Recent reviews by Weeddrunken

High on Life is a disturbing humorous adventure-shooter and particularly a worthy Rick & Morty Universe homage. Although I do not know/think that you enjoy this title/humour when you ain't a R&M fan. But if you are one, expect lots of renowned dark sci-fi humour which is complemented by a really good voiceover. And the 3 integrated full-length 'human' movies, with additional Alien comment, is just one cherry on top. But yes, off course there is a but(t). As(s) the overall pretty basic and static gameplay fun flattens out a bit at 2/3 of the game, though keep on going and just...

The Forever Winter is definitely unfinished and edgy (enemy detection, path-finding, ...), still I was very pleased by the actual state and especially that TFW fullfils what the devs have promoted! But also as the devs have openly communicated, you should only get it if you want to support the game development. I find the implementation of their concept so far fantastic and it looks very promising. The difficulty is also really hard, which is great and should not be changed, as it encourages co-op gameplay and a dense immersive atmosphere. Regarding playtime I would say you get ~50+ hours out of it right now. Neverthless I don't want to spoil the game for me, as we dont know how dynamic the gameplay will become in the future, so I will let it cure/progress for ~12 months. The online co-op performance was always very smooth and I had no lags or rubber banding at all. Also to note is when the host/leader starts a game it takes ~30 seconds to start! And there are already some innovations as well as quality of life features other looter-shooter 'beta' titles seem not to bother much. Regarding the controversly discussed water-mechanic, I would simply recommend to give it some time... lots of stuff will be added, changed and tweaked over the next months. And last but not least Fun Dog Studios deserve some big credits for making this come (a)live.
?!? Wishes For long term fun and to be more than just another looter-shooter, TFW needs:

• dynamic generated map-layouts (or even procedurale)
  
• dynamic NPC/AI war-path scripting (or even procedurale)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2izSjSXoq8

https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3326164828
After this essential config lets get to the actual review. I won't go into pre-release (advanced beta access) details and corporate marketing strategies, as this is about the game. So sit tight put on your seatbelt and believe it or not, TDU: Solar Crown is an absolute worthy and immersive arcade racer. And KT Racing really deserves some credits for this successor! Sure, you can feel TDU:SC was released kinda early, but I did not run in many, but also pretty obvious and partly nerve costing, bugs/unbalances. Nevertheless besides some needed gameplay tweaking (QA) the game feels almost finished (~90%). And the most important aspect, the car handling is great (*when set-up) which makes TDU:SC an authentic arcade racer! Another downer is the small map size for a TDU game, besides its immersive streets and alleys (map-comparison link). And also the amount of cars is pretty low, although it is definitely enough for a start. As on the other hand, in TDU you must earn a car as it is something rewarding. Regarding the overall challenge, the AI is tough (especially at first till you get used to) and aggressive, but is also pretty static overall! The visuals are kinda the biggest downer for me, as it only looks good with not much fps. Playing in a resolution of 5120x2133 compensates that, but especially not everyone got a 4090. Positively worth mentioning is that I had no rubber-banding yet and the overall multiplayer (EU) seems very smooth, and btw this is the first online open-world title for the developer. And plz do not listen to all those frustrated "Gold-Edition-Early-Access" owners. In the end Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown delivers a really solid, immersive and especially authentic arcade racing *platform*, which will (hopefully) get lots of updates and more content (maps, houses, rims, bikes, cars). And although it has its flaws, the longer I play TDU: SC the more I love it - even in its current state. Maybe because it is authentic and not made by e.g. EA.

Wishes:
! more rims
! be able to sell a car
! more enlivened world
? Honolulu (TDU1 map)
? COPS (while free roaming)
? Refueling at the gas stations
? Button pressing directly in the cockpit
? more cockpit interactions and car features
? more traffic variation (cars & trucks & trailers)
? the destruction model of BeamNG.drive :D
? be able to drive out of your personal garage into the world

What separates TDU: Solar Crown positively from NFS, The Crew, CarX:Street, FH5:
:) overall car handling
:) drift like back in ~2010
:) authenticity & immersion
:) more grown-up presentation
:) real streets (size and shape)
:) no cringy horizon participation
:) surface-types make a difference
:) you need to actually earn your car(s)
:) authentic arcade - not sim - car handling
:) Hitting a car/tree does make a difference
:) Car controls (window, indicator, wiper, eninge on/off,...)
:) Walking around (in specific areas) simply adds immerison
:) You can drive in any side street, there are no invisible walls

