I don’t think i’ve ever put so many hours into an early access title. The game isn’t finished and i’ve logged over 100 hours. Thats my bass ackwards way of saying that I really, really enjoy what you guys at Overhype are doing. Fantastic work all around.
The Good:
Aesthetically, the orcs are much more intimidating. The updated armor that orc warriors bring onto the field makes them a much stronger visual presence. To the point where my first response as a player when four of them show up on a field is “Oh…Shi*”.
I appreciate the range of weapons, especially the improvised ones that show up on the field. Losing half of the armor on a well trained heavy unit from some bandit thug with a pickaxe means that even in scrub battles, I can’t completely abandon strategy. No matter what, I have to prioritize units with certain weapons over others. It also means that the bandit raider over there with a morning star, and that douche with the crossbow behind him, absolutely have to go.
The different upgrade trees very strongly encourages experimentation, and makes it very fun to hire new units just to see the effectiveness of different specs.
The new event system is robust, and very much brings some characters to life in an otherwise story minimal game. I had a swordmaster talk to the commander about his advanced age, and how he thought the history books would treat his life. Made losing him all the more meaningful when it happened. As far as the Red Wheel tells of his death, he died taking down like 90 dudes with nothing but his pinky finger. Suck on that academics.
Really enjoy the hiring system, and i like the fact that between titles and background, the player has a fairly strong idea of what kind of brother he’s hiring. With some degree of uncertainty of course.
The Bad:
When attacking an enemy army in the forest, they often get the jump on me somehow and it turns into an ambush. Fie on you werewolves. Bad dogs.
I’m sure you guys are working on it, but most battles take place on the same general map. Graveyard locations, city street locations, Orc and bandit encampment locations would really add flavor to the game.
I had an archer that was seriously wounded and moved him quickly into the brush to break line of sight. Would you believe that enemy x-ray archer had the nerve to shoot him anyway? From across the map? He wasn’t aiming at someone else either, the archer was alone. Yet when bandits enter brush and fire, they are very quickly concealed again, and my unit didn’t even fire. Tldr: Brush stealth consistency needs work.
I once had a wardog named duke. I let duke out in a battle between goblins, my warband, and soldiers from a nearby tower. Duke didn’t move an inch. He must have been full of unconditional love for every living soul. A nearby militia soldier shot him with a crossbow. Said soldier had a huge sh*t eating grin on his face, and he left duke lying in a puddle of his own unconditional love.
The spawning system post-goblin update might need a slight tweaking. More than once, i’ve turned a bend in the road and come face to face with three separate bandit squads and a force of werewolves. Only to turn around into a group of ambushing goblins that were super excited to see me. All to stop a delivery to Tordorf? The hell am i carrying?
Love the game overhype. You guys are amazing. As a hardcore fantasy book fanatic, I would also love to offer my services as a volunteer proofreader for events if you guys need an extra hand with that sort of thing. Keep doing what you do. It’s high quality and its enjoyable.
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