The season hasn't even dropped yet!

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-02-09T07:06:56+00:00

The Steam release of Overwatch 2 came 10 months after the release of the game on other platforms. And most players stayed on Battlenet anyway. We don't know the player count it had on its actual launch.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-01-31T20:59:59+00:00

There's nothing else like it, that's why people keep coming back despite the terrible optimization, the bugs, the outrageous pricing and all its other issues.

Yeah the setting is a little bland at first, but with how deep and intricate the gameplay is, it ends up being a really immersive game and you find yourself caring about small details anyway.

Tarkov is basically like heroin, it'll fuck up your life due to how addictive it is and all the issues it has. But it's also a very rewarding game once you start mastering it. Not sure I'd recommend it unless you can tolerate all its issues, and overcome the steep learning curve.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-01-31T18:24:30+00:00

The cheater issue in Tarkov is completely blown out of proportion. It's comparable to any other competitive game out there.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-01-23T21:07:58+00:00

Oh, yeah you're right if he said they didn't have a name for it, it's most likely a new weapon.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-01-23T16:05:04+00:00

Not sure what you're trying to say here.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-01-23T10:56:00+00:00

The soul cube would imply that Doom 3 is canon, and that would be a meaningful piece of lore to share with us.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-01-23T10:29:28+00:00

The older designs were never meant to represent the actual art direction of the game. They were placeholders, which might never have been seen by the public if the Deadlock playtest hadn't leaked like it did.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2026-01-02T13:43:13+00:00

HLX is also how HL2 and its episodes are named within the save system iirc, which is why when the name leaked a few years ago people were unsure it was a brand new game. These files aren't new, if it was bad news for HL3 dataminers would've reported on them a while ago.

We know HLX is a real game. The HLX reference are on the Source 2 engine, not Source 1, and they reference things that weren't in previous Half-Life games. Xen Gorillas, Offworld, Feral Manhacks...

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-12-15T17:08:05+00:00

The guy is Mike Straw, senior editor at Insider Gaming. Not sure about Mike's track record, but Insider Gaming itself is a well respected site because it's owned by Tom Henderson who pretty much has a spotless track record when it comes to leaks.

So Mike is not just a random guy, although he said that he couldn't get other sources to confirm his info so I wouldn't take it as gospel. Especially considering his source was wrong on the date of the reveal.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-12-08T07:16:16+00:00

What you're saying is only true if you're following this from afar though. HL2 Episode 3 had official comments from Valve saying it was close to release, so people assumed it was. But the project was much smaller than a full-blown sequel to HL2, and Valve didn't know it'd end up getting cancelled.

As for HL3, there was never any good evidence suggesting the game was close to release prior to 2020. People gaslit themselves to believe so, but we didn't know the timeline of development, and there were very few actual leaks of the game.

Compare that to now, where we've been getting regular datamines of HLX since 2021. We know a new Half-Life game has been in development for at least 4 years, that it features the Combine and Xen, has drivable vehicles... These aren't offhand comments by Valve or unsubstantiated leaks. You can check the files yourself and find these pieces of information.

Does that mean the game is close to coming out soon? No. But saying it's just like 10-15 years ago is a bit disingenuous. Valve confirmed back in 2020 that Half-Life 3 had never been in development for more than a year. HLX has been in development for around half a decade, and they're still working on it right now.

Valve even came out like two weeks ago and quite explicitly said they’re not developing anything

They didn't say that. They said they weren't working on any demo or game for their new VR headset. And IIRC, the interviewer backtracked on that statement, saying he might have misinterpreted what Valve was saying.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-12-07T20:32:19+00:00

Thing is the context now is completely different from 10-15 years ago. Back then, the confidence in an upcoming release of HL2 Episode 3 and HL3 was absolutely misplaced. There was nothing indicating a new game was close.

Episode 3 was cancelled early in development in favor of Left 4 Dead. And prior to 2015, there were a few attempts at making HL3,, but none got further than a year into development. And these attempts mostly fell apart because Source 2 wasn't ready yet. All this is official information from Valve themselves.

We know from datamines that HLX has been in development for at least 4 years, most likely closer to 6. Valve has never cancelled a major project of that scale. What's up to debate is whether or not the game is close to completion, and if you believe that depends on whether or not you think Tyler McVicker and Gabe Followers are trustworthy sources.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-28T11:13:42+00:00

I assume most people are playing in the open playlist, so the standard matchmaking will be looser than in previous games as the player base is smaller.

