Recent reviews by Gnolam

There's a lot to like about the Football Manager series. Over the last 5 years I've invested over 1000 hours but I think I'm just about done with it now. The match engine is much better than in previous years (though not perfect) and it's still "fun" on the whole. However, the series is plagued by issues that take any enjoyment out of the game. I'm going to list a few that have really taken me out of the series:
- Save Corruption. This one is huge. I lost a several hundred hour save and I'm just disheartened about it.

- Injury rates. Seem a little odd. I have the the highest rating and number of physios in the league, play a slow tiki-taka ball and I have the most injuries in the league seemingly non stop? How does that work?

- Reputation. Horrendous all round. Teams end up with an average age of 30+ because they don't ever play younger players as they aren't generated with the reputation to be seen as valuable. Clubs can buy players way above their station, or not be able to buy players (despite being in the Prem) due to reputation. You can have a player score consistently and never get interacted with by teams or have a player with high reputation get hounded non stop. It's all round horrendous.

- Player interactions. The players act completely mental. They'll demand a wage of 900,000 p/w when your team averages around 30,000 p/w, then get offended and demand to leave if you suggest that is madness. Promises are utterly broken, staff interactions and interactoins with players never work out. By far the most visibly frustrating feature.

If you like management or simulator games, as I do, then sadly avoid the Football Manager series until these get fixed because they suck the enjoyment out of a game that could otherwise be very good.

Every run begins with "This is how you died. It's just that kind of game. Brutally difficult, atmospheric and probably the best sandbox game to come out in the last decade for a few reasons.

1. Endlessly customisable. Mods and base settings can completely change how a world is generated. Want to fight against 28 days later style infected? It can do it. Fancy recreating I Am Legend? It can do it. TWD walkers more your style? It can do it.
2. Atmosphere. Everything in this game, from sound design to graphics are designed to work together to create a tense, suspenseful atmosphere. The game knows you're going to ♥♥♥♥ yourself with every zombie sighting or horde accidentally attraced and it doesn't care - it'll keep playing the audio bites and the random sounds like distant screams or gunshots to mess with you.
3. Learning curve. I'm not a big fan of brutally hard games in general - having never really cared for the soulslike genre for example but Project Zomboid is a game that does difficulty right. Every death is a learning experience and you go into the next survivor's life knowing a little bit more. You'll probably start dying every couple in game hours but once you break the week barrier for the first time you'll know this game has got you. Then you'll get bitten by a zombie waiting behind a door or coming up behind you while you were barricading and you'll go again.

A lot of people distrust Early Access (rightly), but the complexity and achievement of this game as a labour of love means you should probably get it in spite of being in EA.

First of all, I do recommend this game. Much of this review will sound negative but it's constructive criticism rather than anything truly malicious. The art style, the aesthetic and the use of ludo-narrative really help this game feel gritty and grim. The gameplay also helps this because quite frankly it's brutal. Characters will:
-Get decapitated
-Have limbs smashed in
-Have broken ribs
-Run away only to get shot with an arrow
-Get raised as a zombie by a necromancer.
Much of this is great and really engaging but herein lies the problem. Lots of this brutality isn't tempered by any solutions to it. RNG (Yes this game relies heavily on its usage) will more often than not ruin a party, tactics will completely break down due to you constantly missing and an enemy always hitting and monsters can singlehandedly take on a dozen well-travelled mercenaries. As such, lots of battles can feel like no win situations or genuinely become them with a single dice roll, very much taking away from any engagement or strategy. TL;DR: This is a good game and it definitely has a future but a slight rebalance is definitely needed.

GreatGame but the EA servers for it have shut down, so you can't play it. :( It is a con for steam to sell this game.