Recent reviews by vassilevb

With the exception for the Nitro Express rifle and the story (instead of supernatural BS, we have overly obnoxious caricatures of rich people here), interestingly enough what I said about the African reserve of the *other* game applies to this reserve as well:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/id/vassilevb/recommended/894600/

One thing though: they nailed the African feeling with the savanna landscape here. Almost exactly as I would imagine it after seeing this nice film I'd recommend*, narrated by James Earl Jones / Darth Vader:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109049/

Another thing I don't like (and is quite unrealistic) is the size of the herds of wildebeest and cape buffalo. IRL the cape buffalo herds are absolutely massive (hundreds of animals, averaging around 450), while in the game, they are extremely small (around ten animals). Information:
https://www.ifaw.org/international/animals/buffalo
https://www.ifaw.org/international/animals/wildebeests


*It also reminds me of this movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060736/

I've had Steep for a long time on Uplay/Ubisoft Connect, but I didn't have any of the DLCs. The game is quite enjoyable even without them. The DLCs add challenges (you have more than a hundred challenges without them), a few additional sports (you could get plenty of fun with just snowboarding/wingsuiting), a quick access to the Japanese map (which costs 100 000 in-game credits that can be piled after about 7 hours of doing challenges) and a ton of cosmetics for which I don't care. The game was on sale for 6 EUR with all the DLCs included here, and I would also be able to leave a review (something that I can't do by having the game on Uplay/Ubisoft Connect alone; I still cannot give my praises to Ghost Recon: Wildlands/Breakpoint because of this reason). Good news for people like me: the save files of the two versions (Uplay/Ubisoft Connect vs. Steam) are compatible, i.e. all my progress got carried over and I didn't have to start the game from the tutorial.

Speaking of other Ubisoft games... most of them are made on the proprietary engine, called Ubisoft Anvil. In my opinion, Anvil completely shines in this game. It feels like it was made for this particular game. As people like me (i.e. who played and enjoyed hundreds of hours in Wildlands & Breakpoint) know, it runs very smooth and is very pretty (and is a little bit cartoony, which is why I don't like Rainbow Six Siege).

This game reminds me of my time with Cool Boarders 2001 on my old PSOne (it was like THPS/2, but with snowboarding — very fun times). It also brings back my memories when I had the privilege to practice a couple of wintersports (snowboarding & skiing) on a few occasions IRL (they are generally not meant for poor people like me; the wintersports infrastructure (ran/"managed" by mostly scammers who rely on robbing tourists and yourself) and your proximity to a mountain is also a big barrier). The game also allows you to walk on foot, which is neat. Interesting fact: there's a roleplay community of hikers/climbers who climb peaks in groups (check the Steep subreddit for more information). Speaking of which, Steep is fundamentally designed to be a social experience and requires an internet connection. Having being released in 2016, it is now almost eight years old and, unfortunately, it will probably be crippled (if not destroyed) by Ubisoft (i.e. its servers would probably be shut down at some point (there are lots of licensed stuff (Salomon, K2, etc.), which will also prevent them to sell the game at some point)), leaving you only able to free roam without the capability to do challenges. This is saddening. However, if you appreciate the beauty of winter sports and have a soft spot for snowy environments like me, and if you can spare 6 EUR during a sale, don't hesitate — you will have a good amount of fun.

I'll definitely try Riders Republic at some point.

I've previously played this on Origin/EA and I'm having so much fun with the crashing mechanics and racing within an open world map. Not as realistic as BeamNG.drive, but it's still a solid fun experience. Bonus points for my Origin/EA save file being 100% compatible with the Steam version (which isn't even launching Origin/EA in the background like most contemporary games do, as far as I can see). Bonus points for the game being just 3.24 GB. More bonus points for the classical music and one of my favourite Guns N' Roses song (I wonder how much of the budget went for the licensing of the latter; it's gotta be a lot).

I'll definitely get myself the remaster once it gets on sale and I'll try this gentleman's save file converter:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Burnout/comments/1di9ufr/2024_still_impossible_to_transfer_savefile_from/
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/app/1238080/discussions/0/2577697791651169067/
https://www.patreon.com/posts/red-0-0-1-3-64021669

Warning: unpopular opinion. Do you know that you don't have to agree with me? Do you know that you don't have to defend something that you like against random people on the internet? Do you know that almost nothing will change my (or your) mind about my (or your) past experience, least of all another random person on the internet? You'll probably do your thing anyway and still give it a try on pissing me, so whatever, fück you. :)

Ugly steampunky art style. Ugly (under the pretense of being "futuristic" and "steampunky") weapon models. Ugly characters. Re+arded paywalled and grindy achievements. Everything in this game is trying too hard to be fun, resulting in being totally unfun. Sh1tty music. Dreadful UI and inventory management. The worst offender: Diablo 2-style RNG-based tedious (and what's worse - endless) gear farming. This is not a test for a skillful player, this is a test of your patience and relies solely on you having the time to grind (which is not a fücking skill, g*dd@mmit). This is an extremely overrated game.

