Bomber Crew: USAAF....

A new crew, a new area of operations. The USAAF DLC brings the Mediterranean theater of the war and an increase in difficulty with it. I'd read it would be more difficult but seeing it for myself...... Yea it's an increase. War is hell. 

The increased amount of fighter waves per mission and the numbers of fighters in those waves can be hectic. The further you go in the the DLC campaign the more you get swarmed. The new bomber does have a lot more guns and crew so the in game version lives up to it's real world Flying Fortress. Still the DLC feels borderline unfair, I'll get back to that in a sec. The real injustice isn't the increased enemy numbers it's the moving bomb targets....  Boats. So hard to hit them,such as the second mission with only one spare bomb for mistakes(4 bombs, 3 targets). So needless to say I had been stuck on it for a while. Thankfully I gained an experienced navigator for a later boat mission; Which let me set my own way-points. Was the best way I could align the plane for better approaches. 

Progress overall was slow. So back to the borderline unfair point. It's a grind. It's a harsh environment to do a grind.

Having increased difficulty means losses. As short as the campaign is I've lost more planes and crew than in the original base game! So when (not if) a plane and crew are lost its harsher to be running missions to gain the cash you need to make things better. Never mind try and keep what you have. Loosing crew is a real hurt when your further into the campaign and your stuck with a new crew member(i.e. radio operator) with no upgrades. The grind get more real. The campaign pushes a very 'make do' way with situation when push comes to shove. A stretch beyond 'just' being a game mechanic. That's the unfair borderline. Not because of the harshness but because a lot of it boils down to luck. A whole lot of luck. 

The B-17 also has a tendency to have the undercarriage shot out; Leaving you with situations where you can do everything perfect but have to ditch in the sea. I lost maybe half of my planes that way. Again all down to luck on who survives the crash.... Which depends per crew member on who has the gear and in turn the stats to survive.... But loosing the plane is the big hit.... Loosing it, it's gear and upgrades can be 'the' massive pain in the butt to replace. Compounded with any KIA crew. 

On top of that, my own need to have a specific plane/crew setup was a motivational grind to do the main grind(odd I know, but it's what I needed to do). Thankfully I was more lucky than not.

On a side note I chose the 2 slot equipment racks in plane rather than the 3, for weight reasons. Both slots on the racks were first aid and a fire extinguisher(cash allowing startling with 2 aid packs and a fire extinguisher mid plane). Survival in the air was my main aim. Put out fires and save/revive shot crew members. Having nothing but parachutes in the slots would have made the bailout of a crew better (if there are even enough for all the crew)but it's a situation that's very.... situational. Not one I came across often at all. Better to ditch and take chances on the crew member stat, pigeon and dingy. 

For the campaign's first half, my main motivation was clearing the enemy aces. 

The second half motivation was that the end of the campaign was so near....

The grind is real but the (relativity)short journey of the campaign makes it 'feel' more doable. Even with all the losses. If your into the main game you need to be really into it to get the most out of the DLC. Otherwise frustration can halt your enjoyment. It's harsh but I'm glad I got it and got through it.

It's a campaign that can be run with the bare basics and luck. It'll be hard, but if you don't care about options for getting the job done better and consider each crew and plane expendable per mission..... Did I mention luck....

Bomber Crew....

There's a sense of completion with my 'main' save in Bomber Crew that I'm happy with. I've taken my time with the campaign progression. Doing extra missions to gain all the  gear, upgrades, experience, research, training and currency to allow it all to happen without to much restriction. It's a game I've really, really enjoyed the more I 'got into it'.

With the end of the campaign, the enemy aces all destroyed etc. Achievements came naturally as the campaign progressed; So much so that I have all but two. I felt the game was complete. 

Here's the caveat. It took a few tries to redo the last mission and get all the crew back alive. I admit I copied the save folder, I would overwrite it if the end mission wasn't going the way I wanted. 

I could do the mission and get it done successfully; My problem was getting all the crew back alive. Technically it's 'save scumming' and while my enjoyment of the game up to that point didn't need it; My fulfillment of the game did need all the crew to survive the last mission for a happy ever after(Memphis Belle style rather than Space above and beyond). 

Getting them that far after so much effort and luck was good. I needed them to all survive the last mission. A very subjective thing but a challenge nonetheless that I wanted and needed to do and did. Granted the plane was shot to bits, two engines missing, the crew injured but alive...I got them all home.

