Kago
A huge step up from Medal of Honor 1 in all ways but game play.
I was honestly dreading having to play this as MoH 1 was pretty bland and boring, and towards the second half I really just wanted to get it over with. I've heard this game is simply more of MoH 1 but even longer, and man that kept me away for a long time, but here we are, I decided to play it for some reason, fully completed it, and honestly I love it.
So instead of a British spy type, you play as a french resistance member, but you then get hired very early on by the same department that operated in the last game lol. Notably you play as a female, one of the first female protagonist in an FPS game? Unfortunately this doesn't matter much as there is no character and she's basically just a vessel for the player, similar to the guy you play as in the first game.
Gameplay is near identical to MoH 1. You've got the same guns, maybe some new ones I can't totally recall. Enemies still have absurd accuracy and can sometimes shoot you through walls, all the gameplay pros and cons I listed in MoH 1 still apply here.
The overall story, or the missions, are far FAR more interesting than those in MoH 1. You fight in the streets of Paris, the Catacombs, underneath the Eiffel tower, you go to Africa, you go to Greece, you explore wacky Nazi castles, it's a fucking blast. I absolutely loved the levels and level design though of course they're very linear, due to it being a PS1 game. I only disliked some levels towards the end as they either get kinda bland or absurdly difficult.
Seriously though, this game pushed the PS1 to its absolute limit, and you can unfortunately feel it. Frames tend to drop in heavy action and whenever there's more than 3 characters on your screen, or if you enter a larger area. It really isn't that bad but it's something to note.
This is completely its own thing and doesn't feel like a WW2 game at all. It's got a fantastic aesthetic, great music, and just wonderful vibes all around. It's like they took WW2 James Bond from the last game and sprinkled in a healthy dose of Indiana Jones and some French love.
If you're willing to learn and adapt to the rules of these older janky shooters, this one is a must. I'd go as far as to say this is probably the best FPS game on the PS1. I'd suggest you power through MoH 1 and have an OK time, then play this game and have a blast.
P.S. For modern FPS controls, use control scheme 4.
I was honestly dreading having to play this as MoH 1 was pretty bland and boring, and towards the second half I really just wanted to get it over with. I've heard this game is simply more of MoH 1 but even longer, and man that kept me away for a long time, but here we are, I decided to play it for some reason, fully completed it, and honestly I love it.
So instead of a British spy type, you play as a french resistance member, but you then get hired very early on by the same department that operated in the last game lol. Notably you play as a female, one of the first female protagonist in an FPS game? Unfortunately this doesn't matter much as there is no character and she's basically just a vessel for the player, similar to the guy you play as in the first game.
Gameplay is near identical to MoH 1. You've got the same guns, maybe some new ones I can't totally recall. Enemies still have absurd accuracy and can sometimes shoot you through walls, all the gameplay pros and cons I listed in MoH 1 still apply here.
The overall story, or the missions, are far FAR more interesting than those in MoH 1. You fight in the streets of Paris, the Catacombs, underneath the Eiffel tower, you go to Africa, you go to Greece, you explore wacky Nazi castles, it's a fucking blast. I absolutely loved the levels and level design though of course they're very linear, due to it being a PS1 game. I only disliked some levels towards the end as they either get kinda bland or absurdly difficult.
Seriously though, this game pushed the PS1 to its absolute limit, and you can unfortunately feel it. Frames tend to drop in heavy action and whenever there's more than 3 characters on your screen, or if you enter a larger area. It really isn't that bad but it's something to note.
This is completely its own thing and doesn't feel like a WW2 game at all. It's got a fantastic aesthetic, great music, and just wonderful vibes all around. It's like they took WW2 James Bond from the last game and sprinkled in a healthy dose of Indiana Jones and some French love.
If you're willing to learn and adapt to the rules of these older janky shooters, this one is a must. I'd go as far as to say this is probably the best FPS game on the PS1. I'd suggest you power through MoH 1 and have an OK time, then play this game and have a blast.
P.S. For modern FPS controls, use control scheme 4.
2005
I used to hold this game as my favorite Call of Duty in the series, then I got more experience with the series and decided COD4 was the best one. Now, after playing 1 I revisit 2 after not playing it for years and years.
