May 2023 – Kyle's Gaming

40k Boltgun: First Impressions

I’ve had my eye on Boltgun ever since we were teased with dusting off an old floppy disk found in the attic. It is fantastic to see games call back to the days of old with a little bit of new flair to it. The retro graphics, level design and gameplay are packed into an incredibly fun and inexpensive package that the game industry needs a lot more of.

Some might call it an eyesore but I call it beautiful- the retro graphics and 2D sprites offer a glimpse for newer gamers to look through a portal (don’t look too closely, or else the inquisitor will want a word) into the games that spawned the FPS genre.

The game is just mindless fun for those that want to just run and gun, maybe relax and shoot some heretics. The mechanics of Boltgun offer fast-paced gameplay with many ways of serving out justice to the Emperor’s foes.

The guns and melee combat feel great, a fine-tuned balance between a boomer shooter and modern FPS. The movement and fluidity is fantastic and really lends to the feeling that you are truly a god-like warrior.

I think my biggest concern here is replayability / staying power. A major concern with most 40k games is their modability and I am huge on mods and how they positively affect the lifespan and game itself. 40k games in general are notoriously horrible to mod, for the most part this is intentional because of the tight control on the IP.

I have not gotten a major way through the relatively short (10-ish hours) campaign, but I fear after that, there might not be much reason to continue playing. I am optimistic we’ll see some interesting DLCs, hopefully which address this to some extent, but customization at the hands of the playerbase is second to none.

Imagine a horde-type mode (a la Gears of War) in Boltgun, facing endless waves of enemies with increasing difficulty and fun twists (like skulls in Firefight). Or with modders unleashed, what could be dreamed up? New campaigns? A dynamic campaign? New enemies? New friendlies?

I think they’ve got something here in Boltgun, and I hesitate to say its simply “a great foundation” because it is more than just that. But there’s a lot more that can be done with this and hopefully this is just the start.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom First Impressions

I’ve spent about 20-30 hours (no thanks in part to the number of sicknesses going around our household) on Tears of the Kingdom and barely sunk my teeth into the story itself. For the most part I have kept the story to a minimum, doing some of the first few steps of each of the main storylines but not venturing too deep, instead opting to explore and take in the new. Trying to see everything that is new and compare, while also getting a feel for all the new gameplay elements and things to do.

A follow up to the legendary Breath of the Wild has been a long time coming, even disregarding the fact that the Zelda series is usually not one to dwell on games and instead moves on to another new and unique title. In knockout after knockout of successful Zelda games, does Tears break this tradition?

The answer is most assuredly: no. It somehow surpasses expectations, even if all you’ve heard is that it is a Breath of the Wild sequel and it takes place in essentially the same place, not long after the events of the first game. But to stop with such a simple overview of the game is a complete injustice.

At the start of the game, the world is literally upended, throwing many chunks of land to the sky and creating chasms across Hyrule. These floating islands and archipelagos form one of the major changes to Hyrule itself, with the sky above packed with these interesting islands that contain puzzles and challenges throughout. The three dimensionality of the map goes up several notches with how high some of these islands reach, with some being true challenges that I have yet to uncover. I did manage to make it up to one that was incredibly high and my jaw dropped when Link bounded across the landscape as if he was hopping across the moon, because apparently it was lower gravity. It was so neat.

The added three-dimensionality doesn’t end there though, the map is littered with new caves and recesses to explore. And most of all, plunging down the chasms scattered across Hyrule brings you down to the depths where a huge cavern network exists – a completely new and different land to explore that is dark and mysterious.

The game throws you into a familiar tutorial area similar to the Great Plateau and forces you to complete several shrines to gain more abilities. It is in a lot of ways a mirror image to Breath of the Wild’s intro. In some ways I found it frustrating because I was very eager to move on to the part where I could go anywhere and do anything. Yet Tears’ intro is yet again a perfect example of how to do an intro to a game.

