Recent reviews by Malfaltto

A wonderful, high intensity third person shooter full of strategy, enough randomness to invoke a pleasant plan-vs-execution mindset, weapons and artillery galore, and a community united under the banner of democracy against tyrants and insects alike.

And I could not recommend you to stay away from it enough.

It's extremely fun to play, from winning against Automatons in ranged combat, to flaming Terminids as the horde rushes you down. The weapons feel good, punchy, with stratagems acting as artillery and support, allowing for near infinite combinations and unique play styles. However, Arrow Head seems to not quite understand what "artillery" means, as they nerf AoE strategems and turn once perfect weapons into inventory clutter, but I digress.

The direction of this game feels lost. It can't decide between letting players feel potent with strong weapons against tough foes, or feel like an underdog working with only the minimal firepower needed to take on enemies. A buff here, a nerf there, and the sandbox starts to feel confused, almost randomly as well. Compounding this with one faction dedicated to long range combat, capable of putting out explosions rapid enough to permanently ragdoll you until you die, to the other faction focusing on melee, yet having units with ranged attacks, slowing effects, and instankill bile that tears through all armor. In light of strong opponents, you'd need strong weapons, which we get, until they're basically shattered and made useless by changes meant to "balance" them. Other changes, specifically to strategems that effect an area, feel needless, and honestly a bit heinous. For example; the AoE of the 500KG bomb was nerfed, which now makes it as precise as the actual Precision Orbital Strike, completely gutting the potential of a large area coverage. The visual effects would make you think it's damage and potency is immense, but it barely scratches things. Sometimes these changes don't seem to be aimed at making a weapon better or worse, just different, as with the recent change to the Sickle, now sporting half the ammo capacity. Now, this seems significant, but the Sickle uses infinite ammo, depending all on a coolant system that the player controls by holding back firing. Why decrease the magazines when they basically never get changed out to begin with?

But of course, the biggest red flag was the recent introduction of a mandatory PSN account to play the game. New players will need it out of the gate, while current players will need to link it by June 4th. Not only does this now make people have to create an account with a notoriously unsafe corporation that has sold player data off to the highest bidder, but also has a weathered history of hacks and data breaches, making the whole idea of needing a PSN account more dangerous than "safe," a claim they themselves have made.

This game, as fun as it is, or rather, was, is now just a derelict, a husk of limitless potential, flesh rotted by greed of the parent company, and the woeful mismanaged direction it's plotted. I hope it finds itself again, and can shake off the shackles of the aforementioned problems. But until then, steer clear.

This game is by far the most interesting games I've come to know, and heres a few reasons why:

1. Mechanics. The weapon mechanics in Receiver are some of the most complex, frustrating and hair-pull-inducing I've ever seen, and thats why they're so good. This game forces you to adapt to how it must be played and gives no way around that.

2. Unfairness. One shot and you're dead. Thats it. You have 2 options: FIght or Flight. I've found myself accidently shooting at the ground and end up killing myself from MY OWN SHOT.

3. Story. While not fully explained from the get-go, it is more or less pieced together through the 11 tapes you find. The games lore must be discovered, not given away in the tutorial.

4. Lack Of Tutorial. This is what makes Receiver very interesting. The player is not given hints, directions, instructions, or anything of the like. The game gives the player a gun, a flashlight (sometimes), a clip or two and some bullets, then essentially pats the player on the back, smiles and says "Good luck."

5. Damage. When you land a shot on an enemy, there's a chance that bullet has affected them and, hopefully, crippled them in a way. A shot to the turrets gun or the drones tazer disarms them. A shot to the camera and they are blind. A shot to the battery pack and they go down. Every shot counts, so aim wisely.

If you have 5$ and some spare sanity you've been itching to lose, pick up Receiver and give it a run.