To be honest, I am disappointed, as my memory hailed this a straight up masterpiece. COD 2 is not a masterpiece lol. I actually prefer 1 as it features much more clever and interesting levels, despite them being confined and small-scale. This will be a campaign focused review, though I recall the multiplayer was really fun.
So, I see a lot of people saying this is a fully realized version of 1, but I heavily disagree. This game simply operates and feels far different. Where 1 felt like Medal of Honor but you're a regular soldier, 2 feels like its own thing. It is pure war, the way this games sandbox is able to create intense firefights is something to behold, as the sound design and graphics are on point. It really feels like you are deep in the shit, truly in a grueling war where every inch of ground must be fought over. The best way I could describe gunfights is "visceral." While this design of "fighting for every inch" has its own place, I feel like something was lost in this change.
Levels are much more open ended and expansive as to allow these chaotic firefights to function, but from what I experienced level design is much more sloppy and less meticulous compared to 1. Enemy Ai also seemingly can shoot you from any range, so as these levels are larger, it just puts the player at a disadvantage.
Speaking on Enemy Ai, they're OK at best. I played this game on hardened difficulty, and they're just ridiculous on this. Nary missing a shot, they will shoot you almost immediately upon you entering their line of sight, they know where you are about 80% of the time, and are all equipped with a literal infinite amount of grenades, that they will spam throw at you nonstop. Seriously what is up with the grenade spam, it's absurd. Enemies are also able to tank many hits, so you have to shoot everyone quite a bit to put them down for good, which can feel unsatisfying at times.
Friendly Ai is bad. They will constantly get in your way, making it difficult to shoot at enemies, or difficult to move as you desire. They're able to kill enemies, but RARELY ever do it. This is unfortunately notable when enemies will literally stand right next to your friendlies, ignore them and shoot at you, while the friendly also ignores the enemy. Countless times I was shot in the back or side despite my teammates being right there.
This game also lacks a bit of the variety that I believe is so crucial to the COD campaigns. Almost the entire campaign consist of attacking/clearing areas with gun, defending areas with gun, and pressing f to place a bomb on things. The tank levels are the only source of variety I can honestly think of, lmk if I'm forgetting something.
There is, however, great variety in the looks of the game. Going from the snowbound lands of the eastern front, to the rocky lands of Africa, and the familiar green fields of Normandy. These locations all feel uniquely different, and each mission has their own aesthetics to them. This is one of the main highlights in the game. Despite almost all of the missions playing the same, they look vastly different and are varied in concept.
I still think this is a classic and should be played, it's a good game no doubt, I'm just being very harsh on it. I believe it's just too repetitive at times and is lacking in clever level ideas, but it is still a great WW2 shooter and is worth playing.
To be honest, I am disappointed, as my memory hailed this a straight up masterpiece. COD 2 is not a masterpiece lol. I actually prefer 1 as it features much more clever and interesting levels, despite them being confined and small-scale. This will be a campaign focused review, though I recall the multiplayer was really fun.
So, I see a lot of people saying this is a fully realized version of 1, but I heavily disagree. This game simply operates and feels far different. Where 1 felt like Medal of Honor but you're a regular soldier, 2 feels like its own thing. It is pure war, the way this games sandbox is able to create intense firefights is something to behold, as the sound design and graphics are on point. It really feels like you are deep in the shit, truly in a grueling war where every inch of ground must be fought over. The best way I could describe gunfights is "visceral." While this design of "fighting for every inch" has its own place, I feel like something was lost in this change.
Levels are much more open ended and expansive as to allow these chaotic firefights to function, but from what I experienced level design is much more sloppy and less meticulous compared to 1. Enemy Ai also seemingly can shoot you from any range, so as these levels are larger, it just puts the player at a disadvantage.
Speaking on Enemy Ai, they're OK at best. I played this game on hardened difficulty, and they're just ridiculous on this. Nary missing a shot, they will shoot you almost immediately upon you entering their line of sight, they know where you are about 80% of the time, and are all equipped with a literal infinite amount of grenades, that they will spam throw at you nonstop. Seriously what is up with the grenade spam, it's absurd. Enemies are also able to tank many hits, so you have to shoot everyone quite a bit to put them down for good, which can feel unsatisfying at times.
