Zeroes & Venerables - Heroes & Generals Review

   (Note: This review will primarily be over the lower level "action" game. The strategic, "generals" part of the game requires either a higher level or buying a General from the academy, which is expensive.)

   Heroes & Generals is a WWII FPS with a strategy end-game, developed and published by Reto-Moto, and available on Steam. It's a very interesting concept, where Generals command "assault teams" in order to win the overarching war that the Heroes are fighting on the ground. If they win, the general wins.

   Of course, interesting concepts have to be backed up by gameplay. Despite already mentioning this in the above Note, I'm mentioning again that this review is only over the ground game, and not the high level ground game with fighter jets and paratroopers. H&G has incredibly slow progression if you don't pay cash, and I simply didn't have the time or patience to put my site back on hiatus for a few months just so I can experience the entire game. Nope, we're doing this review now. On with it!

Salty Balm - Dirty Bomb Review

   Dirty Bomb is a class-based FPS developed by Splash Damage, published by Nexon, and available on Steam. You take control of up to three dangerous mercenaries and try to complete objectives in spite of the enemy team.

   This game is very objective-based, meaning there is no deathmatch mode and your kill/death ratio isn't the most important thing in the world. Though you can probably act as if it is, since killing is essential and you're still going to lose if you can't do that. But hey, it doesn't all have to be mindless bloodshed, right? ...it does? Okay. Well, this game has that and more as you escort EVs, blow up pylons, and deliver... "objectives". However, let's delve into whether or not it's worth your time to do so.

Fall? Ha ha! - Brawlhalla Review

   Brawlhalla is a party fighting game developed by Blue Mammoth Games, published by Xaviant Games, and available on Steam as Early Access. It's essentially a Smash Bros. clone on PC. Pick a "legend", step into a fight with 2-4 players, and duke it out in a two-dimensional arena of cartoony violence.

   One thing is certain, the game is just as addictive as Smash Bros. which is nice considering it's still in beta. Brawlhalla's gameplay is interesting and differentiates itself from other fighters in various ways, especially the game everyone is going to immediately compare it to. In fact, let's just get on with what this game really is and stop mentioning Smash.

Snappy Gores - Happy Wars Review

   (Note: This review is over the Steam version. The Xbox version has been around longer and may have more stuff.)

   Happy Wars is a cartoony action-strategy game developed by Toylogic and available on Steam and XBLA (Xbox Live Arcade). More action than strategy since 15 vs 15 takes some getting used to, but it's so cute you may just dismiss the strategy part of the game altogether for a while.

If you can hardly tell what's going on, then you're playing Happy Wars.

   There is only one game mode, in which you take control of towers in a linear path to your opponent's castle in an effort to take control of it as well. It's a casual game and kid-friendly, so most of your time will be spent repeatedly stabbing people rather than devising some kind of master plan. However, it does have a bit more depth than it appears to on the surface. Keep reading to find out.

Simplistic - Ballistic Review

   Ballistic is a first-person shooter created by Rumble Entertainment and available on Facebook. Yep, Facebook. I felt like I was spending too much time on Steam, so I opted to look around different platforms to see if there was anything worth playing. Turns out there is.

   Browser games have come a long way since I last looked at them, many of them advertising themselves as being "console-quality" and a select few come pretty close. Being Facebook games, they tend to be aggressively newb-friendly and Ballistic isn't any different, so if you are experienced with multiplayer shooters this game will be very easy for you. Is it worth your time, though? Perhaps.

Hobocraft - Robocraft Review

   Robocraft is a tank shooter/creator developed and hosted by Freejam and available on Steam in Early Access. It is frequently described as "Minecraft meets World of Tanks", but it's probably best to ignore that reference, especially if you hold any ill-will towards those games.

    In this game you get a selection of blocks, the most basic blocks being free, and you build yourself a tank. How well your tank is built determines how well you do in battle, though there's nothing stopping you from just building whatever you want. Well, nothing besides the obvious. Parts need to be unlocked and bought, which takes time. Is it all worth it, though? Read on to find out.

Zombies Monsters Robots - ZMR Review

   Zombies Monsters Robots (ZMR) is a third-person shooter developed by Yingpei Games and published by En Masse Entertainment for it's North American release. Currently in Open Beta.

   Following the commands of an overenthusiastic commander, you and your elite team of mercenaries fight against various entities for fun and money. As the name implies, you will be fighting various zombies, monsters, and perhaps even a few robots.

Elite.

   The gameplay is very heavily PvE-based and plays similarly to a game series called Gears of War. You control a character from an over-the-shoulder perspective and can squash against walls and barriers for cover. Once there, you can blindfire from behind the wall at the expense of accuracy. There are also PvP modes if you get tired of shooting AI. More on that later. First...

