Like most already said, this game is a competent RTS if the mission designs are thoughtful to emphasize its strengths. The first two acts in the campaign mode illustrate that. The soldiers have different stances, gain experiences and stay with your army group throughout the campaign. The vehicles are lovingly rendered and feel unique in their own right. There are options for support such as off-screen artillery bombardment, dive bombing, paratroopers, etc. There are streamlining and automation when needed and complexity where one might appreciate its thoughtful integration. A lot of options are there to make this a fully featured RTS based on WW2. Where it falters is when the missions do get complex, requiring precise timing and controls and the game design or engine isn't equipped to handle such cases. For example, the enemy doesn't seem affected by fog of war and sees all your units on the map real time, while you are left to wonder where the shot that just destroyed your tank came from. Your units never react to being hit. The move command places grouped units randomly scattered around the entire screen sometimes. The vehicles have force fields around them into which other vehicles cannot pass, leading to a logjam of units making directing them while in combat next to impossible. The mission designs, especially in the last act of campaign, lay bare these shortcomings and amplfies frustration factor tenfold, to the point of it being almost unplayable. The missions lazily dump enemy units after enemy units and punish the player for trying to use the game's features. The reactivity is sorely missing, except when script springs to trap you into another round of save and reload. All the positive aspects of the game are ultimately let down by these missions that try to pad content but which is out of depth of the game's core mechanics. Enjoy it for what it is but be prepared for hours of frustration and futility. One can do a lot better than Codename: Panzers.
Cyberpunk 2077, here's my 2 cents on the world itself, since taking time to list any other negative in the rest of the game will require more than space allowed. Summary: Night City is basically bereft of any content unless provided in missions that focus on rotating set of rote side activities, and a few random events here and there. They all exist in a bubble and no interaction with the world at large ever takes place. It's more or less set up as amusement park where nothing ever comes to your attention in organic manner. + it's quite large and feature a variety of landscapes - no difference in terms of missions from fixers - no open world activities, such as races outside of missions, no mini-games, no public transportation options aside from fast travel, no spontaneous criminal acts - no aircraft that you can command - no chance of mission spilling out of its zone, so no chase spiraling out of heist, thievery, etc, unless scripted - gangs outside of missions never acknowledge your actions in missions - crowd is limited in terms of their function in the world, repeat same animation and can only either crouch in the same manner or run in response to any threat - police teleports out of nowhere in pursuit, no vehicle involved - no logic behind traffic, with cars just stopping at the slightest obstruction with drivers not reactive to any physical input outside of recycled commentary or horn - some sections of the world horribly optimized - driving is terrible and awkward, motorcycles can't lean much, breaks don't register moment it is triggered - first person view is too low, akin to peering out of tank view port - the walking is set to jogging with no other option - lackluster physics, no breakable walls, lamp posts and other placed items get crushed at slightest disturbance, cars just sink straight down in water, no splash from gun shots, etc. - elevator rides cannot be skipped - night is not dark enough - other numerous showstopping, immersion-breaking bugs
Age of Decadence is a good game, and which development I followed for a long time. It was pretty exciting to see the result of years' worth of labor come to fruition and experience for the first time the craft and dedication put into the title. I must confess unfortunately, my first go at the game was less than ideal. I started out as a hybrid character who does not specialize in any specific task, but realizing my error, later tried at every turn to focus on a defined set of skills. The game experience changes markedly depending on what character you create, to the point that the most important choice in this game becomes the character creation. I found that due to the emphasis on choices and consequences, a large swath of content is gated behind certain checks based on these skills. For a character who aspired to be a jack of all trades, this created a funneling effect where I didn't have any choice being carried along the base plotline just to continue the motion of seeing to its conclusion before finding myself in a yet another similar situation of a pigeonholed exit. In this harsh world or game, broad yet meager talents don't suffice, they wither and soon become part of the moribund landscape. My well-mannered gentleman swordsman drifter soon drifted through the cracks of game design and swept away with the ravages of dictated progress. It all snowballed to a point the game simply and literally refused to budge or work with my flawed character, a hard crash within the game world with no exit to desktop, only an obscured 'exit' sign awaiting those who had failed the experiment to boot you to an ignoble end. Exit and New Game would have been a more compassionate choice. Recommended, for the richness of the world, the choices a player has, and the world that compute and react to those choices. Just be sure to specialize, use common sense, and stay within the pages of this Choose Your Adventure. Do yourselves a favor and try the demo.
