Recent reviews by HWK Gaming

In short, great game, but easily one of the worst PC experiences I have ever had.

Keep in mind when reading this that at the time of this review which will go over several known and truly unacceptable issues with the game, I had logged just over two hours.

Picked this up a long while after I tried it on a trial of Xbox Game Pass. After playing Far Cry 2 and just recently finishing the third title, I finally got around to starting this game up after some time away. It easily became one of my favorites in the series in terms of the gameplay and fun-factor, even though the story falls incredibly flat in comparison to the others. For starters, you can't ask the question of "are you really the good guy???" that is laid on thick in FC3 when your purpose of being where you are is to arrest and subdue a literal domestic terror organization. Unlike FC3, you aren't a civilian thrown into a nightmare where you're forced to become a monster to survive, in the process throwing away relationships with your close friends and allies; You're an officer of the law, and 90% of the actions you perform are just...you doing your job. Sure, you probably end up doing some pretty unconventional things and fight real dirty for the fun-factor, but you don't feel guilty for any of it nor are you ostracized by your allies for it. The sociology themes that are brought about in FC3 - which is what mainly gave it its prominence as one of the best story-based FPS experiences of all time - simply do not apply here.

Even with that rant over, which I barely intended to expand upon, I haven't even covered the most glaring issues that I experienced within the first two hours of gameplay. And unlike most Negative reviews, I'm not even going to cover the Ubisoft Launcher because we've heard it a hundred times and already know how trash it is, because what I've experienced so far in such a short amount of time with this game is far worse. What I'm referring to is as follows;

• Without even having completed the intro section of the game, I came across an already-known and mildly-documented issue where the "Strafe Right" (D) input literally just breaks during gameplay. The only fix I have found is to alt-tab out of the game or otherwise leave the window and then resume the game. Magically works for a good while after that. At first, I had thought that my keyboard had broke at the most inconvenient time, as there was simply no way that this is actually an issue that was never found in testing or even patched post-release. Unfortunately, Ubisoft never ceases to amaze me.
  
• I'll start this and the following few with this; I am running this on a Ryzen 5 5600H and a 3050-Ti Laptop GPU. I am well above both the minimum and recommended specifications (yes, even the full-size RTX 970), but still experience how ♥♥♥♥♥♥ the optimization and playability of this game is. Per the in-game settings, I should also be running more than a full gigabyte below the allowed VRAM (2.66/3.87 GB VRAM).
  
• Speaking of alt-tabbing, within the first two hours at the time of writing this review, I have had to do this multiple times during gameplay due to random freezes that occur quite often.
  
• And speaking of freezes, oh boy did I get lucky because Ubisoft never fails to deliver even more! At the time of writing this review, which I will again state was written at TWO HOURS of logged playtime, thrice the game has frozen to the point of soft-locking my entire computer and keyboard, in which case I'm not even allowed to use alt-tab or bring up Task Manager; my only option is to use the power button to Sleep, wake up again, then log back in and resume play.

Overall, great game and it feels exhilarating when you pay absolutely no mind to the barren story. Unfortunately, though, I have to knock it as being one of the worst Ubisoft game experiences of all time due to the very glaring performance issues that have somehow become even worse than previous titles which were known for crashing at times. I would honestly prefer the highly intermittent crashes I experienced with FC3 than the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ I already deal with regularly from this title, which unlike Far Cry 3 is not even a decade old yet. The fact that the PC release of this game ever passed testing or quality control is laughable.

This is a genuine must-have for any players, fans of the series or not. I have to say this is most certainly among my favorite DLC packs of the game.

Frankly, I haven't spent boatloads of time with the new cars as most people reviewing have, but here's my take:

The cars just feel like they should, and each of them drove almost exactly as I expected them to. There really isn't much to say about them other than that they feel amazing to drive and each one has, as most entries do, their own strengths, weaknesses, and driving styles.

The Ferrari; twitchy, sharp, and precise. The Lamborghini; ultimately balanced, stable, and easy to drive. And finally, the Porsche; a super-precise track weapon that rewards (and requires) masterful use of the throttle and brake in order to rotate, and on top of retaining the ear-piercing gearbox and boxer engine, it's outrageously quick.

You can also tell that these cars have definitely evolved from their last-gen counterparts, as well. Their driving styles remain mostly in the same ballpark, but certain differences can easily be noticed when driving. And not to mention, all three of them are stupid fast. I've noticed improved lap times of several seconds versus their counterparts. I've found the Porsche to be the fastest of the bunch (in several cases, by a matter of seconds) in my own experience, even though it seems like the 720S Evo is almost always dominating online leaderboards.