Postpone - Hearthstone Review

   Hearthstone is a virtual collectible card game (CCG) developed and hosted by Blizzard, and planned to be available on iOS and Android devices.

Totally staged screenshot, I'll admit it.

   There are currently nine heroes, each of which has a special skill they can use once per turn along with a set of cards unique to them. Pick a hero, make a deck, draw your cards, and destroy your enemy as efficiently as possible. Hearthstone has the same premise as most TCGs, whoever reaches zero health first loses, but is designed to be more accessible to new and casual players. There are less phases and steps than you may be used to and games are short, but there are some extra features to keep you playing time after time.

Patient Screech - SCP: Containment Breach Review

   (version 0.9.3)

   SCP: Containment Breach is a  free, indie, horror-exploration game developed by a small team of people led by Joonas Rikkonen. It's based on a website called SCP Foundation, a collection of thousands of fictional stories about paranormal objects and organisms. You should check it out if you have a few days to spend locked to a computer monitor.

Your full dossier.

   You play the part of a lucky death-row inmate that has been transferred to the SCP facility. Your classification number is D-9341 and you are promised freedom if you cooperate during your stay. You are led into a test room by a few guards to take place in an experiment with SCP-173, a strange concrete statue that only moves when no one is looking at it. The door to the testing area won't close, the lights flicker off, and SCP-173 kills everyone in the room except you. You lucky devil. You are now free to move about the facility, collecting keycards and evading death as you interact with different SCPs and attempt to escape the facility.

Rollin' Blunts - Soldier Front 2 Review

   (Note: Some of the screenshots used here are also used on an MMOsite review for this game. The reason I don't attribute or source the images are because I'm the one that made them, hence why the images here don't have the MMOsite watermark. Net and myself are the same person.)

   Soldier Front 2 is an FPS developed by Dragonfly and published by Aeria Games for it's North American release, also available on Steam. According to the game's background, the world is in a state of constant but secret war, with all nations fighting each other while also fighting aliens named "xanthids". Normal people such as you and I are kept in the dark as all of the world's special forces teams shoot each other in the face over a worldwide power struggle. And aliens.

And aliens.

   Of course, the background story isn't really necessary as no one cares. You are a member of an elite special forces team and your objective ranges everything from eliminating enemies to stopping alien infestations. To simplify, you have a gun! Shoot things! However, there's more here than meets the eye; the developers did a good job of conveying how little they care about "logic". From the whimsical Shatter mode to the recently-added Snowball Fight mode, you probably won't get bored here.

   I should also mention that if you played Soldier Front 1 and/or have a personal vendetta against Aeria, try to hold your disgust until at least the end of the review. Now then, let's get down to the nitty-gritty...

Gore Pace - Warface Review

   Warface is a browser-based FPS developed by Crytek. You are a member of the aptly-named team Warface, named after General Lee "Warface" Warton. Your mission? To destroy the vast, infinite forces of Blackwood who are helping individuals to profit off general pain and torment in various ways. There is a literal army you need to put down with your military skills and positive outlook. Good luck with that.

   This game features a cooperative mode where you work in a team of up to five players to take down the Blackwood forces. This isn't the easiest task, as it is heavily dependent on the competence of you and your teammates along with a general knowledge of how the game works. Each player is encouraged to fill a role, becoming any of the four classes available: Rifleman, Medic, Engineer, and Sniper. When starting out, you will only have access to Rifleman and Sniper and you get the other two after leveling a couple of times. It's best not to think of this as a cooperative game, though. There is a good PvP mode available, too, for just shooting your fellow man without an scenario to go along with it. However, I should go into specifics...

Fine Whirl - Prime World Review

   (Note: The faction I joined was Dokht, the character I used was Duelist.)

   Prime World is a hybrid MOBA/City-Building game created and hosted by Nival, currently in open beta and compatible with Facebook. It takes place in a broken world at war with two factions fighting for control over a magical, water-like power source called "Prime". You join either the Dokht Imperium or the Kingdom of Adornia to participate in the endless fight against the other side. You aren't fighting the fight yourself, of course. You enlist the help of special, Prime-powered heroes as a wealthy castle lord that puts them to work.

The heroes may be rich, but I'm the guy that signs their checks.

   If you had any doubts about Prime World because it's a MOBA, then don't worry. It's pretty casual. There isn't a lot to take in starting off and the learning curve is very comfortable. If you have ever played a MOBA, such as League of Legends or DotA 2, then this game will seem very easy to you. That said, it can get really addictive for what it does differently from other games. Let's see what those are...

Soaring Wonder - War Thunder Review

   War Thunder is a combat flight simulation game created by Gaijin Entertainment and currently in open beta. More than just a little ambitious, this flight sim aims to be as accurate as possible while still being a playable game for the masses. Some aspects of the game will be familiar to you if you have ever played World of Tanks, however many players currently consider War Thunder to simply be a much better game.