Friendly Ai is bad. They will constantly get in your way, making it difficult to shoot at enemies, or difficult to move as you desire. They're able to kill enemies, but RARELY ever do it. This is unfortunately notable when enemies will literally stand right next to your friendlies, ignore them and shoot at you, while the friendly also ignores the enemy. Countless times I was shot in the back or side despite my teammates being right there.
This game also lacks a bit of the variety that I believe is so crucial to the COD campaigns. Almost the entire campaign consist of attacking/clearing areas with gun, defending areas with gun, and pressing f to place a bomb on things. The tank levels are the only source of variety I can honestly think of, lmk if I'm forgetting something.
There is, however, great variety in the looks of the game. Going from the snowbound lands of the eastern front, to the rocky lands of Africa, and the familiar green fields of Normandy. These locations all feel uniquely different, and each mission has their own aesthetics to them. This is one of the main highlights in the game. Despite almost all of the missions playing the same, they look vastly different and are varied in concept.
I still think this is a classic and should be played, it's a good game no doubt, I'm just being very harsh on it. I believe it's just too repetitive at times and is lacking in clever level ideas, but it is still a great WW2 shooter and is worth playing.
About 16 hours into my first ever campaign on this game, I've run out of steam and I don't know when I'll pick it back up again.
This is what I always do with Total War games; obsessively play them for about a week then drop them for months. I used to do this with Shogun 2, but I wanted to try out more of the series, and I love the idea of Total War set in medieval times, so I tried out this one rather than Rome II, the popular option.
This is an older game than Shogun 2, so it's not totally fair to compare the two but my experience with this series is Shogun 1, 2 and now this, so it's all I've got.
My biggest issue is this game feels noticeably clunky. I heavily dislike the camera and I feel like I can never get it where I want. You don't have full control as you do in future titles.
Another major issue is that troops seemingly don't follow orders. I don't know if I'm missing something or they're bugging out on the terrain, but literally countless times I will tell troops to move somewhere and they'll just stop a quarter of the way through. It's bizarre and leads to me having to micro-manage every single unit.
I also generally dislike the Ai. When at war with an Ai faction, they will basically just form a massive band of people and throw them at you until they all die, and they keep doing this until the war is over. They're more annoying than interesting.
But throughout all of the issues and my complaining, I still enjoy this game a lot, hence why I put in 16 hours in such a small amount of time. The battles themselves are really fun, though after so much time they do get stale, the units all feel very accurate and I enjoy testing out strategies. It also appeases my lizard brain to see more and more of Europe change to my kingdoms color.
So in the end, this game provides the tried and true Total War formula, set in medieval Europe. It is very fun and clearly has a lot of love put into it, but it has aged very poorly in some areas and playing it today feels very clunky at times. It makes me wish for a more modern Medieval Total War game than anything.
This is what I always do with Total War games; obsessively play them for about a week then drop them for months. I used to do this with Shogun 2, but I wanted to try out more of the series, and I love the idea of Total War set in medieval times, so I tried out this one rather than Rome II, the popular option.
This is an older game than Shogun 2, so it's not totally fair to compare the two but my experience with this series is Shogun 1, 2 and now this, so it's all I've got.
My biggest issue is this game feels noticeably clunky. I heavily dislike the camera and I feel like I can never get it where I want. You don't have full control as you do in future titles.
Another major issue is that troops seemingly don't follow orders. I don't know if I'm missing something or they're bugging out on the terrain, but literally countless times I will tell troops to move somewhere and they'll just stop a quarter of the way through. It's bizarre and leads to me having to micro-manage every single unit.
I also generally dislike the Ai. When at war with an Ai faction, they will basically just form a massive band of people and throw them at you until they all die, and they keep doing this until the war is over. They're more annoying than interesting.
But throughout all of the issues and my complaining, I still enjoy this game a lot, hence why I put in 16 hours in such a small amount of time. The battles themselves are really fun, though after so much time they do get stale, the units all feel very accurate and I enjoy testing out strategies. It also appeases my lizard brain to see more and more of Europe change to my kingdoms color.
So in the end, this game provides the tried and true Total War formula, set in medieval Europe. It is very fun and clearly has a lot of love put into it, but it has aged very poorly in some areas and playing it today feels very clunky at times. It makes me wish for a more modern Medieval Total War game than anything.
