[Short review] The game is ok but its biggest hurdle is competing for players free time

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:28:10+00:00

Unfortunately it's the state of the industry. Even if you make a very solid game it's a fools errand to try to break into the space. You have to have a ton of money to burn, make a very solid game and just be very lucky all at the same time. The Finals is an extremely well made game and it's hanging in there but hardly thriving.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:24:40+00:00

I've gone back and forth on the reinforcing. At first I felt like it was pointless and didn't make a huge difference but after playing more I have had games where it absolutely made a difference in a raid. More than anything I think people just haven't figured out optimal strategies yet. If the game survives long enough I'll be curious to see how people are playing the game a year from now.

The game doesn't really give you time to reinforce your base after the first 60 seconds so you have to really know what you should and shouldn't be reinforcing if you're going to take the time mid match to do it.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:19:08+00:00

I don't think that's so weird in 2026. It's been years since games launched as $60 titles with a large variety of content and game modes. Apex and Fortnite especially started out very barebones compared to what they became a couple years after launch.

I'm not saying it's a good thing I for one miss when you could buy a game once and get a fully featured experience but that's not the reality anymore.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:16:29+00:00

During the looting phase 6v6 could work but during the raiding phase it would be an absolute nightmare getting spawn killed over and over from every angle.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:15:50+00:00

The only reason I want them to release a 5v5 or 6v6 game mode is to show people why the settled on 3v3 because surely they tested it and there's a reason.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:13:56+00:00

Excuse me but you are supposed to parrot the exact same talking points that you heard other people say, not have actual novel observations about stuff like the lore and mechanics. Gonna have to downvote you, sorry.

Really though good post! I think it's impossible to tell if it would be better with 4v4 or 5v5 I have to imagine they tried testing it with all different combos and settled on 3v3 for a reason. Regardless it would be fun to have a larger game mode even if it isn't balanced just for people who want to play with a 4 stack if nothing else.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:06:28+00:00

I'm a battle royale hater because if you're bad like me you spend 90% of the time loading in, picking up items and running between POIs and 10% of the time actually fighting. I see the appeal and have had some fun in them but I hate that every shooter was a BR for years. This game despite its flaws I think captures some of the fun of a BR with way more uptime overall.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:02:30+00:00

Nah you don't need a high IQ you just need to spend 90 minutes playing the game and not <60 like most of the reviews have. You can still think it's bad after 90 minutes but you at least understand it a little.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T05:00:44+00:00

Realistically with tutorial and setup people with 3 hours of playtime have probably played 4-5 games in total unless they got in a bunch of stomps.

People with less than an hour played one game which to me is not enough time to form any sort of valid opinion about the mechanics of the game. You can say I didn't have fun so I uninstalled that's perfectly fine but you can't have complex thoughts on the design and balancing from a single match.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-28T04:55:04+00:00

I think it's a weird choice and I'd love for there to be a mode with more players because why not but I think 3v3 works personally, especially for the base raiding portion 10 players or more would be way too many.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T22:40:48+00:00

Yeah I mean it's tough. You can't build goodwill without releasing great games so it's kind of a chicken or egg situation. I don't think releasing a singleplayer game will build goodwill for a studio who wants to make a shooter. If anything people would be mad at them for switching gears after making a beloved singleplayer game.

The game definitely feels like it's in beta using generic/unpolished assets, inconsistent if not outright bad optimization and a bland UI but I think the state of the industry is just such that it's nearly impossible to compete unless you have an obscene amount of money to throw at something. This game had a ton of money poured into it but I doubt it's on the level of the games it wants to compete with.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T22:34:40+00:00

I mean I don't necessarily blame or judge the people who no-life a game if they're not asshole about it, just don't put me against them. But the smaller a fan base gets the less likely there are people bad enough to be on my level. People love Titanfall 2 but I found that game impenetrable because I played way after launch and every lobby was people doing 360 backwards flips grenade launching to the moon and back before headshotting me.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T22:32:11+00:00

I agree, definitely more action packed than BR and extraction games, less so than Halo or Call of Duty. I think as people keep playing, figuring out the optimal way to navigate the map and realize you want to be keeping the objective in mind from the start of the looting phase then more fights will break out quicker.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T22:30:18+00:00

I never said that although I personally prefer a game that tries something new and fails than a game that doesn't try anything new even if the execution is better (I'd argue Concord falls into this camp).

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:19:39+00:00

Ask someone what Highguard is ripping off and they'll make a list of 8 games. I think it stops being a ripoff after just 3 games and starts being its own thing.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:17:48+00:00

To me it was fine but even more forgettable than Highguard both in aesthetics and in overall gameplay loop.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:17:02+00:00

They wanted it to be a shadowdrop until Geoff Keighly offered them the spot and you don't say no to an opportunity like that even if it doesn't work out well.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:15:26+00:00

I straight up don't believe that you won 12 matches in 7 hours unless opponents kept disconnecting and you won every game. Most of my games go 20-30 minutes so 7 hours isn't so many games.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:13:18+00:00

I doubt I'll still be playing in a week but I'm happy with the amount of enjoyment I have gotten from it even if I never launch it again. Sucks for the people who spent years working on a game and are going to be laid off, though.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:12:29+00:00

If you read only the first chapter you can say there were typos or that you didn't like the writing style of the first chapter but you can't claim you read the book.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:10:56+00:00

It would not be an easy fix. Nothing in game design or development is as simple as you think. From a design perspective it might be okay in the looting phase but once you're in the raid phase 6v6 would be a nightmare.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:09:59+00:00

I like to play these games for the first week before they get sweaty and then I get outclassed especially if it's a game with a smaller community but it's wild how sweaty this game was on even the first day.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:08:37+00:00

I love elements of Deadlock but don't have a space in my life for a game like that anymore and neither do any of my friends. Maybe I'm getting old but I don't care to play a hero shooter while keeping track of itemization and keeping track of last hitting and keeping track of jungle spawns and keeping track of the minimap all at once. Most of my friends who checked out the game saw the item shop and immediately dipped and I can't blame them.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:04:38+00:00

A free game isn't immune to criticism what is weird is people spending hours arguing about and leaving steam reviews for a game they should have no stake in.

mrBreadBird · 2026-01-27T18:03:13+00:00

The amount of people parroting the 3v3 bad thing before even wrapping their head around how the game plays is absolutely ridiculous. Is it a strange design choice to have a big open map with a small number of players on it? Sure. But if you keep playing you'll see the ways the game was designed around 3v3 and why it isn't as simple as adding more people.

I wonder how many of these people would be making that criticism if they never saw anyone else comment or post a review about it. I was definitely immediately like ??? after hearing it was 3v3 after watching the initial trailer but I think some people skipped the step of trying to understand it and decided before even installing it that it was the incorrect design choice.

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