Recent reviews by Xel'crin

An "On The Rails Shooter" without actually being the term and instead. Choo Choo Charles, despite being able to be beaten fast, is a very fun and engaging game that is simply too small for how good it actually is. The game deserves more in the form of DLC or a sequel at the bare minimum, as the concept is unique enough.

The game blends mixes of Horror and RPG with the engine of an FPS game as you go around on your train on designated tracks to reach points around the island to do quests and ultimately, beat the game. While this idea seems simple on paper, where it differs is well-done execution that makes you want to play the whole thing from start to finish.

The game also adds great customization choices with the collectible paint buckets that allow you to change it up how you want.

I obtained 24/25 achievements total for this game and did it in roughly 4.2 hours as of my Steam time as of writing this review. If you are a fan of shorter games, this may sound great to you. Especially considering that 25 achievement I haven't gotten is to beat the game in the game's version of "Hardcore." However, I am a person that rarely ever enjoys a "hardcore" experience. Aka, one life, then you're out forever. This can change for rogue likes but I personally didn't get the motivation to do it for this game, nor do I imagine I'll change my mind. I'll update my review if I do so.

One of the primary reasons that I didn't want to push for a hardcore path was actually not due to the fact that I hated the game. In some aspects, for a shorter game, this might have been the first title I enjoyed playing and was willing to try on Hardcore. The idea is appealing and part of me is actually thinking of possibly doing it. However, there is one major barrier to entry preventing that from occurring for me in the game currently.

Human Stealth Parts.

I HATE… the human stealth parts. I get the logic… on paper. Don't give your character a gun to raise the horror level of things. The only place safe on your island is your train and the only way to fight back is with the train. On paper, I understand this. However, in practice, not only do the human parts feel unnecessary, despite being cool for story purposes but in all honesty, their hit detection is absurd. The way I dealt with most "Stealth" sections of this game was by leading the damn bandits all the way back to my train, just to kill them. Or, I ran through like a crazy person to pick up whatever I planned to pick up from the mines.

I personally feel that if the developer wanted to give us human sections, a gun should have been included. It's not just that Charles has to be the only "horror" aspect of the game. If you do a sort of "Slender Style mini-game" for a quest, the "horror" aspect of that is far more intense than a fool with a mask on shouting at me and shooting me. I didn't feel the adrenaline, whereas with the Slender mini-game, I definitely did and there weren't even any major stakes in that mini-game! You can't die in it; you can only be teleported back!

What this game, in my view, does wrong is try to be things it's not. It's a really fun shooting/RPG/horror hybrid. It is not a stealth game. At all. It's terrible at that. Moreover, perhaps I am also of the rare opinion that the little quirky cutouts in the trailer of the game, to me, actually seemed more appealing than the models we ended up with for the actual game itself. I know, that sounds weird to read but I stand by it regardless and after talking with some of my friends, they agreed with me. Once more, this plays into what I mean by "trying to be things it's not." Personally, I think a story could have been invented for the use of the cardboard models. Hell, if not for all of them, just some of them! Not a single one remains in game and in some ways, it is misleading from the initial and original trailer they showed in the store. What sense do talking cardboards make, you ask? What sense does a FREAKING SPIDER TRAIN MAKE?! Come on, guys, we're in a fictional, fun horror world here!

Major shoutout to my buddy Cereian ( https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/profiles/76561198014457739/ ) for buying me this game.

Despite my issues with it, I think it's definitely a gem and a worthwhile play. Even if it was its full price listed, which it was not when my friend bought it for me, I think that full price would have been fair. I also have a bias toward enjoying longer games as opposed to shorter ones. I like investing more, and I wish the game had gone on for longer. Not artificially, of course; I simply wish for way more content.

7/10

5/15/2024 Update

PSN removed. Yay! Oh wait… countries still can’t buy the game. CEO has said I don’t know several times to this issue. Awesome.

More nerfs. Awesome. CEO is apparently yelling at devs to fix balance. Devs were fighting with people about this however before. Not a good look. Devs are basically wanting to hurt us but now are being forced to do something they don’t want to do, which is: make us have fun again.

Failed multiple major orders as community is broken by PSN drama as well as various other issues.

I try to play anyway. Controller doesn’t work. I drop into fire. Teammates bring me back in… my controller starts walking me on it’s own without my consent into dead zone. Dead again. Respawn. Happens again. This repeats infinitely to the point I beg my teammates to leave me behind and I feel terrible and they feel terrible.

