Recent reviews by etfp

This game is wildly incomprehensible, frustrating, silly and incredibly ugly and its one of my favorite games of 2021

This is an unconventional Rockstar game. It's story is very deliberate. Other people have complained that it's too slow and I agree. I choose to say deliberate because there's an innate sense of concentration that is displayed in every part of this game. I recommend anybody that has bounced off of this game after a couple hours to push themselves through it. It's quite a rewarding experience.

I've been a huge fan of the FPW series since the Game Boy Advance version in 2000. I've been playing this off and on via PC/PS4 for the past year and it's still impressive how deep this system is in regards to customization.

I created a fake wrestling stable called Florida Men, a cadre of drug addled gator wrestling gun addicts that can't stay out of the news.

10 out of gatdamn 10

I was one of those people that didn't bother to play WD2 because I was soured over the experience with WD1. Since I saw it on sale, I decided to finally get into it after hearing some positive feedback from people I trust. It's a major improvement.

Pros
+ The world is more realized and lived in. Chicago in the first WD looked good but seemed empty with not much to do. It did replicate some of the neighborhoods I see everyday (I live in Chicago) but overall it was sort of drab w/o any personality. SF in WD2 is more varied in its layout and pretty similar to what you'd see if you were go to the Bay area right now.

+ It's less serious. THank god. The protag from the first WD was a grumbling emo murderer that spied on his family. It was humorless and nothing stood out that differenciated Aiden Pierce from any other gruff voiced dude with a gun and an open world to explore. This one seems more introspective and leans into the neon "edgy" hacker culture that is portrayed in TV and movies. It's not accurate but it's certainly more fun. The story isn't just a standard revenge tale. Under the silly veneer and the sophomoric humor lies a very mature story that seems ripped from the headlines. Should we be able to enjoy the convenience of tech w/o sacrificing our privacy? How far is too far when the authorities use data to circumvent the law? It's pretty compelling without submerging the player in a bunch of morality tales. It has a slight problem trying to balance the two extremes of silly and serious but overall I still enjoyed it.

+ I appreciate the devs for portraying a person of color as not a list of stereotypes but a fully realized character with a fleshed out story arc. I appreciate that progression in a AAA game. I'm 39 and I see how far this sort of characterization has come. Also shoutout to the voice acting in this game.

Cons

- The gameplay is fun but after you unlock some specific powers, you feel underwhelmed by the lack of a challenge. Once you unlock the gang attack or police arrest abilities, you can use that multiple times to get yourself out of sticky situations, no matter what. Although it's pretty humorous to watch a bunch of Mexican gang members simply gain access to an FBI HQ to kill a target, it highlights definitely lack of balance between empowering the player and flooding the player with enemy AIs with razor sharp aim.

- The UI is confusing and incoherent. Why can't I pause while opening my phone? Why does it take 3-4 steps to get to the options screen? The only way to pause on the fly is by going to the map screen? When I open my phone, I lose several key controls so I'll have to pull over rather than choose a Scout mappoint while I'm driving. It's dizzying and it'll throw you off when you first start playing.

- There are some gameplay mechanics that are either too sloppy or not dialed down. The cover mechanics fights you every step of the way if you're in an area with a lot of things to hide behind. IN a crucial moment, you'll back up against a wall, exposing you to gunfire instead of going away from the gunfire. The police also suffer from the annoying rubber banding that open world game devs like to do. So if you're blocks away from your would be captor, you'd think you're home free until their car, defiant of any sort of physics, is able to run you down even though they've crashed into several cars. This is while I'm driving a sports car btw.

Overall I would recommend it. I havent jumped on the online portion but once I'm done with the SP, I'll give it a shot.

There are dozens of ways to take down enemies and complete objectives. The game is gorgeous and polished but I wish there was more to do. The game is open world but it seems to only be populated by enemies and sheep. The story is even more confusing than I'm used to out of Kojima and the game isn't even completed. I eventually uninstalled because I need more space on one of my SSDs.