The only redeeming quality for me was that I played this in coop (luckily, I got carried most of the time by people who like this game (normal people like myself)). I still prefer to torture myself in Tarkov solo, thank you very much.

The only reason I'd upvote this one is because it was gifted to me. Other than that, here's what you'll be messing with if you decide to throw away your money on DICE's creation:

Remember that Medal of Honor game from 2010? The single-player campaign reminds me of this game (it was very bad). There are quite unpleasant head bobbing / camera shake effects that cannot be turned off.

One of the worst things about this game is that it will cost you 81 GB of space. Kerbal Space Program is less than 5 GB and it models the solar system in 1:10 scale. Think about that for a minute.

The game engine is Frostbite (version 3), used for FIFA 17/18/19/20/21/22/23. If my memory serves correctly, the last FIFA that introduced something new to the "genre" was FIFA 16, because it had women's national teams and Women's World Cup championship. And I'm being generous with the word "new" here. I am aware that Frostbite was intended for Battlefield games originally, but, damn, this game's "world" (i.e. maps) feels so small and cramped. Yes, it looks pretty, yes it runs well, but... for the scale of a WWI shooter, it feels very underwhelming. Especially for a guy like me with 350 hours in Verdun/Tannenberg (and, yes, their maps also feel small, but less so, compared to BF1).

The "environmental destruction" is a complete joke. It happens in a pre-programmed fashion and it's looking so stupid (I'm looking at you, Half-Life 2, i.e. 2004 technology). A tank's main cannon (what should be representing the 57 mm shortened QF 6-pounder) cannot penetrate a wooden fence (it looks more stupid than it sounds).

The damage model is also a complete joke (any soldier can regularly survive two rounds of .45 ACP in the face; it looks more stupid than it sounds).

If your weapon has a bayonet and you sneak behind an enemy and press F (melee), you will take out your shovel and use it instead (it looks more stupid than it sounds).

So much effort and money went into extremely exotic weapon models and complex animations (check out the Perino Model 1908 for example — you can clearly see the bullets moving towards the chamber when you fire), but it feels like a complete waste, because EA's managers/executives/decision makers were fully aware that this game's "shelf life" will be no more than 10 years (yes, welcome to 2024 and the scammy world of software-as-a-service "business model").

Multiplayer isn't completely dead (yet), but... Verdun/Tannenberg offer a little more realistic (okay, I should say "a little less unrealistic") WWI experience — this conflict is famous for its unprepared and ill-equipped soldiers.

This game is like watching a Michael Bay movie — it has a ridiculously high budget and is historically inadequate. It can serve only as a temporary (i.e. a few hours) entertainment (maybe, if you're very young and don't know anything about WWI), and is ultimately created for production companies and their obligatory profits.

If you want to get a feeling of WWI, I'd recommend staying away from videogames altogether. If you're a movie person, then you could watch "All Quiet on The Western Front" (2022), which is probably the only war-themed movie that is absolutely worth watching. Just be warned: this is not an enjoyable movie to watch, it's not a flick for chilling after a workday. Be prepared for a tough emotional experience and exhaustion (and appreciate the fact that, if you're reading this, then you're probably one of the lucky MOFOs who don't have to meet their life's end while agonizing in some of the most miserable conditions that a human can survive (if lucky) in a meaningless war conflict).
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016150/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhlN3k8ROFI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIwOSXcVQm8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8log371ADA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4RMIN6ywnI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWnc-ZlIo5s

This reserve is a delightful experience. There are mallard, hare, red fox, gray wolves, goats, sitka, caribou, wapiti, moose, black bear, and bison, i.e. whatever size/tier you like (within the limits of the game). Alaska is always a treat for me, for some reason and I'm happy I got the "Elite Edition" (the game bundled with Map Pack 1) for this one (I enjoy it more than the first North American and Romanian reserves). Also, you get to roleplay as a female huntress*, which is always appreciated (I don't like how I smell after two days in the mountains IRL and I'm betting being a male has something to do with it).

*While she makes a good point on firearm safety (applicable IRL), she's not written as a particularly smart character — no sane person who wants to keep a relatively low profile (as an attempt to distance oneself from past events) would change his/her name to "Mackovich".

I enjoyed my time with the original Helldivers, so me having fun in this one was expected. It's very unfortunate that the game crashes too often, even with the epic unofficial fix ( https://github.com/pj1234678/MagickaFix ). I recommend this highly for the relatively unique gameplay and fun cooperative multiplayer.

