Recent reviews by Timberman

Fantastic game made by a stellar team. Does it have glitches? Sure. I haven't played a game that doesn't. Arrowhead has shown patch after patch an excellent response, communication and transparency in addressing any issues that arise.

Is it fun? Hell yes.

I keep coming back for more, even though my progression is maxed. Helping my fellow Helldivers is my reward. (And Super Credits.)

The latest third party account debacle can be primarily laid at Sony's feet. As they're in charge of the sale of the game. Aborting the mandatory PSN account requirement that restricts players that lived in regions outside of PSN was the right call. Arrowhead is in charge of the game play experience and their work delivers.

Stay vigilant and keep fighting the good fight, Helldivers.

Solid start. Straight forward and free. Get it and try it for yourself. Time To Kill is just a touch low, but still enjoyable once acclimated. Looking forward to more maps, especially for escort!

TL;DR: What a ride. One of the most immersive games I've played. The combination of incredible detail, sounds, physics and relatability made for a very memorable experience.

You can check out the raw 25 hour stream VOD on my twitch profile: www.twitch.tv/timberman_

My Fears: Enemies were going to be too damage spongy. In pvp, gear trumps skill.

First impression: Entered the game during open beta on its last day, so I didn't have a lot of time to try out things out. I was blown away by the details. The lighting, movement, sounds, atmosphere - aaand I was hooked. Hoping I can put my fears to rest, I ventured out to shoot things.

I was jarred by the recoil of the weapons. Bucking like crazy and a little put off, thankfully weapon mods and such helped tame the weapons handling a bit. An interesting value to motivate gear upgrades and increase the consistency of accuracy aside from the usual damage and health upgrades.

Typically, I'm bored quickly when the enemies I'm fighting don't react to the damage I'm putting out and it becomes a simple dps race. This was another fear underlying the potential of dealing with damage sponges... So, in my first fire fight on the streets. The recoil of my weapon zig-zagged across the target, I noticed contexual reaction to the bullet impacts from my enemy. When one of those bullets happened to be a stray shot to the hoodlum's arm, it caused the grenade that was primed to throw to drop at his feet. I was filled with a maniacal glee when the explosion errupted beneath my foe removing his existence along with my fear. I wanted more.

For the most part, the time to kill on enemies went smoothly. I loved being rewarded with headshots. Everything made sense so far. Then I met my first damage sponge enemy and cried a little inside. He was a boss npc for the "Cleaners" one of the enemy factions in the game. Large, armored, slow moving and wielding a flamethrower. Welp, kite mode activated. Working pretty well, but ammo was getting to be a problem until the gas tanks on his hips were punctured and exploded away very large portions of his health (much like his smaller kin). Okay, I thought, I can work with this. There are weak points on these guys, and they're bosses. I hope I don't run into them that often.

The Dark Zone experience was brief as I was running out of time in open beta. I enjoyed the random cooperation between strangers against rogue agents, but it was loosely coordinated and not much was gained. My first encounter went well, as I had a friend. The next few were met with signifcant challenge despite my aiming ability. The final puncuation was when I was instantly defeated by a rogue that out geared me, even though I had the jump and unloaded a magazine into the side of his head first. This left a bad taste amongst many good flavors acquired so far.

Coming from both backgrounds of enjoying rpgs and competitive shooter games, I still had to wrestle with the concept of an RPG and a shooter hybrid. I had to employ some mental acrobatics to realize this is an RPG first and a shooter second. You get to have your tea and crumpets but try not to drink the crumpet and eat your tea. PVP can be enjoyable, but may require significant teamwork, strategy, tactics, role design, and gear. It's not a level playing field where pure skill is at the test.

Main game: Like open beta but more. Even though I blazed through the game to level 30 on the back of some brazen Australian riding his chariot pulled by rabid kangaroos on steroids, I had a great time and want to do it again. But slower and more sensual. I want to let the story wash over me and get the heebeejeebies of witnessing a familiar place in crisis mode while still having a champion character under my sleeve to raid the dark zones with.

I still haven't done a lot of the Dark Zone yet and like I said above, after some investment and coordination I think I can enjoy aspects of it. There's certainly a thrill to have there.

Pros:

• Immersion - Lighting, texture, details, atmosphere, sound, animation, physics are amazing.
  
  
• Gameplay - Movement, gunplay, strategies, tactics, exploration are all there and fun. Challenging content and dynamic pvp. Various ways to enjoy the game while solo or in a group.
  
  
• Story- It's rich, it's everywhere, the acting is great but you can skip if you don't care.
  
  
• Easy to level - A nice thing if you don't have a lot of time and want to see progression or catch up to your friends.
  
  
• Continous character customization - Collecting various garments that change your appearance, that don't affect your stats and that you can change on the fly is awesome. Or mechanically change your role through skills, talents, gear, etc... on the fly is incredible.

Cons:

• Price - Hefty and that's not including the expansions coming down the road.
  
  
• Easy to level - You may feel like you ran out of things to do, I hit cap in a day but I still haven't really experienced the game and still have lots of things to try.
  
  More action to see on www.twitch.com/timberman_

Exciting sandbox game hailing to the retro graphics of time passed. Take your single player character and participate in multiplayer while still progressing and then back again!

Do you enjoy STABBING people? This game provides such activities in ABUNDANCE! I endorse this product for a summer ticket.