Recent reviews by Blackhammer

I like the game I really do but now I feel I wasted my money and no this isn't against Arrowhead they have been a great game dev. That being said I hate and loath any game that requires anyone to sign in to an additional partie's platform. It adds an increased threat to personal security in this digital age certainly when the additional party in this case is Sony with their apparently annual data breeches (psst Sony stop putting out entertainment stuff until you can fix the obviously leaky boat you are sailing)

So thanks Sony glad you got my 60 bucks before you tacked on the psn signin requirement

Yes it is simplistic compared to the other games in the series BUT, that is where it shines as a decent entry way in to the series and its mechanics.

It follows the addicting game play of a turn based grand strategy game (like Civilization or Galactic Civilizations) and Real time based combat although I haven't seen games that feature both but I do know there are games that feature turn based strategic turns and turn based combat such as Field of glory 2/Empires The Heroes games,Disciples,Age of Wonders Xcom (though its strategic is a bit more real time while its combat is turnbased) and for this game It does feel better to have it as turnbased strategic turns and a real time combat. Yes the ai for combat is rather lackluster as is the AI for strategic turns (I'm looking at you majorly hostile faction that accepted vassal ship after we declared peace over an accidental war I started)


The game as it title suggests takes place in England during the late 800's (as seen in the Netflix series The Last Kingdom though watching the show is not a requirement to play the game or enjoy it)


I know my hours in game are not the best indicator of my ability to really appreciate the game and that most die hards of the game series will state my view is not valid since I have less than the arbitrary 100 hours of game time since the die hards here have a stronger gate keeper mentality when it comes to valid views etc.

Having always been a big (I mean seriously big) World War 2 fan I decided to take the plunge and grab this when it wasn't on sale. While I do love turn based games I have never really played something that has this grand of a scope on this scale in a war game setting. That being said lets dive in to this beast

Plot: For a game that simulates both smaller operations/battles and its Grand Historical Campaign in the Eastern Front between The Axis Powers and Russia there really isn't much of a plot.This is quite frankly a game of the poor bloody soldiers,tanks and artillery, so no there is no super soldiers or special missions this is war plain and simple.So can you keep history the same with Russia Crushing Axis forces or can you do what didn't happen and crush Russia instead? So with that being said I can't really detract from a lack of plot for a strategic war game.

Graphics: As this pretty much simulates a "board game" the game is played on a static map (that is actually rather impressive to look at) with little Icon "Wargame Chit" counters for your troops. Which while is simplistic and helps convey a decent amount of info I feel the counters could show alot more informaton akin to more classic war games like Advanced Squad Leader or Panzercorps in terms in a simplier way than looking at info tabs

Sound: The sound is incredibly minimalist with sound effects during battle resolution steps, troop movement etc but it conveys the action enough that you can easily pick up the audio cue when the opponent has performed a certain action. The musical score is rather impressive for a war game that helps keep the tension of the conflict going

Control: I ended up playing most of the game with just a mouse though there are keyboard short cuts. overall the controls aren't overly complex and are actually rather intuitive for a war game that is of this scale

Gameplay: The gameplay is totally turnbased in a I go You go method. When ever control returns to you, you will be given an overview of what the other side did unit by unit (Soooo that means if you are playing the grand campaign if your turn takes you nearly 1 hour or more to complete expect the AI to take that long if not longer as well (180 or so hours of my play time was JUST doing the grand campaign ONCE))

Each piece on the board represents down to the company/division so expect ALOT of counter movment each turn as you juggle movement,resource and resupply lines as you advance on the enemy.

And if you don't want to fight the AI there is Slitherines PBEM Server where you can match make with someone, play your turn, your file will be uploaded for you to the server where your opponent can take their turn then return the save state back to you. (Yes that time crunch I mentioned earlier is still there as well hence my suggestion that if you have someone to play with do one of the small 3-20 turn games)

I do HIGHLY recommend that you at least keep the manual up and open while playing if anything so you have it ready for a reference tool.

Accessability: Here we go time to address the big white elephant in the room.

It's learning curve is alot easier than say hearts of iron,war in the Pacific or even command but trust me its not as scary as it looks although the tutorial action was easy to get through (The second time I did it but only because I was reading the tutorial booklet alongside it while playing.)So please please save yourself a headache or desperation and read the tutorial booklet and play the tutorial it will cover EVERY major system in the game and the booklet is written out in a very friendly and inviting manner kind of like that old D&D vet who shows you how to play and makes it fun for you to keep wanting to play

Overall Thoughts: This has to be hands down the game I've been looking for that scratches the itch of a in depth and massive wargame.