This pack also comes with Valencia as a GTWC course, but I don't have much to say about it as it was never really a favorite of mine on the calendar. Consider it mostly an extra perk unless this track is really that intriguing to you, because the cars alone are what make up most of the value here.

All in all, great care was taken with this one. All of the cars look, sound, and feel amazing. Definitely recommend getting on-sale when possible, but still has good value at base price when you consider competitors like iRacing and rFactor.

Had this game with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and played it like hell before the end of the subscription.

Liters have been cried thanks to how many times this game has crashed on my i3-8145U Dell-crafted miniature space heater.

11/10 all hail Lord Todd Howard

It's a shame that I'd rather spend 12 bucks somewhere else, since I'm normally 100% down to support smaller creators. I don't think I've ever seen more passion in a smaller FPS game than I do looking at the trailers for this game, and I wholeheartedly hope that the game improves a lot more in the future.

That being said, the trailers are a pretty big part of why I'm dropping this game for now. Despite being captured in-engine, the gunplay both in Co-Op and in PvP multiplayer felt a lot wonkier than it looks in both the older and newer trailers. Though most of the gadgets work very well in-game and provide lots of options and advantages, the gunplay and the guns themselves is where I find Zero Hour heavily lacking. There aren't that many to begin with, especially considering that the two handguns in the game (One is a peashooter, the other is a near-uncontrollable hand cannon) are forcibly split between the two sides with no option in multiplayer. Some primaries feel excessively powerful while a few others are either underpowered or downright uncontrollable and useless. The planning screen for the "Alpha"/CT team is probably among the most intuitive designs I have seen in tactical shooters. You can draw paths, create markers, set spawns, and show icons and pings where the fuse box (does as the name implies, causes a massive blackout that makes the map far harder to navigate for the "Charlie"/T team) and hostage/bomb are on the map.

Speaking of multiplayer, the playerbase is rather low at the moment and it is rather hard to find a game even with US and EU servers being seemingly predominant (and notably far lower in other regions offered). It takes a bit of a wait time to find a PvP match, which I don't mind, but the Co-Op missions that I typically found a lot more appealing than the multiplayer are far more barren and it was nearly impossible for me to get a full squad (Max I ended up with was two others, one of which left very quickly). If you're intending on using the Co-Op missions in this game, I more than certainly advise you to bring friends along.

With all that said and done, though I will definitely be rooting for this game in the future, I'm saying goodbye to it for now, and maybe I'll pick it up again in the future when it's more developed and the playerbase rises a lot more.

First of all, props for getting on Steam. I've been a fan of some of your work on Gamejolt, an example being the Overnight series (Overnight 2 Reboot was great!). It seems like you have a knack for making horror games.

About the game, I can only describe it with one word: spooky. It's not really as scary as I thought it would be while playing (Mikko did the soundtrack/ambiance really well!), but a couple of moments really game me some frights, especially the closet scene in the second part ("Are you liking that big gap? :)").

I also really like the suspense/sense of caution in some of the scenes. In the very beginning, seeing one of the... creations, shall I call it, right behind the door next to the safe room (What's up, Spikey?). The first time seeing it really spooked me, and for the rest of that part I was really cautious about doing anything, fearing that I might let it out by doing something wrong or completing a certain action.

I would also again like to praise the ambiance. It gives off a super spooky vibe and was also one of the reasons I was very cautious about doing anything. It was even up to the point where I didn't even want to leave the first room for some time because the ambiance freaked me out, and sometimes the ambiance/soundtrack was even scarier than the monsters themselves after seeing them once already (i.e Spikey, after being seen right at the start of the game, generally becomes less creepy. The chase scene still freaked me out, but I still thought the music was a bit scarier.)

I don't really have anything negative to say about the game, other than that it doesn't run that well on old/crappy PC's such as mine, even on Potato/lowest graphics (However, using Razer Cortex let me get by with a decent framerate). One other small complaint: The code. I've watched a couple other YouTubers play the game after I was done with it, just to see them (i.e Omar Sebali, Rex Lumina), and realized that the code is the same for all players. It's really not that big of a deal, because all you really have to do is find a note, but those who watch a play-through beforehand have an easy way to unlock the safe-room at the start of the level.

Overall, I really like the game, and it gave me the good scare I was hoping to have. Keep up the good work!

Drift Streets Japan (DJS)
Hawk Studios Gaming
4/22/2019

Drift Streets Japan, the single most greatest drifting game to ever exist in this price range.

