RanceJustice
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2003
- Messages
- 6,640
Whoops! Its a bit late - I didn't realize it didn't properly post earlier in the month, apologies. Next month should be posted much closer to release.!
It's that time again, the next Humble Monthly Bundle is about to arrive! For those unaware of Humble Monthly Bundles, please see my more in-depth introduction here during my first thread from April 2017 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-april-review-and-discussion-thread.1929347 - I'll just get right into it again!
For those interested, here are all my back Humble Monthly reviews..
May - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-bundle-may-review-and-discussion-thread.1931795/
June - (Missed writing one)
July - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-bundle-july-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1939318/
August - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...st-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1941294/
September - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1943055/
October - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1945470/
November - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1947730/
December - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1949477/
Jan2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...ry-2018-review-and-discussion-thread.1951895/
Feb2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...ry-2018-review-and-discussion-thread.1953943/
March 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-bundle-march-2018-review-and-discussion-thread.1956171/
April 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...-release-date-4-6-18.1957941/#post-1043572129
May 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-5-4-18.1959906/
June 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-6-1-18.1961480/
July 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-7-6-18.1963715/
August 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-8-3-18.1965425/
September 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-9-7-18.1966820/
October 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...scussion-thread-release-date-10-5-18.1969171/
November 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...scussion-thread-full-unlock-11-02-18.1970520/
December Early Unlocks
Cities: Skylines + After Dark DLC ($30 + $15 , Win/Mac/Linux) While the SimCity franchise introduced many to the genre it has long been dormant. Thankfully, there have been some great entries to pick up the slack and Cities: Skylines is certainly carries the genre forward! Applauded by both critics and players alike, Cities: Skylines is a traditional city simulation title for the modern era, with many new features. Acting as the mayor, players design and build the city of their dreams, taking into consideration such as zoning, transportation, pollution and other features into account. Improving on older genre staples, elements such as day/night cycles, traffic and infrastructure simulation, and more granular control of policies improve the game and balance challenge alongside fun. Predominantly single player, Cities: Skylines like many sims offers the hallmark mode where they build their city from scratch from an open barren area to a towering megalopolis, but the game offers tutorials for the newer players as well as guided scenarios with particular goals to challenge your city planning and governing skills. The inclusion of Steam Workshop support means extensive modding is also available of both cosmetic and functional varieties.
Cities: Skylines is well supported and has been frequently expanded since its release both with free patches to paid DLC. There is a Deluxe Edition Upgrade, adding a digital art book as well as 5 real world historical monuments to place in your city, for $10. Three free DLC packs add new aesthetics and resources for your city, such as sports stadiums and Chinese inspired features like the Pearl Tower and Panda Zoo. Many of the paid DLC packs add major system/feature elements, such as the Concerts DLC adding everything from venues to simulation of putting on various acts and more; several other DLC packs improve and add the in-game radio stations with new tracks. Larger DLC packs add elements like natural disasters and cleanup, park and green space planning, or comprehensive industries, just to name a few; these range from about $4 for smaller packs to $15 for major expansions, so the game is well supported. It is worth noting that the Humble Monthly includes the $15 "After Dark" DLC which greatly expands the city's day/night cycle and many other features dependent upon it! The developers and publisher could be commended for offering MacOSX and especially Linux support, which is especially welcome in a niche genre such as this one, especially as the game is frequently and well supported! Those looking for city planning will have lots to enjoy in Cities: Skylines!
Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience ($30, Windows) - Doubtless to be one of the signature titles of this month's bundle, we finish the year out with tactical espionage action in Metal Gear Solid V! Fans of Metal Gear know it is a bit difficult to describe in just a short blurb, but MGS V is the latest in a long line of titles starting in the 80's and headed by auteur game developer Hideo Kojima. Each one in the mainline "Metal Gear Solid" series is a 3rd person tactical adventure where a soldier with the code name of "Snake", is set on a covert mission into enemy territory; aside from this, they vary considerably. The overarching storyline blends military/spy thriller with a heavy dose of philosophy, along with what some call "Japanese weirdness", leading to an experience that is far different in feel from the likes of Western titles like Splinter Cell, where superficial similarities give way to a major change below the surface. MGSV can be played by those who do not have previous experience with the series, but those long-time fans will definitely get more out of the story and search for all the hidden pieces of info. Still, even newcomers will likely be taken in by the setting, gameplay, overall mysteries and fun of the game.