Yes this game looks daunting it looks difficult but it's really not. The AI is challenging yes but it's a manageable challenge.Yes the price is very very steep but it's worth it if you can find it on sale or are willing to drop 80 for it.

Wargame Score 8/10 For Sound,Gameplay,Plot (lack there of) and Accessability. Points detracted for Graphics.

Having been a long time player of the SSI classic Panzer General as well as its Pacific and Allied versions I was actually rather surprised I had missed this game when it first came out. But man this was certainly worth the wait.

The Sound design in terms of effects and music are great but after about the 100th hour they do start to wear on you. The voice acting for the briefing and debreifing portions is laughably B-Movie quality but consistent

Graphics aren't much to write home about and the fact it doesnt run directX or OpenGL (which means the steam overlay wont be happening) (sorry folks) they do pay a lovely homage to the Graphics of Panzer General 1 and 2,Allied General and Pacific General.

while the premise is you are a new panzer group leader the story really doesn't deviate from history except in a few cirumstances where you are able to make some decisive victories which in turn will alter the campaign. Operation Sea Lion? Check, Invasion and take over of the good old US of A? Check. Taking India from the British Empire?Check being able to take Moscow from the reds before general winter arrives?Check.

Another interesting feature is the inclusion of a Core Force mechanic. to sum it up you have a group of units that you carry over from scenario to scenario which means they get experience take losses etc etc which is very handy because I think some of the later scenarios if I didn't have a core force that was what it was I would have been hurting pretty badly. Other times this did make certain maps a bit easier than they should have been (Grand Campaign 43 East I am looking RIGHT at you) Other times if you witness the total destruction of a unit you have carried over from multiple missions or even one or two full campaign years, it becomes devestating in the same vein as X-Com (Panzer Group VII your loss hurt)

Multiplayer is not directly head to head but goes back to the old days of multiplayer in strat games by way of PBEM (yes there is local hot seat so you could play against a friend in person on one computer but where is the fun and anticipation in the wait for emails?The Opening of that email when you get home from work or school and see your partner finally emailed you his turn so you can now give it a look and hopefully throw his entire plan out of the water?(or watch as you get viciously crushed)

verdict? while yes it is every pricey once you get in to the domain of its DLC's the game is worth every penny as there are also a decent amount of modding sites on the web that contain additional scenarios,campaigns and even full conversion

9/10 (point detracted mainly for the voice overs and near paradox levels of DLC

The first Trivia game series I ever owned.
I had found a collection pack in a discount bin (WHAT A SCANDAL!) at my college and my buddies and I would spend hours after class playing this in our dorm room till the wee hours of the morning(hours we could have been spending to actually improve our grades but meh guessing who Cookie was refering to in a question was WAY more important.)

Yes by today's higher standards the graphics aren't that amazing but really are you playing this for the graphics or to play and enjoy getting rebuked by Cookie because you got a question wrong because your buddy screwed you?

While I do love the other games in the series as a whole This and the Ride with its darker feel certainly sealed the deal for me as a FANTASTIC party trivia game (so much that I quickly took my more current event savy triva games and donated them to the rec room at my dorm at the time)

Regardless of if its up todate or not this game is STILL fun to crack out and play with friends. And since my discs are in storage I just had to buy a copy again because this small studio played a KEY part in shaping the kind of man I am today (now if only my coworkers would understand why I hand them screws before I ask a bunch of them a question at once.)

Having been a Civilization player since Civnet (yes I am old) this game was a surprise to me when it was first released by infogames in 2000 mind you we had just seen a year of 3 civ games due to legal work arounds etc etc. those being Civilization: call to power (Don't recommend at all) Civilization II Test of Time (pretty much a upped graphics version of Sid Meier's Civilization II with additional scenarios which I still recommend) and Sid Meier's Alpha Centari (AMAZING GAME)

but back to CIv III. The game was a nice upping the ante of Civ II and hitting all of its marks it aimed for including its amazing play the world expansion which allowed a relatively stable way to play multiplayer that CivNet tried and failed to do and Civilization II attempted with its Multiplayer gold expansion)

While I have poured countless hours in to my Disk copy I haven't really touched it since mid way through the life span of Civ IV. but I do still get requests to play multiplayer so it still does have a decent following.

10/10

First of All a quick disclaimer: I owned this via GOG before I bought it again because this game reminds me so much of the games I first cut my teeth on in pc gaming back in days of yore. Those games being Dungeon Master and the Eye of the beholder series.

