Recent reviews by DANK_HYDROPONICS

Really well done classic dungeon crawling. Easy to set up co-op with friends, but still plenty fun to play alone. Tons of secrets to find and classes to try out, and the devs are still updating the game to this day. Honestly think this game deserves more attention than it has.

The Steam Controller has allowed me to easily play games such as Europa Universalis 4, which are traditionally heavily dependent upon the use of a keyboard and mouse, on the T.V. That alone says a lot, in my opinion. In addition, I have found it to perform either as well or better than an Xbox 360 controller in every game I have tested the Steam controller with, and then there's the added bonus of huge amounts of control customization possibilities.


Quality:

I recall hearing some complaints around the time of the Steam controller's release that it felt cheap. Personally, I do not agree. The Steam controller, for the most part, feels well-built and reasonably sturdy. The only issue I have noticed is that the back grip plate which covers the batteries jiggles slightly, but I suppose that is to be expected as it is removable.

Comfort:

At first, I found that the Steam controller caused my hands to cramp somewhat after a short amount of time. I quickly realized that this was because I had been holding the Steam controller with the sides of the controller resting close to the bases of my thumbs. I found that when I shifted my grip so that the controller rested closer to the center of my palms the discomfort ceased to be an issue, with the added bonus of making all the buttons feel more easily accessible.

Usability/Configuration:

The Steam controller offers a huge amount freedom in how you configure it for any given game. In fact, it offers so much customization over control configurations that some might actually find it rather daunting. For those who do find all the different options to be overwhelming, there are easily accessible templates as well as control configurations that have been made by other players. I would say, however, that an individual who does not want to try differing control configurations and/or create configurations of their own would likely be better served by sticking to a more traditional controller until more games have developer created default control configurations.

Performance:

I bought the Steam controller in the hope that it would at least allow me to play keyboard and mouse heavy games on the T.V., which it does wonderfully. Using the trackpads on a grand strategy game such as Europa Universalis 4 feels natural and was easy to pick up.

I found that in third person games, such as the Dark Souls series, controlling the camera with trackball mode is quick and responsive, and those who find they do not enjoy the trackball mode can set the trackpad to emulate an analog stick. I did find that in third person shooters such as Grand Theft Auto V, aiming took some getting used to, but after using a combination of trackball mode and gyroscopic aiming for awhile, I am much more accurate than I could ever personally hope to be with a dual analog stick controller. It feels much more like you're aiming with a mouse, which anyone who primarily plays video games on PC will likely find much more natural feeling.

My use of the controller in first person shooters has been more limited. I have tested it in the game Tower of Guns and found that the combination of trackball mode and gyroscopic aiming is quite effective, as it was in third person shooters. Finer aiming is going to take some tweaking to make feel right, but it can be achieved.

In 2D games like Spelunky or The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, I found the controller particularly easy to setup as it was pretty much ready to go immediately after selecting the gamepad template. In my experience the Steam controller does every bit as well with these types of games as an Xbox 360 controller.

So there I was, minding my own business, when suddenly the personification of Steam came flailing wildly into the room. I met Steam with a warm greeting and it began to peddle its wares as is customary.

"Just for you," said Steam, "this one is free." Steam then slowly dangled "War Inc. Battlezone" to and fro uncomfortably close to my face. At first, I was too disoriented by the nauseating smell of "pay to win" to clearly see the title of the game.

"Wait a minute," I exclaimed as the title finally came into focus, "isn't that the free to play shooter I tried out maybe three years ago, hated, uninstalled, and then promptly pushed to the back of my mind?"

"Look, you've been labeling a lot of games as 'Not Interested' lately. I'm obligated to recommend something" Steam replied while scratching its neck and twitching, obviously somewhat agitated.

"I can understand that, but this is a game I previously played. I even wrote a negative review for it. Speaking of which, where is that negative review I wrote for it? Did I delete it for some reason and forget about it?" I questioned.

Steam looked at me directly, a look that could only be described as feral "That's really not important, just download it. It's free, man. You just go ahead and get the download going, just kick back and wait for it to install... get in the downloading mood... maybe buy a game or two after that..."

Steam's words began to fade out as its feral demeanor calmed and seemed to give way to classic opium nodding. Soon enough, Steam was unconscious. I fetched a pillow and blanket and decided to let Steam sleep it off. In the meantime, I decided to leave a new negative review here since I really didn't know where my old one went. Perhaps at one point in time I had been as impaired as Steam had been today and deleted it without remembering. It was so long ago that I made that first review for this game; I do not fully recall its content. Maybe some things are best lost to time.

While I used to try to defend this game, I've basically given up on it. The devs have released the game in a highly unfinished state which likely means they intend to abandon it. Not a lot more to say on this one, you've probably already heard all this before, seeing as prior to its "release" it had become synonymous with what an early access title SHOULDN'T be. While many have said the debacle that is StarForge has turned them away from the early access model, it should be noted that there are examples of worthy early access titles out there including: Kerbal Space Program, Project Zomboid, and Space Engineers.