Recent reviews by Educhico

Being this a clear clone of Mario Kart™, somehow it manages to feel even more frantic, in the best of ways.
Of course, it's framed by the free to play currencies and levels of progression, but beneath it all there's a solid and entirely replayable, simple but effective framework.

The tracks are very inspired, and it's clear from the current Frozen season that the racing characters will keep growing. Myself, I'm hoping for Davy Jones, within the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise!
It's just a pity that the cars are so dull looking, and don't mirror each character's (or, at least franchise's) style; or that they can't get upgraded, like Lego® Racers back in its day.

Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of the music, being kinetic and adding to the speedy feel of the races, but being way too electronic, and almost unrecognizable from the original songs, which is a shame as some of those could already get you pumped.
But besides that, I can only praise the game, stating that you don't need at all to engage with any microtransactions (as I haven't) to enjoy the core gameplay loop, which is satisfying enough.

Here's a quick guide for starting out : https://steamoss.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3096859695

It's such an impressive feat to see and play this game. Behind the simple looks and the clear Battlefield™ inspiration, it manages to develop its individual aspects and mechanics with apparent ease, and enough to make it stand out on its one.
Although the time to kill is really low, giving way to a frustrating start to the game, as you get repeatedly one-shoted without even seeing your foe, that only "eases" you into the real way the game is meant to be played. That being not as a straight forward shooter, but a more methodic one.

If you can respawn almost immediately, the truth is that the game encourages and rewards you for sticking with your squad, and constantly reviving them (even if you don't play as the Medic class), because they can do the same for you when you need it. Mostly, that is the real way you can get around some of the more chaotic fights; when you are pinned down in one of the conquest points, trying to hinder the enemy advance, with a Medic reviving all the team players that keep going down from the enemy fire.

Because of the simplistic artstyle, the enemies can be somewhat hard to read on the more flat maps. And soon, you'll realize to utilize more effectively the amount of cover, and more importantly, the camouflage provided by the grass that almost all the maps are covered on. The idea is not to be constantly running and gunning, but evaluating your surroundings for enemies, and even explosive surprises left behind.

Beyond that, the hit registration is perfect, visually and sound wise, which makes up for the sound not being the game's strongest asset otherwise.
And of course, there can be some odd moments; being hilarious (although extremely helpful) to revive teammates from the floor below, or the other side of a wall. But that is just more incentive to engage with the game as it intends you to, making it a more interesting alternative to a more casual and quick First Person Shooter, while maintaining the same levels of dopamine.

Despite having good shooting mechanics, not even the "unique" feature of allowing you to have a companion with special abilities of your own choosing is enough for me to recommend this to everyone in the long term.
The levels are too dull, the mission design too repetitive, and the enemies are really uninspired, specially with their dated futuristic design.
I'll continue trying it out occasionally, to see if it evolves over time, but right now it isn't the most enticing choice out there for this time of games.

What a simple but brilliantly engaging indie puzzle game this is!

It's so original in its art style, and fun in the rapport between the two main characters. From Piper's naive but optimistic remarks, to Dusty's ironic responses, throughout their dynamic and interactions during the game, you really get a feeling for the story, from what so little but purposefully is presented in the beginning.
All this, while traversing through levels very imaginative in their design and art direction, and vast in their inter-connectivity, that exploring them while engaging with the game mechanics feels rewarding enough, as this game embodies the literal definition of environmental storytelling to its maximum.

Aligned with the brilliantly composed music and well written lyrics, this turns into a thoughtful and original exploration of our human nature, while being equal times funny and emotional, from beginning to end.
In a way, this is the combination of Gris and Psychonauts, but with its own identifiable style, applied to memorable characters and moments.

One thing that could eventually be welcome would be to have a map view in the pause menu, for example, because if you can easily remember the Freedom Isles area well enough to know where everything is, the Clockwork Town area is more intricate to remember every corner.
Nevertheless, it's not a big problem at all, as you can get easily through the game without a map, and this would only be helpful for completionists, when revisiting previous areas for eventual memories or doors to knock.

