Recent reviews by DariusSlayer

As much as I want to enjoy the game, having to deal with frame stuttering and meshes popping in/out during combat or story cut scenes ruins the experience. It's like I'm playing through a "Alpha" build of the game with all these optimization issues.

Out of all the side-scrollers that I had played throughout my entire life, this is by far one of the best. Controls are simple, story is easy to understand and engaging, and the variety of powers/abilities are also simple in those regards as well. I love the variety of levels presented, and the BGM for each one definitely brings it all to life.

The only dislike that I have is that I feel like the two characters that you get in the game later on, should have been power-ups :/
They add almost nothing to the story - save for having their own background story to briefly tell and that's it. Now, they are fun to use but it can be a hassle to keep switching between them either at the bonfires or when you obtain a certain item to switch on the fly.

Overall... 9/10

Before I begin with the positives, I will go into the one big negative feedback that I have with this game and that is the lack of basic text or voice communication. Honestly, devs, go into the UE Marketplace for a voice or text communication package and then work that into your game. It won't take you more than a week to get everything in place.

Ok, now that we got THAT out of the way... let's move onto the positives! First, I like how focused the game is on the arcade feel and aspect of being a Marine in the Aliens franchise. Kinda like how it was in the good ol' days of going to the arcade at the mall and playing the 2 player Aliens game for hours on end (and so many quarters lost too lol). I get that same feeling here, in Alien: Fireteam Elite. As mentioned before with the communication problem, if you can get some friends on via Discord, you'll have a great time. Even with some randoms is can be fun - but you're gambling with your time being wasted as you don't know if they are going AFK in the middle of a mission (which has happened twice to me thus far).

The controls could use some tweaking but nothing to cry about. In fact, every other issue I have with the game is so minor that I had easily forgotten about them. The game is so simple to pick up and play, as any casual or fan of the franchise would enjoy. And folks, there's a LOT of Alien lore being put into this game. Take your time to read up on the notes and dialog, and you'll start to understand more of the universe that you're in quickly enough.

Now, I did beat the game within 6 or so hours, but with the Challenge Cards (CC) and higher difficulty unlocked, I'm sure to spend more time. The CC's can be used right off the bat, so go ham with them to get your levels up quickly and those weapons and perks unlocked.

Speaking of which, I've only played as the Technician and Demolisher, so my gameplay experience is limited to just those two. Even so, I had a blast playing as both and see myself experimenting with the other classes sooner or later.

All in all, I give this game a solid 8/10. And again, the main issue I've had was the lack of communication provided by the devs.

Though I had only put 3 hours into this game, it was 3 hours well spent enjoying what content was available for an Early Access title. The controls are smooth, same with the button responses and flow of combat. The art style is amazing and really does help to draw (haha pun) you in along with the incredible story being told. SFX and BGM is top notch, in my book - so good job with that, devs. The thing that kinda irked me was that there weren't any indications on the map screen of areas that weren't developed yet, and that I couldn't pin icons on the map as a way to make notes for myself of WHAT and exactly WHERE items are in each area.

I know this review is short and all but will be updated once more content is made and I have time to delve into it. If I were to give it a score, it'd be 8/10.

Mind you, I'm playing on the EU servers, so my opinion about the active player count or what have you will differ from those playing in the NA server. That being said, there is an active player base but I wouldn't put it up against some other MMO out there like FF14 or ESO. It's enough to where you can see other players in both the main hub and sometimes in the field.

So far, I'm been playing with a keyboard and mouse and feel like I should have been using a controller - as I had when I was playing this back on the PS4. Felt more comfortable pulling off moves and combos but that's just personal preference. The key input response has been great and when it isn't is whenever I'm lagging (again, I'm in the US playing in the EU server - because I'm smart like that).

The story... well, it's there and I just don't care for it because there isn't enough emphases or effort from the devs to drive home the point that whatever is going on is important (see how the devs work that greatly in FF14). The graphics aren't too jarring and kinda pleasing to the eye - especially with the character maker/customization. Although, I wish that the devs had put in more time to create more varying skins/costumes that belong to the world than something pulled out of our own (ie modern day dress, business suit attire, etc).

