Recent reviews by Miccael

Ride a Bronto! Feel like a God!

Good fun building, flying and attacking with self designed space ships. Added to that there is a plot which doesn't restrict gameplay, but provides broad goals which can be achieved in different ways. there are missions to complete giving resources and equipment along the way, and they are repeatable so if farming is your thing then you have plenty to go at. Progression is good. You can build space stations and factories, fleets of craft which can be staffed in various ways to suit different functions. Combining combat, exploration, design and building, resource gathering and strategy in roughly equal measure. There is depth and replayability to the game. Your first complete playthrough will probably be quite long as you get to know the ins and outs of craft design, station building and resource utilisation. I have 1300 hours in the game. That says something.

I play a lot of sim and strategy games. Typically I will spend weeks or months on a play through. This game isn't really like that. It is a strategy and resource management game with a bit of sim, in a card game. It is easy to drop in and out of, and a lot of fun. Good for those occasions where you don't want to get too involved in anything, but you have the strategy itch.

Honestly, I cannot recommend this game enough. While I did receive it for free, it was a gift from a long time STEAM friend who already had the game and received a second copy as part of a bundle. I am so happy and grateful that he thought of me when deciding who he should gift the game forwards to. So, the game itself...
It's just so damn satisfying. A beautiful world with varied biomes. The interfaces and build mechanics are a dream to work with. Even down to the encouraging and satisfying shade of blue that construction ghosts are rendered in. Attention to detail throughout the game is second to none. The pipelines are not just pipelines, they have design features which tell you what is flowing and in what direction built in to the pipeline, without making it look odd or clunky. It just looks like it's supposed to be there. It took me few tries to really get into the game, but now I am absolutely hooked. I'm still on my first determined play through, having made a couple of starts and realised pretty quickly how I should have done some things differently. It looks like I will reach end game this time, but already I can see that I might like to do it all again, but with a bit more thought going into the design of my 'Factory'. I put that in inverted commas because it's more of an industrial complex. To say that the game is still in early access, you wouldn't know it from playing it. There are a couple of placeholder features. I can't imagine what they are going to end up as, since the game is already really well rounded and bug free, with a lot of very nice QOL features that just keep me smiling to myself as I play. (Mrs thinks I may have lost the plot...). It's been a long time since I got this hooked on a game, and certainly I don't remember having such a bug free experience at a time when every other developer seems to view the gaming community as unpaid beta testers.
To sum up, if you like building, exploring, open world, a bit of combat but not too much, then do yourself a favour and treat yourself to this gem of a game.

This is a straightforward city builder. Only 2 resources required for building, but maybe 6 or 7 supply chains with various resources required to level up citizens in a very similar way to the Anno series. Each level unlocks research which leads to supply chains for the next level. On top of that there is the added tweak of traffic management. It can be somewhat challenging and some thought is required to get logistics in place to handle the traffic that will be needed to get to the highest level citizens. A fun game, relaxing, easy to dip in and out of .

Total war Rome. If you don't know about this absolute classic then I don't really know what to say to you. I nurture my armies. I take them to battle. I lament the loss. And I revel in the glory of victory.

A pretty solid addition to the Anno stable. Adding more variation with the different biomes gives deeper gameplay than previous Anno titles, while keeping the game mechanics that we have come to enjoy with all the Anno games.

What can I say? Like construction games? This is for you. There is an optional resource management (well, cash management) mode. There is some proper science with regard to orbital mechanics. NASA even recommend an educational version of this game to schools. There are challenges and a progression in career mode that gives some motivation to play. But mostly it's the explosions. Especially the explosions from which you learn something, and from which your Kerbals emerge unscathed. Also, do it for Valentina. She's vivacious, audacious, and completely mental.

10/10 Would name my gerbil Valentina.

Not much that I can add to the other reviews. I'll mention a few things which are based entirely on my objective view. There's a feel to the game which is satisfying. The idea of a soviet republic which only uses currency to trade with foreign powers, while maintaining a currency free internal economy neatly makes sense of the fact that you control all production and consumption within the nation and avoids fussy things like paying your workers or charging them rent. The city building has a good amount of depth without getting silly about satisfaction levels, you need some feel good buildings and a some basic supplies for the drones, not too many, not too few. There is good variation with supply chains, again, not too complex and not too simple. The transport options are nicely suited to the task, with road and rail networks available. Planning connections with supply chains both industrial and domestic, and making sure that citizens have access to ameneties is challenging and rewarding, with any number of possibilities available for transport. The challenge to plan the perfect, most efficient, and visually pleasing industry and residential layouts is addictive. You get a good few hours into a map and suddenly realise that there was a better way that you could have done it. Oh the dilemma, to restart or adapt the current game?
On top of that the modding community seems to be gathering momentum with some great additions to the game available for free in the steam workshop, increasing playability no end.
So with over 400 hours in the game I give Workers and Resources a solid thumbs up

11/10 Would completely move an industrial area to the other side of the map so that I don't have deal in shoddy American Dollars again.

This is my first review. I was motivated to do so in reaction to a lot of negative reviews of this game. There is much made about the lack of direction to the gameplay. It's an open world where many things are available from very early on. There isn't any over arching story, or much reason to achieve in the game.
While this is the case, I would suggest that we remember that this is an early access title. I am giving it the thumbs up because what there is in the game is enjoyable.
I like the landscape, the animations are excellent for the most part. (The bandits animations could be better, but they are still passable). People are complaining that the bandits dodge around too much. Those people would prefer to shoot fish in a barrel perhaps?
The building system is simple to use, with a good amount of variation. Materials are not too hard to get, but at the same time, if you want to build something big you will need to grind a little for them.
The animals in the game look great, and the flee mechanic seems to work well, although the ai of animals is pretty bad, but then, sheep are not actually that smart in real life are they?
All in all I would say that the game has a ton of potential. If the devs can introduce quests and other reasons to progress in the game, along with some interesting npc locations then this game could make one of the prettiest and most engrossing open worlders on the market.