The truth is, I couldn't put the game away until I had finished it. What an unexpected but amazingly pleasant surprise!
Can't wait to play the sequel!

Played on Epic Games, after being offered for free on April 2023

This is an experience entirely focused on its gameplay, which offers the best realized parkour system I've experienced in a videogame, grouped with a robust and ever so satisfying melee combat system. Both of which are fairly upgradable, but at a sufficiently steady rhythm, based on your own experience with the game. Meaning, you gain experience to upgrade each of the game's systems as you engage more and more which each of them, which you'll want to do!

Because, if in the beginning you won't manage to do everything you'll want, you'll soon realize how to keep pushing the boundaries, in order to get better and better at traversing the open world at ease. 15 hours in, and I haven't even unlocked the grapple hook, which is sure to give even more versatility to the movement system (Update: it so does!).
And even the combat, that can get a bit overwhelming with the amount of enemies that can sometimes push you (if you're not careful at evaluating certain situations), is fairly deep, with an array of melee weapons and moves that lets you fight the way you want. After you get the feel for that one [type of] weapon you like, you basically won't want to use guns — unless you find a group of armed mercenaries, or some big brutes, in your path.

Is also that enemy variation that keeps the moment-to-moment gameplay fresh. If you can easily outrun the simpler zombie enemies, when you hear those screams, you'll want immediately to get ready, be it at day or nighttime. You'll quickly understand to maintain several strategies at hand, and which skills you'll want (and need) to unlock to support them.
The open world is also amazingly realized, with complete freedom to grab any climbable edge, but also breaming with a great atmosphere. Beautiful and haunting at the same time, as you take in the warm lighting pouring through the hollow streets, with only the sound of the wind and the dammed screams as you jump from one rooftop to the next. And that's only the first map...!

I never knew I'd get so engaged and addicted to this gameplay loop. Because honestly, outside of that, the story isn't doing much for me, as I usually quickly skip the cutscenes, just to get to the next run through the streets. And the next. And the next...!
The zombie apocalypse was never this fun!

It's interesting to see the team taking some inspiration from their own Tomb Raider games, seen in some of its story segments, and with its overall narrative focus on Kamala. In that sense, it is very effective, allowing us to sympathize with a character growing into her one [narratively and, consequently for us, gameplay wise], while discovering her place in this super powered world.

Although the story is somewhat basic, the moments between the characters themselves are really good, mostly because of the subtle and natural performances. Banner sympathizing with the unwanted capabilities and situation Kamala sees herself thrown into, but having some difficulty accepting it, as he projects himself in her position. Denying his own fault on the inciting events, opposite to Tony, but having both of them the same reaction to isolate themselves. Or the honest and truthful relation he has with Romanoff. The moments between Bruce and the other characters are very carefully crafted, and perfectly illustrate the different relations those characters have between each other, which is potentiated by the team being split apart in this story.

But from a gameplay standpoint, the game's level design is hit or miss, as some of the missions have you standing in one place for a period of time, although the combat system intends to keep you on the move, especially with the enemy's constant area and/or unblockable attacks. Iron Man, as a playable character, is pretty disappointing, as his ranged attacks are overall weak and unimpactful (at least, initially), which would be essentially his main focus and primary reason to be used. Despite that, all the playable characters are well balanced between all their different attacks, giving them (even Hulk) different sides to every type of encounter and enemy.

And being repetitive and overall uninspired (especially, because of the maps and enemies' variety), the combat keeps you mindful of every encounter, in view of how chaotic the battles can get. And when you start to unlock more and more abilities, the combos start allowing some creativity and experimentation with the different options.
Kamala's ability to clear groups of enemies; Hulks brute but slow attacks; Cap's powerful shield combinations. All with their set of unique animations, that also give each character their unique personality beyond the cutscenes, making the use of each one differentiated enough for you to have and/or develop a preference.

It is definitely not the product we were hoping for, and we can only imagine how much more they could have developed this game. But (with the obvious benefit of hindsight) there is still some heart to it, even if it's somewhat lost between the [monetary] interests thrust upon the studio to instill into the game.

