Recent reviews by MrPandaCommando

Pure cinema. The lore and story are phenomenal. Characters feel genuine. Voice acting is on point. Gameplay is challenging and every victory feels earned.

Worst Battlefield game I've ever had the displeasure of playing. The only fun I had was in a heavily modified custom mode I made using Portal -- and even that was subpar. Even getting it on sale for $3 felt like too much for this trash.

I do have to thank this game for one thing, however: If it hadn't been such complete and utter garbage -- so much so that it nearly killed the franchise -- Battlefield 6 wouldn't be as good as it is.

EDIT 2: They announced a special cosmetics bundle to "celebrate" Veterans' Day and none of the proceeds are going to charity. Ghoulish levels of greed.

EDIT: I can't honestly recommend this game anymore. The devs promised to keep cosmetics, "grounded and realistic," yet have already completely broken that promise not even a month after launch. Skins with bright neon colors abound in the new update, and the weapon skins are even less grounded. The newest map is genuinely terrible, not just in its design, but also its lighting and color grading which make it incredibly difficult to see often times. Additionally, in order to progress the Battle Pass in any efficient manner, you are FORCED to play the new Battle Royale mode as many of the weekly challenges to progress the BP are BR ONLY. Being required to complete challenges to progress a Battle Pass is in general a very anti-player thing to implement in general as it forces players to play in ways they do not enjoy or even in ways that are detrimental to teamplay just so they can make progress. More than that, LOCKING WEAPONS BEHIND TIME-SENSITIVE BATTLE PASSES IS A DISGUSTING PRACTICE.

I was worried that they'd do a rug-pull like this after launch. They did everything I was worried they would do. I was worried about the cosmetics. I was worried about the maps. I was worried about weapons being locked behind the Battle Pass. I was worried about the Battle Royale. Literally ALL of my worries came to fruition. I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I should have held on to my skepticism. This game is not a successor to BFBC2, BF3, or BF4. It had the opportunity to be so, but they've already veered off course. I hope they course correct, because this game is already on the wrong path less than a month in. Part of me believes they intentionally waited to launch the BR and BP because they knew the content would not be received well and would tarnish the launch. Who knows? Maybe that's what actually happened.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
The game is phenomenally fun and did a good job reviving the feel I got from Battlefield 3, one of my favorite games of all time. The campaign is the very definition of mid, but it's not a surprise given how little time the studios in charge of the campaign had to make it from scratch. Multiplayer is where the game truly shines

Skill, tactics, intelligence, and understanding of mechanics are rewarded by the gameplay. Tap-fire is king, and the people complaining about bullet bloom have clearly never played an older BF game and are used to holding the trigger down and hitting every shot in other games.

Teamwork, playing your class, and playing the objective can put you at the top of the leaderboard, even if your K/D runs negative. Lone wolf play that is incentivized by games like COD is often punished by how this game flows. Work together, or die alone.

Graphics are amazing, and it runs well even on older hardware. CPU usage can run high, but there's a very simple fix for that.

Overall, I highly recommend this game. Price is a bit steep, but imo, it was worth buying, especially being able to play with friends.

EDIT: The dev team swiftly cut ties with the community manager who made inappropriate comments, and they have made a public statement condemning such behavior. The game is still censored and that won't be changing. Gameplay is fun, but there's nothing really to do after you've completed all of the levels. Personally, I find the game to be fairly pricey for what you get out of it, so I'd recommend waiting for a sale if you plan to pick it up. I'm changing this review to positive to reward the devs for their swift and professional response to the comments made by a now former member of the team. My personal opinions on the game are fairly mixed, but Steam only lets me choose positive or negative.


ORIGINAL REVIEW:
The devs censored the PC version because of a console release, and now the community manager has been caught out for mocking the victim of a political assassination. Worth noting that political assassination is a theme in the game that's portrayed as evil. Don't support these people.

The best multiplayer experiences I've ever had were in Battlefield 3. Nearly 14 years later, no other game has brought the same feeling that I had in this game. Nowadays, lobbies are small and generally unpopulated, but if you've got a good sized group of friends, it's still super fun.

The version of Punkbuster that comes with the game is outdated, but you can install an up-to-date version manually which will keep you from getting booted randomly for multiplayer matches.

Very few games have ever been deserving to be called a true 10/10 game. There are games that I have called 10/10 that had issues or flaws that I was simply willing to overlook. Expedition 33, however, is one of those games where it truly deserves the title of 10/10. I sincerely cannot think of a single thing wrong with the game. Graphics, art direction, performance, writing, storytelling, cinematics, gameplay, characters, voice acting, audio design, and soundtrack -- it's all just flawless in my experience. I encountered only a singular bug in the entire game, and it was completely my fault.

Do yourself a favor and buy this game. It is a genuine masterpiece.

HELLDIVERS 2 is one of the most enjoyable multiplayer experiences that I have had since the days of Battlefield 3