Recent reviews by Edellnn

First of all, I should say that I played this game without the DLCs and I liked it.
However, I had bought it after playing XCOM 2, and unfortunately I shelved it back then because I kept comparing it to such an amazing game. Now, after forgetting about XCOM and letting some time pass, I played it again and realized it’s actually not bad.

-There are several great systems that could be adapted into XCOM, such as:

-Manual aiming

-Building multiple bases, which makes you feel like a true global organization (not applicable for XCOM 2, since
you’re a guerrilla group in that one)

-Being able to send multiple squads on different missions at the same time

-A very nice armor equipment system

-A very active loot system — Just 5 hours in, I got a laser rifle. After using it for 3 missions, I ran out of ammo in
the 4th and was left completely exposed. And since I didn’t have the tech to produce ammo for it in later
missions either, I had to go back to my old weapons.

-Diplomacy exists, but not in the way you’d expect — If you do faction missions (they can attack each other) and
improve relations, you become allies with that faction. They give you soldiers, technologies, and the locations of
all their bases. It’s said you can also crush a faction and steal their tech, but I’ve never tried it, so I don’t know.

-The story is good — This time, the threat doesn’t come from space, but from the depths of the ocean. When the
game begins, humanity has already lost the war and only survives in bases and protected zones.

-There are multiple endings

-The game adapts to your performance — Do you keep landing headshots? Enemies have head armour. Do you
use grenades too often? Explosion-resistant enemies show up. Of course, in the
endgame all enemy types appear, but I think the order in which they unlock depends on your playstyle.

As for the negatives…

-I don’t know why, but I think the game looks ugly. I’m not saying the graphics are bad—we’re people who
enjoyed pixel-style games! But the art design and atmosphere are awful. Some creatures look like they came
out of a cartoon.

-Customizing soldiers’ appearance is very weak, and in such an ugly-looking game it would have been unrealistic
to expect visually appealing armor and cosmetics anyway.

-Music? There is none. You enter an incredibly tense combat situation and it feels like Mozart is playing in the
background. You can’t even complain, because having some music feels better than silence.

I believe games are a form of art. They combine gameplay with visuals and music, and maybe offer you a beautiful story as well. This game nails the gameplay but does everything else so badly that it almost makes me sick to look at it. And yet, damn it, I still don’t feel like quitting because it’s so fun to play.

My favourite Total War game since Total War: Medieval 2

Born too late to conquer Gaul as a Roman soldier. Born too soon to conquer the galaxy as a Space Marine. Born at the right time to play Path of Exile 2.

I’ve never written a review for a game before, but this one bored me so much that I felt obliged to do it.

Let me ask you a question: imagine you’re holding an apple. Half of it is rotten, the other half is sweet. Which side would you eat — the rotten one or the sweet one? Well, this game keeps forcing you to eat the rotten half. What do I mean by that? Let me explain:

The game has a long story, but it’s not very well written. Throughout my playtime, I had absolutely no control or influence over it — which wouldn’t be a problem if the story were good. But as I said, it’s not. On top of that, the pacing and presentation are dull and lifeless. That’s the rotten part of the apple.

The sweet part, on the other hand, is the combat. Though “sweet” might be too generous — it’s a very average combat system. Still, compared to the awful story and its presentation, it feels somewhat enjoyable.

The problem is, the game keeps trying to shove its story down your throat. You fight for 15 minutes, then sit through 45 minutes of boring storytelling.
If your story is this mediocre, you could have made the game more sandbox-oriented, reduced the narrative sections, or even shifted genres entirely.

And if your goal was to tell a better story but you didn’t have the budget for it, you could have delivered most of it through text — polished, well-written, and fluent — and only interrupted gameplay for the truly important moments.

3/10.