This is quite arcadey (I did expect this). It seems I've lost the taste for arcadey racers after all these years. The speed readings are a joke (120 kmph feels like around 60 kmph). The focus mechanic is drifting (which is also a kind of a joke; I'm the kind of person who never learned to drift consistently in Assetto Corsa (with G920)). "Easy" difficulty is not easy at all — the AI is cheating (probably teleporting n' $#it). I don't know why a lot of reviews are referring to Ridge Racer (it's probably an age thing — I'm 35). Not only the vibe, but even the soundtrack (drum n' bass) tries to emulate a way older game from the PS1 era — Rollcage Stage 2. Definitely not worth more than 4-5 EUR. Even with all the flaws, you could squeeze a few hours of fun like I did (with a DS4 controller + DS4Windows). Also, taking up only 5,27 GB of space is always a win, at least in my book.

Intro:
1. I've been playing western/acoustic and electric guitars since 2005, electric bass since around 2010. I've tried other instruments too and I own an electronic drum kit for almost five years (I don't play as much as I'd like to, but that applies for the totality of me playing anything). During the recent years, my bass became my main/most enjoyable instrument. That means I am not qualified as a "total newb", but I am not a professional musician either (I've earned maybe around a total of 20 EUR when me and my buddy decided to play on the street for fun one day back in 2009).
2. I've spent a lot of money on Rocksmith for PC and PS3 and Rocksmith 2014 for PC and PS3. I've got two Real Tone cables and a lot of DLCs for all these versions (including duplicate songs for different platforms, because they are not-transferable). The total should be more than a 1000 EUR. I've, nevertheless, enjoyed my time with them (probably totaling to around 400 hours so far).
3. I am not a Ubisoft hater, but I am the guy who despises corporations in general (both ideologically and based on my personal experience with the brainwashed zombie-like humans that serve them (reminds me of the lyrics "serve the hive, I control")).
4. I abhor the SaaS business model. It is one of the worst "cheat codes" capitalism has ever produced.
5. I played two of the four "free sample" RS+ songs (I hate to re-tune my instruments, so I tend to stick with EADG(BE) songs).
6. I watched some of the RS+ "instructional videos".

Now, to the point.
The good:
a1) RS+ is technically a better Rocksmith than the previous ones - I guess it's due to a change to more modern engine, which makes the game feel more responsive. The note detection feels way superior than RS/RS2014. Mind you, I am using Real Tone cables, because I prefer the least painful way to deal with the atrocious Windows' feature called "audio device management". I am aware of ASIO and I do own an audio interface, but I just don't have the nerves. I accepted the DRM called "Real Tone cable" as an instrument/a means to and end - and, d@mmit, I just wanna have fun. So, your experience with audio lag and all that "fun" stuff around technicalities could be very different (i.e. bad).
a2) You can play a piano in RS+ - that was not possible in in RS/RS2014. I don't own one, but maybe I will some day. This feature is actually a big one.
a3) There is a built-in pitch shifter. Finally, you could theoretically "re-tune" from EADG(BE) to EbAbDbGb(BbEb) without having to actually re-tune. I haven't tested it, but, if it works, it would be a great feature for me. The idea to spend money on a physical pitch shifter pedal never felt attractive to me.

The bad:
b1) You've got to pay for a subscription, which basically means that you don't own what you pay for (I'm not saying that you "own" anything on Steam/Ubisoft/EA/Epic/etc., but that's another discussion entirely), which means that you have no control over what you have access to - the latter is determined by corporate agreements on music licensing. You're just a random schmuck who's paying for the entire ride, but you don't get to say where is the final destination (not even some intermediate stop) - you're just there for the ride (and to pay for it).
b2) It naturally follows that you will inevitably lose access to, if not all, at least some of the songs you enjoyed playing at some point in time (some songs were already removed from RS+, I hope you can use google/bing).
b3) The UI is obviously made for touchscreen devices. The RS/2014 had bad UIs too (they feel bad even on the PS3, which was the main reason for them to be so bad in the first place), that is true, but the overall experience is worsen.
b4) There is no offline mode. The game is taking less than 2 GB of space on my hard disk, which probably means that all the songs and the lifeless corporate style videos are being streamed in real time (I have to double-check about my assumption, but I'm rarely wrong). Speaking of which...
b5) There are some really disgusting corporate style "instructional videos". If you're older than 25 and you're reading this, then you probably have some experience with corporations and the IRL grind, courtesy of capitalism. Unless you have the ambitions of a billionaire-CEO-wannabe, then it is very likely that you will have the same visceral reaction by these videos. "Repulsive" is a soft word here. My limited dictionary fails me in this case. I hope you'd understand.
b6) The RS2014 "session mode" (I prefer to call it "band simulator mode") is lacking in RS+. This is a severe downgrade. That RS2014 feature is very underappreciated, but is actually a quite powerful teaching tool on how to play well with other people with some predefined conditions.
b7) The worst part is that, knowing myself, at some point I'm probably gonna give up on RS/RS2014 (it already feels ancient) and throw my money for a subscription on this pile of general disappointment (I've thought about it at least once in the past, but I somehow decided to "stay strong" at least for the moment). Yes, I'd be the schmuck I mentioned in point b1 above. I hope I don't regret it. I hope you won't too.

I'll just leave this here.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462759