Take week break from game. Return. First match I join is defense against bots on Vernen Wells. Yeah! Let’s get mortar kills!

Before the first drop ship even comes in, my entire lobby except for me disconnects. I’m on my own. Stare as the dropships come in. The bots just stare at me. They don’t even shoot me. We gaze into each other’s eyes. For we both know, this is the end.

I have uninstalled. Good luck Helldivers.



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Update 4/29/2024 (Live service games get live service updates): In response to all of the below, Arrowhead has decided to nerf everyone’s favorite weapons. Forget that though. They have gave us another major order that failed due to lack of supply lines and communication, again. Something that should have been improved since my last review. Then they did something so asinine backwards I actually wonder if they fired the entire original team or not at this point. I'll just leave you with their own words: "Patrol spawning has been increased when there are fewer than 4 players. The fewer the players the bigger the change. For 4 player missions there will be no change compared to before. The biggest noticeable change will be for solo players at higher difficulties.”

This change is so fundamentally wrong at every level that I’ve actually lost all my faith at this point. They need a shake up and they need one soon. Their current team updating things is such a failure it can no longer go on like this.


-------------------------------------------Original Review------------------------------------------

A main selling point of this amazing game was the idea of the galactic map that changes based on the communities pushing against an immense foe across two fronts: Automations (Robots) and Terminids (Bugs). As a large-scale community, we destroyed The Automations and then two days later, we were completely hit with a wave of new bots. There was no epic last stand on Cyberstan and instead, The Bots, instantly without any player choice, took four sectors full of planets. Leaving us with a months-long push to Cyberstan.

Worse, however, since then, there have been two assaults of massive proportion that defied story logic and instead were just a way to push us back. It's become very obvious that the current development team doesn't want us to kill things too quickly but also doesn't want us to advance at all. First, they struck us with a week in which they took six planets all at once and any time we would take a planet, it would instantly come under attack again, which we would promptly lose.

Then, however, they would do it again. After weeks of pushing and grinding on the story front map, they have done the exact same major order again when it makes no sense to the current story whatsoever. We had just come on a streak of victories and then the story completely changed on a whim without any logic to it whatsoever.

People suggest ignoring the story. Just try and have fun with the game. Except on top of a complete lack of care for the story now recently, I have crashed every other game, nonstop and all the time. It's improving but it is still very much a factor.

Worse, the game is currently in a terrible state. Due to these impossible-to-complete orders that randomly show up and wipe out weeks of our work these orders also pose a major problem. They last an entire week. This means that there are genuinely "good," "neutral," and "bad" times to play the game. Making any progress on the map this week is pointless. Therefore, a good chunk of our major order medals are basically denied. Meaning we are losing out on medals for the sake of a story that the devs don't even care about to begin with.

Oh and combine that all with the fact that the 3rd faction has already leaked in the game when we can't even make progress against the current two… and currently, I cannot recommend this game to anyone. The game is barely even worth playing this week beyond your dailies, which you can usually complete in one Level 9 Helldive mission if you're good. Then you log off and you're done for the day for the entire week.

When I first started this game, I spent entire days on it nonstop grinding. Why? I had fun. The story was compelling and the galactic war map storyline was like a DnD campaign but in a shooter and driven by the community. However, at current, the game is not worth playing until they knock this ♥♥♥♥ off. At which point, I'll update my review.

I've started a show in the meantime and will be a spectator of the frontlines.

Also, Baskinator, we see you. We know what you're doing. Knock it the ♥♥♥♥ off.

Wonderful community, was a wonderful launch but it’s obvious the development team cannot cope with the live service nature that is continuing to advance this game forward.

Good luck, Helldivers.

I expected Dark Souls with Puppets and got so much more than I could ever ask for. The story takes the tone seriously and is not a joke or parody. It’s the real deal. A completely unique take on the famous story. Game is both easier and harder than Soulsborn content at the same time. Runs fairly well; only takes a bit to load an area for the first boot-up of the day. Assembling weapons is amazing and so much fun. Bad and Perfect endings are both awesome in their own ways. Middle Ending... is very eh, at best. Just was an excuse to make me beat the game three times, it feels like, as opposed to just the two. Worth the seventy-one hours I played it for and allowed for a very nice escape from life and other things going on. You will have fun with this game! But you will also rage!