Recent reviews by desrtfox071

Excellent old-school roguelike with a sci-fi edge. A great deal of replay value through customization and procedural generation.

Fantastic game.

I am saddened to feel the need to post a negative review for a game which seemed very promising, but the shift away from the originally planned single player campaign in favor of the current, very limited, PvP lobby based system hurts.

For me, it would have been the single player campaign that propped up, and gave meaning to, the tactical skirmish aspect of the game.

Now it seems that this skirmish mode is the main focus, rather than a stop gap until the actual game is completed.

I feel like perhaps the developer has spent too much time listening to the relatively few people engaged with the game right now, versus the much more numerous number of people who purchased the game to support the developer in the overall goal as stated on the EA page (which has since been edited)

This is simply the best retro-arcade game that I have played on STeam.

It combines some great aspects of original arcade games like Asteroids, with the power and depth available with modern PCs and derived from the roguelike games available today with the additional available mods, body types, weapons progression, etc.

I have played for 19 hours as of this review and am still unlocking features and mods in the game. From a arcade game perspective, this in an immense amount of depth, and the replayability and experimentability of the game is simply the best available in this genre.

So far, I think this game is a definite step up from Frozen Synapse 1.

So if you liked that game, I can unequivocally recommend this one. The tactics have improved in the sense that you have larger, better maps, different types of units, and new orders you can give. The procedural city and maps really opens up the game for replayability and should give the game a very long life independent of your disire, or lack therof, for any multiplayer action.

I have not played multiplayer yet, so I cannot comment on that other than I expect it to be similar to that in Frozen Synapse 1.

Now, if you're the kind of gamer that expects this game to have a AAA budget, and visuals to match, then I would say stay away from this game. This is a game made by a small studio, and like many such games, it's a bit rough around the edges at the moment. I've had one crash, and one encounter with a tutorial bug.

On the other hand, if flashy graphics don't impress you that much, and you're looking for a game with tactical depth, and something unique - Frozen Synapse 2 is a must have.

The simultaneous, vector bases turns (like Frozen Synapse 1) make the tactical experience in Frozen Synaps 2 second to none. This is a fantastic game if you want your tactical game to feel tactical.

Initial review of Battletech is that it has done a faithful job of bringing the original Battletech Tabletop game to a new audience, and has brought in tons of features and an interesting story.

All of the basic tabletop elements are there:
Lance control at the individual mech level
Location based damage/critical effects and lin of sight
Full MechLab for mech customization/repair/rebuild
Vast procedural galaxy
Mercenary expense/pilot/damage management
Pilot experience/levelling
Excellent tactical combat

I have not yet encountered any crashes or bugs as has been reported in some negative reviews.

C:MANO is not a sim for everyone, but if you're looking for hard-core detail, an immense amount of scenarios (both by the developers and by the community) and flexibility to create practically any kind of "what if" scenario you want, then maybe C:MANO is for you.

The graphics and sound are pretty nonexistant, and it has a very steep learning curve. However, you are provided with a 170+ page digital manual, and there's lots of support on the official forums as well as the Steam forums. There are also great tutorial missions built in to help with learning strike missions, submarine operation, general surface warfare and aircraft operation. Also, unlike many strategy games out there, the AI is actualy competent in C:MANO.

There are scenarios in the community scenario pack (free download) that span the timeframe of just post WW2 (1945ish) to near future (2020ish). There are over 400 scenarios in this mission pack alone, and many more in the Steam Workshop. The game also includes more than 40 scenarios created by the developers themselves. If that isn't enough for you, then there are optional DLCs as well.

So, if you ever wanted to try you hand at shooting down an SR-71 as the Soviets in 1979, or if you'd like to see what a hy[othetical China-Japan war over fishing resources in 2019 might play out, or see how hard it really is to hit an aircraft carrier with an ICBM, or maybe you want to see if a single Nimitz class carrier can really stop the attack on Pearl Harbor, then C:MANO is something to look at. The map of the game consists of the entire planet Earth.