Now why would they think that...?

   This is definitely a very polished game. The developers seemed to have gone through extreme lengths to make the game very immersive with huge battlefields, breathtaking graphics, and interesting gameplay tweaks. I hope you have some free time on hand because this game just might consume you with everything it has to offer.

Supertyke - Uberstrike Review

   Uberstrike is a browser-based FPS game developed and hosted by CMUNE. You will soon be able to play this game anywhere since it is working to be available on almost every platform and is receiving an oddly high amount of financing and support. It is currently available to play on the website, on Facebook, on iPad, or downloaded as a separate application.

   In this game, you pick up a gun and you shoot things. That's it. It is not a complicated game in the least, and most people should be able to get into it fairly easily. There is a short tutorial to get you started, combined with some temporary starter gear. After that, you are let loose to frag all the noobs you please. With that out of the way, let's discuss what matters...

Wrath of Bile - Path of Exile Review

   Path of Exile is an action RPG developed and hosted by Grinding Gear Games, which is based in New Zealand, and currently in its open beta phase. For crimes (or whatever) committed in your past, you have been exiled to the continent of Wraeclast, where you are to serve your sentence and preferably die. Of course, you aren't just some street rat who stole a coinpurse, you're a hardened fighter. Just keep fighting and you will make it out okay.

Hardened fighter, evil witch, whatever.

   It is very similar to the popular Diablo series, where you pick a character and click-spam every monster you see on a linear story path until you reach the end, then start all over again. However, don't let that description skew your view of this game too much. While it is very similar to Diablo, I would dare to say that the student has surpassed the master...

Test Roar League - S4 League Review

   S4 League ("Stylish eSper Shooting Sports") is an anime-styled third-person shooter initially developed by Pentavision (a Korean developer) which merged with GameOn Studios, and hosted by Alaplaya for the European/North American version of the game.

   A significant portion of this game, from its music selection to a few billboards and a few clothes, is practically an advertisement for DJ Max, a series of rhythm games also created by Pentavision. This game does have a short backstory, though. You are playing in a virtual-reality battlefield initially created for use by the military but somehow turned around to be an awesome arcade diversion for teenagers. When you start the game you create a character and then get whisked off to a short tutorial. Make sure to stop by the shop to get some weapons before entering a room, and you are ready to go. But before you do, read the rest of this review first.

Well-Ensconced Heroes - Renaissance Heroes Review

   Renaissance Heroes is a first-person shooter developed by Changyou and hosted by Gamefuse, currently in open beta. You play as one of six different characters who battle each other as part of the background story of trying to find the blueprints to "The Da Vinci Machine", a vaguely defined invention by Da Vinci himself that could change the world despite the fact that during the final stages of testing it, it exploded and that is why the blueprints were lost in the first place.

   The game has a lot missing from it since it's still in beta phase with multiple features promised in future updates, so I'll avoid reviewing any parts of the game that are likely to change significantly over time. Let's get to it...

ChaserZ - RaiderZ Review

   RaiderZ is an action-RPG created developed by MAIET Entertainment and hosted by Perfect World Entertainment Inc. You take control of one of four classes (a fifth on its way), and go out into the world, slashing and bashing as you complete stupid quests for stupid people inbetween trying to save the land from evil.

Chocobo!

   It's a pretty fun game that avoids a lot of the problems I see in other MMORPGs. Good graphics, good gameplay, but let's look at the specifics...

Battle Veiled Pay4Fee - Battlefield Play4Free Review

   Battlefield Play4Free is an MMOFPS developed by EA Digital Illusions CE and Easy Studios, and published by EA. The game is apparently a modified version of Battlefield 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and makes me glad I never played Battlefield before Battlefield 3. However, I've heard BF2 and Bad Company 2 were actually pretty good. This just isn't a good representation of them. I personally really hate EA for various reasons, and this game isn't changing my mind.

   It is almost a standard Battlefield experience, with all of the annoyances that come with it, but butchered. Once you're done getting wow'd by all of the vehicles and jet fighters, you start to see the game for what it really is. Crap. As usual, however, let's first discuss what the game doesn't do badly...

Troll Everything - Offensive Combat Review

   Offensive Combat is a browser-based first-person shooter developed by U4iA Games. You have probably heard of this game if you have seen any of it's eye-catching advertisements. It has a very unique style in that it bases itself around being offensive, or displeasing.

As if that wasn't evident.

   This is actually very well executed by the developers. They haven't sacrificed any features or visuals just to get that point across, and this is also one of very few games that hasn't suffered from being playable in a browser. Personally, I tend to shy away from browser-based MMOs because they tend to suck, thinking that they can attract players through browser functionality alone instead of gameplay. Offensive Combat, on the other hand, seems to have taken everything into account to make their game as fun as possible. How did they do this? Well, let's see...