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video game reviews

Game Review: Beyond The Wire

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All images are screenshots from the game

This game was sent to me as a review code. While I am very grateful for the opportunity, I will not let it influence my opinion. This will be my honest review of this game.

Beyond the Wire is a World War I online multiplayer shooter that promises large epic battles. There are two map sizes, 50 vs 50 and 40 vs 40. The only game mode I was ever able to play was frontline. You capture the objective, hold it for some time, and the frontline moves till you run out of time or capture the whole map. Once in a game, you can create different divisions, each with its own unique roles and load oats. Teams are limited by the choice of load oats to promote teamwork.

This game aims for realism with its insane amount of detail towards authenticity. The uniforms, maps, and weapons have all been carefully curated to not only fit the aesthetic but to also be respectful to history. The sound is amazing. You can hear footsteps moving towards or away from you. You can hear the bullets cutting the wind as they fly by you. It is a frightening moment when you hear the bulet ricochet off the ground beside you as you try to find its source. I recommend you play this game with headphones for the full experience. 

I had a lot of fun with this game when I could find a match. This game is starving for players. I was able to guess the pattern and hop on when there were people playing, but it was always a gamble. You are not getting the large battles that this game promised. My biggest match was 10 vs 10, but I was usually stuck in a server with high ping. You can always join an empty server and hope people start joining, but it’s never guaranteed. A big issue with this game is that if there isn’t anyone online, you can’t play this game because there is no story mode or bot matches.

I am not going to talk about the bugs I found because it is still in early access. The bugs I encountered were mostly cosmetic, but none of them was game-breaking. So is this game worth it? As of today, it isn’t. For the price, you should be able to pick it up whenever you want. Instead, you are bound to play with other people’s schedules.

When I was able to find a match, I had a lot of fun. I liked the anxiety I felt as I tried to find an enemy, and loved the satisfaction of finally getting a kill. I do want to send out my deepest apologies to those unlucky few I was matched with. I played terribly and never seemed to get better, but there was no flaming, and I never got kicked, and for that, I am grateful. Despite my poor performance, it was an experience I wanted to keep putting myself into. 

I would wait till it goes on sale or hope that they give out a free weekend before making your decision. The population seems to be growing as of writing this. It seems to be getting easier to find larger matches, but it is still a gamble. The game is on sale now on Steam, you can decide if the discount is enough to hop on. The sale ends September 7.

video game reviews

Game Preview: Project F4E Beta

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All images are from the screenshots I was able to recover after my hard drive died

I got to play the beta for Project F4E this weekend, and I thought I’d share my experience. While it is too early to form a proper critique of the game, the beta offered a taste of what the full game has in store. Because the game is still in an early alpha build, I will not speak on the crashes and bugs I encountered.

Project F4E is a MOBA with some RPG elements to it. The objective is simple, kill the world bosses before the timer runs out. You are one of three players who roam a large open map, searching for bosses to kill. You can build some towers, or animate and power up large statues that will help you with the mobs and bosses. Although there is a direct path to take to the bosses, the world is pretty open. You can clear the mobs in any order, but be mindful of the ever-ticking timer. 

The beta had four different champions to choose from: a tank, support, a ranger, and a healer. You start with a basic ability, and game stats and abilities as you level. At each level, you get a choice from the cards you draw from this deck. Each level offers you two cards to choose from. This mechanic offers some variety in the gameplay because it is unlikely you will pull the same set of cards twice. I enjoyed the randomness this brings to the game, but I can see it becoming unfairly broken. I can only hope that they can make the champions balanced. 

You get rewarded for completing matches and quests, and bonuses for winning. The in-game currency is used to power up your abilities. Leveling up your abilities gives them permanent buffs. As you level your champion, you gain new abilities and boosts that you can use to change up your deck. As is the tradition in MMOs, there is also loot to be had. Matches and quests drop items that boost your character’s stats. 

So what did I think of Project F4e? It was fun once I got the hang of it, but the gameplay got stale pretty quickly. Although I always had a different deck, the game felt the same each time. Matches were either a slow-moving escort mission to the world bosses, or they were an aimless and frustrating walk about. 

The combat was ok, but it was stiff and slow. Most of the time I spent waiting for cooldowns or dying because the level-up menu would pop up at the worst times. The mobs in this game all felt the same regardless of what biome we ended up in. It got stale and repetitive pretty quickly despite having a random element.

This is a Moba, and strong communication and coordination are important. I lost a lot of games because we couldn’t coordinate correctly or someone wanted to solo everything. F4E at the very least offers a true MOBA experience. The gameplay is a bit repetitive, but it is too early for it to be absolute.

If you like MOBA’s but need a break from the toxic ones, you should at least keep F4E on your radar. You can find out more about the game on their official website. Don’t forget to sign up for their future betas.

Series Reviews

TV Series Reviews: Halo (2022) First Impression

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I honestly forgot this show was in the making. It’s been a while since I’ve played any of the Halo games, and while I am not the biggest fan, I do remember enjoying it. I went into this series with the faintest memory of the story, making this a whole new experience. My advice to you is to do the same. You shouldn’t hold onto the expectations that come with the hours of nostalgia this game has created for you, but rather go into this with the idea that this is a new sci-fi show with a halo skin on it. 

I think this show intended to reboot the series and introduce it to a new generation. This will offend the die-hard fans who are expecting this show to expand the lore they have already spent hours of investment in, but I am far enough removed from this that I can only hope that it will succeed in creating a whole new narrative that can garner a new fan base. I am still waiting for a sci-fi show as magical as Firefly.

There isn’t anything objectively bad in the first episode. The acting and graphics are fine, but it is too early to tell whether or not this new narrative will live up to any hype. The first episode spends a lot of time introducing this new story, and so far, I fear it might end up being another generic sci-fi show that gets abandoned halfway through. Unless they can break away from overdone and easy tropes, I don’t see much of a future for this show. For this show to be successful, it needs to be able to tell a story that is unique to the Halo universe. 

 But it is still the first episode, and thus too early to make any fair judgment. Based on the pacing, it will probably take two or three episodes for this show to find its footing. Until then, I can only be hopeful. If you are interested, I would wait for the release of a few more episodes as the first episode doesn’t do much to hook the audience. But for those of you who don’t have Paramount+ and want to check it out, the first episode is on YouTube. 

Watch it Here!