Recent reviews by Invented

This is an early review of the game, I have not beaten the story yet. I have to say my impressions thus far are that of disappointment. Be it the terrible bit-rated sound quality or the bland characters or the uncanny-ness of some of the facial models... I cant find myself getting pulled into the 'story' of this game. The game play itself is typical MechWarrior, and while MW 5: Mercenaries was not a feature complete game at launch, over time the modding communities as well as some of the DLCs have made the replay value and overall gameplay loop very replayable. Since clans is lacking that replayability all it has to offer is its gameplay and story, and as ive said the story and characters thus far feel bland. That leaves the gameplay which is plagued by the same issues as Mercenaries... the terrible AI, the mechlab and its lack of customization (without mods) which somehow feels worse in this game compared to Mercenaries.

I have seen a lot of people talk about the attention to detail when it comes to lore and I felt it important to praise that, despite the few discrepancies (what the heck is a SOKOL...?), but I'm afraid that lore detail can only carry things so far. Perhaps mods and DLC will make this game a much better play later just like they have with Mercenaries, but without something that fosters replayability like a career mode that might prove difficult. Pick it up on sale if you're a fan of the battletech universe otherwise just go play mercenaries and use mods.

I don't understand where the money for development went. The graphics are... Okay..? That in itself doesn't matter to me, but they've removed functionality from MWO (you cant even customize engines to give mechs different varieties in speed and firepower). The enemy AI is laughably stupid, and only outmatched by how stupid your lance mates are. This legit feels like a lazy MWO asset flip. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if it came out that the mech's had slightly better textures, but the models were 100% the same as the MWO models, with just 10 or so different MWO sized maps that are shuffled around. It's incredibly saddening to look at MW4 and feel like theirs more content in a game that came out 21 years ago.

Id say this game is like Skyrim, and that mods will make it what it should be but even Skyrim wasn't this blatantly unfinished at launch. Maybe I expected too much?

***Update***

The game can be fun with friends because the AI is useless, however wait for a sale because this game isnt worth 30 dollars... maybe 15 or 20?

**Update 2**

After playing another 30 hours and getting to endgame level content I can confidently say that this game is very frustrating, even with a buddy. Mechs like the Atlas and the Annihilator are fun as ♥♥♥♥ but the game always finds a way to ♥♥♥♥ in your corn flakes, be it the AI gets hyper focus aim and headshots you, or you get stuck (literally stuck and unable to move) near the end of one of the long, walk around the map, story missions. I really, desperately WANT to like this game. This game scratches an itch that I only had scratched with MW4. But it does so with a back scratcher of rusty razor blades.

Also the game has crashed for me at least once every 2 hours or so, which is obnoxious. Its frustrating enough that it happens at all, but I haven't had it happen at say, the end of a mission which would be infuriating to say the least.

Conclusion: This game falls so short of what it could have been. Its really such a heart breaker. Hopefully the modding community is able to make this game the legend that Mechwarrior 4 Mercenaries was and still is.


Updated Conclusion: My review of this game mostly stands if you ignore the existence of mods. Mods on the other hand elevate this game into what it should be. The AI will still be subpar but at least you get the flexibility in the mechlab that makes the game so replayable.

Remember that truck you couldn't be bothered to allow to merge in front of you, so you casually gave it some gas and pulled ahead?




Hows it feel....?

I write this review coming from a place of love. I've played Ace Combat ever since I was young and have loved every aspect of it. Were the previous games in the series without flaw? Of course not. However I feel Ace Combat 07 would have been much more enjoyable if it took a few pages from the previous games books so to speak.

Before I delve into what I did not like, ill state what I did. The visuals are breath taking, and are very much in line with what an Ace Combat game from this generation of gaming should look like. I've heard of the massive ♥♥♥♥♥ storm regarding ultra-wide support but in my own experience on a 1080p monitor with 60 frames, I'm more than satisfied with how the game looks. The aircraft models look as they should, and it seems great care was taken by the developers to accurately represent them. (Makes me wish other aircraft such as the FB-22 Strike Raptor or F-5F Tiger II were in the game... Oh well one can dream). The added mechanics of clouds really has changed the dynamic of the game in a good way. I don't feel like its turn-and-burn to avoid getting bounced by enemy aircraft, utilizing clouds with the high-G turning can really help when you're trying to dodge missile. Overall, the game LOOKS like an Ace Combat game should in 2019, and this is where I cannot fault them.

The soundtrack is just as it should be, amazing and in line with Ace Combat. The remixes of previous songs was greatly appreciated, and the only time I felt myself confused was with the song with a french vocalist at the ending credits. (is this a space elevator, or an eiffel tower?

There ARE SPOILERS AHEAD, as I will now be discussing what I did not like in Ace Combat 07

The story feels like its all over the place, and ultimately I cant feel connected with any of the characters. The opening cutscene introduces this gritty tomboy who grew up with her pilot grandfather. The main character however does not have any interaction with her until later, when you're introduced to the 444rth Penal Squadron. Even then, it would have served her character MUCH BETTER if she was an actual pilot flying with you. Instead you get these, frankly d**chy sounding wing mates that I ultimately cannot feel anything for. Count is the WORST of them all, in my opinion, as he spends a majority of the story being whiny and always claiming "Oh that was just luck! I'm better than Trigger!" or "Hey Trigger lets compare later so I can show you I'm best!" It honestly gets old, especially as you do the entire mission basically by yourself since wing commands are no longer a part of the game. Towards the end he flips his personality out of nowhere and tries to act like he's been your good buddy the whole time but it comes off as a "really? so all those times you couldn't shut up about being better than me in that nasty tone was just sarcasm huh?" Honestly Clown, your first wing mate, was much more charismatic but he just vanishes after you get transferred. Imagine if you eventually become his wing mate again, and there ends up being some tension because of your crime? That would have been infinitely more interesting than count's incessant mouthing off. The other members of your squadron are so forgettable that I cant really say much about them. Wiseman didn't get enough time to develop as a character, so when he bites the dust I cant really feel remorse.

