Recent reviews by Lancaster

I backed this game on Kickstarter and I wish that I didn't.
It has released in a very broken state, like barely functional assets and mechanics, it is confusing and explains nothing about the way a factory can be built or optimised.
Early Access is generous for the features included, and I will not be returning to this game again.

On the first day I played this game, I ended up on an 8 hour session with 1 failed settlement and another one that is thriving. I am staggered by how good this game is, and I am really excited to see what the developers add in the future, because even as it is, Manor Lords is a worthy and triumphant addition to the strategic medieval city-building and survival genre.

A worthy successor to the original game, and a leap forward for the 40K game development. The world of 40K is fully realised, and even if you have lore hang-ups, you can't deny that this is a beautiful display of that grimdark future.
Gameplay is tight and rewarding, and the sound design is gorgeous. Keen to see how the developers expand on the game in the future.

I've been looking forward to this game ever since it's announcement, and I'm so happy it is now out!
What is available now is robust, but have no illusions that the game is not entirely complete. There are areas not yet implemented, crashes and bugs are semi-common, and there are elements of game play and flow that I feel could be improved.
From my time so far, I've encountered audio bugs; like hearing my magazine reload sound like it's behind me. Sometimes footsteps are inconsistent and some units do have less noticeable call outs than others, being easy to miss.
I've also seen the AI be equal parts extremely efficient or very dumb; getting stuck on terrain before pulling a nasty trick shot on a drone (more loot for me)
So far, the main loop of short, intense, and immersive scav runs into the various regions, getting loot and completing objectives, is very compelling.
I like returning to the Innards with my haul, trading, upgrading, offering my water, then gearing up and going again, and it's a satisfying loop.
However, I will say that I don't love the Water count trickling down even when I'm not online. It's weird to be losing progress, risking losing all of my equipment, by simply not playing the game. That feels like a punishment, not an incentive.
Additionally, I would *love* to see a Glossary of the factions and their units. When I need to target certain drones for parts to complete a quest, it'd be really good to know what I'm actually supposed to be shooting at.
Plus, being able to read more lore is always welcome.

For all of that, I am excited by this game, it scratches an itch that few games do, and I'm in love with its potent art style and world.
Congratulations Fun Dog on the launch, and good luck for the future development of the Forever Winter. I'll see you in the battlefield.

I was so excited for this game from the moment it was announced 10 years ago. And when the game released in its now infamous state, I waited more. I waited 3 years to finally buy the game after Phantom Liberty launched and v2.1 released.
And it was so worth the wait.
Cyberpunk 2077 has exceeded all of my expectations and continues to surprise me. I haven't felt so immersed in a game's setting and narrative since Titanfall 2, and the way CD Projekt Red has created the Cyberpunk world is a testament to their skill and artistry as a studio.
The story is deep and has so many powerful themes that it isn't afraid to explore, even to the bitterest and most painful of ends. The soundtrack is incredible, with a rich variety of artists and styles as backdrop to your carnage. The customisation is intricate and impactful, I actually feel stronger with every new cyber enhancement and skill unlock.
Player choice is pivotal and I find myself thinking carefully about my decisions.
Thank you for this experience, and I look forward to what CD Projekt Red makes next.