I've since created another crew to mess about with rather than go back into the first save. Again that's a me thing.

Getting the campaign done was all I wanted from the game. But now that the main game is done I've an urge for more and the USAAF DLC is looking a lot more appealing than a second playthrough.

I can let this crew off into the sunset. I'll have to see about another in a B-17.

Bomber Crew....

Bomber Crew Xbox edition.... Currently free to keep with the Games with Gold/subscription is an interesting iteration. I've played the PC version a lot; Yet not a game I've gone back to since the DLC. 

A lot like my gameplay of Star Trek Online on both PC and Xbox. The difference in platform is in itself a variation that offers new gamepaly experiences. For Bomber Crew it's not so intuitive in it's platform transition. The game feels better to me with a mouse and keyboard on PC so maybe I'm biased from the start. Playing it on Xbox it's still the same good action experience of a game; But the move to a controller feels like its all thumbs. 

A process of 4 or 5 clicks with a mouse gets turned into a more complex system of actions within actions. Hold left trigger while pressing, then hold right trigger for other actions but if you press the left button while holding the right trigger then it's not the same action you expect and the next thing you know it's all going wrong and just becomes a mess of little characters doing things you don't want while the plane is getting shot to bits. So all in all it's been an experience that hasn't drawn me to the game. A control system that at least for me is taking time to 'adjust to'. Too much time to be a hop in and play kind of game(that the PC version is).

Even the zoom from external to internal is not as smooth on Xbox. Easy on PC with a mouse wheel but on controller X to zoom and X to zoom out sounds simple, in the heat of action it's just another unintuitive thing to remember. 

Doing the tutorial was a challenge. Landing.... X to zoom in, D pad to select pilot, left thumbstick to select wheels, click to bring the gear down...... Everything is 'simply complex'. Feeling needlessly complex.

So it's taking some getting used to, if it clicks with me it clicks(pun intended?) but it may take time, if I make time for it..... Which is a pity as I was looking forward to playing it.

Bomber Crew....

The base version of Bomber Crew was a free giveaway with Humble Bundle last week. I'd heard of it but never looked into it, never mind think about buying it. I recall a bit of hype about it and good reviews when it first came out. Getting it for free now seems the perfect chance to take a peek. 

Although I've only scratched the surface it's a good game. There's fun in it's crew management as well as makming sure they can carry out tasks in the air. No wonder there's so much DLC and a Sci-Fi space version. 

The cute factor hides tough enough gameplay mechanics if your not paying attention. It can be forgiving as well so there's give and take. 

Upgrading the plane and crew's gear is a driving factor that includes plenty of visual customizations. Like my Flaming Flying Pumpkin....

A game I'll be pottering about with for a while yet. Easy to play but I need more time to master....

Open the bomb bay doors.... Never mind being under attack..... Target the enemy fighters.....Close the bomb bay doors.... Why are the bomb bay doors still open!!!

A Casual Carebear Gamer

Windbound....

While I may be looking forward to playing Bomber Crew in this month's Games with Gold; The other game, Windbound did grow in my interest. Mainly due to my need to see if the game mechanics were as 'bad' and 'quirky' as I'd read they are.

I took a quick look.

Long story short, they are and it's true that the game doesn't offer you any motivation to play it. 

Maybe it's just not a game for me. Maybe I'm missing something(or a lot). Maybe I'm being harsh towards it because it's a free game; Or I have preconceived expectations of a survival game. That said first impressions matter.

The game looks good and I like the art-style as I do the music and sounds overall; But even on the 'easiest' difficulty it's like walking a tightrope of game mechanics. Fine when you play by it's rules but try to veer off and it will either fail you hard or not allow you to do what you want. So initial wonder at exploring a new 'world' is smashed in the face by lots of 'no'.

The start, at least for me, made me question the story and the main character's motivation. Raft sinking and then having to walk into a bright light wasn't motivating me to play a survival game if you catch my.... drift.

From the get-go the game has rubbed my up the wrong way. I'd have rather had more mystery, with the character waking up on the beach from the start. 

On face value the basic systems are fine. Collect things, make things. Collect long grass make make grass rope etc etc. 

Kill pigs to get bones and skin but not meat seemed odd given the hunger situation.

The game is a survival game for sure. Scarce resources. With only berries to eat on the first island and pigs not offering edible meat it felt harsh. 

In crafting, one needed material was a tusk; Yet killing the biggest bore gave no tusk. The start of my frustrations. 

