Recent reviews by Sam

Excellent turn-based strategy game with a phenomenal combat system. Lots of different equipment and squad leaders with unique perks to make every mission/operation play a bit differently. Strongly recommend.

Absolutely amazing story with creative combat mechanics. I jumped in without knowing anything about the story and it really unpacks the lore as you go. Incredible storytelling as you learn backstory and progress through the adventure.
Combat takes a bit to learn as each character has unique abilities, as do the enemies. But the game introduces them gradually as you progress in a way that feels really natural.
10/10.

Lots of PvE coop and fun. Varying degrees of difficulty. Lots of diverse weapons and stratagems to make each match play a bit differently.

Existential crisis inducer.

"I'm so cold I'm starting to warm up again."

Very realistic eye-opener of how hard it is to be a policeman in a serious situation. It truly illustrates that those who seem innocent can quickly turn out to be a lethal threat. The ballistics can be frustrating as the AI can withstand non-lethal bullets without really reacting. All in all, it's a great game but very difficult.

10/10

This game is like crack. cant get enough.

MANY UPS & DOWNS. I do lots of hunting in real life. This game gets a lot of things right, and few things infuriatingly wrong. Ultimately the few bad are so frustrating they overpower the many great aspects of the game and that is why my review is negative. Here are both the positive and negative takeaways from an avid hunter and video game player:

NEGATIVES:

#1 - Animals frighten way to easily from sounds. - In real life only seasoned old stags are so skittish and cautious. In the game all animals take off fleeing from footsteps hundreds of yards away. Vehicles driving down the road scare off all animals for a mile in game whereas in a real world scenario animals that live near roads get used to them and don't frighten from them so easily. This is extremely frustrating in game as it is large and slow to traverse. This is especially frustrating from a hunting video game because you would expect it to be easier so you can casually play, find something to shoot, and have a good time without excessive amounts of playtime.
#2 - Killshots don't kill the animals. In real life, if an animal is shot in the head or lungs it drops dead. In the game you could be tracking an animal for miles if you don't land a perfect heart shot. This is especially frustrating because the heart location seems inconsistent and sometimes too low or forward in the body. Realistically a shot behind the front shoulder would kill about any animal on the spot.
#3 - Slow and limited progression - It takes extreme amounts of XP to level up in the game. Each skill point feels very rewarding but they are so difficult to obtain it begins to require a time commitment to progress. Additionally, there are not enough skill points to obtain all perks, so you need to pick and choose carefully what you want to specialize in. In addition to the leveling, weapon progression is also very slow as most guns cost about $40k and an animal averages a profit of about $700. This means you will need to successfully hunt over 50 animals to obtain any new equipment. (not to even mention the cost of ammo, scents, calls, blinds, and other such equipment)

Things the game does well:

#1 - The environment. Its absolutely stunning. Lots of vegetation, ambient sounds, and realistic geographical terrain. Animals have need zones such as water, food, and shelter that you can use to help locate them.
#2 - Animal diversity - Every map has its own set of species that all behave differently and rather similar to how they do in real life. The game also has a spectacular tracking system which makes it easy to follow in an animals path directly. Unfortunately the animals are so skittish, every foot you track them they run 50 feet further away.
#3 - Weapon calibur/trophy system - There are lots of guns to use in the game. All of them have their ammo with an animal class rating from 1-9 (example: the .243 starting rifle ammo is rated for animal classes 2-6). This means that you will need smaller bullets/arrows for smaller game (rabbits are class 1 so you would need a .22). However, you can shoot any animal with any calibur but by using the wrong size you hurt your clean kill rating which lowers your trophy rating and pay from that animal. This allows some flexibility in the hunt, you can use one weapon for everything but you're going to have to deal with some penalties for improper ammo usage.
#4 - No tags needed - This could be considered both good or bad, but in the game you don't need a tag to hunt an animal. You can hunt anything you can find. This allows for an engaging video game experience because you don't get bored waiting for the monster buck to come around.
#5 - Multiplayer - This game is great for playing with your friends. You can have up to 8 players in a lobby all hunting together cooperatively by working the land to push game towards one-another. As animals are so very skittish it can be difficult to hunt the same herd together as one shot will scare them off. However, the bison particularly are rather slow and you can keep up with the herd allowing you and your friends to pick them off one-by-one as you go.

Ultimately it is a very fun game with beautiful landscapes and diverse wild game populations but I leave my review negative because the previously mentioned negatives are so frustrating that they can ruin the entire experience.

BUY ON SALEThe combat is nothing fantastic, and the quests can be a little repetitive. But overall the story-telling and choice making is very in-depth and allows you to tackle any situation in a number of ways. The progression system is slow but complex and very well designed. Every level up point you get has a large effect on your abilities. The game is very immersive and time consuming but the story telling is fantastic.