This is a good game, and for the low price of free, its worth a shot. What started as a Stalker mod for Minecraft is now a complete game, with the developers still making new additions and updating content semi-regularly.
On the outset, this is a survival MMO-FPS hybrid, with elements like player hubs, Stalker related missions and a narrative story, and Tarkov-style player on player violence for loot.
There is a break up gameplay into roaming the map doing quests, farming mobs, doing quests for rewards and, in my experience, the rare player encounter. The farther north you travel on the map, the more difficult the enemies and environment become, necessitating player progression in the tech-tree of items that build your resistance to the various environmental hazards like radiation and thermal zone. This ties in to the regions that you will explore, each with unique resources and an expanding roster of enemies and anomalies to encounter.
The zones and regions are divided between the player factions, being Stalkers and Bandits, with Stalkers mainly taking up the right side of the map and Bandits on the left, with some larger zones in the middle that contain valuable resources needed to progress.
That's the basic gameplay loop, quest, explore, loot, upgrade, and move up to the next region. Repeat. My problem with this progression is twofold. The distance between safe hub zones where you can buy new gear to progress the tech tree, becomes larger and more hazardous the farther north you go, and at this time there is no fast-travel between them. This makes beginning a new tech-tree later on a real hassle, requiring you to go back through zones and risk encountering hostile players or just dying to the elements for a simple item.
The second issue is that later progression gets EXTREMELY grind-y very quickly. Early on, items require two or three types of resources from a zone, and maybe a dozen or two dozen will be enough. Then suddenly as you hit the mid-way location, you need a hundred or more of a resource, and you need four or five unique types, and the means of getting them are more complicated and tedious.
This might be a barrier that some won't want to invest the time in, as now you will be soft-locked into a handful of zones, running back and forth farming and doing daily quests, just to progress one item in your kit.
If you're worried about losing equipment if you die, there are items that are Bound to you, including your weapons and body armour, so you won't lose those if a fight doesn't go your way. What you will lose are items like ammunition, medkits that aren't bound, any loot you've picked up and special resources for progression. The special resources will be dropped as a 'backpack', and cannot be looted by players, and likely players will put these into the games Market for auction. This incentives players to loot one another, and ransom back special resources for extra Roubles, because selling to NPC vendors will get you a pittance by comparison.
I also want to say that there is a monetary side to the game, in the form of cosmetic loot boxes and a subscription package. The loot boxes are 5USD each, and each one will give you a random body armour or weapon cosmetic. If you upgrade your armour, you keep the skin, HOWEVER, if you overwrite the skin with a new paintjob, you destroy the old skin. So that 5USD is just gone. Roll again.
The subscription is a weekly, monthly or annual payment plan for access to premium content, being extra daily/weekly quests where you can CHOOSE the rewards, so that cuts down on grind. You also get special bonus login rewards, which you get daily and reset each week. Overall, not a bad system, think like World of Tanks premium, and with prices ranging from 10USD to 100USD depending on the length of your subscription.
Overall, I like this game. The Russian language is fun to hear coming out of Minecraft-looking Stalker characters, and the translation has some really cheesy dialogue and writing that i just find so appealing. This is a game set in the Stalker universe, handling some very horrifying and dramatic concepts, but its all packaged in a game that looks like Minecraft with guns, and that's the charm.
It's worth a try for the price, and I think with more work and some love from the community and developers, it can become a worthwhile addition to the Stalker family.

This is a cute, fun and uplifting game. It's a strategy and puzzle game, with a little bit of resource management and forward planning a few moves ahead when you are working to bring life to a desolate wasteland.
Each map is randomly generated and has challenges to overcome with each region offering a variety of goals and milestones.
I think some people expected this game to be a city builder, or a simulator with long term construction and expansion. This is really a puzzle game, that presents you a scenario and asks you to figure out the best way to beautify a barren landscape.
Terra Nil is great at what it goes, an endearing puzzle game with a fantastic premise and beautiful presentation and musical score, that makes for a relaxing and optimistic way to unwind after a hard day.

One of the best co-op shooters out there and its only getting better. Ghost Ship Games are best Dev team around, they are so passionate about their game and new content is consistently added to increase the games playability.

A worthy successor to the Age of Empires franchise. I can't tell you how excited and nervous I was to be playing a brand new AoE title, and after the stellar Definitive edition releases of the previous three games (barring Age of Mythology for some reason), I can say I am relieved and grateful to be playing this game.
AOE4 takes the better elements of AOE2 and AOE3, making a brand new game that has its own distinct features and mechanics.
At time of writing there are only 8 civs, but each is distinct in interesting ways and plays very differently, with a lot of room to explore play options. The presentation is fantastic, accessible and dynamic enough to keep the game interesting even into long battles, and the voice acting, music and the roar of battle are stand outs to me.
I think criticisms comparing AOE4 to its predecessors is creating more problems than its worth. If you want mechanics closer to AOE2, just play AOE2. If you enjoyed AOE3 for its variety and card system, and was disappointed to not see the same carry across, thats okay because you still have AOE3.
Most of all I am very optimistic about the future of AOE. We as a community have been very blessed to receive definitive editions and fresh updates to all AOE titles, but also got a brand new game in AOE4 to continue the legacy of the series. To get a strategy series with so much heritage being brought up to modern standards of gaming and technical performance, while maintaining the integrity of what came before is no easy task. I can safely say that AOE4 has met and exceeded my expectations, and I look forward to what the development team brings us in the future. When community content is fully integrated into the game, AOE4 will finally have its crown again.

There are a lot of activities to do and a wide world to explore. You can either grind out the tasks to begin the Role chain into a specialisation of your choosing, or you can drop real money into the game and buy your way into any Role, and in fact buy your way through ranks, weapons, cosmetics and virtually any item for a price. The worst offence by far, in its current state, RDO has a HUGE hacker problem, with seemingly no anti-cheat or the option to have a private server, majority of the servers you will join will have at least one hacker causing problems.
Its incredibly disheartening when you've spent your time playing the game and about to complete a mission for a reward, when an unkillable hacker teleports to your location, wipes you out, steals your stuff, and teleports away. It honestly breaks my joy in this game.
Also, there are a few graphical issues I have encountered with crashing that Rockstar automatically identifies as graphical. Running the game on High settings with a 3070ti should not be a problem, but for whatever reason it'll crash on a dime and for some reason the Rockstar launcher thinks thats the fault of the GC.