With that said lets dive in to it.

Controls:The controls are tight and focused, I found myself only ever using my mouse for Combat selections inventory management and occasional menu navigation. The rest of the time it was simply WASD keys for navigation and QE for view rotation.

Graphics: The Graphics are beautiful and not painful to look at if you take in to account the year the game was released. (So by 2017 standards they are a bit rough on the eyes (Kinda mid grade Skyrim))

Sound: The sound design is great the ambience invoking the sense of Isolation your group has inside this massive undergound complex. The sound effects while canned at times do help promote the old school dungeon crawler vibe from the grunts and screams of your Party to the hisses and death gurgles of giant snails (because its fantasy and snails HISS)

Gameplay: The gameplay being a modern take of the older dungeon crawlers is very node specific (meaning you move up dow left right) may be a bit off putting to those who are used to freerange dungeon crawling games but its not meant to be played free range which is great for what it aims to do. Infact I prefered this node movement over some of the later releases in my favorite RPG series (MIght and Magic 6,7,8 & 9 I'm looking at you) that tried to be a bit more "modern" in control and movement designs.

Plot: You control a group of 4 Prisioners who are given the sole task of escaping the Dungeon Grimrock. Your reward for escaping? Your Freedom. So yes naturally thats the nutshell version of what you are told at the begining of the game. (Remind you yet of playing D&D at your friends house or the plot to older CRPGs?) Being prisioners you are cast in to Grimrock with nothing. No food,no torches,no clothing,no weapons. Every object you find you will make use of even the lone rocks on the ground will become the primary weapon of one of your back row party members so they are not sitting useless during battle.


Verdict: This game has EVERY ounce of love and dedication one would expect from a small team working on what is really a amazing movie worthy love letter to the past gaming experiences of early CRPG's

Solid 10/10

honestly I am severely disappointed. The game was literally replaced by a entirely different game. last time I checked when someone sells you one thing and then you get somthing entirely different down the line is considered fraud not to mention false advertising.

No I'm not talking about the mass effect 3 endings or how the salesman sells you a car and it falls apart a week later I'm talking flat out you paid for a 82 inch flat screen led tv which developed a small issue so they honor the warrenty and send people out to fix the tv BUT when you come home from work after the shop has fixed your tv and you find they left you a 52 inch cathode ray tube tv that is bigger than the engine of your car yea thats the kind of change

TLDR Don't waste your time because if the dev's did this once theres a good chance in a few months we may have a legend of grimrock or Penumbra clone.

My hours unfortunately don't show the hours I spent with out internet connection sadly.

Let me tell you a story about my son and my neighbors.

Long ago after the death of great Charlemagne I the grand son of Charlemagne had a son who was the middle child of 7. He was the smartest and most loving of them all but had a nasty trend of picking fights with his siblings and I the responsible one took him down a peg every time then finally I had had enough, he picked a fight with his uncle while I stood by and watched as my son was battered and I ignored his pleas for help.

Then the big bad neighbors next door decided to enter my house and kill my son and take part of my son's land. I declared war on my neighbors which luckily drew in the neighbors from across the street and I let them devastate my neighbor who had slain my son. I then marched in and took my neighbors house from under him and had him hung out with the common criminals. Alas my home feels empty now that my son is gone but I have avenged him

Tldr: My son picked a fight with his siblings and uncle,the neighbors kicked in my door to kill my son,my other neighbors aided me in stealing my neighbors home.

10/10 would let my son be the centerpiece of a territory war Again.

Having had this game since it was still in early acess and with alot more hours than the 8.6 I have on record (thank you steam for not keeping track of my hours when I played on my laptop) and I can say that yes while the game does still have some faults it is a significant improvement from when it was first released in EA.

To the naysayers give it some time. The BI team has shown time and again that they do continue to support,update and improve the games they put out so please give it time before you go and blast the game for it being a "complete wreck" or "unfinished not deserving of a full release" (certainly from the BI Gamer Elite who seem to overlook Arma's own early day snafu's or Take on Helicoptors or Carrier Commands issues)

The Manned and Unmanned portions are simply amazing (I love the unmanned alot due to the feelings of Kerbal's building portion) and it really invokes my childhood feelings and love for the great black expanse our planet is in.

Even if you end up getting it just because the Arma devs made it look at it for what it really is. a Space Simulator and for me it is hands down the best early and pre spaceflight sim and early exploration of planets sim out there.