I'm writing this on the eve of the launch of the second round of battle passes for this game - so I suppose we can call this the 'launch window' review for Helldivers 2. I'll probably log another one later this year with more thoughts on it, and weigh in on its post release content.

Anyway; this thing is incredible. One of the most manically fun shooters in years, and a live-service format that would actually make you believe that such a structure could be the future of games.

The chaotic, orbital striking, friendly-firing nature of Helldivers 2's gameplay is super addictive. It certainly seems as though there is a Left 4 Dead style 'director' working behind the curtain of the game - as each round takes familiar elements and makes them feel totally unique. No two games are the same. Each victory feels hard fought, each defeat is... well, usually hilarious. The options at your disposal, even now before they roll out more, are all really exciting. You can play a number of different ways, and despite some players griping about metas, there is plenty of valid approaches and a bundle of weapons to experiment with.

The tug-of-war world map that updates daily is such a clever implementation of the live service format; it really makes the game feel reactive and gives the community a sense of cohesion. People despair at lost territory, and celebrate when updates like fuckin' MECH WALKERS! are earned by liberating planets in the game.

On top of all that; it's a wonderful AAA-type presentation for a $40USD game. Fire, water, fog, smoke, spark effects are beautifully rendered and create a cinematic vibe, while the music is quite underrated amidst all the praise the game is getting.

The only thing holding it back right now is the server issues. It was understandable at launch; this game took even the devs by surprise. But even after things were 'fixed,' issues have persisted - especially around events like the launching of mechs, as players rabidly jump online at once to test things out. Again; its a game that has way over-achieved, and they're doing their best to deal with it. But I can't say that there hasn't been a decent share of frustration.

Painfully addictive rogue-like deck builder. Boils the 'number go up' serotonin of such games down to its purest form; every run is different. They're all thrilling or heartbreaking in their own unique ways. Even after 20 hours (but just two victories lol) I have seen great runs go down in flames at the drop of a hat, and it just makes me want to start the whole thing up again. I will be playing this for a long time to come; keeping that Steam Deck on me like a comfort blanket.

Truly feels like a story you weave your own way through, with more variables than almost any of its peers. I've been frustrated with many games of this ilk in the past because the range of options ends up being relatively limited the more you play.

I really felt like I went my own way through this, met (and killed!) a bevy of weird and wonderful characters - finally appreciating the splendor of a Bethesda RPG... that wasn't even made by Bethesda.

A very clever premise, but much like the mobile ads that inspire it - this isn't as actually fun as you'd hope.

One of the most stunningly beautiful 2D games ever. Every frame of animation, every background has a creepy aura, befitting a franchise simply called 'BLASPHEMOUS.' It suits the Metroidvania trappings because that genre emphasizes exploration and adventure, and in this game every new room treats you to a new, haunting visual or a shitty little enemy for you to gut.

My only gripe, and the reason I'm marking this PLAYED rather than COMPLETED is that the difficulty spike at the final hurdle is perhaps the most insane I have ever seen in a game. Important distinction: not the most difficult game -- the biggest difficulty spike.

I would consider this game tougher than average for the most part. Nothing especially notable, a few sections that took some patience, but nothing crazy. The final level before the final boss, however, was insane. And when I conquered that, after like three days, I just could not crack that last boss. I agonized over it and told myself I wouldn't possibly leave a game 98% complete but this defeated me. I started reading guides on the best possible build to take him on, I started grinding out some items from side quests, doing some menial collection quests to raise my health -- things I never usually bother with. Then, as I was wandering around the map for collectibles, I realised I had stopped having fun. And in the game's modest 15 hour run time, I was always having fun. Even on the previous bosses that challenged me, I had never stopped having fun. But I really had no interest in retreading the entire map to bump my number of healing items, for a boss that still felt almost impossible, so I gave up. It's a bummer, and kind of a sour note to end on, but I'd rather do that then keep padding my play time in an attempt to cheese the boss -- which would feel similarly unfulfilling.

City architects are the real heroes!!!

I started with such grand visions of a beautiful, symmetrical city grid, but it quickly spiralled into chaos as I scrambled for resources. Even this city builder is too taxing for my simple brain.

Anyway, this was really cute and satisfying, and even though they are all in different genres, the Steam World brand continues to be tied together by addictive gameplay loops. Things build up so gradually that you don't even notice just how much plate spinning you're actually doing.

I didn't end up finishing my first town as I felt like I had reached my limit of looking at meters fill up (or empty, usually) but I had a fun time nonetheless.

"... at least I'll die a pain in the ass."

This is my third time completing Max Payne 3, and it is the time I have finally found myself realising it's the best in the series and one of the best third person shooters of its era.