At a gameplay level, Tears features many new gameplay elements while ditching some of the more cumbersome ones for streamlined options. Addressing a common complaint of its predecessor, Tears also features a lot of new enemies, some of which I fear I’m nowhere near capable of taking down yet, and that’s okay. UI and controls in general have been greatly improved, making it far easier to cook, switch weapons or call on Link’s new abilities.

Link’s new abilities are very fun and offer some incredibly interesting challenges with the puzzles you face. One thing I found quite clever is that there’s one guy in dozens of locations across Hyrule that is holding up a sign (of varying shapes and sizes) and you have to create something using Link’s abilities with the wood nearby to brace the sign so he can let go and secure it.

Some of the things, story-wise that have left me a little confused that haven’t been answered (at least not yet) are regarding the legendary beasts. Where did they and their champions go? Where did all the Sheikah towers and shrines disappear to? Just some things that aren’t really stated, at least explicitly.

I look forward to a full review as I continue to plunge into the game, mixing it as much as I dare with my current workload. It’s incredibly hard to put down and harder still to decide on what I’d like to do… before I get distracted on my way with something else.

My biggest challenge thus far has been avoiding spoilers. For the most part it has been easy but I’ve had a tough time even forcing myself to avoid looking for help on one thing or another, or where to find something specific. For the most part I’ve managed it but this is a lesson to you all, the game is best played with a lot of mystery and you’ll not regret immersing yourself into the game.

One small detail that just shows the level of detail put into this that you don’t really see in modern AAA titles anymore: At the beginning, when Link was not wearing any pants / boots I tried to open a chest. If you circle around the chest to the side or back, Link will kick the chest open instead of opening it with his hand. When he kicks it, he recoils in pain because he’s shoeless. Did they have to animate that? Not at all, especially considering, how often does he kick open a chest without boots? How often would a player be running around the game without that?

Tamar Campaign Battle 2: Breakthrough Conquest

Week of November 11, 3022: The second week of action sees the Daunt’s Fusiliers (DF) mercenary company following up on their major victory in the Tamar Inlet Peninsula. The breakthrough attempt of the Lyran-hired mercenaries, led personally by Captain Kyle himself in his Maruader, seeks to put overall victory within reach with this conquest battle.

Though they are the attacking forces as contracted by the Draconis Combine, ever since landing upon Tamar the Phoenix Armament (PA) mercenary company has been on the defensive. Whether through a poor initial landing or advanced warning, none can say at the time of this report.

A lance from each company deployed on the plains and gently rolling hills outside the city of Shonick Dale. Each force constructed an FOB and an HQ nearby and the lances are tasked with both defensive and offensive operations. Securing the enemy HQ would be difficult but ultimately could lead to a complete victory.

Following deployment the more nimble light mechs of Daunt’s Fusiliers charge forward, a Spider moving to ensure that their own FOB is secure while the other, a Jenner, moving to put pressure on the enemy’s FOB. The lumbering Marauder takes up position near it’s HQ and the fearsome Hunchback slowly advances to support the Jenner.

The Phoenix Armament lance, led by a Catapult, features 4 slower but overall more adaptive mechs that all feature jump jets which will come in handy over the rolling hills of part of the battlegrid. The lance slowly advances, disregarding their own HQ in an effort to deny the enemy and put more pressure forward.

In the opening stages of the battle, the western flank, consisting of DF’s Hunchback and Jenner square off against the PA’s Catapult, Panther and Enforcer. The 3 on 2 clash initially goes well for the few opening rounds, with several AC/20 blasts ensuring that the Fusiliers were giving more damage than they received, despite being outnumbered and outweighed. One blast completely blows off the Catapult’s right arm. And thanks to the overall faster speed of the Jenner, the Fusiliers opened scoring to a 3-0 gap.

On the Eastern flank, a lone PA Wolverine presses forward slowly and cautiously. Not able to put pressure on the enemy’s FOB with a distant Maruader keeping watch, he’s content to standby and fire at range, keeping at the ready.

The deficit, while not insurmountable, puts the PA lance behind and looking to put some hurt on the enemy lance as outscoring them from this point, without creating losses, has become difficult.

