Recent reviews by Washington

Video Review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QprQN8VXZBc&ab_channel=CrypticMoon

Marvel's Avengers has been the spark of mystery in the months leading up to it's official release. Now finally, with the game only days away and the game ready to go we can now paint a firm picture of how the game truly is.
However, it's hard to know what to expect from this game, no doubt you have likely run into countless streams and recommendations on you-tube with titles that give extreme and often melodramatic impressions such as "this game is SO GOOD", "I'm deeply concerned" and "this is the most risky pre-order" to name a few.
My advice is to ignore as much influence as you can and judge it for yourself as I did, so you can paint the picture and not someone else.
That being said, the purpose of this review is to provide clarity and a clear picture of my experience with the game to hopefully help you in your decision of whether or not you should buy this.

Launching the game puts you straight into the action where you are introduced to Ms Marvel and the main cast of avengers in a solid introduction and shortly after their respective play-styles. Immediately I noticed that some characters were much more enjoyable than others but all were distinguished by a unique play-style.
Thor=Tank like build with Kratos like game-play with limited ranged abilities
Iron-man=Mobile medium hitter with diverse long range and short range abilities
Black Widow=Standard 3rd person shooting mechanics with some surprisingly diverse set of abilities such as a grappling hook and invisibility to name a few.
Hulk=Up close brute/tank with good crowd control and some unique special attacks
Captain America=Sturdy offence class, crowd control with grounded abilities
Some characters definitely felt better than others but the gap between their fun factor was not large and is also subject to personal taste. I myself prefer high mobility and adaptability and found myself gravitating towards Iron-man and Black Widow the most.

THE AVENGERS DO NOT FEEL WEAK!
Many have brought up this issue that the avengers feel weak, specifically the Hulk. Initially my experience was similar, the Hulk seemed to get stunned to easy and going from lifting a tank in the first level to getting stunned by a small robot was quite underwhelming. However, the more I played, the less I spammed left click and the more I took advantage of the hulks ability's. Specifically pressing Q allows the Hulk to gain poise giving you the opportunity to deliver a beat down while also building up your special to keep the ball rolling.
The other heroes felt balanced and it's clear that the game wants you to participate as a team to accomplish goals. A great example is iron man managing aerial threats while hulk delivers the beat down on heavy's that are on the ground while Black Widow is working on hacking consoles. This unique setup encourages teamwork and penalises the one man show play-style which I think is great.
Graphics are also great with highly detailed environments ranging from forest, industrial labs to the helli-carrier and a snowy tundra providing plenty of variety while also making progression through the levels enjoyable. These terrains are not just for show either, it was a pleasant surprise to see that the environments would have modifiers depending on the location and different gear or play-styles would be necessary.
Loot and other extras were not an issue, I found myself coming across them naturally and they often felt as a nice reward for exploring the environments.
If you want proof of how powerful some avengers can be and how fun they are to play, look up game-play of Thor or Iron man with majority of their tech trees filled out.

The story is a solid 8.5/10 and we get to see a different side to some of the characters and how they have changed since the games proclaimed A day. For example Bruce is conflicted between his views on the avengers, originally testifying against them only to change his mind and fight for a revival of what once was and could be again. Interactions between Bruce and Ms Marvel are great to, the awkwardness feels real enough although some interactions can be exaggerated. Most importantly the story gives purpose to the players actions and it makes me keen to see what comes next.
Some things did fall out of place for me, the game would stutter on occasion and I crashed on one instance. FPS would often dip to a low 50fps on my 1070 i7 setup at high settings during high combat scenarios but ran smooth for 95% of my play-through above 60 fps. Hulks jump felt odd in more enclosed areas and feels like it would benefit from a larger, more open environment.

Looking at some reviews for this game on you-tube and steam alike, it is clear that so many had already made their minds up about what they thought about the game is before playing it or have gone into the game looking for the worst. This is the first time that I have strayed away from the opinions of my trusted online reviewers and finally forged an opinion based on my own experience and despite what the overwhelming masses have to say. For me it came down to one simple question, Am I having fun? and the answer is yes and I think any one who buys this will to.

So what is my verdict?
Marvel's avengers has surpassed my expectations in some fields and has fallen short in others. Despite what others may say about the game having dull combat I instead found the characters to feel unique and that their potential has been realised enough to justify a purchase. This coupled with a truly great story, great characters and environments that make the game fun to play I feel like the game is certainly worth your time.

TLDR: Game has lots of potential, is missing allot of the fundamentals of what makes a good sim experience with some exceptions being co-op gameplay. Price is to high so I suggest waiting for a sale or just get UBOAT which comes out in 3 weeks as a potential alternative.

I wanted to like this game, the idea of being in a WWII U-Boat with a player controlled crew each with their fleshed out roles in one of the most dangerous settings in history was very enthralling. This game is what the steam community needed, especially after the drought of decent submarine games in the past few years, with games like cold waters and silent hunter V (modded) doing little to fill the void. From the basis of my opinion and what I believe to be majority of the Sub sim community, Silent hunter III Modded GWX 2005 was the last defining game of this genre.
Come 2019, and I stumble upon Wolfpack, ASAP I inform my friends to get them on board with the idea of playing this game together and to overall having a good time. The 90%+ rating on steam contributed greatly to this decision. However, when I purchased the game today I was deeply disappointed.