I liked it at launch, but found it flawed and I had some misgivings about the story, lumbering Old Max animations, and the obvious stylistic changes from the original Remedy games.

But in 2024, after playing the series in quick succession, it all clicked for me. It is unfortunate that we don't see Remedy round off their story, but Rockstar did an admirable job here. The chromatic aberration visuals are EXTREMELY 2012, but nonetheless I think they work with the story. I probably would have been in the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' camp on the comic book panels if it was my decision, but as it stands I'm fairly neutral on the change up of styles. The first two are good, this is good in its own way.

While the story is very maudling, even for Max, this time around I found it much more compelling than the other games, and a suitable hitting of rock bottom for the character to dig himself out of. Not to mention it is probably the best performance the late great James McCaffrey gave us as Payne.

As for the gameplay; it is still phenomenal. The diving, the physics, the weapons, the heavy feel of everything, the destruction, the blood, the mayhem. There is nothing but straight forward shooting in this eight hour campaign, but it feels good enough that you won't care. You'll just crank up the excellent HEALTH soundtrack and keep wasting fools.

There's a bevy of options too. The levels are very repeatable with different difficulty modes, free aim on or off, score challenges etc.

Steam Deck notes: excellent way to play the game mostly, but the multiplayer doesn't work - so you won't be able to get demolished by the six MP3 maniacs still playing in the 2020s.

I love so much about this game, and I'll write about why in more detail once I finish it BUT I am shelving for now because I've been soft locked three times lol.

Twice I accidentally glitched out of a zone/through a door I wasn't supposed to open yet and was locked out of progress, and once I just couldn't end a conversation with an NPC. I needed to close and reopen the game all three times, and make up between five and ten minutes progress. I'll revisit this in a few months when hopefully it has been patched up.

Honestly, it warmed my heart more than I expected to be back with these characters. I love the vibe of this game (or I guess... Franchise?) so much, and it really works well with the new art style.

I found the gameplay to be tremendous fun, and would be fascinated to see it fleshed out into a full sequel, but also loved the brevity of this as a lil one hour jaunt.

Charming as absolute heck, crammed with memorable moments, and 'aha!' gameplay mechanics.

I'm definitely in the camp that wishes a few of said mechanics were expanded upon more. The rapid fire nature of the games changing abilities and level structures keeps it super breezy but also can feel skin-deep at some points. You can give Mario a grappling hook in this game, and I don't think they made a big enough deal out of it.

While still in need of many, many tweaks and balances - this is the most exciting new online shooter I've played in years. The environmental destruction is visually thrilling but also gives each match a sense of dynamism and unpredictability. The different strategic options mean matches rarely feel the same, despite the limited number of maps.

The different weapons and classes are in desperate need of some fine-tuning and balancing, and the cosmetic options when you don't want to spend money are extremely limited - but the core game here is excellent.

A satisfying Souls-like, with a cool setting and a more accessible but still deep combat system.

I'm a little over half-way through, but I'm not quite feeling the draw to keep going - so I'm shelving for now. But I'll keep it installed on the Xbox should I get the itch in the future.

My main gripe is the world building and characters, which are the areas this game feels the most like 'we have From Soft at home.'

Fired this back up after the Furiosa trailer got me back in the Mad Max Mood™.

It remains a very cool but less-than-the-sum-of-its-parts open world game. The look and overall vibe of the Mad Max world is awesome, and will scratch that itch. The hand to hand combat is meaty, and satisfying - with the vehicles combat also delivering.

But this is the most 2015 open world ass open world game ever, and the repetition and boredom starts to set in basically instantly once you're let loose on the map. You're instantly grinding and clearing things off a list to make any progress and it just takes the fun out of the very solid mechanics.

But still; it's cool. And I wish we had more ambitious licenced games like this.

This current season is a blast - not as many huge, game changing things as recent years, but a fun map, set of quests, and rewards.

The new modes, or I guess games, are very much a work in progress. The fake Rock Band and the non-football Rocket League feel very bare bones, and Lego seems... Cool but just another one of those.

Battle Royale remains one of the best way to have fun with your pals.

A super cool Battlefield-like. Big maps, vehicles, 100s of players, destructible environments, and tonnes and tonnes of player choice.

Even accepting that the visuals are de-emphasized in favour of performance, I do really dislike the way the game looks. I respect their dedication to spectacle and scale though.

Steam Deck notes: this game is BEGGING to be played with a keyboard and mouse, so I wouldn't recommend it on a Deck or even on a standard desktop with a controller. There are some good community layouts on Steam but it's a dense game with a lot of commands. Performance wise however, it was pretty dang good on the Deck. Frame rate got a little choppy when literal 100s of players descended on one objective point, but only in rare cases.