A nice change from the run-and-gun gameplay of the other Metal Slug games in the franchise. It's very challenging even on the lowest difficulty level (recruit). Lots of unlockable weapon mods and skills. Mission victory conditions has enough variance to keep up the interest. You would have to really be very strategic with your tactical decisions (movement, attack) especially on the mid and final boss. Highly recommended but it may not be for the impatient.
I had always hoped that this makes it way to GOG. It was my first steam game and it was fun then, and it is still fun here in GOG. The campaign missuons are short and you do have flexibility and tradeoffs in how ypu choose to complete it. The endgame can be repetitive but usually they are defense missions. I have never played multiplayer in DOW2 so I cannot comment on that. Got this on sale and I thought it is good value for the money. It also has achievements so it gave me extra motivation to play. PROS + Focused gameplay + Offline play (campaign) + Achievements + Runs well on current generation hardware (it was high-end upon launch) - Multiple difficulty levels - When on-sale great value because it includes every game and DLC in the series CONS - Not much to differentiate from steam apart from offline play and being DRM free - Difficulty ramps up
It's got mechs and a deep strategic turn-based combat. Whether you go on career mode or campaign, you will have to manage your mechs, choose, plan and execute your battles carefully as repair costs could quickly pile up. The greater the difficulty of the mission the greater the potential for a higher payoff. Some battles have hidden objectives, i.e. destroy all turrets. All missions give you a choice of what parts/equipment/weapon to salvage. Prior to the mission itself, you can opt to gain more options in the salvageable items (assuming you survive and you successfully completed a mission) or a higher payout. A third option exists: opting for a reputation gain in the faction providing the mission. It also has some RPG elements: you can customize your mechwarriors '(battlemech pilots) skills. They gain experience as they participate in mission. There are random mini-story which could select mechwarriors experience points, new equipment, and/or mechwarrior status, e.g. low spirits, high spirits. The RPG elements are not only confined to the mechwarriors, once you have access to a more permanent dropship, you can task your engineer to make upgrades. Overall, this game is a deep, highly enjoyable game.
Can't enjoy it as the game doesn't seem to respond properly to my gamepad. I tried restarting the game, connecting/disconnecting the gamepad. Nothing worked.
PROS: - The writing is superb (characters, quests, dialogs) - Full voice acting for each NPC (wonder how they managed that?) - Combat system is polished - Choices matter CONS: - Though there are several ways to complete a quest, some aren't resolved cleanly - Random crashes when loading the game (usually happens when you switched to a different application) Additional notes: - Difficulty ramps up rather quickly Highly recommended!
