Recent reviews by monads_moproblems

This review is written from the perspective of someone who has predominantly played Battlefield, and only Battlefield, since 1942 came out when I was in high school. Therefore it draws heavily on comparison between the two games, not to try to contribute to any kind of rivalry, but because it's really my only frame of reference. I'm in my mid-30s with a full-time job, so most would probably consider me a filthy casual, but I've been playing long enough to not be completely clueless.

With that said:

Hell Let Loose is the kind of epic scale, cooperative shooter that I always wanted Battlefield to be. When BF2042 came out and abandoned many of the core ideas that drew me to the series initially, I turned to Hell Let Loose out of desperation. I'm glad I did, because HLL is chock-full of those ostensibly "only in Battlefield" moments that keep you coming back.

If you're coming to the game from Battlefield like me, it's important to note that this is a far less arcade-y, far more strategic game. When I got started, I was constantly getting one-shotted a few seconds after spawning. Because getting it wrong is so punishing, HLL forces you to learn about good positioning and battlefield awareness. In fact, I noticed that after a few months of playing HLL that when I went back to BFV, my play had improved significantly. While definitely more hardcore than Battlefield, once I adapted I didn't find gameplay significantly more difficult or tedious, or less action-packed.

Is the game perfect? No, definitely not. It's not as polished as a AAA game, the graphics are good but not spectacular, performance isn't always great, and many of the mechanics are boring and/or frustrating (artillery, resource nodes). But the most significant factor that has made it easy to look past these complaints is the awesome community.

I had not played other, more hardcore shooters (like Squad or Post Scriptum) before, but the veterans I played with were friendly and helpful and helped me quickly acclimate. While I regularly play with a friend, unlike in Battlefield, it's not a night and day different experience between squadding up with friends and squadding up with randoms. Mic use is prevalent (in fact, I wouldn't recommend playing without one) and I've had many, many games on public servers with a full squad communicating and working together. It's awesome.

I'll end with a tip about the game that I wish I had known before I started. Obviously, it's not a game that you win by K/D ratio alone, but then neither is Battlefield. But unlike Breakthrough or Frontlines, it's not even really about attacking or defending cap points, either. While these things are all obviously important components, at its heart this is really a game about SPAWN POINTS: building your own (garrisons, outposts) and finding and destroying the enemy's. Without actively prioritizing both of these things, I rarely see teams win, even if they're doing everything else correctly.

In short, this game saved me from the pit of sadness I experienced after the disappointment that was BF2042. I've played a ton over the past few months, and almost every game is fresh, dynamic and chaotic. It's taken on the mantle of delivering the large-scale, historical combined arms combat experience it seems DICE is no longer able to deliver. In many ways, I consider it the true spiritual successor to the original Battlefield 1942 I fell in love with so many years ago.