Recent reviews by therandomuser

Which side do you want to be on commander? Standing to the side, watching the tactical turn based strategy genre fall by the wayside? Or did you want to be up front, helping keep the genre alive one promising game at a time?

I know which side I'm picking.

This is Warside, another entry into the genre of Nintendo Wars-like games hot on the heels of Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp's release two years ago. Still waiting on that totally new Advance Wars game Intelligent Systems! Or should it be WayForward now?

TL;DR of my review: WORTH IT! This is another exciting entry into the Wars-likes that differentiates itself over the others and inches closer to prime Advance Wars goodness.

Before I start, a quick thing...

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Full disclosure: I am an early bird Collector's Edition Kickstarter backer and have played some of the earliest alpha builds released to backers. I only peeked the first couple releases they did before life got to me causing it to fall off my radar so I haven't really looked into the game up until release day beyond reading the consistent backer update emails as they came in.

Okay, now that whole disclaimer is out of the way, back to the main review.

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Why should you care about my opinion now? Well long ago in the before times, I posted a review that seemed to do well enough for TINY METAL: FULL METAL RUMBLE:

https://v1.steam.hlxgame.cc/id/truser/recommended/1102100/

I'm back to say that Warside is another step closer to that ideal new Wars game I'm itching to see from Ninty/IntSys/WayForward themselves if they ever decide to give Wars another day out of the basement. Re-Boot Camp really did continue the Wars launch unluckiness didn't it? Poor AW1+2:RBC, let's hope next time works out. On the surface, Warside has a lot going for it. Charming pixel art that doesn't deviate to fantasy like Wargroove, writing just camp enough befitting a game that is another love letter to the Wars series, and naval units(!!!) which already puts it ahead of TM:FMR for me. LAVABIRD have stepped up to the challenge and thrown their hat into the ring. Where does that leave us then?

Well, it leaves us with a game that has a solid core and a lot of potential. Andy from LAVABIRD has been quite transparent that this Steam launch was not ideal, and that the game still has some ways to go before development is considered capped for the console version launch. Yes, there were some pretty bad day 1 bugs and some ongoing ones being tracked that other reviews have mentioned. So far though, the biggest day 1 bug (broken D2D income) was quickly resolved and communication has been abundant about the current state of the game. This mirrors what I saw as a backer with the build updates, so I think it's worth keeping an eye out if you're still on the fence after reading this review. This game will certainly not be the same game it is currently at the time of writing this review compared to when you may be reading this in the future.

Warside stays fairly close to the Wars formula overall but deviates in a few key areas. Firstly, capture mechanics are a lot faster paced and cities/production facilities are no longer occupiable defensive terrain for units (you can traverse them so long as it's friendly). Given proper coordination, you can cap a city in one turn. Capturing does not guarantee holding though, as a newly capped cities are vulnerable to counter-capture or damage from the enemy. This usually ends up being a tug of war of city capture until one side is able to get the upper hand on the broader battle around it. Secondly, the transport system is effectively the Advance Wars: Days of Ruin carrier/seaplane gameplay supercharged; that is to say a boarded unit can leave the transport so long as the unit has not yet moved in the turn overall (i.e. did not board the same turn). This provide even more mobility and tactical options as it allows for diving in with loaded transports or partial unloads. Lastly, there are faction specific units that spice up gameplay. So far, the two I've been able to use seem to indicate they are about being able to influence the location of battle so I expect the other faction units that I've yet to encounter to do similar.

Between those major differences and the overall unit pricing structure, the flow of battle and production is truly its own. Production facilities can make up to 3 units in a turn depending on building health, while repairs have to be completed at the very same facilities and units are fully healed when repaired. A transport arriving just in time can easily turn the tide of battle offensively and defensively. Laying siege to a city is as viable an option to deny the enemy income as harassing with a single infantry. There are no action confirmations so everything moves quicker. Unit damage does not have the +/- 5% randomizer, so you know exactly how much damage to expect when attacking especially when not at full health.

That sounds amazing Random, but why all the other negative reviews? Like I mentioned earlier, this is not the game that the other platforms will see on their launch. I don't necessarily disagree with the other reviews that have said that this should have been marked as Early Access or what have you, but I also do think the missions I've played so far feel more complete than other EA titles I've played. LAVABIRD made the call not to launch on Steam as EA, so they now have to live with the consequences of that expectation. CO powers are missing, co-op won't be available until closer to the console releases, and multiplayer is currently not as fleshed out as some people were expecting.

That said, I still recommend this game as doing otherwise would be an injustice to it. Nothing feels catastrophically missing like it did when I tried the original TINY METAL. The AI on normal difficulty feels fair enough and will punish careless mistakes. LAVABIRD have been very communicative and so far have followed through with the work they have identified. The game can only get better, and I think it already has made its own mark as the latest entry in Wars-like games.

Give it a shot, and I'll see you on the flip side.

War... War never changes...

Well whoever said that lied as it can definitely change. This is TINY METAL: FULL METAL RUMBLE, the Nintendo Wars-like that I've been waiting for since the 10th anniversary of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin's release.

TL;DR of my review: YES GET IT! This is the closest thing to Advance Wars we'll get until Intelligent Systems decides to hold off the Framblam waifubait for just one second.

