Recent reviews by hexadek

Having played all sorts of games, and game modes meant to emulate survival (some better than others), it turns out, that this was the one I was yearning for all along in terms of the experience it provides.

I play at the default settings, with the only tweak being the disabling of Enemy strength scaling alongside the character; and I really enjoy the experience and difficulty curve it provides (I can't stand "bullet sponges") -- and with this adjustment, I find it absolutely perfect.

Loot feels really incredibly-well balanced, combat is always fun with the settings above, the building mechanics are great with room to grow with the game, and I love that this is a PvE experience first.

The art direction is a solid execution on this style; and the extreme weather events (such as dense fog, or intense storms) are an incredibly immersive treat that delighted me more than weather in any other game.

My only real gripe is that the map is very tedious to traverse, notably due to terrain features that pose a little too much friction, but I hope this will be resolved with a new, wider variety of maps to discover.

I absolutely love this game, and I'm so glad I gave it a chance!

The reviews are true, and this game really is this good.
Schedule I offers a highly-addictive gameloop that had me stay up far too late many nights, looking to get 'just one more thing done'. I particularly appreciate how despite there being some hand-holding in terms of overall progression; you can really play this game however you want to: whether you're most interested in staying in the lab 'mixing' new creations, in roaming the streets at the ground level, or creating cash-generating automation, Overall, its an incredible Early-Access value for money; that is bound to get even better throughout its journey. Highly, highly recommended!

A super super fun experience with an immaculate vibe, and a simple, but really fun little game loop!
The execution is great, and it's got a superb edge to the entire feel of it.

One tip for the best first experience possible; check out the button maps before you start your first game. For me, it defaulted to controller even though mine wasn't on. Once you know the couple keys to use, the controls are very easy and straightforward.

This is well worth the price of admission, and even moreso if on sale!

Just great concept and great execution. A fantastic way for solo players to really feel the unique satisfaction of success that is usually found in team-based tactical games. A highly recommended purchase, even without it being on sale!

I really appreciate that there was a free demo, and it was ultimately that which led me to purchase the game.

Overall, a really charming football game with an impressive amount of settings to make it play just the way you want it. I'm not very good at Pixel Cup Soccer, but I've been enjoying it a lot as a perfect little Steam Deck game.

This game does a lot right, and offers a unique experience worth at the very least trying out!

A modest, but solid evolution from 911 Operator. The biggest improvement by far comes through the live previews of units arriving on-scene, which makes all of the encounters so much more interesting and adds a really nice new dimension to the experience. The interface for unit gear customisation is a bit cumbersome, and it can be a bit difficult to compare stats between units and gear. However the game is entirely playable, and enjoyable without really having to delve into this aspect too deeply.

A fun little game, which I may be hesitant to recommend at full-price, but can easily recommend at any sale price above 50% off.

A game like this, at this price point, simply has no business being this excellent.

I've had Model Builder on my wishlist for a very long time, and a part of me honestly can't believe the developers pulled off the promise of this game. The complexity of the activity could have easily resulted in a complete user experience disaster, but instead they managed to make it into something impressively intuitive, and easy to pick up and enjoy. (This coming from someone who has never done model/miniatures building and painting in real life.) What this results in is a wonderfully relaxing and fun experience somewhat akin to drawing in a colouring book.

I am just so impressed with the amount of detail that comes with each model; ranging from not only individual pieces to cut out, assemble, and paint, but all the way to bespoke manuals for every product in the catalogue.

The only thing I can really fault this title so far is the absolutely awful performance, but I have hope this will improve, and even if it didn't, the rest of the title is worth the low framerates.

In the short term, I can't wait for my next session, and in the longer term, I am beyond excited to see DLC and/or Workshop content developed to expand the already very generous selection of models.

Steam gives you two hours to evaluate a game before refunding; and it took me less than one hour to completely fall under this game's charm, so don't just take my word for it; pick it up and see for yourself!

I was slightly hesitant about this one as I nor particularly care for isometric games, and am well over the whole "zombies" theme, but decided to give this a shot as the price was so attractive. Before I knew it, I had played this game for 6 hours straight.

It's an absolutely incredible simulation game, held together by a stunning amount of systems that can interact with each other, and from what I've seen so far, there is a really nice flexibility in approach you can take to your experience with this game.

I love the pacing of this title as well, whereas most games of this genre seem to work to accelerate you as fast as possible towards conflict, Project Zomboid really lets you take things at your own pace, without annoyingly 'nudging' you like so many similar experiences tend to do.

On paper, this one really wasn't for me, but I sure was wrong in my initial judgement. It's an incredible experience for the price, and one that I see myself getting completely hooked on further. I highly recommend you also give it a chance!

A terrifically charming game of a very high visual quality which lends itself very well to the core 'tearing down' mechanics. I cannot overstate what an absolute joy it is to use all of the various tools in the arsenal to destroy things in Teardown.

With that said, I find the inclusion of timed objectives/missions of any kind to be a real blemish on a game which otherwise has the potential to let you approach things with so much creativity, Although I do appreciate that there is an option to extend these timers within the game settings, it would however be even more desirable to be able to turn them off altogether, as the 'time-trial' aspect of many of the missions is by FAR the worst aspect of the entire experience. On the other hand, the few missions focused around the destruction mechanics without the time pressure, are nothing short of brilliant.

Overall, great fun for all ages, but a somewhat lukewarm review as-is. This could however be converted into an absolutely glowing recommendation if the time-based mechanics were removed altogether in favour of focusing on a more laid-back mission experience that was more about optimising creativity in destruction rather than optimising speed of execution.

A true spiritual successor to the original SWAT franchise, Ready or Not delivers on a slower, tactical FPS experience, with even in Early Access, a really nice array of equipment, that make a successful plan execution with the right choice of gear, a true satisfaction.

Where Ready or Not really stands out is in the unique choices to make, between lethal and non-lethal takedowns, and I love that there is a real incentive, and risk to take around each approach. In my mind, this is the key area that Ready or Not differentiates itself from the likes of the also excellent Ground Branch, which feels more focused on the 'Military', rather than the 'Police' tactics found in Ready or Not. Beyond this super interesting notion of lethality, Ready or Not does a particularly good job in the balance of all equipment choices, and kit selection often feels like a difficult decision, in the best way possible.

If the nuanced approach to conserving lives when possible is Ready or Not's high-point, it's low-point is without a doubt the inclusion of some really disappointing, and completely unnecessary pieces of questionable content peppered throughout the experience. From a Vitamin D package labelled with the brand "Wh*re Foods, and marked as "Supports B*ner Health", to female hostages who flirt with the officers there to save them. These elements come off as being of incredibly poor taste, and really break the serious tone of an otherwise excellent immersive experience

In terms of the modes, as can be expected, Ready or Not absolutely shines in co-operative multiplayer with a group of up to 4 friends. It is absolutely thrilling to coordinate with human teammates and pull off a great room-clearing.

As for the singleplayer offerings, it is unfortunately not quite as engaging as a solo experience, where command of 4 AI teammates often feels bogged down by a somewhat clunky user experience that takes away from a lot of the precision often required to execute within all aspects of a mission.

All in all, a really excellent example of a terrific calibre Early Access title. Although the price initially feels somewhat steep at the moment, this game is showing so much promise for the future, that the cost of admission will likely be a very nice little investment.