Pros
- The game is beautiful to look at.
- Incredibly smooth controls.
- Fun gameplay and expanded mission objectives
- Great weapon customization options.

Cons
- The game isn't finished. There's literally a whole chapter that is missing.
- Most of the supporting characters are bland and almost caricatures of who they were in previous MG/MGS games.
- No variety in enemies
- The multi is very bleh.
- The storyline almost seems like it has no direction. Multiple times I gave up trying to catch up and instead just played missions and Fulton'd some sheep

It hurts to say that I don't recommend this game because deep down I really think people should play the game for the gameplay/controls alone.

SOME GENERAL SPOILERS:

Purchased and re-playing this on PC after originally owning it for PC.

As somebody that played the original Wolfenstein as a kid in the 90s, I originally recoiled at this re-imagining of the series considering it's past disappointments. The 2009 game had some great ideas but it was overall bland and couldn't set itself apart from every other shooter that came out that year. A half baked game is what I come to expect from Wolfenstein by the time The New Order arrived. I expected another bland FPS with some mystical occult elements that essentially clashed with your initial gameplay.

I'm so glad I was proven wrong.


Pros
- Fully realized world building.
- Fleshed out characters. BJ isn't just some square jawed Nazi killer. He has his own motivations beyond stabbing Jerrys in the throat.
- Sophisticated storytelling. It didn't try to be sophomoric or self-referential. It didn't insult the players intelligence.
- Wonderful level and character design.
- Fun action balanced out by some great stealth elements that don't get too old.
- NAZI PRISON ESCAPE. SPACE NAZI BASE. ROBOT DOGS

Cons
- The controls feel loose in some ways. It takes a bit to get used to.
- The cover system [is it a cover system?] doesn't really work that well.
- With how gorgeous the game looks, I couldn't help but notice that there could have been some improvement on the graphical options front.

NOTE: I played about 35 hrs on Steam and about 10-15 hours on Xbox One. I haven't finished the game but I've played quite a bit to recognize some pros and cons of this title.

PROS
+ The atmosphere is what Fallout does best. It has eclipsed the previous games by packing in as much information about the world as possible.
+ The weapon and settlement crafting system will keep you occupied for hours.
+ Huge world with a lot to discover (most of the time accidentally).

CONS
- The graphics can get downright embarrassing at times. Some of the character and lipsync animations are right at home with previous gen Fallout games. The overall environments are gorgeous but sometimes the textures will take you out of the game.
- The UI and in game menus can get frustrating. There's no clear organization when a large part of the game involves crafting and creating tools, armor and settlement items.
- The RPG elements have been watered down from previous games. If you're one of those types that enjoys plunking points into charisma to talk your way out of shootouts, you're going to be disappointed. Another thing that is disappointing is the lack of a clear understanding of what your character is going to say when you click on one of those vague dialogue options that only make 2-3 words rather than a whole sentence.

CONCLUSION
I really enjoy playing Fallout 4. If you've never played a Fallout title and you're not a big RPG person, play Fallout 4.

If you're a Fallout fan looking for a game more like Fallout 3 or New Vegas, play more of those games or check out The Witcher 3 or something similar.

If you're looking for an open world FPS with some light RPG elements and a very open ended settlement building system, go ahead and play Fallout 4.

You'll still be able to experience the same sort of atmosphere, humor and gunplay as previous games. You just have to adjust your expectations (not lower them) before you break out of that vault.

I've played every Grand Theft Auto since the PSX releases. I even had the GBC version at one point. GTA5 is the most fully realized entry to date. The scope of the game, although not as big as GTA San Andreas, still contains a lot of depth and detail that I didn't realize was lacking in previous entries. Both the single player and online component includes a lot of different activities to get into and there's never a shortage of mayhem to engage in considering the creator mode's inclusion. Highly recommend.

Update 11/23: I'm hearing of a few people getting permabanned for things beyond players control. This is NOT good, Rockstar.