Initially kept in reserve while defending the HQ, the commander’s Marauder moves forward to reinforce the outgunned left flank. His superior firepower and armor, not to mention gunnery skills, could surely help put the final blow on the PA company.

These hopes crumble as his advance is not nearly quick enough to prevent the fall and crippling of the Jenner, who did not disengage when badly needed due to overheating. A double engine hit following a knockdown means even if the poor Jenner survives, it will likely be broken up for salvage. For a short while, it continues to fire once or twice in defiance from its prone position, unable to get back up, but eventually is silenced when an arm, and then the center torso is destroyed.

The hunchback continues to weather an enormous amount of fire, not yet benefitting from the Marauder’s covering fire until an extremely unlucky blow to its center torso smashes the engine and a gyro. Miraculously it does not topple despite the gyro hit, but the pilot radios his commander, relaying that he will be slowly withdrawing from the fight back towards HQ.

Unable to press on the left flank, the DA offensive is stopped in its tracks. Finally able to make its presence truly felt, the combined firepower of the Hunchback and the Marauder is able to exact some amount of vengeance and completely destroy the nearby Panther.

Meanwhile the western flank has turned into a stalemate between the Spider, whose defensive piloting has denied the PA Wolverine any chance at scoring points, but ensured very little fire has hit home. Only once was the Wolverine able to capitalize and score one point while the Spider made an error in landing when it jumped into a thickly wooded spot near the FOB, almost destroying his right arm in the process.

With reinforcements drawing near (signaling the end of the battle), the Phoenix Armament Enforcer jumps out and back, moving back towards its HQ to score precious points while the Catapult stands guard over the FOB. The score is now tied at 3-3 and the situation is becoming desperate. Despite initially being wounded, the concentrated fire that the Panther drew left the Catapult unscathed. The Hunchback, continuing to walk backwards in retreat is unable to help turn the tide, unwilling to risk running with a damaged gyro.

At the last possible moment, the initiative of the Wolverine allows the PA to grab a final point from taking the Fusilier’s FOB, bringing the score to 4-3 and bringing victory to the Phoenix Armament. The major victory and securing of the battlefield means that the Draconis Combine mercenaries are able to recover the two destroyed mechs, the Panther and Jenner- helping to make up for the loss of their Raven in the first defeat last week.

The commander of the Phoenix Armament, having received the report, readies his forces to counterattack.

Game Breakdown

This game was played over two separate nights. At the end of the first night which was through 5 rounds, we both felt that the PA lance was in deep trouble and would hard-pressed to climb out of the 3-0 hole. And he was able to just that.

The major decisive point in the battle was losing the Jenner which, coupled with an extremely lucky TAC to the center torso of the Hunchback which led to a roll of 10 (two crits) meant that any chance to do anything on that side of the battlefield was gone. Truth be told though, the mistake happened because I essentially forgot the Jenner needed to withdraw to cool down, and instead charged headlong into close combat. So at 7 heat, the Jenner ran in and got smoked.

Outer Wilds Review

What happens when you create a game that has a beautiful, open-ended solar system with no hand holding and nothing to push you along other than your own burning curiosity? You get the exploration adventure masterpiece that is Outer Wilds.

Note: this is a spoiler-free review.

You awaken, gasping and opening your four eyes to the sight of a large green planet in orbit high above you. Something explodes near the giant planet. You’re then tasked with making your way to the observatory high above the small town and stopping by a few places on the way.

Normally it wouldn’t garner much attention but the “tutorial area” of Outer Wilds is a brilliantly-designed area, containing every little nugget of knowledge that a player will need to take with them for solving puzzles, navigating around the star system and learning what to do with certain things. Between the tutorial to learn how to fly the model space ship, to navigating in zero-g, to the fascinating museum beneath the observatory, you’ll learn everything you need to know – there’s no unlocking more gadgets that will later allow you to get to new places, or a better space ship to travel to a different place. Alongside learning all these important gameplay elements the player will no doubt be enraptured in some of the more interesting displays in the museum. Why is there a scary fish that apparently came from a different planet? What is this creepy, moving shard-rock? With it, the first seeds for the story are planted, helping the player to form, in their mind, the first “quests.”

