Turn-Based Tactics Showgunners (formerly Homicidal All-Stars) - turn-based tactics in a brutal late 21st century reality show from Hard West creators

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I would have been checking it out right away, if only JA3 was not all the rage atm.

JA: Rage was back in 2018.

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

mediocrepoet it's ok game which does some things right with level design and stealth.
It's biggest sins are bearing the JA name and nearly game breaking bug in one level.

 

[Nortar]

So while waiting for JA3 to fix the Outbreak quest bug I checked out the Security Breach DLC.

It takes place just before the final encounter with Ford himself.
But there's an option to start the DLC right away.
In the later case you get max level characters, some decent weapons (not the best though) and enough Fame to unlock 4 out of 5 tiers of sponsors.

There is no free-roam exploration, just 5 battle zones.
Two are mandatory, "the entrance" and "the exit", and 3 are optional and can be done in any order.

All characters get a new weapon as a reward for completing one of the optional missions.
Each weapon has a unique trait, like increased explosion radius for the asian-wannabe-paladin-bro for example.
But some seem to a trap choice - the minigun Zoe gets can be winded up twice in just 1 action, but it still does about the same damage as her iconic "C-333 Army of Me" winded once.
The unexpectedly-trustworthy-warden-bot got the best gun:

And they even made a reference to why his so much foreshadowed betrayal has never happened.

Spoiler

Yeah, it's an excuse of an explanation, but at least they acknowledged it.

The new battle zones are great.
Just like in the final areas of the base game, you can field all 6 characters.
Each encounter has a mechanic that encourages aggressive playstyle.
There are field objectives, multiple waves of reinforcements and they throw large number of enemies at you all the time.

Enemy composition is also good, there are always a few healers, some heavy-weights like Ogres or Fumes, a bunch of cannon-fodder scum, and the main attraction - the Stalker.

The new enemy did not impress me much though.
Stalker has a fuckton of health (200 HP, that's twice as much as the Ogres) and can go invisible and teleport away on taking enough damage.
He does this ninja trick even if he was stunned or hit with an overwatch attack.

Instead of assassinating your characters from stealth like the strong-diverse-lesbian-sniper-womxn can do,
the Stalker reappears at a random spot and does nothing but marks the nearest character. He rarely gets a chance to get any use from his mark, as he is not immune to control.

Anyways, all 5 arenas were fun to play
Especially I liked the "dynamic cover lab" with walls rearranging each turn and of course I did not miss chance to shot myself in the foot by disabling half of my team in the acoustic weapons labs, just as the new wave of enemies arrived.
Each battle took me about 30 minutes, so 2.5 hours in total. Pretty good for a free DLC.

 

[Infinitron]

https://kotaku.com/game-industry-layoffs-how-many-2024-unity-twitch-1851155818

Artificer - 28 people​

Kotaku has learned that around 25 people, or nearly half of the team at Poland-based game studio Artificer, were laid off on January 31. Some employees have posted publicly about the layoffs.

The studio was founded in 2019 and was acquired by Devolver Digital in 2021. In May 2023 it released turn-based tactics game Showgunners.

Sources familiar with the situation told Kotaku that around 25 people were laid off today. Another 10-12 people will remain for a few months to polish up the studio’s next, unannounced game. After that, they will be cut, too. Finally, the remaining staff will stick around to work on the studio’s next game.

Update: 2/1/2024 - 11: 35 am EST: Devolver Digital sent over a statement to Kotaku confirming the layoffs and how many people were affected:

Yesterday, Devolver and studio Artificer made the tough decision to reduce the Artificer workforce by 28 employees, 18 effective immediately and 10 after their current project releases.

Over the past year, both companies have worked together to navigate the studio’s difficulties to ensure Artificer remains open and that their hard work is realized with the launch of their next game.

Layoffs are not easy, and the remaining team at Artificer and Devolver Digital are committed to supporting these talented and creative professionals find new roles throughout the industry.

 

[ArchAngel]

https://kotaku.com/game-industry-layoffs-how-many-2024-unity-twitch-1851155818

Artificer - 28 people​

Kotaku has learned that around 25 people, or nearly half of the team at Poland-based game studio Artificer, were laid off on January 31. Some employees have posted publicly about the layoffs.

The studio was founded in 2019 and was acquired by Devolver Digital in 2021. In May 2023 it released turn-based tactics game Showgunners.

Sources familiar with the situation told Kotaku that around 25 people were laid off today. Another 10-12 people will remain for a few months to polish up the studio’s next, unannounced game. After that, they will be cut, too. Finally, the remaining staff will stick around to work on the studio’s next game.

Update: 2/1/2024 - 11: 35 am EST: Devolver Digital sent over a statement to Kotaku confirming the layoffs and how many people were affected:

Yesterday, Devolver and studio Artificer made the tough decision to reduce the Artificer workforce by 28 employees, 18 effective immediately and 10 after their current project releases.

Over the past year, both companies have worked together to navigate the studio’s difficulties to ensure Artificer remains open and that their hard work is realized with the launch of their next game.

Layoffs are not easy, and the remaining team at Artificer and Devolver Digital are committed to supporting these talented and creative professionals find new roles throughout the industry.

Hopefully they got rid of all the useless dangerhairs and non developer diversity hires.

 

[ArchAngel]

I forgot this thing existed

It seems so did most of gamers :D

 

[Lhynn]

This shit female protagonist?

 

[The Wall]

FUCK THE WOKE! TO THE DEATH!

Woke and shitlib Slavs are disgrace to Polska and Slavdom. Should be shot with their butt-buddies from Serbia, Croatia, Russia and so on. Our countries SHALL NOT be infested with WOKE virus

 

[The Wall]

Fuck this ugly looking, tranny game. All I'm trying to say. And they are getting financially fucked. Nice

 

[ERYFKRAD]

All I'm trying to say

Trying? Don't be so modest brother, you're succeeding.

 

[lightbane]

Completed this. I would give it a 6/10 as the DLC is very fun, if it comes too late. As said here, the MC is a dangerhair, but she's more bland and ugly than insufferable. Most characters are like that, in fact, and it's confirmed her over-the-top looks are intentional as part of the show. Shame everything feels lacking, with your final teammates barely having time to shine (thankfully the DLC fixes this). I found the robot to be useless at the start and OP in the endgame with lots of HP and self-repair (combine it with a smoke grenade so that enemies don't target him). The game becomes easy by the end, but the DLC missions can get very difficult. Bosses are almost non-existent and do their job, although I miss some more melee enemies (where are the psychos with chainsaws?).

The story is okay, although it gets silly in the end when the MC declares war against the company's bosses and walks away after having said so live on TV... Even though they rule the world and the MC only got so far because they allowed her so, seeing they can deactivate her guns at will, and they have a seemingly unlimited number of combat robots.

No replayability to boot. Shame, it could have done better with more developing time, more budget and less wokeness.