Now, onto the main review. Why this? Why not play Wargroove or the few other Wars-likes that are out there? Simply put, TM:FMR takes a lot of what's good about Wars and makes it its own by building on top of it. It also doesn't try to change up the style from pseudo-realistic to fantasy. Don't think this is just a recreation or a tribute, though; AREA 35 have made changes and improvements that are all their own. Focus Fire, reworked/combined units, new units in general, and a whole host of other things makes this easy to drop into as a Wars veteran but different enough that you know it's not.

But Random, isn't FMR a sequel? Should I go play the first game? Honestly, I didn't even finish the first game. I don't remember what mission I got to in the campaign, but the first game just had too many creature comforts missing and straight up rough edges that I ended up dropping it. I may go back into it just to learn what happened, but as far as I can tell the original's storyline isn't necessary to understand FMR's storyline. If the original TINY METAL was a preview for what a new turn based strategy could be, then FULL METAL RUMBLE is that game realized. The amount of fine detailing they have done in FMR over the original really makes it feel whole. I could tell even when I was playing their PAX East and E3 demo builds that FMR was already going to scratch that TBS itch for me in ways that the original TM did not.

Mechanically, FMR is a more competent game than the original. Unit merging has been implemented, finally making the battlefield not a junkyard full of mostly destroyed units I've pulled back that are queuing to get repaired. Speaking of that, unit supplies are in so supply line management is now a key part of your strategy. The AI has definitely taken a step up too. Still has some weird quirks, but it actually leverages the Focus Fire function like you expect it to instead of always running its units up to you one at a time. The units I've seen so far all have their niche and don't feel like they're overlapping each other. Scoring doesn't feel completely arbitrary compared to the first game as it now better considers turns taken, units built/lost, and units damaged/destroyed. CO abilities are also here after being absent in the first game, which is a welcome surprise. Overall, it just feels satisfying and very fun to play.

One thing I particularly enjoy are the 3 extra challenges you get with a mission. They're completely optional, but they do add a pseudo-difficulty beyond just going from Normal to Hard. Some of the challenges include not healing, only building riflemen, and not calling in hero units. I've been aiming to one-run each mission whenever possible and I have had to do a fair number of restarts to get that. Another enjoyable detail is the overworld map for the campaign. It's free roam so you can explore and find collectibles around the map. Doesn't take too long to get them and to see the whole map but the detailing is appreciated.

So what's the catch to all of that TBS goodness? Well, if you enjoyed naval combat in Wars like me, then we still don't have ships and subs and everything in between to play with. Otherwise, not much else from what I've seen so far. It's not perfect, nor is it fundamentally lacking like the first game. Polish? Sure, it could use more. There are little typos here and there and I've seen a few bugs being reported on their Discord server. There is a distinct mic quality difference between characters in the English voiceovers that may irk some people. But for the price and for this under served and under represented genre? Considering it's only $15 instead of the $25 of the original, it's well worth it.

Go buy it already.

(EDIT 7/25/19) I see that a few other reviews have mentioned controls. I should disclose that I play this with a Switch Pro Controller plugged in over USB. Yes, the controls cannot be rebound in game and they seem to only show keyboard prompts, but my Wars muscle memory kicked in immediately and I never had any issues with it. The only new thing I had to learn was right stick press to reset the camera. Everything else was the same; standard A/B - D-Pad controls, L/R to go between units with available move actions, and + to open the menu. Speaking of the menu, I also would like to note that I have never used the "Skip and build nothing" option on Factories/Airports. Again, this is my Wars muscle memory speaking but I just open up the menu and end the turn that way if I don't want to build anything. I can't speak from my own experience but I did see that the developers mentioning something about the publisher requiring the button to work, or possibly not work, in the way other people have been encountering it. Be aware of that.

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As a fun little aside, I mentioned above that I played their demos at PAX East and E3. They actually did swag giveaways at both events, and the top prize was a cool jacket with their branding on it. You can see what it looks like if you look at their Twitter page. On the last day of E3, I ended up chatting with them and they mentioned that someone had won that day's jacket. As I was exiting the convention hall at the end of the day, there it was. Lo and behold, the winner of that day's jacket. I ended up asking her if she was today's winner and she straight up just gave it to me. Made a memorable first E3 even more.

Fuzzy dice.

Fuzzy freaking dice.

10/10 would put on wishlist as gag top wanted and have friend buy it for me again.

10/10 can drift big rigs (possibly accidentally)

Ever wanted to be Neil Kerman and land on the Mün? Be Vehrner von Kerman and design ballistic missiles? This game will teach you orbital mechanics and advanced physics before you can even say "Bob Kerman bought billions of boosters for blasting and blowing before Jebediah can use them all".

AWESOME! AWESOME! AWESOMENAUTS!

The theme tune says it all. Excellent controls, addicting gameplay, great aesthetic. Get the soundtrack as well, you'll want to be listenting to this like it was Saturday mornings as a kid again.

Chaos. Just pure and utter chaos. This isn't a game as it is "B-Movie Action Scenes Simulator: Micheal Bay Cut". Even more madness with the multiplayer mod. WHY ARE YOU NOT GETTING THIS NOW?