The level of detail is unmatched in my opinion. You won't be seeing visceral 3d renderings of dogfights, but you will see the effects of managing things like plotting your cruise missile flights to streak down valleys so as to avoid RADAR detection, sweeping an area for enemy subs with sonobouys, suppressing enemy SAM installations with sophisticated electronic jammers, stealth, and decoys. Everything matters from local weather to time of day to speed and maneuverabilty of vehicles, to loadout weight, curvature of the earth, etc. I don't know how to actually count the total number of available units, but there are thousands. For a good reference to see what I mean, try this: http://cmano-db.com/ There are even hypothetical units to check out.

Some people complain about the price, and I get that. It's not cheap for a video game. It is; however, dirt cheap for what you get. If I could find another sim with 1/10th the content for half the price, it'd still be worth it. That being said, it's hard to know if C:MANO may be for you if you're on the fence. In such a case I suggest taking a look at the roster of DLCs. These serve as lower cost entry points to get a feel for C:MANO as well as stand alone games in their own right. For a 'game" where the professional version is used by professional militaries, you can't do better anywhere for twice the price if you're looking for detail and realism.

It isn't perfect of course. There can be performance issues sometimes, and people may quibble about minutia, but C:MANO gets the job done.


You'll need to use your imagination for the pretty pictures, but everything else is managed for you in C:MANO.

This is one of the most unique 4x games out there. It has a very beautiful, IMO, art style. It has a nice region feature that really changes up the way you create new cities and where. the fact that you can only put one city in each region really helps to add strategy to the placement of cities and helps to maintain the beautiful art style.

There are a number of interesting factions, and each plays significantly differently. There's a nice story here as well that helps to drive the overall strategy and gameplay.

If you like the fantasy 4x subgenre than this game is a must.

First, I'm just under 30 hours in.

My first impression of the game was basically "Well this is what I expected, mostly". Since then I've seen what I feel is some missing content as well as impressive new features.

As I'm sure everyone has experienced, there's a new base building mechanic that is very nicely done. This addition, right off the bat as it is, makes the game feel different than previous Fallout games, and kinda makes the central plotline feel less relevant. While this is a little unnerving on the first playthrough, I think it will play well as time rolls on.

I've only just now really begun to tap into the content, and there is more than I initially feared, though some things are "missing". It seems there's no ammo crafting anymore, and each weapon only uses one kind of ammo. Additionally, all of the true energy weapons now share one ammo type. (This is similar to FO3, but a step back from FNV IMHO). I believe this has been done to make way for the Legendary equipment, which is nice, but I still miss shotgun slugs :)

One thing that has taken a while to grow on me is the under the hood changes in the way the game "feels" in terms of character motion, weapon use, etc. I think it's fair to say that FO4 is a real step up here, and though I haven't gone back to Skyrim or FNV yet, I'm pretty sure I'll really notice the difference in fluidity and responsiveness.

Also, the AI, both friendly and opponent, is seriously improved. I still wouldn't call it great, or exceptional AI, but opponents behave much more believably than in previous Bethesda games. That said, opponents still stay on alert for far too little time, and you still occasionally get stuck trying to pass a follower in a hallway. The character animations and interactions are a considerable step up as well, IMHO.

The PBR, IMHO, is a very nice upgrade to the graphics fidelity overall.


So, to sum up, I feel like FO4 is a huge leap forward in the foundation of the game engine while lacking in a little of the extra detail present in FNV, while adding in substantial new features (base building, more robust crafting) that may or may not appeal to an individual's play style. The interface is predictable, very consolish, and pretty poor. For me at least, I fully expect third party mods to fix the few issues that I see (some content lacking, interface) as is typically the case in Bethesda games.

Note: When comparing to FO3 and FNV, I'm trying to keep in mind that, currently, FO4 is without any DLC content, and that my recent experiences with FNV and FO3 are not only with all of the added content from the full suite of DLCs, but also a ton of mods, so I'm excluding content delivered in those ways from my comparison.

This is probably the best puzzle game that I have ever played. It's almost tipping over in to a programming game, so bear that in mind, but I like programming games.

This is a great modern adaptation of Paradroid. Very fun