1991
Purely evil game designed to take money from people at the arcades. It is not well made at all, and only wants to take your money.
That being said, the visuals, sounds, and budget are exquisite. It's a shame that they're tied to a money grabbing experience.
The ONLY reason people still talk about this game and hail it as a "arcade classic" or a "light gun great" is because of nostalgia. This game blows and is not fun.
That being said, the visuals, sounds, and budget are exquisite. It's a shame that they're tied to a money grabbing experience.
The ONLY reason people still talk about this game and hail it as a "arcade classic" or a "light gun great" is because of nostalgia. This game blows and is not fun.
1995
Idk what game you guys are playing but this is just flat out not good.
The aesthetics, the story, the sound design, the characters, all really good stuff, I love it, but the game play itself has aged terribly, especially compared to every other game in the series.
Unlike Time Crisis 2 and onward, there is literally no indicator on when a bullet will hit you. This means that the 20 bullets that were just on your screen and did no damage to you look exactly the same as the 1 bullet that will hit you and do damage. Extremely annoying.
Also enemies that throw grenades or knives, I don't know if this is a me thing or what, but it's like there is literally no depth perception on them. The grenades never feel fair and you can barely even see the knives thrown at you. The game also has too many "gotcha" moments for my liking.
All and all I was just not enjoying my time with this game. I respect it for starting the best light gun series ever, and I honestly like everything about the game minus the game play, but man this just sucks.
The aesthetics, the story, the sound design, the characters, all really good stuff, I love it, but the game play itself has aged terribly, especially compared to every other game in the series.
Unlike Time Crisis 2 and onward, there is literally no indicator on when a bullet will hit you. This means that the 20 bullets that were just on your screen and did no damage to you look exactly the same as the 1 bullet that will hit you and do damage. Extremely annoying.
Also enemies that throw grenades or knives, I don't know if this is a me thing or what, but it's like there is literally no depth perception on them. The grenades never feel fair and you can barely even see the knives thrown at you. The game also has too many "gotcha" moments for my liking.
All and all I was just not enjoying my time with this game. I respect it for starting the best light gun series ever, and I honestly like everything about the game minus the game play, but man this just sucks.
2023
As of now currently a 2.5/5, though that is subject to change.
A very cool FPS game idea and I wish there were more games like it on the market, hearkening back to old AC multiplayer.
Despite me playing this a lot since release and generally enjoying my time, the game sits at a 2.5 for quite a few reasons.
Firstly, performance is shaky. There is a lot of freezing and weird lag for pretty much no reason, I think they just need to optimize. This entire game feels like early access or something, there is definitely a lack of polish.
Second, I do not entirely fuck with the gun play. I cannot explain why, but aiming is extremely difficult and just feels terrible. There is also way too big of an emphasis on head-shots. I feel like I'm playing halo online but even worse, where if you are not landing head-shots, you will lose the fight. Hit detection also feels wonky. I think the pure difficulty of the gun-play combined with the somewhat repetitive phase one of the game marks its doom, and even with cross-play, I don't think this game will survive.
Thirdly, as previously mentioned, phase 1 can get a little repetitive. You're doing the exact same thing every time, and that usually involves holding down a button to gain a resource. That's it. You may break out into a firefight in phase 1, but honestly fighting in this phase isn't helpful for either party.
Fourth, the game is just unbalanced. Some agents have really overpowered abilities or weapons that just feel unfair. It's especially annoying when some of these overpowered weapons/abilities must be unlocked through hours and hours of game-play.
Fifth, and this is more of a personal complaint, I do not care about/like any of the characters. I just straight up don't like any of them, I think they're all lame as hell. If I'm playing a spy game I want to play as a cool James Bond type, not some quirky goofball that quips like a marvel character. The closest character to what I want is Squire and man I just hate him, he is so annoying. Wish they'd give an option to turn off voice lines.
Despite all these flaws listed, I do want this game to succeed, and my 2.5/5 is honestly just because of how much I like the concept and yearn for more of this style. I don't know if they'll ever fix these problems, but here's to hoping.
A very cool FPS game idea and I wish there were more games like it on the market, hearkening back to old AC multiplayer.
Despite me playing this a lot since release and generally enjoying my time, the game sits at a 2.5 for quite a few reasons.
