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Hammer and Sickle Review: HAMMERTIME!

Astromarine

Erudite
Joined
Jan 21, 2003
Messages
2,213
Location
Switzerland
<strong>[ Review ]</strong>

From Russia with love, it's the OFFICIAL TacticularCancer review of Nival and Co.'s Tactical Turn-Based RPG Strategy thingamajig.
<br/><br/><strong>Read: </strong><a href="http://www.tacticularcancer.com/content.php?id=5">Hammer and Sickle Review: HAMMERTIME!</a>
 

Naked_Lunch

Erudite
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,360
Location
Norway, 1967
I also should've mentioned the game is only 20 bucks. 20 bucks! Same with Silent Storm Gold, so if you haven't bought either now's your chance to experience some complete rockage for only 40 bucks!
 

Naked_Lunch

Erudite
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,360
Location
Norway, 1967
Eh? You approved the content and it makes an automatic post in the content forum when you do that. You were logged in when you approved it so thus, the post was made yours. Chalk it up to internet magic I guess.

I'll make a newspost about it and then post some junk on blues news about it and chit.
 

Naked_Lunch

Erudite
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,360
Location
Norway, 1967
Wow, you're a true blue Baby Arm
icon_salut.gif
 

LlamaGod

Cipher
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
3,095
Location
Yes
When I was at the doctor awhile go, they had a drawer for 'baby arm wood splints', but part of the sticker was fading off so it was just a drawer labeled 'baby arm'.

I gave a hearty laugh and remembered our fond times before the war, before you stepped on that land mine and before I banged your widowed wife.
 

Slaughter

Educated
Joined
Oct 22, 2004
Messages
96
Location
Norway
Just posted it at StrategyCore. Good stuff! Looking forwards to trying the Novik&Co game modification :)
 

Naked_Lunch

Erudite
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,360
Location
Norway, 1967
!HyPeRbOy! said:
Can you sell and buy weapons like in SS:S?
Yes, but before that you need to get on good terms with an arms dealer. You don't have a base like in SS, so to speak, so you have to get medical treatment, weapons, and other stuff in all different places.
 

Jason

chasing a bee
Joined
Jun 30, 2005
Messages
10,737
Location
baby arm fantasy island
The only weapon you need is the pickaxe.

BTW, since you mentioned time of day in the review, how important is stealth? Is it one of those things that seem all-important in the beginning and then becomes meaningless towards the end?
 

Naked_Lunch

Erudite
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,360
Location
Norway, 1967
Stealth can come in handy quite a few times, and it's nowhere near useless. Of course, you cannot sneak your way through the entire game, some combat is neccessary, but being even a bit sneaky can definitely help you out in the long run.
 

S4ur0n27

Liturgist
Joined
Apr 21, 2004
Messages
382
Location
Outremont
Using stealth is just going the complicated way, though. I wish it was more often a viable way, and not always twice as hard than just sending your tank in.
 

Naked_Lunch

Erudite
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,360
Location
Norway, 1967
Did you even play the game, Susan? D:

If you went and charged headfirst into every battle, you were bound to get smacked like a little French muffin. Using stealth and diplomacy made the game a lot easier, especially when you had to get Fidel out of prison. It was much easier to smooth-talking my way in and be all ninja-like than fight the 20 or so heavily armed allied soldiers there.
 

Naked_Lunch

Erudite
Joined
Jan 29, 2005
Messages
5,360
Location
Norway, 1967
Cons said:
- Long enemy turns in turn-based battles
You can change the turn length (animation speed) via a slider in the options menus.

- Management of inventories between party members
Hmm, I actually agree here a bit. I had some slowdowns and jittering when trading stuff between party members, but it's not really that big of a deal.

- Lack of goals, hints or direction on what to do
I think I've gone over this enough.

- Camera adjustments and angles are annoying
It's a free floating camera, you can move it around. I don't know how you could have a problem with it unless you're mentally handicapped.

- Battle strategy and dynamics have little to do with skill
Yes, of course there's a small manner of luck involved - right place at the right time, random ToHit rolls et cetera - but to say it has little to do with a player's strategical skills (or character skills for that matter) is just plain moronic. This isn't Diablo where you can just plow through everything, dammit. This game requires a brain! I guess this is just code for "This game is too tough! We're a bunch of pussies who can't handle it because we've been raised on hand-holding easy cheese games!"
 

LlamaGod

Cipher
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
3,095
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Yes
Fuck, why do people have so many problems using something other than a fixed camera?

I enjoyed the Silent Storm engine's camera alot, it's free to move and I can view whatever whenever. It's like having a table top with minitures units and being able to walk and look around from many different angles and stuff, except not as much of a waste as actually doing so.

You can even go into First Person with that camera.
 

Diogo Ribeiro

Erudite
Joined
Jun 23, 2003
Messages
5,706
Location
Lisboa, Portugal
I'm not sure that the problem is using the camera itself, but really just the angles. I remember playing Silent Storm and often finding myself unable to see a location in a given map because the camera would lock against some barrier or lock into a perspective which didn't allow me to see things clearly. An example would be the very last level where the terrorist organization is about to launch their missile, I had to rotate and adjust the camera dozens of times because of this. It's not always that bad though.
 

Jason

chasing a bee
Joined
Jun 30, 2005
Messages
10,737
Location
baby arm fantasy island
I have a similar problem in H & S. The camera angle gets moved around during enemy turns, sometimes in nonsensical ways. It's a minor annoyance because I can always put it back where I want it.
 

Jason

chasing a bee
Joined
Jun 30, 2005
Messages
10,737
Location
baby arm fantasy island
No, unless it's hidden away on one of the CDs. It certainly doesn't show up in the default installation.
 

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