Coming from the Flight simulation community DCS and their discord servers, I have no problem with spending hours upon hours learning in the inner workings of a game. In fact allot of DCS can be just sitting around for hours in the cockpit with little to no action, but when the action does go down its something to behold despite it being a somewhat small portion of the game. But in those many hours of inactivity, its the managing of the planes systems and the small adjustments to instruments that really keep me coming back to the game because it challenges my knowledge and my skill and ultimately creates an immersive experience. Sadly, the same cannot be said about Wolfpack, straight off the bat I join a crew, take some time to explore the Submarine only to find two rooms have been modelled, the control room, radio room and the surface. There are no quarters, no torpedo rooms, no diesel engines or quarters of any kind. The lack of rooms I found limits the roles and task of every crew member. For example, what if the engines flooded or were damaged in a conflict, there is no opportunity to issue any sort of repairs or even control the flooding by closing of valves hatches etc.

Curious of what the game was capable of I pushed the submarine to its limits by putting it a crushing depths expecting some sort of flooding or at least some water intake. All you get are some drops of water and creaks then an anti climatic and abrupt message saying U-Boat destroyed.

Other basic concerns and cons are listed bellow
-Water detail is disappointing and bland with little variation in wave height and weather conditions
-No crouch but has sprint? (Breaks immersion somewhat)

Disclaimer, I know the developers are planning on adding more features in futures updates so I have done my best to leave out any concerns that I believe will be addressed in the not to distant future I.e Bot crew members. My lack of playtime can be taken as a sign of ignorance but having experience with other simulators of this genre this game fails in many of what I consider to fundamental to the U-BOAT experience.

Looking past my negative first impressions I start to explore more of the games mechanics and positive aspects. Such as, the attention to detail of the 2 rooms that are modelled are great and are really something to admire and It makes me keen to see more of the submarine in the future.
The sounds are great, with the alarms, creaking and the sound of rushing water being very gratifying and immersive at times. Teamwork is also another positive with it being great to work with others to keep each-other alive and to destroy, evade and elude the enemy but is sadly brought down by the lack of stuff to do at times even in dangerous scenarios.

I am aware that this is early access and still has a long way to go, but I cannot recommend this game to the community at $50 Aud. To my knowledge this game has been in development since 2016 and when looking at other submarine games such as U-BOAT which comes out in 3 weeks which also has many more features and even Baratrauma (not a sim but still a cool game to pass time) coming further down the track I simply cannot justify this purchase. I know that many Submarine Simmers such as myself are very keen for a new game of this genre but do yourself a favour and pass this one up until it goes on sale or just see how U-BOAT and Baratrauma turn out and then make a decision.

I hope the developers continue to develop this game into something great and that they are able provide a brilliant submarine experience but as the game currently stands It will be awhile before this game rises to the surface.

Wow! Salt just came out with it's biggest update yet Multiplayer!
As a long time Salt fan for many years this is the update I have been dreaming about, but how does it affect the overall gameplay experience of Salt?
The answer is, it changes everything
-Suddenly things like sailing the seas with 2 huge ships is possible, a scenario where this is applicable was when my friend would follow me as I taught him how to navigate to a jungle island.
-The story is great with co-op, me and my friends got to experience the suprisingly in depth storyline with a few boss fights along the way.
-The most enjoyable aspect of multiplayer is something one might not expect and it's NAVAL COMBAT! Not even kidding, although it was quite late in the game me and my friend's ship were outfitted with cannons and ready to go. Turned on team damaged picked a spot with open water and of we went, cannonballs flying everywhere, moving our ships into position for that beutiful perfect shot.
-Theres hours of pure entertainment and when the game isn't moving fast it's a relaxing and soothing adventure.
A strange thing occurs in Salt and I'm not sure many have noticed
When you start the game salt is a fairy normal survival game with the addition of sailing, however as you play more and more, the games tone and feel and what you can actually do changes drastically for the better. As suddenly your sail boat is a naval ship, your not looking for food to keep you alive your looking for treasure and loot to be the Captain Jack Sparrow of Salt! Then you follow the main quest and so much more!

Cons or ideas for future updates!
-Ai pirate ships to battle
-Improved naval battles, I.e ship damage, leaks that need repairing, torn sails, cannon holes etc
-new ship spawn system, this in my opinion is to overpowered and takes the risk out of avoiding sand bars and would be bad in naval combat.
-Dedicated servers (maybe) co-op seems to be just fine as long as their is ai ships to battle and board.
-Allow a crew system where players can be made part of a crew where they can access cannons and ship crates.
-A neutral pirate island city/ town with built in ports where pirate ships dock and npc roam, also shops and restraunts perhaps?
-Model the lower decks of some ships so they are accesable i.e pardon psuher
Salt is a great game, I applaud everyone in lavaboots studio for standing by their game to make it something truly great and worth playing so please try the demo see if you like it, but this is a must buy for anyone who enjoys a bit of adventure :)

A brilliant game with plenty offer with some occasional bugs. Overall I prefer this game over elite daangerous and its a quarter of the price. 8/10 does need some work but in its current state its quite amazing.

Has A Doge MODE :)
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The game is great for all fans of the underwater genre as this game comes with amazing submarines you can dock in but this game needs co-op like right now.

Don't move and it wont see you, another 2 t-rex's turn up. F*** it, run.