Firstly, performance is shaky. There is a lot of freezing and weird lag for pretty much no reason, I think they just need to optimize. This entire game feels like early access or something, there is definitely a lack of polish.
Second, I do not entirely fuck with the gun play. I cannot explain why, but aiming is extremely difficult and just feels terrible. There is also way too big of an emphasis on head-shots. I feel like I'm playing halo online but even worse, where if you are not landing head-shots, you will lose the fight. Hit detection also feels wonky. I think the pure difficulty of the gun-play combined with the somewhat repetitive phase one of the game marks its doom, and even with cross-play, I don't think this game will survive.
Thirdly, as previously mentioned, phase 1 can get a little repetitive. You're doing the exact same thing every time, and that usually involves holding down a button to gain a resource. That's it. You may break out into a firefight in phase 1, but honestly fighting in this phase isn't helpful for either party.
Fourth, the game is just unbalanced. Some agents have really overpowered abilities or weapons that just feel unfair. It's especially annoying when some of these overpowered weapons/abilities must be unlocked through hours and hours of game-play.
Fifth, and this is more of a personal complaint, I do not care about/like any of the characters. I just straight up don't like any of them, I think they're all lame as hell. If I'm playing a spy game I want to play as a cool James Bond type, not some quirky goofball that quips like a marvel character. The closest character to what I want is Squire and man I just hate him, he is so annoying. Wish they'd give an option to turn off voice lines.
Despite all these flaws listed, I do want this game to succeed, and my 2.5/5 is honestly just because of how much I like the concept and yearn for more of this style. I don't know if they'll ever fix these problems, but here's to hoping.
2000
Highly disappointed in my first ever visit to the Hitman series, though I am aware future titles are much better.
Terrible controls though they can be remapped, horrible camera, constant bugs and crashing, though the crashing may be due to Windows 10 compatibility.
Biggest issue with this game though is the very annoying trial and error style of game play, which wouldn't be such an issue if this game wasn't secretly linear.
I mean this game is secretly linear because they give you these open levels where it seems like a sandbox and you can do whatever you want, yet every mission is made with a highly specific method of performing the mission in mind. If you stray off this course, you shall suffer. This leads to the type of game that makes you want to have a walk through with you at all times, and I personally hate games like that.
The music and aesthetics are pretty banging though, and the idea is still very novel and cool. I just wish everything, and I mean everything, was done better.
Terrible controls though they can be remapped, horrible camera, constant bugs and crashing, though the crashing may be due to Windows 10 compatibility.
Biggest issue with this game though is the very annoying trial and error style of game play, which wouldn't be such an issue if this game wasn't secretly linear.
I mean this game is secretly linear because they give you these open levels where it seems like a sandbox and you can do whatever you want, yet every mission is made with a highly specific method of performing the mission in mind. If you stray off this course, you shall suffer. This leads to the type of game that makes you want to have a walk through with you at all times, and I personally hate games like that.
The music and aesthetics are pretty banging though, and the idea is still very novel and cool. I just wish everything, and I mean everything, was done better.
2003
All you people giving this a negative score are insane, if you don't think this is a good game you just don't like classic FPS games.
I'm amazed on how much they nailed on their first entry into the series. Granted Medal of Honor already set the framework for what to do, but Call of Duty just nails everything immediately. The American campaign feels like you're in a war movie, the British Campaign feels like Medal of Honor in the sense you're doing WW2 James Bond shit, but this time you're actually British, and the Russian Campaign is Immersive, captivating, and chaotic.
Gun play feels tight and satisfying, set-pieces all hit, missions are filled with variety, it's just a great time. Only lasting about 8 hours it doesn't overstay its welcome. There is some old game jank but it can be dealt with pretty easily tbh.
They got the WW2 formula down to a science. If you enjoy classic FPS games ignore these other reviews and give this game a shot.
I'm amazed on how much they nailed on their first entry into the series. Granted Medal of Honor already set the framework for what to do, but Call of Duty just nails everything immediately. The American campaign feels like you're in a war movie, the British Campaign feels like Medal of Honor in the sense you're doing WW2 James Bond shit, but this time you're actually British, and the Russian Campaign is Immersive, captivating, and chaotic.