Mihaly was mindly interesting, but his stoic appearance doesn't do him much good. Unlike Yellow 13 in AC04, the scientist does little to explain enough of Mihaly's character to make him feel important. He ends up feeling like just another top ace that I need to down. In AC04 you fight the man who's love you killed, as his only challenge in the sky. In AC05 you fight bitter pilots who wish to see the two nations that brought their fatherland to ruin burn in the fires of war. In AC07 you fight a man who lost his whole country, was shot in the face by his friend, but didn't care cuz he likes to fly. I'm sorry what? It just seems so forced to me, and ends up ruining him as a character for me. Even the Akula from Assault Horizon had a more justifiable goal for wanting to bring world ruin than Mihaly.

The princess's character is also underdeveloped. It would have been an absolute joy to see more of her struggles, after realizing she coaxed her country further into a bloody war that was started by young military leaders in Erusia (Which by the way, is only BARELY touched on). it would make her selfless attempt to save refugees, as well has her selfless effort to climb the space elevator and stop the power transfer to the Arsenal Bird all the more grounded. I wanted more of Cossette, but ended up feeling like her character was out right wasted.

The multiplayer feels lacking for a 2019 title. No co-op whatsoever, not even co-op campaign. its just so damn disappointing. I would have loved to fly around, dog fighting enemies with my friends and just having a good time in general. It feels like such a missed opportunity for the series, and ultimately I cant help but wonder why such a feature was not added in, especially with a story that felt so hollow. One can hope that co-op multiplayer will be added in the future but it seems unlikely.

Taking a departure from the negatives let me end the review with a few more things that i appreciated, now that ive written all this and had a chance to really think. The whole Drone vs Man motif for a flying game is interesting, and a good motif to have. I also appreciated the nostalgia trip, seeing stonehenge tell the Arsenal Bird to go die in a dumpster fire was more than satisfying. (especially since I played AC04 when I was young, and hearing the shells go off coupled with the music scared the living daylights out of me!) Seeing Farbanti again was a joy too, especially with how beautiful it was in AC04, it just FEELS satisfying.

Ultimately I cannot recommend this game for the price point they are asking. If it dipped to 35 dollars id say grab it, maybe 45 if your a long time fan and just wanna enjoy a modern feeling Ace Combat, knowing full well that the story is not up to par compared to the previous entries. I have comments enabled so that people can discuss stuff with me, but please do understand I write this review with love. I'm not trying to review bomb the game(frankly all the people complaining about joysticks must not have played the previous titles at all), I'm merely trying to get my opinion out there so that maybe AC08 can be a return to the amazing storytelling with relative simple, but satisfying game play i remember loving as a kid.

Edit 9/16/18

Id like to state that I am in no way a game reviewer... ive done 2 out of the 150+ games i have. i dont really like to do it but this game fills an odd spot in my heart and id really like to see it improve. that being said the issues are very apparent to me, so excuse my lack of punctuation and any other mistakes.

I really want to like this game, but after reading other reviews and genuinely thinking about the game it seems theres a lot that needs to be worked on in the game. For starters the start of the American campaign can be rather challenging, even on easy. The Japanese start out with superior numbers for a start, and have a tendancy to deathball you with these superior numbers, before you have even repaired your 2 of your 3 battleships and have gotten your fleet going. Now this in itself is somewhat doable, you really need positioning... whats the problem then? Well my problem is that while youre dealing with this, 3 battleships are roflstomping the alucian islands before Ive even gotten a fleet to the marshal islands. i may be new to the game, hell even outright bad but the fleet power discrepency at the begining on easy, where ideally you should be learning mechanics and developing your late game strategies for harder difficulties, makes it rather hard to get past. on top of this there seem to be AI issues that other people have stated. finally there seem to be some pretty big bugs that i assume will be ironed out, such as a fleet with superior numbers engaging in battle and getting deleted instantly before you even get to enter battle, or being miles south of midway when you engage in a battle only to have the buildings glitch into the middle of the ocean where the battle is taking place.

***Edit***
So im editing this review because I just encountered something that has killed the game for me. After talking about how much this game fills a soft spot what could possibly do this? let me explain. I had finally gotten my carrier fleets together at midway to meet the japanese fleet head on. Recon shows they are half way between midway and wake... okay no big deal they are half way so i got some time right? They start a naval invasion from their position... teleporting landing ships on top of my carrier fleet/ they sink a few destroyers.. no biggie right? after the last landing ship is spawned they do it AGAIN and AGAIN until my entire fleet is dead. this is not only frustrating and infuriating but KILLS whatever aspect of fun this game had when i first played it

This game is incomplete, needs a lot of work, bug fixes, ui updates, and other things that im sure other reviewers have covered. they are asking for 40 dollars, with no sale.
No... i dont think thats fair or right. Im sure the devs really care for the game but this game isnt ready and shouldnt be listed as a full launch indie game.