What separates TDU: Solar Crown from NFS, The Crew, CarX:Street, FH5:
:/ way less cars
:/ very few RIMS
:/ no car design sharing
:/ no drift missions, yet?!
:/ suddenly vanishing traffic
:/ overall visuals incl. fake shadows
:/ radio stations are mediocore at best
:/ overall less car customizations (which can also be a good thing)

Zero Hour reminds, looks, feels and plays like a spiritual successor of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six (1998+) and SWAT 4 (2005). You can feel the roots and its intention, but oh boy, the 1.0 release features a slow and brainless a.i. which also has kinda found its way back from 2005. As well as the insides of the buildings and the visuals, some textures, animations are also from the end of the last decade. Although there are some great innovations in Zero Hour and some things are even better executed than in Ready or Not! But unfortunately, in the end Zero Hour feels way past its overdue. PS: I would really love to see the devs join the Ready or Not team, to create the 'perfect' R6/SWAT successor - like Ready or Not 2.

First of all NFS:Unbound is not "better" than Forza Horizon 5. But I shouldn't have make a wide turn around NFS:U, just because of playing FH5. And besides it's flaws you've already heard of, I do wanna mention the things you do not find/get in FH5 but instead in NFS:U.
NFS:U actually has a story. The (also) arcarde handling is worse but definitely not absolute ♥♥♥♥♥♥. And overall NFS has way more (photo) realistic visuals (screenshots) and no hippster nonsense and no horizon-festival! Plus there are COPS - I repeat - there are cops in a street racer game - how innovative is this. Cars have some sort of "broken" model instead of just scratches when hitting something with 350kmh. And with a price-tag of 6.99€ on sale and free DLC like the Hot Pursuit multiplayer (career) update, it is just the better deal compared to FH5 at 34.99 on sale + additional paid DLCs - with no cops at all! And last and least, yes you can disable the "comic-effects" of your own car.

The DOOM + DOOM II newly enhanced definitive version is out, 31 years later. And features online x-platform DM and Co-Op for up to 16 players, community-published single-player mod support (with in-game mod browser), optimized renderer, accessibility options, optional modern IDKFA soundtrack alongside the original MIDI soundtracks, presented in up to 120hz in 4K and a brand-new episode “Legacy of Rust,” with new weapons and demons. And to top all of that, existing owners of DOOM (1993) and/or DOOM II (1994) receive a free upgrade to the new combined game, and can still access their previously owned versions. Am I in heaven - this cant be Hell?!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4-xswoPRpo

(v.1.9.0)
With version 1.9.0 EA introduced EA's Anticheat to the game, which cannot be disabled e.g. for offline-play. This software generally prevents running other services (mods) next to it. And this "technology" was implemented 9 months after the game release, but the software existed long before and could've easily been implemented back then. But, then EA wouldn't have sold as many copies on release.
My other personal issue is that EA Sports WRC neither uses the Frostbite Engine nor the UE5, but forbids us to use ReShade to make the old UE4 engine look less outdated. And I simply want to be able to use my reshade profile to improve the overall visual experience. No ReShade No Play! And fück you EA for killing this game for me!

PS: Guess what... I've found a solution!
https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3293220256
https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/1953520/WRC_Generations__The_FIA_WRC_Official_Game/

10/10
Oh boy, Chucky never gets old!
A truely fantastic implementation of a Chucky themed pinball table. With lots of details, the original sound fx, some nice table customizations and I simply enjoy the campaign mode to unlock more atmosphere to your beloved mature pinball table room. Definitely worth your time and money - especially if you're missing your beloved murder doll.
Verdict: "I hate children - let's play." quote Chucky

TopSpin 2K25 looks, feels and plays very well for the first few hours and is in many areas an improvement over the 13 year old predecessor. Although it is massively missing out on the player roster, especially for its hefty NBA-2K alike price tag. But therefore not on the monetized content-related clothing part of this tennis game. Which could be okay as an addition, but when the only updates for the game are not focusing on gameplay or bugs but only on this monetized cloth-related content, something is far off (classical 2K btw). But moreover TS2k25 is lacking in gameplay depth, a lot. And that is simply a no-go for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOrvHkEvApY
PS: I highly recommend giving TE4 a chance!
https://node2.projectplanet.cn/@store.steampowered.com/app/760640/Tennis_Elbow_4/

2/10 "Not even proper ultra-widescreen support..."
...and only 15% of the 10,360 reviews are positive at this time, which should be enough to pass on this one.
Verdict: Refunded. <3