutely nothing and harvests nothing).
Fourthly, Every recipe in the game requires stupid amounts of resources (9 Stones for a campfire, when stones are super rare, which means you cannot cook any food to actually survive and again, default back to coconuts).
Fifthly, The is no options to toggle 1st person, so not only are you forced to look at a douchebag character that doesn't look like he'd have any chance of surviving a shoe shop closing for more than 5 minutes (let alone randomly surviving in a random place for no reason), you are also forced to work against an off-centre cursor (so you character always looks like he is looking beside everything that you want to interact with).
Sixthly (if that's a word), When night falls it is literally pitch black, so you make a torch which only lights about 2 steps around you and actually makes it harder to see anything further than that tiny radius - so it doesn't even really serve its purpose that well and you just have to stand there and wait for the night to finish while you starve and dehydrate.
And finally, there are no options to increase the accessibility of the game for people (For example, increase/decrease Gamma, Or increasing the opacity of the cursor (which is almost impossible to see), Or changing the random grass density (as most of the scenery is non-interactable but still hides the things you actually can interact with), etc)

It is just a complete fail across the board and there are cheaper games that are far better, more immersive, more interesting, have better lore, more accessibility options, more game features, Co-op and even skills to level up too.

Don't waste your money on it - Don't even buy it when it is on offer, you'll still be cheated out of money - I bought this a while back and have only just played it recently (so i cannot get this refunded) and after a few minutes of playing, I was already sick of it, i am not going to waste time going against so many issues and errors just to see it through to late/end game, because it is isn't worth it - and with the stuff that i mentioned, i am pretty sure that all the stuff that is shown in the pictures of this game will likely be a nut strain to do anyway.
You've been warned

Provided you have the memory on your PC for it, it's Good fun - Can be very challenging but at the same time very rewarding, you can more-or-less do what you like. Highly recommended