I say that in quotes because there is really no official quests or missions or anything of the sort, at least in the traditional sense. The normal “hand-holding” of walking a player through a very rigid questline is not present in Outer Wilds. Something I’ve touched upon in my Morrowind Review with how very boring and linear quests have gotten in more modern RPG games, this game presents you with clues, threads of a story, and it is left to you on which thread you follow.

At the start you’re presented with a few different threads to follow but you’re not even forced to follow any one. Right before you’re cleared to launch to effectively leave the tutorial area for the first time, Hornfels, the head astronomer asks you what you’d want to do first, giving you a few options like “Start with something small” or “meet up with other travelers (astronauts)” which helps point you to things you could do. But never does it do anything more than give you a thread of where to start.

After this its up to you! Each thread will take you in a different direction, but you don’t even have to be following a thread. You could just go fly to which ever planet looks coolest, or something odd caught your eye and wanted to check that out. You might discover something critical to the story, which will add another thread to follow, it might not.

These metaphorical threads are all kept track of in a web of clues that the player references and adds to within their ship’s computer. Right away the player is presented with a slew of questions that any curious space explorer would want to answer- what was that we saw blow up above us at the start? Why are those two planets orbiting so close? What’s with this white star over here? What are these ruins and who made them? Where did these people go? Following these threads allows the player to weave together the web of the story, while unraveling the mysteries of what’s going on and why there are some odd things happening within the Heathian’s star system.

Gameplay – 20/20
Outer Wilds features no combat and no fancy progression system, no shiny cosmetics or upgradable tools, nothing like that. Instead, it relies heavily on interesting mechanics and features of the planets and things a player might come across.

The core gameplay mechanic is centered on the game’s 22-minute cycle – where the sun explodes, going supernova and destroying everything before resetting back to the start, with you at the launch tower ready to explore. Note: I briefly considered not including this little nugget of info in the review… It’s a fun aspect to learn on your first time but it is integral to the game and the review of it. Not to mention I think the game itself explains it on Steam.

The gameplay loop involves using the time as wisely as possible before being reset, whether that means getting as fast as you can to a hard-to-reach location and unlock the next series of clues before the sun explodes, or utilizing time in just the correct way to unlock a puzzle.

Of course I don’t want to ruin any of the amazing puzzles, or the incredible story, but the elements within the tutorial area, especially the museum aid the player in how to unlock some of the challenges he or she may face.

So how can a game with no quests or obviously apparently storyline really work? I’ll be the first to admit it won’t cater to every gamer- the player must naturally be curious and adventurous and ask the questions that will lead to unlocking the mysteries. In many aspects it reminds me of Myst – a nonlinear adventure where you learn backstories and unravel the truth of what’s going on while solving puzzles.

Coupled with so many interesting locations and tasks, the player is eager to go to a number of locations. When I played there was always a laundry list of things I wanted to do and with each cycle I could only pick one or two. Think about it- it is incredible how, despite the game having absolutely no task list or quest system, I have a huge pile of things to do. I’m reminded of Factorio in its very ironic “always something to do” way (review coming soon!) – whose open-endedness is similar in that regard.

Graphics & Sound – 19/20
I’ll start first with the sound- first and foremost the soundtrack. What an epic and incredibly memorable soundtrack it is. Most of the tracks are linked to a location or doing something (like flying through space) but there are several great tracks, especially the menu and main themes that will leave you whistling it for hours after playing.

Along with music itself, the ambience is perfect, setting the tone for each of the mysterious locations. I found the hair raising on my neck in some cases, linked with unlocking more clues to the story. All really well done to keep you focused in on the beautiful world of Outer Wilds.

And beautiful it is – some of the scenes that you encounter across your travels are nothing short of breathtaking thanks in part to the odd scale of the solar system within the game. Planets are much smaller and distances are shorter making for many interesting panoramas and vistas. In a behind the scenes I recall that the game designers had a tough task of making important points on these planets visually interesting to convey that it is an important place to visit, as opposed to just “empty space” and this is done very well. While traveling around in your ship, there are many places you fly near and you can spot landmarks that you will no doubt wish to go check out.

