Recent reviews by MASHManiac

Developer continues to make welcome changes and additions to what was initially a disappointing game. Grab it on sale, throw on a podcast or two and explore!

Quintessentially meh.

Like me, did you miss the PS3 version of this little gem? Then like me, you missed out on good time! I snapped this up for $1.79 during the Summer Steam sale, and boy am I glad it did. Although I haven't finished it yet, I am firing this review off in hopes that this game gets its due while it can still be had for cheap.

The action/puzzle gameplay works well with a 360 game pad and is supported by a really nice art style. For the price of a bag of Doritos (on sale) or a couple of Taco Bell chalupas (full price) you could definitley do worse.

Full disclosure, this review is based on the single player campaign only. I have been a big fan Ubisoft's Tom Clancy games, from the original PC Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games though the XBox 360/PS3 generation. I wanted to like this game, I really did, but as a single player experience, I can't give Future Soldier my recommendation. First off, this is a pretty meh port of the console version. Graphically at times the exteriors look pretty decent, but interiors tend to look low-res and muddy. Also, don't expect a lot of graphic options to tweak.

All that aside, my major issues revolve around AI and gameplay problems. The friendly AI is not the sharpest and tends to get shot a lot, even in small firefights. The enemy AI, as is typical with many "squad-based" shooters, has a tendency to focus in on the you, regardless of the relative danger presented by your AI controlled squad mates, as if to acknowledge, "those dudes aren't very sharp." The implementation of the mark & execute system, borrowed it seems, from the latter Splinter Cell games, is nicely done and provides a welcome tactical element. However, most firefights descend into chaos, which DOES happen in real life, yet unlike real soldiers, you very much need to babysit your AI counterparts in the heat of battle. And therein lies my biggest issue with this game, it sits somewhere between a tactical squad-based shooter and a third person action shooter, while not being a shining example of either.

I suspect there is fair amount of fun to be had as a four player co-op experience, and the overall design seems like that is what the devs were aiming for; I would grudgingly give it a thumbs up for a like minded group-just don't expect to be blown away.

There are games I play to complete out of some misplaced sense of accomplishment and there are games I play just because they're so damn fun...Darksiders 2 is definitely the latter--more so than any Zelda incarnation...

Easy to learn--tough to master. FTL is fun, clever and addictive, and inexpensive to boot! I also love the 8-bit like music...

Click, click, click, It real easy, man -- Boomhauer