My crafting needs then pointed to getting palm leaves for the 'next' craft-able item. Good a goal as anything! But the only palm trees are visible on a distant island..... Gotta swim it right.... 

Nah, barley halfway and all stamina was gone.  Sinking.... Fade to black and it's back to being face down on the beach. That's a thing that happened a lot as I tried to do and figure out things. There was no fun in it just frustrations.

By this stage I couldn't take the game seriously. Game systems that felt like they were only there to troll and  mess with the player. Play by the rules or not at all felt too restraining.

There's 'mystery' in the narrative that's there but for me it wasn't compelling. It just is... The mystery quickly fades when you see that it's shoehorning you in a specific way. A not by choice push that really feels like it. No real mystery to figure out, no real exploration to get lost in.

As for other world narratives, I've no idea what they are or why I should care.

In trying to get to that island I should have made a grass boat but I was too fed up of the game already I have zero motivation to press on.

Given swimming the smallest distance from the first island to the rock beside it, swimming 100 meters and getting an achievement.... An achievement that less than 8% of players had gotten... Speaks volumes!

Yea it's not a game for me. If a player can get into the game mechanics I'm sure it's a game that will feel like it falls into place for them. If it clicks it clicks and good for the player.

For some reason this games art style kept reminding me of Aragami(a far better game(no wonder really being a Ninja game(like here, here and here)); Yet the second game never clicked with me.

I'm looking forward to Bomber Crew in the next week. When it was free on PC(ages ago) I've a friend who claimed it on PC on my recommendation. He couldn't get into it. He nit picked it's game mechanics and didn't want to play it to gain the in game upgrades that would have negated his early game dislikes. I don't know anyone who has or does play Windbound so I've only the internet to lead me and I'm agreeing with the majority. That said my friend also claimed and played Subnautica and similarly didn't like it.... Only in the last few weeks has played it again and is now really into it.

For Windbound, maybe time will tell for me, maybe not.

Bomber Crew....

After a learning curve including panic and wtf moments I've come to terms with the console controller version of game input.

There have been losses. A tail gunner got spammed when a technical failure/issues on a return to base caused a crash (emergency landing) near the runway loosing the plane. An engineer made an epic engine save from the wing of the plane only to die of bullet wounds after the plane was raked by fighters. Another lose was a Bombardier who was in the nose gunner position when he was smeared over the glass after being "Alpha'd" by 3 oncoming fighters and an Ace; It was not his day!

All in all I'm happy with both the controls now(thumbs and confusion still happen at times); But the plane upgrades and crew training is so far keeping on par with the tasks at hand(more or less). The problem with trying to gain the cash/currency to do upgrades comes at the cost of rolling the dice of doing missions. There have been at least two times I've abandoned such a run; No point in getting a wrecked plane and dead crew back for the sake of 'just' completing a mission... 

Progress overall being made.

Achievement % rates are of interest for this game.

Less than 15% have hit 20 targets. 16% have flown 10 missions and 18.5% have killed 50 enemy fighters.

Being a part of that 15% or so is 'interesting' to me as I'm only on the second part of the campaign. Considering myself to have only just scratched the surface(6 more main targets remain after that); Never mind doing the USAAF campaign. So not a lot of players persist with the game. Then again if I'd not played the PC version to bits I may not have persisted with this version given the controller layout issues 'I' was having. 

The game is fun and I'm able to enjoy it now that I've overcome what I consider to be the overly complex/unintuitive controller layout. It is what it is and probably the best of a controller layout conversion form keyboard and mouse that could be been done. Again given I've played so much of the PC version I'm not pushed to progress hard on the Xbox version. Just potter away with it. 

Fun is fun.

Hades....

 

Hades, while I may be late to the party I've been getting into the game over the last couple of weeks. While I've plinked away at it since I bought it(last February along with Bomber Crew and Torchlight III), it has very much sat on the back-burner of my gaming. No fault of it's own. Too many games and not enough time. I really do like so much of it's elements. It well deserves all it's accolades. In short it does it all so well! Graphics, audio, the characters and humour, it's got style and I love it for it all! 

Gameplay for me has ranged from pure button mashing to thought out considered choices. Regardless of what you choose, sometimes random is random and you have to roll with it. Not that I've done any real farming in the game. As random as the game can be there is a lot of repetition.

