Recent reviews by Templar

Well, here it is. Build 42. Two years in the making. Just to be legged by the AI art commissioned and accepted. Jesus devs, this puts the originality of everything moving forward into doubt. Why would I continue to support a work that now looks to cheapen the path by stealing from people who deserve the pay?

Shame on you. Backpedal and take your lashings for it. I'll keep this here forever, to mark and remember your failings to your community.

[Some people have said the art is from the original artist -- and the dev's trust their work and that's that. Go sell them some bridges, this shambler has rotted through.]

Went from a promising shooter to a NFT trashbin with a buy-in of $5. You did NOT get to keep any cosmetics outside of Founder's Packs during migration.

Greedy dev's be greeding.

Fun little rogue-like spin off of Vampire Survivors with an addicting and satisfying game-play loop. Be sure to grab the official patch for maximum enjoyment for your time!

Looking forward to the full deal when it releases!

EDIT 2: Helldivers 2 is still unavailable in all PSN unsupported countries, and new countries are being added by the day. This is undemocratic!

When I purchased this, back at launch, it was properly stated that this title would require PSN for crossplay.

To the word of a Community Rep that PSN is REQUIRED to corral / ban people, I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.
To the *sneaky* change of the EULA and TOS that PSN is now REQUIRED, I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. (I just went through this with Escape from Tarkov.)
To Sony's horrendous track record of personal information security (3M+ records, and counting, every other year), I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. (No, Steam is not comparable in damage, don't entertain that argument!)
To the executive decision to mislead EVERYONE on the PSN requirement, I call ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

Do NOT purchase this game until Sony has reneg'd and Arrowhead executives issue a massive apology.
(We have phones, we're tired of getting led to the virtual slaughterhouse, FYI!)
Consider NOT purchasing ANY Sony game for at least 6-12 months post release OR until the Pirate Hat's have their word, please and thank you. You will be doing PC Gaming (and gaming culture as a whole) a massive favour!

EDIT: Helldivers 2 PSN requirement is no longer! However, we still don't know if HD2 will return to sale in all countries affected by this decision. It's too early to switch back.

Game is unfinished, dev's partnered with Funcom for funding to publish a half-baked and unfinished DLC -- they call a "Second Chance". Slap in the face to everyone who hopped into early access and sat in silence.

Skip, until it's actually finished and the baseline game receives the core upgrades it deserves -- OR the dev's finish digging the grave and you want to see what it - was - about.

Starfield.

The newest adventure from the wonderful minds at BethSoft takes us to a dark future for humanity among the stars. A strange remixing of Fallout but in space, scratches a great many itches we've had for a long time and leaves us wanting more. There's plenty to rejoice, but sadly even more to criticize and wish for.

I give it a modest 6/10, for now. It's been in the making for nearly a decade, but it doesn't feel complete yet. Read on if you wish to read my thoughts and conclusion.


- The Voice Actors got to display some emotion this time around! It's not Black & White like Fallout 4, and much livelier like Oblivion but closer to Skyrim.
- Lively companions! Partners in crime and adventure make for memorable stories. Bethsoft can write good companions almost every time.
- The Gunplay is smooth and satisfying. Weapons belong in the universe and the diversity of munitions give way to the lore of the game in the right way.
- Jetpacks! Who doesn't love Jetpacks? Fred didn't like Jetpacks; so we spaced him.
- Space ships, with a ship designer! Literally lose half your playtime in mucking with your ship design to make a flying base among the stars!
- Space Combat with boarding! A pirate's life for me!
- Colonies, and lots of them! Make bases everywhere. The push to some diversity in locations and resources ensures that you want to explore to find the best spots for building.
- Unique major centres. Love it, every centre is a story and world unto itself.
- Sense of scale. Oh man, loading screens be damned, finally the maps / worlds feel more like they should!
- Plenty of perks to build a powerful character over a long playthrough!
- A story that will divide players between the comfort of life and the temptations of exploration.