I'll add the disclaimer upfront that I'm not at all a Battlefield veteran or follower, having only played for curiosity the Battlefield™ 1 campaign(s) before this, which I loved (specially, gameplay wise). And, from the same team, I also play(ed) Star Wars™ Battlefront™ II, which I adore (being biased, because of the underlying material, but still loving the game mechanics, beyond its initial problems).
Also, I've only played the solo Conquest mode during the December 2022 free weekend event, in order to get a feel of the game (without the hindsight of the initial launch experience), and just have some fun.

Having that said, fun is what I had. The first match left me feeling like I understood what everybody was saying about the game, but from the second onwards, I liked what I was offered. Of course, I understand that it's no longer the game that was launched (even recognizing the lack of weird dialogue lines from the specialists at the end of any given match), but the gunplay is really solid and satisfying at this point, which is obviously one of the main features of the game [that was lacking in the beginning, to put it mildly].

But there are the obvious flaws there are still a core part of the game. The maps are way too large, thought out for the use of vehicles, and a greater amount of players, but leaving the infantry at a weird position. If some of the control points [in the Conquest mode] are close to one another, some are far too distant in the map, as for example E1 in 'Breakaway'; or the Beta section in 'Hourglass', leaving you running for long uneventful stretches of the map.
Then, there are maps that are too confusing in their design. If the verticality in 'Exposure' gives some interesting attack options, it simultaneously gives way to the listed problems [of the movement difficulty between control points], and to a lack of use for the ground vehicles because of the steep terrain. And I absolutely detested 'Renewal', with the desert section taking the control points problems to its maximum.

In parallel, the amount of vehicles and, at the same time, the options to deal with them are still too unbalanced. If I choose an option to deal with aerial vehicles, I'll be in a worse position to deal with the ground ones (and vice-versa); and the amount of rockets we carry should be at least four (as an aerial vehicle usually goes down with three, but can counter them). Also, am I the only one that finds it completely idiotic that we only carry one grenade?!?

But when you manage to bring down an helicopter that was pinning you down and preventing you from getting that one control point, you feel like you managed to work around the uneven odds that this situation would realistically put you in, which is a great feeling to have.
In the end, I feel I'm in a weird position. Because, I would come back to this (if only for not having experimented fully with any other option in the franchise). I understand, when playing this, the feel(ing) that Battlefield gamers take from the franchise – even if, here, not at its prime.

This works basically as a simplified version of GWENT®, where you have to win more points than your opponent, but working with three simultaneous card lanes (instead of three separate stages).
That doesn't mean this game is (comparatively) simply easy, because what it might lack in complexity overall, it compensates for your continuous and fast decision making.

The locations' surprise abilities are always a way of keeping you cautioned at every turn; and adapting to your opponents' strategy (or to the changes on the lanes) is always necessary, even when you have a strategy of your own already in mind, as later moves may turn it useless.
Sometimes, it can be better to save some minor cards for later, as their abilities might help better than those with higher attack value.

Being the matches overall short, it gets so easy to pick up and lose yourself, especially if you're a fan of these characters, whose abilities mirror nicely their comics' powers.

I'm probably biased, because of my personal love towards this game's theme. But the truth is it's so much fun to just fly around in the different dragons, all with their unique look, although playing about the same.
The simplicity of the gameplay is part of its beauty, as it is pretty straight forward to get into, basically playing like a simplified flight simulator.
There's a variety of game modes, from which I'd highlight the 'Spoils of War', more objective based that just getting the higher amount of kills. Having that said, I would like to see more variety, including some sort of PvE mode(s).

The game may be short, but it's solid all around. From its 8 bit visuals and dry humor that manage to instill the game with its own distinct style; to the platforming and shooting mechanics, that allow for several slick combinations to progress through the levels while dispatching off the enemies.
Even the progression, throughout the few levels that compose this, is pretty well managed, with useful complementary powers and weapons. And, although the final unlockable is only available after finishing the game, trying to pass the levels with no lives lost, and killing all ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ enemies (some that can test you) was the biggest challenge by itself, and a welcome one at that.
I hope to see more solid content as this is.