Gun play feels tight and satisfying, set-pieces all hit, missions are filled with variety, it's just a great time. Only lasting about 8 hours it doesn't overstay its welcome. There is some old game jank but it can be dealt with pretty easily tbh.
They got the WW2 formula down to a science. If you enjoy classic FPS games ignore these other reviews and give this game a shot.
2004
Call of Duty Vietnam on a budget
I actually am in this games corner. I love Vietnam and the Vietnam War setting, and I wish there were more games like this. The characters are fun enough and the gun play is actually quite satisfying, but there's too many flaws to ignore.
I want to get it out of the way right now that I did not finish this game. I played about 5 hours of this game, then didn't play for about two weeks. Upon returning, there is an unbearable stuttering in the game that I can't fix. This along with fatigue of doing the exact same thing over and over has led me to call it quits and end the game.
SO, stuttering, launch issues, and screen-tear galore, likely cause this is a 2004 game running on Windows 10, but it must be noted.
The game itself is actually not so bad, it's fairly competent.
For 2004, this game is beautiful. Really great looking game, though its scale is quite small. Despite being in a large jungle, you are basically walking down a hallway the entire game, it's just a very well disguised hallway. Missions involve shooting people, shooting people, and shooting people. You will clear villages, you will clear bunkers, you will clear zones, that's basically it. There are some fun vehicle sections that bring much needed variety, but they too are just shooting people endlessly.
The story isn't anything of note. There's not really any interesting plots though the game puts you in interesting situations often.
Honestly I may have finished this game if it weren't for all the technical problems, but without that this game is simply a 2004 FPS game that has average mechanics, an average story, and is set in the Vietnam war, and that's really all there is to it.
I actually am in this games corner. I love Vietnam and the Vietnam War setting, and I wish there were more games like this. The characters are fun enough and the gun play is actually quite satisfying, but there's too many flaws to ignore.
I want to get it out of the way right now that I did not finish this game. I played about 5 hours of this game, then didn't play for about two weeks. Upon returning, there is an unbearable stuttering in the game that I can't fix. This along with fatigue of doing the exact same thing over and over has led me to call it quits and end the game.
SO, stuttering, launch issues, and screen-tear galore, likely cause this is a 2004 game running on Windows 10, but it must be noted.
The game itself is actually not so bad, it's fairly competent.
For 2004, this game is beautiful. Really great looking game, though its scale is quite small. Despite being in a large jungle, you are basically walking down a hallway the entire game, it's just a very well disguised hallway. Missions involve shooting people, shooting people, and shooting people. You will clear villages, you will clear bunkers, you will clear zones, that's basically it. There are some fun vehicle sections that bring much needed variety, but they too are just shooting people endlessly.
The story isn't anything of note. There's not really any interesting plots though the game puts you in interesting situations often.
Honestly I may have finished this game if it weren't for all the technical problems, but without that this game is simply a 2004 FPS game that has average mechanics, an average story, and is set in the Vietnam war, and that's really all there is to it.
I have about 500 hours on this one on Steam. Currently realizing I've never written a review or talked about it in my nearly 6 years of playing it.
This is THE best "realistic shooter" ever. And it is because it hits that perfect amount of arcadey fun and grounded realism.
The gunplay is pure sex, seriously some of the most satisfying shit ever. To see a man running like 100 meters away and just dinking that fucker in the head is pure unfiltered dopamine.
The classes, the customization, the voice acting, the maps, the teamplay, the different factions, the VOIP, the community mods. It is simply just the best.
Seriously, the maps are some of my favorite ever. I recently took a trip to Vietnam, and I was amazed at how some maps were modeled 1x1 with real life.
Insurgency, Squad, Hell Let Loose, etc. does not even come CLOSE to the amount of fun this game brings. Those games focus too hard on realism or too hard on arcadey nonsense, Rising Storm 2 is the perfect medium.
As it is 5-6 years old, player counts are lowering, if you haven't played this game yet, times running out and you'll miss out.
Through my 500 something hours I've gotten my fill and I'm satisfied, though I always play some matches here and there, as nothing scratches that itch quite like Rising Storm 2: Vietnam.
This is THE best "realistic shooter" ever. And it is because it hits that perfect amount of arcadey fun and grounded realism.
The gunplay is pure sex, seriously some of the most satisfying shit ever. To see a man running like 100 meters away and just dinking that fucker in the head is pure unfiltered dopamine.