DJS is truly a spectacular game for drifters, JDM lovers, and car enthusiasts. It's got everything.

First, I'll get into the following:

- Features
- Gameplay
- Overall

Let's dig in!

Features

The features of DJS are pretty great. It's main features include full tuning (Camber, Steering Lock, other stuff), Engine Swaps, and quite a number of different maps to drift on.

The tuning is really good, and most certainly helps in most situations, and allows you to create simply the best drift machines. I don't play around with tuning much, as I've already found a good setting for me, but it's nice that it's there.

Maps are not a problem in DJS, as there are quite a few of them, each being completely different. It even features tracks like Akina (Mount Haruna), and several free-style drift tracks. Not only that, but you can also create your own track with the Track Editor in-game. The Track Editor isn't that good in my opinion, and it somewhat hard to make anything good out of, but it's nice to have that there as well.

One thing you might not have known is that DJS has a big mod support, despite not having support for Steam Workshop. Their website, "driftstreetsjapan.com"is their main page, and signing up for an account and verifying it with your Steam account (sometimes verification is broken) allows you access to their community forums and mods. Surprisingly, there are many, MANY modders in the DJS community, so there isn't a shortage of those. You'll find things like the common Initial D fan cars *cough cough Fujiwara's Eight-Six cough cough*, F&F fan cars, the even more common RocketBunny or other bodykit cars, to cars like Taxis to hypercars to TRUCKS. The list goes on.

Multiplayer is in DJS too. The DJS online Multiplayer sometimes is empty, but usually there are at least some multiplayer servers open (mainly Touge Drift 1,2,3 or Akina). Multiplayer is a no-collision multiplayer, so you don't have to worry about ramming or bumping.

Gameplay

The gameplay in DJS is really good, that I will say. It starts you off with a fair amount of money, where you can even get a car like the GT86 or S2000 right at the start of the game (I opted to buy an S2000 first). From there on, you can drive on maps in singleplayer or on multiplayer for money, which you can use to buy upgrades like Engine Swaps, engine upgrades, turbochargers, and nitrous.

The gameplay at first can seem pretty hard, and in fact it is. Cars are easy to drift in DJS, but it's an "easy to learn, hard to master" type game, so don't be surprised if you crash into walls at first. Eventually, you'll get to learn how to tune and control your car better so that you can essentially become more experienced in the game and earn more money. The game features both an Automatic (default at start) and Manual transmission, including a Clutch button (X) that is available to both Automatic and Manual (though not required to use for shifting). There are many useful drifitng techniques to learn (the game doesn't teach any, just look some up and try them in-game if you don't already know any) and master in DJS, such as:

- Clutch Kicking (My main technique, which I'm still trying to get a hang of on sharp maps like Akina)
- Using nitrous to drift at higher speeds
- Handbraking techniques

The graphics are pretty nice too, especially Bloom and lighting effects, although I recommend turning everything off for low-end PC's like mine.

Overall

Overall, I personally think DJS is well worth the money, and if you don't, I'm okay with that. It's got some really interesting gameplay and it's almost hard to stop playing in my case. The drifting physics are really good for a game of this price, and I love that about it. The mods are really nice too, and normally don't break the game unless the mod was made wrong or the game has a problem with it. I'd rate this game a 9/10, simply because it obviously isn't the best drifting/racing game, but it's certainly the best over games in it's price range (under $5.00).

CAGE
Hawk Studios Gaming
8/29/18

CAGE is a tactical shooter that is very basic and easy to learn.

Right Mouse Button - Grapple (Pulls you towards whatever you are looking at)
Left Moust Button - Shoot
Scroll Wheel or Number Keys - Switch Weapons
WASD - Movement Controls

There are four maps, while there is a shortage, it's still enough to keep you entertained, I suppose.

Here's what I like about the game.

Since the game is so small (About 100 MegaBytes at the most) There is practically no lag, even on a Business PC (It isn't meant to run ANY of the games I have on Steam, yet it can for most of them without lag), meaning that the animation and movement is always fluent.

Given that it's so easy to run, the game has at least decent graphics (As shown in the pictures on the Store Page) for it's size, which again is extremely small.

I also really like the idea of the Movement system, with the Grappling hook to keep you moving around the map constantly, and the Ammo that recharges constantly as long as you keep moving.

There are 9 guns in the game:
You start with one gun, and have to find and pick up the rest to obtain them.
- 3 Submachine Guns (You start with one of them)
- A Burst Rifle (3 Round burst)
- A Sniper Rifle (Sadly there is no aiming or sights in the game, so it's kinda pointless unless you can cope with Noscoping)
- 2 Assault Rifles (Both are slow firing but they can do some pretty good damage)
- A Rocket Launcher
- A Shotgun

Personally there is only one problem with the game.