"The Definitive Experience" is broken down into several parts and covers all the DLC, similar to a GOTY edition. Most of the DLC is minor items such as costumes for characters during the campaign and various emotes and other features for online mode. "Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes" is the stand-alone first mission of MGSV. Taking place chronologically after MGS Peace Walker, this single mission provides the start of the MGSV storyline and was released long before the rest of the game. Despite being more or less a single mission location, it was a good example of the in depth open world and players could spend a lot of time trying to 100% all the collectibles, unlocks etc and enjoying various modes. Note that your success in Ground Zeroes, including your percentage completion and those you rescue, can be imported into the rest of the game. Definitely play Ground Zeroes first! The majority of the core game comes with Metal Gear Solid V: Peace Walker - which picks up after GZ and goes off from there! The third person stealth action is broken down into many, many missions each set in an impressive open world area. Players can decide for themselves how to complete the objectives and their success will be graded, offering resources for elements like stealth and beyond - ie lack of kills, completion speed, optional secondary objectives etc. Thankfully, players can replay missions to rank up as it will be nigh impossible to 100% some missions the first time you venture. Resources from your missions go into the side quest of building up your base and military outfit - rescuing/recruiting/converting soldiers, adding new features, researching weapons etc... all becomes a significant sidegame and these elements will improve your capability going into the field.
This also touches on the important aspect of the campaign and its relationship to the last component - the multiplayer Metal Gear Online. MGO offers many elements, one of which includes the a ability for you to sneak into bases of other (randomly selected) players and/or defend your own against such an incursion! This is a whole game system in and of itself, but it is worth noting that these are not "raids" where you lose everything when not playing; the system is fairly designed and asymmetric (ie you sneak into a copy of the enemy base ). It is worth noting there is one particular item you can buy to stop other players (NPCs still launch these missions) from intruding, an expensive nuclear missile, but without any spoilers let me say you do NOT want to do this - there a secret cinematic/ending that can only be properly unlocked if the entire active player base on a platform (ie PC ) decides to denuclearize! Before I go another special tip - the game can be played with English voices by default; Kiefer Sutherland voices Snake this time around unlike his long term English VA David Hayter (much to the dismay of many fans), but original Japanese audio is available too , but you can't select it in game. Both for Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain (MGO launches from within TPP), right click on the game title in Steam Library and select "Properties > Language" and then use the pulldown to pick Japanese. This will grant the audio option, including Snake's long time JP voice actor Akio Otsuka (a legendary VA in the portrayal of "manly" characters throughout his long career. ). No need to worry, subtitles in English or other languages are still available to select in game. MGSV is an incredibly unique cinematic experience and for fans and newcomers alike is well worth playing for those who enjoy stealth action titles; not to be missed!
It's that time again, the next Humble Monthly Bundle is about to arrive! For those unaware of Humble Monthly Bundles, please see my more in-depth introduction here during my first thread from April 2017 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-april-review-and-discussion-thread.1929347 - I'll just get right into it again!
For those interested, here are all my back Humble Monthly reviews..
May - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-bundle-may-review-and-discussion-thread.1931795/
June - (Missed writing one)
July - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-bundle-july-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1939318/
August - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...st-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1941294/
September - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1943055/
October - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1945470/
November - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1947730/
December - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...er-2017-review-and-discussion-thread.1949477/
Jan2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...ry-2018-review-and-discussion-thread.1951895/
Feb2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...ry-2018-review-and-discussion-thread.1953943/
March 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humble-monthly-bundle-march-2018-review-and-discussion-thread.1956171/
April 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...-release-date-4-6-18.1957941/#post-1043572129
May 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-5-4-18.1959906/
June 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-6-1-18.1961480/
July 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-7-6-18.1963715/
August 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-8-3-18.1965425/
September 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...iscussion-thread-release-date-9-7-18.1966820/
October 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...scussion-thread-release-date-10-5-18.1969171/
November 2018 - https://hardforum.com/threads/humbl...scussion-thread-full-unlock-11-02-18.1970520/
December Early Unlocks
Cities: Skylines + After Dark DLC ($30 + $15 , Win/Mac/Linux) While the SimCity franchise introduced many to the genre it has long been dormant. Thankfully, there have been some great entries to pick up the slack and Cities: Skylines is certainly carries the genre forward! Applauded by both critics and players alike, Cities: Skylines is a traditional city simulation title for the modern era, with many new features. Acting as the mayor, players design and build the city of their dreams, taking into consideration such as zoning, transportation, pollution and other features into account. Improving on older genre staples, elements such as day/night cycles, traffic and infrastructure simulation, and more granular control of policies improve the game and balance challenge alongside fun. Predominantly single player, Cities: Skylines like many sims offers the hallmark mode where they build their city from scratch from an open barren area to a towering megalopolis, but the game offers tutorials for the newer players as well as guided scenarios with particular goals to challenge your city planning and governing skills. The inclusion of Steam Workshop support means extensive modding is also available of both cosmetic and functional varieties.