It does seem to need a lot if you want to get/have/collect/upgrade and 'do' it all. The games style does a lot to easy it. For me and my current gameplay needs I've long since lost the farm/grinding in a game. I guess I'm more choosy than a completionist for the sake of it. Hades is no different on that score(for me).

Hades does it all well. I've been enjoying it but I've felt frustrations creeping in. After persisting I knew I was at a stage where the game would have faded away unplayed and then later uninstalled. But the game has a 'God Mode', Ill named but apt theme as it increases your survivability the more you get killed. A true gift from the gods. 

Once turned on your first death allows 20% damage resistance on your next run, then every subsequent death/run allows an additional 2% till you reach 80%. While a player may never reach (depending on player and farming/activities) anywhere near 80%(maybe, maybe not!?); It all allows an edge to bring enjoyment back to the adventure. Allowing grinding without as much punishment for the efforts. Hope of percentages in your favour. 

A game that allows players to facilitate gameplay has to be well commended. Each to their own. There's so much of the game to be seen and enjoyed. More now that I've turned on that mode and there is renewed 'hope' of enjoyment. 

Games with Gold....

With the 360 games no longer being added to the monthly Games with Gold offerings it seems 'weird' to 'just' see 2 games. With luck quality should increase. Speaking of which I think they have with at least one this month...

Bomber Crew is a great fun game I've played a lot of on PC; Via a free humble bundle code for Steam and later buying the USAAF dlc. My posts on that here, here and here. So seeing the Deluxe all in version free on Xbox should be an interesting return to the game for me.

Windbound a game I've not known about except for hearing the name(just sounds familiar). A shipwrecked alone experience on an uncharted island where you explore and adapt as you navigate land and sea to survive and thrive; All sounds interesting enough. Yet not a game I'll be diving into as even the 'good' reviews of the game on Steam are fairly scathing about the games mechanics. A visually good looking game let down with it's punishing and essentially meaningless survival mechanics. It also seems that the storyteller 'easier' mode lacks any motivation in story to drive the grind of game mechanics. A grind for the sake of it, it seems. A lot of nice ideas let down with implementation of the game. So I'd say a very polarizing game to say the least. Proof in the pudding and all; If it's a game that clicks with a gamer good on them. For me it's a case of too many games not enough time already. Maybe I'll miss a hidden gem....

Praetorians(HD Remaster)....

Praetorians; a game from 2003 and one I picked up at the time. I was way more into RTS games then than I am now. A game that was more strategic as you start with a set force and it's only reinforced in certain maps at certain times if at all. A game that's easy to loose without you knowing you've already lost(unless you already know the maps).  So in that regard it's more hardcore. Punishing but only in a Hitman failure is educational.kind of way.

There's a certain charm to the game/story/graphics in looking back at it now but I'm sure there's a degree of nostalgia. The later levels are a 'challenge' from what I do recall. A game I've waffled about before and not only due to it getting a remastered version(here and here).

As I said I can still play the original game from disk(yes physical media!) even on a Win 10 pc today as well as use my old saves. While I also said I'd not pick up the HD remastered version unless it was on sale. I'm not even sure I have it on any wish-list anywhere anymore; With the reasoning that I've seen and done it and can do it again with the OG disk/saves. However it was given free on Games with gold for Xbox last month.

I didn't even think the remaster would be on Xbox. So of course I claimed and installed it. It's a surprise to play on the platform. It looks great and plys just like the original. Maybe not as intuitive with a controller as with a mouse and keyboard but it works well(some games ported are less so, like Bomber crew, at least for me, which I waffled about here and here). A game I was happy to start to get into but one I've put down and not hopped back into. If I'd no history(pun?) with the game I'd probably say I was pleasantly surprised and see where it all went and played out. A playable game but one I know has a difficulty curve that bites later on so not for the faint of heart.

So my nostalgia is high and very forgiving. For me back in the day, the game was a bridge between the RTS's of C&C style games and the revelation of joy that was and is Rome Total War, remaster of it and all. 

If you do get to play the game:

Use sunscreen scouts.

Use unit's in groups(quick numbers).

Use scouts.

Unit's have weak/strong points against different enemy units; So use the right unit against it's preferred foe. 

Use scouts.

Have unit's support each other in attack and defence. Hold the line and keep formation.

Use scouts.

Elevation matters a lot, done't be like you know who....

Use scouts. 

Line of sight matters; Your archers can kill your own as well as the enemy.

&

Use scouts.