Recent reviews by Crash Johnson

Its already been said by others that this game doesn't hold your hand. It is a good game. Can be a little tough and it makes you work things out on your own.

Today there are a lot of games that come out with the developer's mind set is to maximize the revenue with minimal effort and investment. As the consumer you only realize this after you've invested time in the game. To clarify, I'm talking about games that are not finished or well polished, the story lacks completion or its surface level at best, and you see a DLC for you to purchase AFTER you've bought the game to complete the story. Between pre-purchase, hand holding and the developer treating the consumer like an idiot. Arc Raiders isn't in that category.

Arc Raiders is one of those games where there is a decent story, polished game mechanics, graphics that get your attention and an immersive sound design that really pull you into the game.

The player base is left alone to manage itself. I've been killed where players are trying to teach me a lesson in saying "this is where the game is going" and other players "Your making me fill bad for shooting you." I've been killed by players that just want a better kit than there free kit they came in with and I've been killed by players who just wanted to kill something that's moving.

I've also been avenged by five other solo players who have seen me be needlessly gunned down.

I've also been killed for being reckless in thinking I'm invincible to the ARC machines.

At the end of the day I've had more encounters with players trying to be helpful, just trying to play the game, complete quests and grab loot.

Its one of those games that once you dive into it and appreciate the attention to detail... It hooks you.

Sony and Arrowhead... Look...

Overall... it was a good game but the flame is flickering. Its going down that path where decision makers who don't care and/or understand the game are losing interest and they'll make those last ditch and fruitless efforts to win people back but it will only upset the committed player base and new players will lose interest quickly.

#1: Stay away from the current toxic present day culture stuff. Don't bend the knee and give into the groups of people screaming for things that have nothing to do with the game. The game is in a fictional world in the future. Keep it that way. A quote from Michael Jordan that I will use out of context: "Stop it. Get some help." You will lose that battle and even if you achieve what you think is a "good thing" you will lose in the end. A slippery slop.

#2: Improve the current game play. Take what you have created and improve the A.I., the players movement around the terrain, the current stratagems, the crashes, etc...

#3: New content? Uh... yes please. Would love to see new content but nobody adds on to a house that is showing instability! Get your stuff together first and then add some new things. If you can do both at the same time then by all means! Please, do both at the same time. But fix your foundation. A house that is already showing signs of instability will eventually crumble.

I'm sure there are many plans and politics at play but recenter, refocus, regroup. Rebound and buckle down.

It takes a lot to maintain the path that you have chosen but you really have to look at what makes sense. Common sense. You want to increase your bottom line? Make a good game. This game is at a crossroads of where you can make it better, do nothing, or make it worse. You make the wrong move now and another title will pull more players away and you will move on to the next game. But people will remember how you treated this game. Knowing that you can't be trusted and at the least you will do the same thing over again. It will bring in less revenue than you could of made and not because your next venture will be bad but because everyone that played this game will remember how you intentionally dropped the ball. You can pivot to another "brilliant strategy" but you will be dragging your bagging from this one.

Its a fun game at first but after a while it doesn't change much and the bugs/glitches really start wearing on you. It still has a lot of potential to be a great game but its starting to smell stagnant.

Do us a favor and make me wrong. I'd gladly rewrite my review to say "you made me eat my words and thanks for listening and that I was wrong. I wrote my review too soon. You did a great job and made an awesome game." I'll still give it a thumbs up for the hours of entertainment I've already had with it... but make it better. Please.


Its getting worse. Seriously. Fix the base game and then add on. It sucks when you spend 30 minutes into a game and then it crashes and gain nothing. I can accept a one off BUT this is becoming a COMMON occurrence.

TLDR: Fun and beautiful game, bugs, do your homework (research).

First, bought it on sale. Second, my specs: Built in 2019
MB - MSI X570 Gaming Plus
CPU - Ryzen 7 3700X
GPU - MSI RTX 2060 Super GDDR6 (8GB)
RAM - DDR4, Corsair, 16 GB RAM
SSD - WD something (don't wanna look it up)
HDD - WD something.
ALSO, ordered a new SSD WD Black for the M2 slot (because it will help)

I've played 33 hours so far and have had 3 crashes and a few weird ticks but still playable.