Visual cues and scale are an important theme that help guide the player along. The sun, planets, areas and more all help to peel away the hidden layers of the story.

In the end, despite what is usually a vast emptiness of space, its so rare that the player would ever feel that way and instead is always greeted with a gorgeous view of a sunrise or sunset on a planet or an eclipse. So many things that really add to the incredible views.

Controls & UI – 14/15
Flying the ship came pretty natural to me, where I’ve played several games with zero-g / newtonian physics. It certainly was not easy to come to grips with the size of everything (the ship itself included) and landing is not the easiest. The controls beyond that are very basic, which is a good thing in keeping it simple and uncomplicated. Also worth mentioning is the helpful visual cues the player has while flying, especially when it comes to thruster direction and strength.

The UI is great and really shines when it comes to how the story (and your found clues) are presented. You can view this by planet / moon (where a given clue was found) or by a vast, interconnected web of clues that slowly stitch together the entire backstory of what’s going on. Each thread that I originally mentioned gets its own node in the web to start from, with an icon reminding you that there’s something to explore or learn. If it interests you, you can investigate it and after, you learn of other connected nodes leading you possibly in separate directions for more clues. Slowly more of the web will be revealed as the player works through the game.

Replayability – 10/15

As one would expect from a very story-driven and puzzle-driven game, the replayability is pretty low. After the mysteries of the game are solved, there really isn’t anything to do. There is definitely value in revisiting this game again down the line, but aside from that there’s not much replayability. Keeping in mind that that is the nature of the beast, I don’t hit the score too hard there.

Immersion – 8/10

Given how the story is told, the rich history of the world and the creatures within (you are a Hearthian, a four-eyed alien that doesn’t have a sex) there’s a lot to love. The places and scenes really do a great job keeping you in the game, alongside how the story is told.

I docked points for what I believe is probably the largest letdown in the game: NPC interaction. It’s not terrible, and certainly not a major focus point of the game, but more could be done in terms of reactionary dialog to keep it interesting, or giving you more reasons to talk to NPCs more often. At least a couple NPCs, after you talk to them, there’s zero reason to talk to them again. To contrast, one NPC in particular has interesting dialog choices based on the state of the sun (how close it is to exploding) and engages in some interesting discourse. I’d like to have seen a bit more of that to make the NPCs seem a little less static and robotic.

Challenge Level – 9/10

The game has some incredible puzzles that force you to really put on the thinking cap. Some just don’t seem solvable and so you leave and learn some more things about the universe and come back to it later and realize there was something you didn’t know you could do before unlocking the puzzle.

Sometimes it felt downright frustrating to want to unlock something and you just couldn’t figure out why. Persistent gamers will be rewarded so long as their patience does not run out. Otherwise it’s always a great idea to move on and return another time later, as there’s plenty more to explore and learn.

Overall the game felt very challenging and because of that, felt extremely rewarding to finally solve certain puzzles as the pieces clicked into place, on why I couldn’t open a door or get through to a certain area. And by the end of the game, you felt great on having solved the mysteries and learning what happened.

Mods & Modability – 5/10

A big ding here, but not unexpected. It is slightly unfair to rate this game based on its modability but I can’t bring myself to omit it from the score as it is, as I’ve established, an integral part of any great game. It breathes life into older games and keeps people playing the same game long beyond what might be expected. As I said though, it’s a bit unfair so I’m only deducting 5 points, despite the availability of mods being almost nonexistent.

OVERALL SCORE – 85

Outer Wilds is a masterpiece I didn’t see coming – I did not expect this game to be as good as it was. I had seen a little gameplay and a glowing review, but I had no idea this would fast become one of my top 10 games of all time.

The game is just so unique, while not completely new in most aspects, it is an amazing diamond in the rough at very little cost. The story is enthralling and even more importantly keeps you engaged with it, rather than mindlessly checking off boxes in a quest log.

I couldn’t recommend it more- don’t watch gameplay, don’t spoil it, just dive into the game and get lost. Enjoy the ride.