Review ic-games hates H&S' guts

[Spazmo]

Tags: Hammer & Sickle; Nival Interactive

Hammer & Sickle, the much-maligned Cold War RPG, has been briefly <a href=http://www.ic-games.co.uk/index.php?location=1&&articleid=3479>reviewed</a> by <a href=http://www.ic-games.co.uk>ic-games</a>. Citing the usual problems of monstrous difficulty (a perfect excuse for us elitist scum at RPG Codex and TCancer to give 'em hell), they rate it <b>58%</b>.<blockquote>The view is from a top down perspective but there is a useful zoom and the screen can be turned around, you can even go through different levels that remove building roofs so seeing into buildings you have entered is not a problem. The game is played as a turn based adventure; you are given missions to complete and are awarded ‘Action Points’ to use during your turn. How you use these points is up to you, whether you use stealth or go blasting in each action will use points, or you can use them to upgrade certain skills like throwing or shooting. There are six character types to choose from like Medic or sniper and you can customise how they appear and all character types can be ‘upgraded’ using the points you have collected.</blockquote>Rarely have I ever read such an awkward description of what an RPG is, especially a TB one. It takes real artistry to obfuscate simple ideas as well as this reviewer does, and I, for one, applaud him for it.
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgdot.com">RPGDot</A>

 

[Jason]

It is a very nice review. It reminds me of Fallout, my favorite turn based adventure. Fallout often awarded me 'Action Points' when I would fight my 'enemies'. I often 'upgraded' my character type to the Action Boy so I would be awarded even more 'Action points'. Also, in Fallout, seeing into buildings is not a problem.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

I could point out everything wrong with this review but I'm too tired and I think you all know anyway.

It's a goddamn shame, though, how unfairly Hammer and Sickle was treated by the press. I was reading PC Gamer today and in some idiot's column he mentions how he's waiting for the game that allows him to alter the story completely by just going postal on everyone. I wanted to take a plane to california and grab the man by his neck and go "YOU FUCK! IT WAS IN HAMMER AND SICKLE, THE SAME GAME YOU SLAMMED BECAUSE IT WAS TOO HARD AND COMPLICATED!"

Ah well, it's one of those games that you'll be able to slip into your geeky conversations about games ("Now that you mention it, Hammer & Sickle did something quite like that laadee daadee da) and impress all your friends with your astute gaming knowledge. Or just get laughed at 'cause you play weirdo games.

 

[LlamaGod]

BUNCHA NERDS, ALL OF YOU

 

[MacBone]

The screenshots from the game look pretty interesting, actually. Only two reviews on Gamefaqs, a 7/10 and a 9/10, and IGN's reader reviews range from an abysmal 1.0 (1.0??) to 9.0 and 9.5 (talk about polarized reactions).

 

[Dhruin]

It's a goddamn shame, though, how unfairly Hammer and Sickle was treated by the press.

Most of the reviews are terrible, I agree... but H&S is its own worst enemy. I'm sure sure it has good points but it's mixed in with a bunch of crap, as well.

 

[vazquez595654]

I hate the game.

 

[NeVeRLiFt]

I won't play H&S cause it uses Starforce and I don't support that shit.

Don't buy or even download games that have Starforce...

 

[SanguinePenguin]

Can you bypass the Starforce in Hammer and Sickle with a crack like the one for Space Rangers 2?

Either way I'm still looking for the original Silent Storm, but no luck so far.

 

[Rhombus]

Yeah.. you can.. Starforce isn't all it's cracked up to be.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Either way I'm still looking for the original Silent Storm, but no luck so far.

Interested in buying it?

 

[SanguinePenguin]

Well there's 13 copies at Amazon, but I keep hearing horror stories on how it takes 3 months to get anything from there.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

If you order it through a featured merchant it usually ships pretty quickly. It's ordering directly from amazon that's a btich.

 

[Lemon]

It's a goddamn shame, though, how unfairly Hammer and Sickle was treated by the press.

QFT - its a really decent game and got trashed for being... what? Difficult? The fair critiscm would be the occasional, save, die reload, sequence where you needed to know the map to win the battle.

 

[SanguinePenguin]

If you order it through a featured merchant it usually ships pretty quickly. It's ordering directly from amazon that's a btich.

Ok, thank you.

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

If you order it through a featured merchant it usually ships pretty quickly. It's ordering directly from amazon that's a btich.