The music is alright but nothing memorable. Turn on something else like Reel Big Fish or Rob Zombie to pass the time of grinding. Speaking of which, the grind in this game isn't all that bad. It is mainly your typical go here and kill XYZ for X amount of times. Nothing worth taking any mental notes or having to write down.

All in all, it's a decent MMO RPG that does have potential to be better, and the monetization practice isn't all that bad either with the exception of obtaining new classes. I honestly wish they would lower the cost of those by half, mainly because it's so freaking easy to master them in such a short amount of time.

You can tell that a lot of time and labor has been put into making the atmosphere, sound design, level design, and monster/robot creation, however, the multiplayer aspect is the polar opposite. As you've seen in other reviews, that's one of the biggest issues and, honestly, I feel as though that is where the devs should be putting more time into. While I'm not derping around in MP, the world feels "too empty" for a lack of better words. I don't feel immersed to where I should care about what my character is doing or how I act in this world.

I'll update this review once I put in more time but as of right now, it's not worth the full price.

UPDATE: 7/4/2020

After putting in a lot more time, I feel as though my thoughts about the multiplayer aspect of the game shouldn't have been that big of a deal nor a game changer. The game is still a lot of fun even when you barely have anyone come in. Yes, there are still a few bugs and AI rework that could be done but overall that doesn't take away from the experience of you going from being hunted to being the hunter. I've gotten to a point in the game where I'm actively hunting down Rivals and groups of robots just for their ammo stacks and supplies.

So yea, fun game with lots of places to explore and challenges to be met with bullets and explosions. I'd say give this game a chance and find someone or a group to play with. The Alpine DLC is worth the cash from my experience, as well.

Well, let's see... So far, I've put into about 1265 hours into this game, so I think it's safe to say that I'd recommend it - even for an Early Access game.

The developers have been amazing when it comes to listening to constructive feedback, managing an awesome Discord community, balancing the game (to the best of their abilities), and bringing forth the best kind of co-op shooter I've ever experienced.

Definitely a good example of an Early Access game, where it is in a state of development that shows potential but still needs a lot of work from both the developers and the community providing (constructive) feedback.

Pros:
> Graphically, looks great and one of the most impressive for an EA game.
> Learning curve isn't steep at all, as it'll take just the tutorial and a couple of matches to make you go "Oh, ok. So this is how the game works."
> Doesn't take long (more than 3 minutes) for a match to start. Just my experience, so this can differ.
> Game shows potential for growth

Cons:
> No key binding
> No controller support (yet!)
> No push to talk for voice chat. Often times, I find myself muting the person I'm with due to their background noise.
> The stun lock is real when two or more players are hitting you. I usually give up on trying to get away when a mage gets involved.
> Mages are OP. One hit from them and you're stun locked for 2~3 seconds, which is enough time for their friends to gank you. Also, their basic shots have homing and quite the range to them.
> Balacing issues amoung the Blades, but that's to be expected in an EA game and hopefully to be fixed.

Other than that, it's still a fun game and highly recommend if you got a friend to play with.

Having already put in some time for this game, I can honestly say that I'm satisfied with my purchase. Granted, I did get the game during the latest sale but (IMO) it's still worth the $10.

As many other reviewers have pointed out with the graphics, music, and gameplay, there's nothing to give high praise - save for this being a decent dungeon crawler. And if you have that dc itch that needs scratching, then I do recommend Dungeons & Darkness. Sure, there are 4 dungeons but they do become more expansive and decked out with more traps and monsters. There's a wide variety of weapons and armor to choose from, however, I found that late in the game I was using a sword and shield, a bow, and some magic, thus making me a "jack of all trades" so to speak.

Having a beast of a PC machine, I would normally set the settings on the highest there is, and for LiF it would be Ultra (or Custom when I wanted to push everything to the limit). However, within the span of 10 minutes the game had crashed 4 times. The first time was when I tried to create my own world, the other 3 occured soon after joining a couple random worlds. I soon found out that in order to "fix" this problem, I would have to log into a world on a very low setting and then switch it to whatever setting I wanted afterwards - although I would need to switch it back down when entering a town/village.

So this begs the question, why hasn't this been fixed yet? It's been out for nearly 2 years and this is still a problem (I had googled this issue and saw that this has and still is happening to others).

Granted, the game does look amazing and would love to get into it but the crashes are an immediate no go for me.