Cities: Skylines is well supported and has been frequently expanded since its release both with free patches to paid DLC. There is a Deluxe Edition Upgrade, adding a digital art book as well as 5 real world historical monuments to place in your city, for $10. Three free DLC packs add new aesthetics and resources for your city, such as sports stadiums and Chinese inspired features like the Pearl Tower and Panda Zoo. Many of the paid DLC packs add major system/feature elements, such as the Concerts DLC adding everything from venues to simulation of putting on various acts and more; several other DLC packs improve and add the in-game radio stations with new tracks. Larger DLC packs add elements like natural disasters and cleanup, park and green space planning, or comprehensive industries, just to name a few; these range from about $4 for smaller packs to $15 for major expansions, so the game is well supported. It is worth noting that the Humble Monthly includes the $15 "After Dark" DLC which greatly expands the city's day/night cycle and many other features dependent upon it! The developers and publisher could be commended for offering MacOSX and especially Linux support, which is especially welcome in a niche genre such as this one, especially as the game is frequently and well supported! Those looking for city planning will have lots to enjoy in Cities: Skylines!
Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience ($30, Windows) - Doubtless to be one of the signature titles of this month's bundle, we finish the year out with tactical espionage action in Metal Gear Solid V! Fans of Metal Gear know it is a bit difficult to describe in just a short blurb, but MGS V is the latest in a long line of titles starting in the 80's and headed by auteur game developer Hideo Kojima. Each one in the mainline "Metal Gear Solid" series is a 3rd person tactical adventure where a soldier with the code name of "Snake", is set on a covert mission into enemy territory; aside from this, they vary considerably. The overarching storyline blends military/spy thriller with a heavy dose of philosophy, along with what some call "Japanese weirdness", leading to an experience that is far different in feel from the likes of Western titles like Splinter Cell, where superficial similarities give way to a major change below the surface. MGSV can be played by those who do not have previous experience with the series, but those long-time fans will definitely get more out of the story and search for all the hidden pieces of info. Still, even newcomers will likely be taken in by the setting, gameplay, overall mysteries and fun of the game.
"The Definitive Experience" is broken down into several parts and covers all the DLC, similar to a GOTY edition. Most of the DLC is minor items such as costumes for characters during the campaign and various emotes and other features for online mode. "Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes" is the stand-alone first mission of MGSV. Taking place chronologically after MGS Peace Walker, this single mission provides the start of the MGSV storyline and was released long before the rest of the game. Despite being more or less a single mission location, it was a good example of the in depth open world and players could spend a lot of time trying to 100% all the collectibles, unlocks etc and enjoying various modes. Note that your success in Ground Zeroes, including your percentage completion and those you rescue, can be imported into the rest of the game. Definitely play Ground Zeroes first! The majority of the core game comes with Metal Gear Solid V: Peace Walker - which picks up after GZ and goes off from there! The third person stealth action is broken down into many, many missions each set in an impressive open world area. Players can decide for themselves how to complete the objectives and their success will be graded, offering resources for elements like stealth and beyond - ie lack of kills, completion speed, optional secondary objectives etc. Thankfully, players can replay missions to rank up as it will be nigh impossible to 100% some missions the first time you venture. Resources from your missions go into the side quest of building up your base and military outfit - rescuing/recruiting/converting soldiers, adding new features, researching weapons etc... all becomes a significant sidegame and these elements will improve your capability going into the field.
This also touches on the important aspect of the campaign and its relationship to the last component - the multiplayer Metal Gear Online. MGO offers many elements, one of which includes the a ability for you to sneak into bases of other (randomly selected) players and/or defend your own against such an incursion! This is a whole game system in and of itself, but it is worth noting that these are not "raids" where you lose everything when not playing; the system is fairly designed and asymmetric (ie you sneak into a copy of the enemy base ). It is worth noting there is one particular item you can buy to stop other players (NPCs still launch these missions) from intruding, an expensive nuclear missile, but without any spoilers let me say you do NOT want to do this - there a secret cinematic/ending that can only be properly unlocked if the entire active player base on a platform (ie PC ) decides to denuclearize! Before I go another special tip - the game can be played with English voices by default; Kiefer Sutherland voices Snake this time around unlike his long term English VA David Hayter (much to the dismay of many fans), but original Japanese audio is available too , but you can't select it in game. Both for Ground Zeroes and Phantom Pain (MGO launches from within TPP), right click on the game title in Steam Library and select "Properties > Language" and then use the pulldown to pick Japanese. This will grant the audio option, including Snake's long time JP voice actor Akio Otsuka (a legendary VA in the portrayal of "manly" characters throughout his long career. ). No need to worry, subtitles in English or other languages are still available to select in game. MGSV is an incredibly unique cinematic experience and for fans and newcomers alike is well worth playing for those who enjoy stealth action titles; not to be missed!
Last edited: