Mightily impressed (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> Lock ‘n Load: Heroes of Stalingrad



Message

jascou -> Mightily impressed (2/12/2014 7:12:10 PM)

!!WARNING!! SHAMELESS PLUG TO FOLLOW...

As a beta tester, I guess now that the game is out in the wild I can feel free to wear my heart on the proverbial sleeve with regards to this game.

There is a reason that this game has been so long in development. In a nutshell: the game is awesome and it was a blast to test. Masterpiece. By far the best tactical computer wargame I've ever played. In fact, probably the best tactical *game* I've ever played --- I'd definitely rate it up there with ASL.

The A.I is tough and the pace is relentless; I was sweating bullets in every scenario I played.

IMO, I can't think of a reason why anyone interested in this scale would be disappointed (*knocks on wood*).

Congratulations to the developers for seeing this project through to release, and many thanks for the opportunity to beta-test this fine game.[&o]

To the fence-sitters, I say just go ahead and buy it. It's really THAT good.

Cheers.



FroBodine -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/12/2014 7:31:05 PM)

Wow! Great mini-review. So far, all signs are very positive about this game. It certainly could have been a disaster, after being in development so long, and many folks thought it to be vaporware. It was the wargamers "butt" joke for quite a while, and now it is reality.

This is SO refreshing to hear that it turned out well. And, possibly better than well from reading the early returns.



comsolut -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/12/2014 7:33:33 PM)

I have to agree. Feels realistic, fast paced, and very fun.

The reference guides from BoardGame Geek are excellent in figuring out what factors into all the different checks, and the drm's. Strongly recommend printing a few of them out. Armed with about 8 printed pages of references, I hardly need to refer to the manual. So far I have only looked up indirect fire with on board mortars.



Tom Proudfoot -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/12/2014 7:42:35 PM)

Glad you're enjoying it! Once you get the hang of the rules, I highly recommend turning on Scrolling Results on the options. It makes things move a lot more smoothly I think, but it's probably too confusing at the beginning when you're still trying to get a handle on the various modifiers.



michaelincol -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/12/2014 8:25:47 PM)

Hey jascue I did what you suggested - just went ahead and bought it having no experience with boardgame. Wow. It is great. Very polished. Incredibly immersive board game feel. Counter art, soothing sound of dice rollling... Easy to get feel of mechanics via tutorials and 120 page manual. Learning tactics will take a while I can already tell. Great stuff.

Hats off and thanks to Mr Walker and Erik and co. at Matrix.

Michael



lparkh -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/12/2014 8:28:01 PM)

Especially impressive they kept to quality commitment in the face of so much opportunity fire about their delays :-)



wesy -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 1:29:40 AM)

Downloaded today - Love it, Well done island neighbor - live right across the Webster/Posey Tubes near Jack London Square :).



Tom Proudfoot -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 2:09:18 AM)

Howdy neighbor! I used to go to Endgame a lot but got kinda busy with, uh, this project. Maybe I'll run into at Target instead. [;)]



FroBodine -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 2:15:22 AM)

Nice! A bunch of us Bay Area locals here.



lparkh -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 2:45:58 AM)

Ha I'm a Bay Area local as well. Palo Alto. Small world.



markhwalker -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 2:50:57 AM)

quote:

Especially impressive they kept to quality commitment in the face of so much opportunity fire about their delays :-)


We thought we had something going, Tom did amazing work. He' an excellent programmer.



Richie61 -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 3:09:51 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: markhwalker

quote:

Especially impressive they kept to quality commitment in the face of so much opportunity fire about their delays :-)


We thought we had something going, Tom did amazing work. He' an excellent programmer.


Agree! Tom would address issues during beta testing and have a new beta up in a hurry! I don't think he sleeps [:'(]



vonRocko -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 3:12:50 AM)

I'm really liking this game. Well done, thank you. I hope other LnL games can be made for the pc, now that you guys got the program.[:)]



wesy -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 3:32:00 AM)

Great to see all the SF Bay Area people - sometimes i think i'm the only guy in Oakland that plays wargames ;). @Tom - Love End Games - cool guys. Yeah most likely will run into you at the new Target that seems strangely deserted. @lparkh @jglazier - Grew up in Redwood City and work in Mountain View when i absolutely have to go into the office!



baloo7777 -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 4:50:51 AM)

Downloaded and am starting the tutorials provided. Love it so far! Playing with no problems yet on WIN 8 laptop. Thanks for bringing this to completion!



markhwalker -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 12:50:53 PM)

Wesy... yeah he guys at End Games are nice. I used to deal with them directly when they bought our game, ut now I think they go through Alliance (the distributor). Glad you all are enjoying the game. There's some fun stuff in the branches that you won' want to miss.



Erik Rutins -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 1:07:38 PM)

Let's hear some more feedback from the silent majority. [8D] How are you all enjoying the game?



Karrick -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 1:42:57 PM)

what I like is the pleasing eye candy.....that will punish you harshly if you do some thing stupid.....unless your very lucky. you really have to think twice about putting a squad into the street...I cringe every time I do. I am learning the proper tactics the hard way but I am really enjoying this game...managing your squads movement, when to fire and not to fire is always a dilemma..... I would recommend this game to anyone interested in this time period and scale. This game has really satisfied my ASL itch that has been bugging me for a very long time....My thanks to the developers it was worth the wait!!



aaatoysandmore -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 1:44:28 PM)

I'm impressed that there aren't more threads about issues with the game. Maybe they are finally hearing us out there and releasing games with less bugs that are near finished? I might just actually buy it new if it goes for days without too many issue threads. Been a long time since a game was released that worked without a gizallion patches.



sullafelix -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 2:10:37 PM)

I was a little hesitant at first because I am an old SPI boardgamer. The newer boardgames with cards etc. I never took a shine to.

I was very impressed also by the game. The scenarios are done extremely well. So you can play a short game anytime but still get your wargaming itch scratched to the fullest.

The game is so well done that I am amazed at the sale price.

I know it is old hat, but run do not walk with your credit card.



markhwalker -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 2:15:02 PM)

quote:

satisfied my ASL itch
Argh! Please don't say things like that. It kills me. ASL is all about ranges, penetrations, obscure-one-off-tanks. Lock 'n Load is about people, heroes, chaos. The things that make these games exciting.[:)]

That said, I'm glad yu all enjoy it.



kvob -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 2:28:59 PM)

Just wanted to add my hearty congratulations. First impressions with this game are very good. It's the kind of thing I've been waiting a long time for. I hope this is the first of many like it.



jascou -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 4:01:06 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: markhwalker

quote:

satisfied my ASL itch
Argh! Please don't say things like that. It kills me. ASL is all about ranges, penetrations, obscure-one-off-tanks. Lock 'n Load is about people, heroes, chaos. The things that make these games exciting.[:)]



Ah, but to be fair, (IMO) SL/ASL really set the standard by which games of this scale would be measured.

However, perhaps with this design a new standard has been set? Henceforth, maybe in the future people will be making comments like "Game X really scratches my Ln'L itch.", or "This game really sucks compared to Ln'L HoS. What the hell were they thinking?" [;)]

Since I started playing this game, the one thought that often crosses my mind is "Wow, someone took the best concepts from SL/ASL and made a more exciting game." If that comment causes you to grit your teeth and utter expletives, I apologize. [:D] To me, the big drawback of SL/ASL was always the highly structured turn-sequence, often leading to the non-active player to take a nap. The back and forth of Ln'L is what makes this game so attractive.



markhwalker -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 4:24:03 PM)

quote:

Ah, but to be fair, (IMO) SL/ASL really set the standard by which games of this scale would be measured.
Absolutely. It's a great game, just a different approach.



Grotius -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 7:08:29 PM)

I love ASL -- I played it obsessively for years -- but I agree that LnL has a different feel, a different emphasis. I'm loving it at least as much as ASL. I actually enjoyed the rules-lawyering in ASL, but it's refreshing not to have to worry about that stuff in this game. I enjoyed Conflict of Heroes (both the boardgame and the PC), but I think I prefer this LnL system. As Mark says, the individual people shine more in this game.

I remember GMT's Roger McGowan once said that his wargame art tried to put the focus on people. He leans toward having portraits and individual soldiers on his box covers, for example. I see the same sort of emphasis here. I like it.



markhwalker -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 7:12:44 PM)

I'm glad Grotius. Thanks!



aaatoysandmore -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/13/2014 7:20:58 PM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: markhwalker

quote:

satisfied my ASL itch
Argh! Please don't say things like that. It kills me. ASL is all about ranges, penetrations, obscure-one-off-tanks. Lock 'n Load is about people, heroes, chaos. The things that make these games exciting.[:)]

That said, I'm glad yu all enjoy it.




Just to let you know Mark it is the look of SL and ASL that will sell a lot of copies of this game for you. When I see the portions of the map I see I'm sorry but I see SL and ASL. There's no denying it. Maybe the rules of play and the actions are different, but, the maps and really a lot of the units remind me of SL, ASL and those squad level games by John Tiller. I like it, like it a lot and hope you do many more in the future, just don't take so long this time. [&o] In the future though I'll try to refrain from saying Squad Leader and Advance Squad Leader [:D]



Javolenus -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/14/2014 10:15:14 AM)

I've been buying computer games for years. This game is one of the best. It has everything you could wish for as a pc gamer: capable AI opponent, intuitive system, immersive gameplay, emergent storylines, clear & logical UI, excellent graphics & audio. I'd definitely buy another game in the series. Thanks & congrats to the Dev team & testers.



markhwalker -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/14/2014 11:40:23 AM)

Thanks, guys. We really appreciate the support.



Shadak -> RE: Mightily impressed (2/14/2014 12:43:06 PM)

Its great to read so much praise for this game. I was trying to get into ASL (incl. Vassal) for ages but everytime i learned some rules I forgot the stuff I read before as I never got time. This seems perfect, not to mention the AI opponent which is such an advantage (none of my friends would even think about ASL). Buying this today after reading impressions, Thanks!



Page: [1] 2   next >   >>

Valid CSS!




Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI
1.0625