Holy hell this game is awesome. Just don't go into it expecting a basic twin stick shooter. It's not a mindless twin stick shooter, it's a tactical game. For that reason the first thing you should do is change the controls to the tank scheme, there's directional damage so screen absolute means you're training yourself to walk backwards as enemies nail your weak spot. Also not ever vehicle has a turret that rotates full 360 degrees. Tank controls may take a bit to get used to, but it's for the better. All vehicles have bright headlights, it's easy to tell what direction you're facing even when things get hairy. Now that's out of the way, HOLY S***. Brigador is an amazing game that's made with just pure care and love and it shows. Everything from the smallest pile of rubble to the tallest meanest mech is incredibly detailed, a lot of dark colour schemes off set by jarring neon lights or even just the glowing shells from your auto cannon, shredding buildings to pieces as everything explodes and gets destroyed. Combine that with an awesome synth-wave soundtrack and you have a recipe for a very comforting stress ball of a game. Brigador perfectly straddles the fine line of hardcore tactical tank fighting and just fun dumb satisfying shoot bang. It's glorious. Honest there isn't much to say here. When the only negative thing anyone can say is "I don't like the controls" it's both a real tragedy (They missed out on a real gem) and speaks to the quality of the rest of the game. Everything is made with love, and it's still getting free updates. I love it.
This game is great but damn it really doesn't hold your hand at all. A lot of people like that in a game, but honestly it could really do with a more comprehensive tutorial. As it is, the tutorial only shows you how movement, combat, hacking, lock picking, and stealth works. It doesn't tell you how crafting, trapping, trading, etc. works. Two things I wish I knew starting out. Merchants will tell you what they'll buy off you. And that's all they'll buy off you. I spent hours wondering why I had all these weapons the guy in the armoury wouldn't buy, it was because he'd bought all the weapons he was willing to buy off me already. So yeah, read the list of what they'll buy above their inventory, you'll save your self a lot of head scratching. Secondly, right click a blue print to learn that recipe, and press 'G' (by default) to open the crafting menu to craft it. I spent a long time assuming crafting was something that was unlocked by progressing the game, turns out I was wrong. Because blue prints had the words 'download to your wrist computer to craft this recipe' I assumed the wrist computer was something that someone would give you, because there's no text or prompt or tool tip saying you already have it. Also, dismantling is a feat that has to be unlocked, so don't let that confuse you either. The only real problem I've encountered is if an enemy is short/small they can be obstructed behind the isometric terrain, making them impossible to hit even though they can hit you. I'm actually amazed that hasn't been fixed. The only work around I've found is luring the enemy out into the open. So far it hasn't been game breaking, just annoying. All of that aside, highly recommend this game. Especially if you like old school turn based RPG's like the original Fallouts/Wasteland. It's a great game. Just be ready to restart the game a couple times to respec your character once you figure everything out.
Few games can be considered 'mature'. And I mean truly mature, not just violent with swearing. Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines was probably the first truly maturely written game I played back in '04, it was definitely the first one I played that had swearing. Years later and the game still holds up. Not the combat, the writting. Combat is spent mostly spamming Bloodbuff, I just speced out a character for ranged combat and most of the guns suck. Until you get the 44. or the Desert Eagle (maybe the AUG if you can handle the insane recoil) you're gonna be using melee weapons mostly. Thankfully the amazing dialogue, missions, and freedom to complete quests however you like make this game incredibly engaging and replayable. Highly recommended to anyone who likes damn good RPG's.