Graphically its beautiful. A lot of attention to detail, etc.... Some woke stuff for a second but was just two random NPC's and I just moved on with not another thought. Game is fun. Its larger than the previous game, open world, and challenging at the right difficulty level.

YES for the money, EA should port the game with no issues and should have all hands on deck to correct the issues but I expect nothing less from such a company with their history. To be fair, I probably would of wrote a bad review if I wasn't able to play it. BUT! I did my homework.

CONCLUSION: Get it on sale if you love Star Wars. Wait if you just want to play a fun game after they fix the bugs. I went for it on a gamble.

SUGGESTIONS: Make sure you update ALL your drivers. Do a deep dive into your graphics, CPU drivers and system drivers . Go to systemrequirementslab and have it check your PC. DO your HOMEWORK before buying. Also, if you have a crash and it happens again, verify game integrity files in steam.

BTW, have a friend who is running on a 4080 and an Intel CPU(I don't know which one) and has no problems.

Do you like turn-based strategy games?
Cloak-and-dagger/spy/espionage genre?
The early 80's Cold War time period?
Managing headquarters facilities and crews?
Stealth, tactical, full frontal assault options?
Character customization/outfitting gear?

If yes to all those things then you wont be disappointed in purchasing the game. I've enjoyed it so far and it looks like you can play another side to the game so you do have a replay value here if you've enjoyed it the first go around. If you've played the newer X-COM and X-COM 2 games then it will be familiar in setup but a different game over all.

I see where people call the game repetitive but in my opinion (it is in some way repetitive but not grinding away repetitive) you should definitely take those down times and really make sure you have a good crew and plan your next steps in upgrades.

I would always recommend buying any game when its on sale so... yeah get it on sale or don't. Either way the going price of $40 dollars will be worth it if your impatient. Be patient and get a good deal for a good game.

I will give one negative point and that is the characters physical appearance can be a little lacking in variety. But it being a game of espionage and its top down view... shouldn't really be to much of an issue unless your looking for one.

Hope this helps.

The game can be fun but the devs have dropped the ball.

Way to many hackers.

There is a death cam feature but it crashes the game most of the time when you want to see how someone shot you or check to see if they were hacking.

I've had 3 different times people have come from behind with no sound of foot steps. That is even if they are crouched and walking you can still hear them when they are close with your volume turned up.

I've been shot from behind without the sound of gun fire and the person was right behind me.

To much random lag.... im done.

I highly recommend this game. What stood out to me the most is that I didn't see the repeatitive copying of items, floor layouts, or cloned npc's (minus the robots). The station looked lived in. Each area felt unique and that it had a purpose or logic to it. Overall, the layout, the ambience, lighting, sounds and feel of the environment is the best I've ever seen in a sci-fi game.

An add bonus for me was when I bought the game I had an ok/older graphics card (it was like a radeon 6670 2gb ddr3). The game still looked beautiful on low settings.

The noise and sounds of the game... emerges you into the environment (recommend head phones for intensifying game experience). Sounds ranging from something metallic dropping in the distance and the droning hum of the station to the alien stalking you in the air vents.

Gameplay: Its a stealth/survival type game. It has elements of crafting, some combat if you get caught, small puzzle/problem solving situations. The alien AI will adapt to your habits of hiding so don't always go for the wall locker or rolling cabinet. There is more than one path to get around obsticals undetected... which can make it easier to remain undetected but may be the end of you if you linger to long.

Tip: USE THE LEAN ACTION! If your crouched behind an object you better be leaning against a wall or said object. Line of sight will get you 9 out of 10 but if your leaning you have an extremely higher chance of not being seen from peripheral vision.

You have a few moments in the game where you can move about the station freely without stiring unwanted attention. Thankfully it isn't limited to the beginning of the game.

Story: good story line. As far as I can tell, it keeps true to the movie and the world that was created by the movie. There are some parts (small parts) of the game towards the end that weren't realistic but its also a game and its fiction so... yeah. There is only one ending and its an open ended one... which is what you want to a good game so you can look forward to a sequel. IF they do... Which they should... Because I can't understand why they would not...

Reading from interviews with developers, they are WANTING to do a sequal but no official yes.

What was unexpected was that the jumpy parts of the game didn't involve the alien... I'll leave it at that.

Rating this one 9 out 10.