DragonDai

There are a lot of problems with this game. It's got some of the most amateur animations ever in an AAA game, sophomoric and cliched writing, phoned-in and dead voice acting, tired and boring quest structure, giant empty areas with little to nothing to do, repetitive tasks, boring squad mates, dumbing down of gameplay mechanics, lack of quick save, bugs, one of the worst character creators in the last 10 years, performance issues, overly long transitions sequences, awful balancing, extremely awful pacing, awful scanning that's worse than the crap in ME2, some of the worst companion AI in any game ever, etc etc etc. I could go on and on about the flaws with this game and why these flaws matter and how Bioware/EA royally screwed the pooch here and how there is no system in this entire game that isn't without some sort of major flaw. But here's the thing. When you're actually playing the game...when you're not busy staring at a loading screen or a transition screen or rolling your eyes at the god awful animation/voice acting/writing/etc, you're liking having fun. And that's what's important, right? Fun? That's why we play video games? To have fun? You WILL have fun with this game. Whether it's you + 3 friends getting some coop multiplayer going or you out alone (cause your AI companions have died in the first 3 seconds of combat...again) against the hordes in single player, you will almost certainly be having a really really good time. In fact, you'll like be having a 7.5/10 sort of good time. If I had to compare MEA to another game, I'd compare it to Fallout 4. It was horribly disappointing for a lot of the diehard fans, there were a LOT of serious problems, but, at the end of the day, it was still a fun game worth the purchase. So if it's a 7.5/10 sort of game, why am I giving it a 4/10? Why am I writing a negative review? Well, two reasons. The first is that, despite their response since launch (which has been quite good), Bioware and EA behaved AWFULLY before launch. Some of the devs behind this game have acted in a way that would have gotten others in their field fired in a heartbeat. Truly awful behavior and truly reprehensible actions towards their paying customers and long time fan base. But more importantly, the second reason is that there is a sizable group of Bioware fans that absolutely will not hear ANY criticism of this game or Bioware as a company no matter how legit or reasonable said criticism is. Even the slightest break from the hive mind of "Perfect game 11/10!" is met with hate and scorn. It's **** disgusting. These people give gamers in general a bad name and they are 100% responsible for the state of the industry and **** like MEA. They are the reason this game is so subpar, because EA/Bioware knew they could farm out the fourth game in their biggest franchise to some B team that's never produced a full game before and no matter what quality the game ended up being, there would be enough of this type of fan to lap it up and defend the game regardless of criticism that it'd be a success. So yeah, 7.5/10 if you're JUST looking at the gameplay. 4/10 when you look at the bigger picture, everything included.

This is, without a doubt, the most fun I've had playing a single player FPS campaign in years. It's fast, fluid, dynamic, exciting, and really really really slick. You are a killing machine and the only thing between you and the end of the game is a billion little demons just waiting to be turned into a fine red mist or a lovely red goo. Every area is a new playground of murder. Every zone is another chance to go head to head with some of the biggest, baddest demons around, rip their eyes out of their heads, and shove them down their throats. It's over the the top Glory Kills REALLY drive the "feel" of the game home. The faster you kill, the more recklessly you play, the more your rewarded, not just with showers of health (and later armor), but also in spectacular death animations that just don't get old. All this and it's FULL of well hidden and fun to find secrets, an intuitive yet interesting weapon/armor upgrade system, remade retro levels to find and murder your way through, and one of the most well optimized, bug free experiences I've had from an AAA title maybe ever. This game is worth every penny for the campaign mode alone, and then there's the SnapMap feature which I hear is already turning out some quality content. And multiplayer, if that's your thing (it's not **** I don't mind at all cause the single player is so good). So if your idea **** time is crouching behind waist-high walls and waiting for health to regen while the enemy ineffectually attempts to shoot you from long range, look elsewhere. But if your idea **** time is wandering into the wrong part of Hell and tearing every single resident apart with your bare hands till you're wading in the gore, than yeah, buy this game now.

Okay, so, disclaimer: This game features a LOT of written text. Reading said text is 1/2 to 3/4ths of the gameplay. If you don't enjoy reading, this game isn't for you. Also, you can die in this game, and death can be a HUGE setback in progress (because while there are ways to mitigate it a little bit, death is permanent...time to start over). If those things don't bother you (or they are good qualities in a game, in your opinion), read on. Otherwise, this game isn't for you. Sorry. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I just want to say, this game is insanely good. It's compelling in a way I haven't experienced for a long time. It's like sitting down with one of the most interesting, complex, well written books you'll ever find, and then getting to make all the decisions, fight in all the epic battles, etc etc etc. You'll meet piRats and soul stealing monkeys and vicious scoundrels and squid men and zee beasts and cannibals and immortals and tiger people and face thieves and strange men from strange places where everything happens in the future tense. You'll fight on the sea, on the land, over treasure and power and the lives of your self and your crew. You'll find romance, long lost artifacts, gateways to other worlds, horrors man was not meant to know, and more adventure than you can shake a stick at. All this and more, coming at you in wonderfully written, beautifully presented prose that will sweep you away into a world at the border of insanity. In terms of gameplay, it's a slower paced (which fits the world well), real time combat (although not twitch based combat), some random generation (so you're worlds different every time, to a degree), permadeath, stat driven rpg about exploration and investigation into a world of bizarre horrors, insanity, dark humor, and surprisingly human motivations. At the end of the day, if you enjoy a good story, want a game where your decisions and choices actually do matter (like, a lot), if you are the type of person who can fall in love with an imaginary world, if you like the idea of exploring into the black unknown, or if you just always wanted to be a zee captain, this is a game you won't regret purchasing. Remember, no one is born a zee captain, but anyone can be one, with the right motivation and a not-so-healthy dose of optimism. Come, zail the zee, it is calling your name.