Recent reviews by Draeris

I almost didn't buy this game due to the incessant negative reviews and dramatic Youtube videos. But after playing for almost thirty hours, I am really glad I listened to my gut instead of the reviews.

The idea behind the age & legacy path systems were to deal with late game slog, all-in strategy spams that either work from turn 20 or not and repetitive game loops (things that made me burn out of playing multiplayer in Civ 5 & 6). I was skeptical, and the idea of 'Harriet Tubman of Rome' just felt too ridiculous.

But these new systems solve the aforementioned issues. And the civ-switching feels less ridiculous due to the historic paths and the tendency of AI/players to stick to those. This is honestly the most fun I've had with Civ, ever. There are things that Civ 5 & 6 do better on a technical or cosmetic level: like OST, playable leaders, UI, et cetera. But all of that feels very nitpicky if not irrelevant, when this game /feels/ so nice to play. It just feels better: which makes these smaller issues far more tolerable, especially when these will be fixed in later updates.

This is a great game, and it will be even greater.

Surprisingly good. Can't believe I like Marvel (and Chinese game companies) now!

It's glorious

Game is fun and you have more impact individually due to the teams being smaller and having your Spectre. The fact that they switched the pricing and boosted the EXP to accommodate the community's wishes is a good sign. You'll have a good time playing this if you like(d) CS or Valorant -- it successfully strikes a balance between the ability-oriented playing of Valorant (it has skills, but much weaker) and the gunplay of CS2 (but more guns are viable than just the AK or AWP).

As someone that grew up playing AOE2 & AOE3 a lot, AOE4 is hands down the best installment of the series. But standing on its own merit, it's an excellent RTS that is worth even full price. There are some nitpicks, but nothing that should have you reconsider getting this game.

Here's the good's & the bad's:

GOOD:
- graphics (for a RTS) are top notch.
- factions are closest to "perfect balance" in the industry, no meta is OP and everything can be countered.
- unlike other AOE installments, AOE4's factions have incredible depth and variety possible for gameplay.
- campaign, multiplayer and singleplayer are consistently good experiences.

BAD:
- movement is occasionally janky, leading to annoying situations (cannons being separate from the army, units walking around enemies to attack the one you clicked and not fighting, etc)
- profile customization options, such as the banner, are very lackluster. (a lot of colors missing, a lot of ugly icons, et cetera).
- some masteries (in game achiemenets) or maps can be janky or buggy, although rarely. (had 2 bugs related to fog of war in my 100+ hours of gameplay).

CONCLUSION
9/10
One of the best RTS' you'll ever play.

Anno 2023 the game is great. Runs smooth, feels like authentic battlefield and the gameplay (maps, gun handling, vehicles, etc) are excellent. Really just an enjoyable game with no issues.

Yes: at the start this game was rightfully hated due to DICE's shenanigans. Battlefield 2042 is a different game now though. Not quite the 'No Man's Sky' comeback: but genuinely good enough to be worth its price and sink many hours into.

If you like Battlefield and FPS games, play this game.

Simply amazing.

Dirty Bomb in itself is a mix of various games, creating a very unique fast-paced shooter that still feels familiar to our known FPS'. After less than a hour I grasped the game and saw myself in the top 3 quite often. Although many are skeptical about the Card system, I still feel like the game is solid and very enjoyable:

- The fast paced gameplay with objectives in various creative maps gives some very adrenaline pumping experiences throughout your casual plays.

- The graphics are not very realistic, but that is compensated with a very artful and colorful design.

- The game is fairly balanced for BETA and offers a wide variety of weaponry that can be optained through the sketchy card system, allowing differentiating gameplay and tactic.

- The community in general seems to be very helpful and willing, making this online game less frustrating and free from the burden of toxic teams.

However, the game does have a very controversial system when it comes to character, or MERC, customization:

- Cases obtained through playing the game or simply crafting will give you random cards for any character, even those you do not own. The chances for excellent cards that are of higher grade are 3%-0.1%, and as said before, it is random. Sometimes this does put me down because I get a reasonable card for the character Rhino, while I am very far from actually buying that character. But in general, I could get past this with the good gameplay.

- There is no current party system present, meaning that friends will have to go through the annoying routine of Right+Clicking you to join a game you found on a server browser, because the covenient quick join always puts you in nearly full servers. This makes co-op play, and the aspiring players in the competitive scene, unable to easily play as a team.

In general I am highly positive of this game and I have faith that the developers and the growing community will make Dirty Bomb an even greater game in its final stages. 8/10