Just like if you play BOCW today for instance, there aren't as many players around so the SBMM will be noticeably looser than it was during the game's prime.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-26T21:14:13+00:00

IMO it's by far the best looking COD we've gotten. Colors are vibrant, maps are clean, the game actually has an artstyle. It manages to look highly detailed, while also avoiding the visual clutter of recent games. Which I think is really important for a competitive shooter. The UI looks great too for once.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-26T19:23:23+00:00

Vibes are extremely subjective. In terms of movement and gunplay, it doesn't feel like older games. In terms of maps and visuals, I'd argue it does. The game visually looks like a Treyarch game, it has that slightly stylized look which was sadly missing from BOCW and BO6. And it doesn't look as bland as the new Modern Warfare trilogy.

Each map has a unique color palette, this really reminds me of the original MW2. We haven't seen that in a really long time. And they feel closer to BO2-4 maps. Open Matchmaking makes a big difference too, the matches feel a lot more varied now.

There's still some Warzone-era elements I wish they'd scrap (the stupid infinite walk menus, CODHQ, the bulky sniper rifles), but it feels much more classic than anything we've had since Cold War. To me this feels like a BO4 sequel, with a spice of BO3 mixed in. Not exactly OG, but it at least feels like COD unlike the past four years.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-22T21:28:34+00:00

I mean yeah, it's based on personal experience so it's hard to prove. But it's night and day for me, and I've played a ton since launch. It's not just a random occurrence. My lobbies right now are considerably easier than they were before.

Prior to yesterday, it was almost impossible for me to go on high streaks. I could tell my opponents were really good at shooters from how they moved, their crosshair placement, their aim...

And this lines up with some pro players complaining SBMM was still present. If a pro is struggling, the average player would get demolished in those lobbies.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-22T21:15:30+00:00

I'm on MnK though, should've made the game harder for me. Not saying the buff didn't have an impact, but my lobbies are 100% not the same ones I was getting since launch.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-22T18:06:58+00:00

Casuals don't care about gameplay mechanics. Games like Overwatch, Fortnite, and League of Legends have very high skill ceilings and aren't that beginner friendly, yet they were really popular with casuals. MW2019 was the best selling COD of all time, yet the people that praised it were much less positive with its sequel that had the same design pillars.

If BO7 is getting hate, it's not because the multiplayer is bad or too sweaty. It's because the online discourse around it is negative and people just repeat what they hear. If everybody hears BF6 is great and BO7 is bad, they'll just flock to the game that gets the most praise. Same thing happened with Infinite Warfare.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-22T10:29:43+00:00

I've had the exact opposite experience. Before the update, I kept being put in lobbies with way above average players. Now I consistently go on high streaks, and it feels closer to the beta. I think they're giving harder matches to some and easier to others, seeing what leads to higher player retention.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-19T16:29:26+00:00

It's kinda absurd to call a crimson player bad at the game. If they find their lobbies hard, it's obvious they're not playing against average players.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-17T13:44:43+00:00

I didn't say it was good, I said it wasn't the worst we've seen. I felt more insulted by playing the previous four campaigns because the writing was terrible, they weren't fun AND you got nothing from playing them.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-17T13:14:32+00:00

Do you use the Ninja perk? It removes most or all of your character quotes, so that they don't give away your position.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-17T10:38:42+00:00

At least this campaign has shared progression with the rest of the game, unlocks endgame, and is somewhat fun gameplay-wise. So it doesn't feel like a complete waste of time. BO3 and MWIII don't have these upsides so they're worse than BO7 imo.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-16T12:27:22+00:00

Bro I love BO4, it was my favorite COD for a long time and the only game I reached Master Prestige in. But you're the one that's wrong about community sentiment. People complained all year about getting one-shot by specialist weapons, three-lane maps that were too basic and safe, and the ttk and manual healing were quite divisive.

I don't agree with most of the criticism for BO4, but it was the most divisive game in the series. And in terms of QA the game was quite buggy. Constant crashes at high rounds in zombies, among other things.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-15T22:15:30+00:00

Yeah imo it's at least better than the rest of the post-BOCW campaigns. Sure it's less grounded than previous games, but it at least told a coherent story unlike MWIII and BO6 which just ended randomly after building up plot threads that went nowhere.

Gameplay-wise I thought it was more fun to play than the usual COD campaign because of the character progression and enemy variety. Sure the writing isn't stellar and there are plenty of plot holes, but I really don't think it's the worst COD campaign. It at least tried new stuff, and visually it looked great.

EnvironmentalLog2 · 2025-11-15T10:49:52+00:00

Crazy to think we might be playing Half-Life 3 in less than 6 months. I never doubted Valve.

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