- Classic Bethsoft design in pacing. There really isn't any real breaks in the quest or sense of time required to do things. It may be an old RPG trope, but actually getting around and about to see / explore while in the universe while waiting for a major plot device used to be good story telling. Instead, the Main Quest is exclusively so, your pace and no breaks if desired.
- Lack of enemy diversity. You're gonna wipe-out a civilizations worth of Mercs, Spacers and Pirates and some fauna. We're back to F4 where you hope that someone doesn't spawn with an RPG in a tight space.
- Bullet sponges.
- RNG / Generated content is... undertuned and underused? Bethsoft's use of generated content is seemingly hard to find, beyond generated landscape and Misc quests. I've heard that this is somewhat solved in NG+.
- The skill system is missing substance for most skills. The RPG bones are there, but the significance is missing. Some skills don't seem to be that useful at all.
- Colonies are virtually useless outside of having a place to put some shiny things and watch sunset / sunrise.
- 90% of the aid items are undertuned for normal play. It's almost as if we needed another mode at launch..
- Sense of scale has improved but, due to likely engine limitations, there's still some room for expansion.
- The feeling of freedom is limited. This is the one Bethsoft title in memory where doing anything but the 'right' thing is disliked. Not sure why that is, considering some of our companions have less than stellar backstories.
- The economy is designed to slow you down in every way. You will get rich -- likely by exploiting the time system or a glitched inventory.
- Not an alien in sight.
- Game bugs ahoy!


- Colonies and by extension crafting are tacked on... right now. The system is designed to go hand-in-hand but the current setup rewards you with plenty of new weapons and tunings on a frequent basis. I built a resource chain across a few systems, just to end up bored and pushing back to completing my first playthrough.
- The lack of survival mode. There's so much indication that food, drink, regular medications and treatments were going to be a part of our adventure. Bullets cause bleeds, lasers cause burns, blades lacerate and explosives cause concussions and broken bones. Nope, some of that is there, and it is mostly annoying to deal with.
- The lack of the original travel mechanics. The original point and extender of time was that you'd need to build better ships to travel farther, and you'd need to refuel when adventuring past established systems into wild space. ALL THE SYSTEMS ARE IN FRONT OF US, AND IT'S ALL TURNED OFF! (Apparently, Todd disliked the pacing. WHY TODD?!)
- Fast Travel literally everywhere. I forgot that suit I wanted to wear in New Atlantis, never mind I'm half-way across the mapped systems and in front of a dungeon.
- Broken, or lack of, variance in dungeons. I went to that Cryo Facility map and fought Pirates almost every time with an honorable appearance from the Spacers and the Cult. Same map, and layout, for 5 or so dives. Something isn't working here.
- There is no life of crime or other side of the coin. Probably the flattest moral landscape we've seen yet. Better not pirate that ship because...
- Literally everything non-peaceful to 'friendly' people results in massively pissed companions. Where are the neutral to evil moral companions? I haven't found any.
- There has been no major patch since release. Bethtime is slow when it doesn't come to interfering with community mod projects. This is also a sign of some not good things with the Creation Engine and the future of Starfield as a whole.


Starfield is touted as the game we'll be playing for years with it's depth and expansiveness. Make no mistake, Bethsoft will produce an experience to be enjoyed like every other. However, after completing one revolution (started NG+) and sinking 90 hours... I don't find myself returning to the title. I feel we have a sad case of NMS 2.0 happening, where the foundation is solid but everything else is missing. I fear that the modding community will be left to sort the messes and issues that live under the hood of the game and Bethsoft will be content in letting this be the way it goes. If that rings true, then we all have a problem.

There is so much promise. It's about as wide as the stars but as deep as this here field of wheat. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

The art is nice, and if you are patient -- you can explore most of the game for free.

More or less, this title is designed to make you spend money to progress. It takes a long time to complete events as a f2p player, and it caps your ability to enjoy the base game fully.

Recently, the dev's pushed out an update for achievements on Steam -- which has subsequently corrupted the profiles of many users. They do not communicate on Steam Communities and barely use their own discord... Your money and time can be well spent elsewhere.

Zetria is a fun shoot'em'up with some fun puzzles, interesting set pieces, neat enemy designs and delicious animations. Sadly short, but there's always room for additional content with the framework set here.

Some bugs occur like being pushed behind scenery but they seem to resolve themselves via teleporter's or restarting the level.

All-in-all, a nice 'rounded game that leaves me wanting more and watching for more from this dev.

If you enjoy Halo's MP, then you will feel mostly at home... minus the selection of gamemodes and cosmetics.
If you don't enjoy modern shooters that revolve around a battle pass that's rigged to encourage you to buy... Pass hard, and don't forget what corporate greed has done to this franchise.

Can't recommend this game with the current population, inbalance and monetary centering. If it goes Free-2-Play, it would be worth it with the influx of newcomers and veterans alike.