Funny thing, I actually got the opposite feeling with my last order at the UK branch. While they usually don't ship things as quickly, everything I ordered from my last Amazon venture arrived so quickly that I was unsure if I had ordered through Air Mail or something. On the other hand, an order from a featured merchant came about much later.

Maybe they just work under mood swings or something.

 

[Naked_Lunch]

QFT - its a really decent game and got trashed for being... what? Difficult? The fair critiscm would be the occasional, save, die reload, sequence where you needed to know the map to win the battle.

It was slammed mainly for supposedly being extremely difficult (even on teh easy setting OMG!) and the game's storyflow being too "confusing". Of course, if reviewers could read they'd realize there's a customizable difficulty option and a journal that tracks your progress and gives you hints.

 

[Gwendo]

H&S is crap. It takes a lot of patiente and discipline to play the game. And I'm not talking about the difficulty.

 

[Balor]

H&S is crap. It takes a lot of patiente and discipline to play the game. And I'm not talking about the difficulty.

So, you admint being stupid ADHD fuck?
Self-criticism FTW!

 

[Roqua]

There is no hope. Rt w/ pause is now considered TB combat. How can we expect "gaming experts" to enjoy a great rpg like H&S when they think that the game stopping without them pausing it is a bug and not actually TB combat. And of course, without a big yellow arrow pointing them in the right direction, they wouldn't be able to figure out what to do next.

I like the barebones hint system the jounral in H&S is. Thinking isn't bad. Figuring shit out isn't bad. The stupid fucking morons that control the "rpg" genre are fucking horribly retarded though.

 

[Gwendo]

H&S is crap. It takes a lot of patiente and discipline to play the game. And I'm not talking about the difficulty.

So, you admint being stupid ADHD fuck?
Self-criticism FTW!

No, you stupid russian toxic waste. Not liking H&S doesn't equal liking "ADHD" stuff.

The game is just a bore. Gameplay sucks (and I liked Silent Storm), technicaly a weak production and generally a waste of time. So it's crap.

But that's my opinion, it's not like I'm raping your ass to get that kind of reply from you. Sorry if I hurt your feelings, moron.

(peace )

 

[Gwendo]

There is no hope. Rt w/ pause is now considered TB combat. How can we expect "gaming experts" to enjoy a great rpg like H&S when they think that the game stopping without them pausing it is a bug and not actually TB combat. And of course, without a big yellow arrow pointing them in the right direction, they wouldn't be able to figure out what to do next.

I like the barebones hint system the jounral in H&S is. Thinking isn't bad. Figuring shit out isn't bad. The stupid fucking morons that control the "rpg" genre are fucking horribly retarded though.

I prefer TB games, but I'm not fanatic to the point of defending ALL turn based games. This one is very mediocre. I agree with the scores the press is giving to this game, although I disagree with some coments made in those reviews.

 

[Balor]

Ok, I can understand some comments about music - I liked, myself, but that thing is very subjective.

But about it being hard? I've set the difficulty rather high in custom settings (no saving during combat, very high damage, etc - I like realism) - and, while I it was surely not easy - it was expected difficulty, that got me excited, not bored. I guess with toned down damage and ability to save everytime (plus forbidding enemy to hide, for instance) - it would be a cakewalk.

The wealth of options (I did play a rather intelligent character, though) in dialogue (well, having in mind that it's a mix of tactics and RPG, not pure RPG), very high nonlinearity - it's all very good points.

I think that this game is epitome of 'hardcore' - a game for players adore challenge, not having the game bend over in front of the player, and even applying lubricant on it's asshole, so to speak .

If it's not for you - fine. Just don't tell that it's crap.
Oh, and Silent Storm was often called 'too casualised'. So, no wonder you liked it, casual player (yes, it's an insult).

 

[Gwendo]

If it's not for you - fine. Just don't tell that it's crap.
Oh, and Silent Storm was often called 'too casualised'. So, no wonder you liked it, casual player (yes, it's an insult).

Yeah, I try to avoid mediocre games, so you can say I'm a casual player at that. And, as I said, I don't complain about its dificulty, but it seems that all that matters to you in a game is dificulty/challenge. We're different. I like gameplay. If there's no good gameplay, no point in wasting my time. Now go play your hard games without the lubricant. It's your ass, anyway.

 

[Balor]

Challenge is an integral part of the gameplay, you moron!..
Oh well. You think this game sucks - well, some people claim that PST sucks because you cannot play as a paladin there. Oh well, you cannot please everyone.
You are entitled to your own opinion, of course. Just don't expenct me to respect your oppinion.