The classes, the customization, the voice acting, the maps, the teamplay, the different factions, the VOIP, the community mods. It is simply just the best.
Seriously, the maps are some of my favorite ever. I recently took a trip to Vietnam, and I was amazed at how some maps were modeled 1x1 with real life.
Insurgency, Squad, Hell Let Loose, etc. does not even come CLOSE to the amount of fun this game brings. Those games focus too hard on realism or too hard on arcadey nonsense, Rising Storm 2 is the perfect medium.
As it is 5-6 years old, player counts are lowering, if you haven't played this game yet, times running out and you'll miss out.
Through my 500 something hours I've gotten my fill and I'm satisfied, though I always play some matches here and there, as nothing scratches that itch quite like Rising Storm 2: Vietnam.
Not all I hoped it would be.
This game boils down to doing two things: Managing your money, and managing your fighters stats. Obviously there are much more intricacies that go into it, but that's really all the game is.
This becomes extremely repetitive! With your fighters opponents all feeling exactly the same and your fighters all feeling the same, every fight is just a stat war with some RNG thrown in. It is just very dull.
The voice acting is lackluster, as are the visuals. The audio is also just very average, nothing about this game is noteworthy honestly.
I really wanted this game to be more and scratch that fighter manager itch, but it's just a dull and repetitive experience that should've had more mechanics at play.
This game boils down to doing two things: Managing your money, and managing your fighters stats. Obviously there are much more intricacies that go into it, but that's really all the game is.
This becomes extremely repetitive! With your fighters opponents all feeling exactly the same and your fighters all feeling the same, every fight is just a stat war with some RNG thrown in. It is just very dull.
The voice acting is lackluster, as are the visuals. The audio is also just very average, nothing about this game is noteworthy honestly.
I really wanted this game to be more and scratch that fighter manager itch, but it's just a dull and repetitive experience that should've had more mechanics at play.
2023
Best way to describe this is an Indie 3D Punch-out! game.
Made by a singular guy, it is quite impressive. While I recommend this game it is a bit on the edge, this is for a couple reasons. Firstly, there are some fights that are honestly enraging. Even now I have beaten the game, there are some moves I do not understand how to avoid. Maybe that is a lack of skill on my part, but not knowing how to deal with a stun move that has no starting animation (Puppet), or how I learned how to avoid the Astronauts lasers from a steam forum, it can feel maddening. And within you constantly failing, you are forced back to the start of the championship, which means you must repeatedly do fights you've already figured out and can now easily beat. Basically, every 4 losses you must waste your time for a couple minutes.
Also I beat this game in 3 hours, and that's WITH failing a lot. I understand this is made by one very talented man and I applaud him, but 3 hours of content for 12 or 15 dollars is a little steep. I think adding online multiplayer would justify this price much more, but I imagine that's a highly difficult thing to do. I could likely get more play-time if I were to collect all the stars for each fight, but I think I'd rip my hair out trying to do that. Especially the "beat in 30 seconds" star that exists for every fight, I have no clue how you're supposed to beat some of these guys in just 30 seconds, it seems impossible to me.
I'm complaining a lot, mostly just cause I got mad a lot, but this is well made game with care put into it, I'd still suggest checking it out. There is a wealth of good cosmetics to unlock, and the enemies are interesting, unique, and engaging, despite me hating some of them.
If you think 12 to 15 dollars sounds fair for 3-5 hours of content, go for it. I don't regret my purchase.
Made by a singular guy, it is quite impressive. While I recommend this game it is a bit on the edge, this is for a couple reasons. Firstly, there are some fights that are honestly enraging. Even now I have beaten the game, there are some moves I do not understand how to avoid. Maybe that is a lack of skill on my part, but not knowing how to deal with a stun move that has no starting animation (Puppet), or how I learned how to avoid the Astronauts lasers from a steam forum, it can feel maddening. And within you constantly failing, you are forced back to the start of the championship, which means you must repeatedly do fights you've already figured out and can now easily beat. Basically, every 4 losses you must waste your time for a couple minutes.
Also I beat this game in 3 hours, and that's WITH failing a lot. I understand this is made by one very talented man and I applaud him, but 3 hours of content for 12 or 15 dollars is a little steep. I think adding online multiplayer would justify this price much more, but I imagine that's a highly difficult thing to do. I could likely get more play-time if I were to collect all the stars for each fight, but I think I'd rip my hair out trying to do that. Especially the "beat in 30 seconds" star that exists for every fight, I have no clue how you're supposed to beat some of these guys in just 30 seconds, it seems impossible to me.
I'm complaining a lot, mostly just cause I got mad a lot, but this is well made game with care put into it, I'd still suggest checking it out. There is a wealth of good cosmetics to unlock, and the enemies are interesting, unique, and engaging, despite me hating some of them.
If you think 12 to 15 dollars sounds fair for 3-5 hours of content, go for it. I don't regret my purchase.
2021
I played this game exclusively on airplanes during a big trip, as I am a sucker for boxing games and career modes, and this is literally my only option on the Switch.
From what I can understand, this is a mobile game repurposed for the Switch, and that is extremely evident.
This game has very solid foundations and could be a much better boxing game, but it was just under-cooked. The Ai, the boxing mechanics, the customization, the career layout, it's all just very basic and feels under-developed. Due to this matches all feel very repetitive and samey, as there is virtually no difference between each match other than stats.
The training minigames are unironically good, they're better than EA UFC training minigames. This is because they're quick and snappy, and don't waste all of your fucking time (I hate EA UFC training system).
Overall, this is your last resort for the switch, and you could probably turn off your brain and play this game for a bit, and in that sense it serves it purpose. But, if you are able to play on other systems, it is almost guaranteed they will have access to much better boxing games.
A game with promise left under-developed, sad!
From what I can understand, this is a mobile game repurposed for the Switch, and that is extremely evident.
This game has very solid foundations and could be a much better boxing game, but it was just under-cooked. The Ai, the boxing mechanics, the customization, the career layout, it's all just very basic and feels under-developed. Due to this matches all feel very repetitive and samey, as there is virtually no difference between each match other than stats.
The training minigames are unironically good, they're better than EA UFC training minigames. This is because they're quick and snappy, and don't waste all of your fucking time (I hate EA UFC training system).
Overall, this is your last resort for the switch, and you could probably turn off your brain and play this game for a bit, and in that sense it serves it purpose. But, if you are able to play on other systems, it is almost guaranteed they will have access to much better boxing games.
A game with promise left under-developed, sad!
I have yet to actually beat it, I've only played about 9 hours, and it is still in early access, but this is a very good and impressive game. The singular man that made this is very good.
The randomness in numbers and scenarios keep each run engaging and fun, though I find at a certain level the RNG will just completely fuck you over and put you in impossible fights that you have basically no chance of winning, but maybe I'm just not good enough lol.
Combat can feel weirdly sloppy, especially in the defense, but it works. The sloppiness keeps combat intense and it leaves a messiness that I feel an actual gladiator match would have. Hit's aren't always clean, damage will still slightly come through, it all has a very weighty and real feel to it.
This game is still very early in development, but what's here is VERY good and worth checking out. It is the best gladiator sim I've ever played. If you want to live out the gladiator "rising to the top" fantasy, this is your best bet at the moment.
The randomness in numbers and scenarios keep each run engaging and fun, though I find at a certain level the RNG will just completely fuck you over and put you in impossible fights that you have basically no chance of winning, but maybe I'm just not good enough lol.
Combat can feel weirdly sloppy, especially in the defense, but it works. The sloppiness keeps combat intense and it leaves a messiness that I feel an actual gladiator match would have. Hit's aren't always clean, damage will still slightly come through, it all has a very weighty and real feel to it.
This game is still very early in development, but what's here is VERY good and worth checking out. It is the best gladiator sim I've ever played. If you want to live out the gladiator "rising to the top" fantasy, this is your best bet at the moment.
Extremely addicting game.
There's so many mechanics, but none of them are overly deep. I wish the combat was better, but overall this is a really great map game.
Ideally I do the humongous world map, and then make all the countries spawn where they actually are IRL, then conquer the world as whatever country I picked. It's very good fun.
There's so many mechanics, but none of them are overly deep. I wish the combat was better, but overall this is a really great map game.
Ideally I do the humongous world map, and then make all the countries spawn where they actually are IRL, then conquer the world as whatever country I picked. It's very good fun.