It's DEAD.

There is literally NO-ONE who you can connect with online (The only way to play is to connect to an IP Address)
and the only way you can find anybody to play with is if you have friends that play the game themselves, or someone online in the Discussions who also wants to play the game (This is how I have my ONE friend who plays the game)

Overall, for a very very small game, I think that this had a good idea but could use an Online server system instead of only IP connect.

Oh boy, Another FNAF Game to cover. As always, this will be fun going through the game.

First off, FINALLY! A free FNAF game for all of us to enjoy! (I'm speaking chronologically, I guess, since I am making this review weeks after Ultimate Custom Night was sent to Steam) Personally, I don't care about the prices on the other games, but I still think it's absolutely perfect that a game of just about the same quality is now free.

Alright, let's talk about the real game now. I mean, you'd think that this game has some concept given the trailer and the pictures, It's so simple! it's terrible! It has no basis. All you do is feed Pizza to children, and create a pizza! That's it? That's really it? Nah, this game doesn't have a purpose!

Or does it?

I was absolutely surprised by the real game that the trailer and pictures hide behind their display,
A game of true terror, and more and more story that builds up the deep mystery of murder, deceit, and lies.
Well, You'll just have to see for yourself, because the trailer and pictures don't really match the real gameplay. And as deceiving as it was, it was nothing compared to the real evil in store...

Alright, the game looks pretty cheery from now on! God, this is an awful lot like FNAF World, isn't it!? It's bright, and cheery, and colorful, and cute little animatronic toys! Oh no, this is way too cheery, no murdery animatronics? Yes, finally!
You can buy stuff to add to the Atmosphere, buy toys and arcade games to add to the extra revenue, and attract more customers and keep them coming back. And then you start the first "night".
Hmm, where have all the animatronics gone? Nothing here to murder us and make us fear for our very soul? No? This isn't a true FNAF game, is it? All I do is order stuff and do maintenance from a computer! Why do I need vents? They won't protect me, well, if there was even anything here. This ain't a challenge! That night was easy!

But that's not stopping Scott Cawthon there.

Now, you stand face to face, with a scrappy-looking Animatronic, sitting docile on the other side of the table.
A tape recorder plays. It says that you need to complete a checklist, in order to salvage it for money. Or you can just throw it back outside where it came from, while losing the extra salvage bonus. You are equipped with a taser to reset it to it's normal state, incase the animatronic starts moving and looks "threatening".

Eh, let's just go through the salvage process. I'm sure it won't surprise us ever again after that. Let's start the new night.
I would prefer you not check the radar of the vents, because I'm fairly certain there's nothing in th-

Oh, what's that in the vents over there, could it be? The salvaged animatronic!?
Oh, yes it is! The real fun has just begun.
Now, you must complete the tasks while being hunted down by animatronics with inhuman intentions, fighting for your life, and fearing for it every second of the night.

And now, you get to bring more murderous animatronics! Yay! Because now, if you choose to salvage them (whether you fail or not), they get to enter the building and join in on the fun!

Alright. Now that these nights are over, let's build the pizzeria a bit.
When you search in the Catalog for things to buy, you can find MANY items to choose from.
Games, Animatronics, bigger stages to hold more animatronics, Decorations, and more!
Each time you buy a certain amount in a category, a new one unlocks, offering you better supplies, Animatronics, and other fun items.

And now for the ending.
I believe that there are Four that I have personally experienced so far.
- Certificate of "Insanity" (Basically you get sent to a psychiatric ward and are kicked out from the pizzeria)
- Certificate of "Bankruptcy" (Like the name implies, buying shady items from the Catalog [This can happen when you throw away salvage animatronics], there are higher chances of Lawsuits, and you earn this certificate for losing all of the money in a lawsuit that is higher than your amount of money)
- Certificate of (Finally, it was all worth it, wasn't it. Spending all those nights, cooped up in a little office, fighting for my life, and all I was offered was a certificate. YES.)
- "The Good Ending"? (This is a secret ending, but all I can really reveal without ruining the storytelling in this cutscene, but the Pizzeria temperature turns to 150 or so degrees, and burns down the entire building, along with the animatronics, and the main character, while a pre-recorded message speaks.

Alright.
Now let's stop wasting our time, and give FFPS it's final rating.
Personally, here is what I think so far.

One, I really love that it's free.
Two, While it only reveals pieces of the story through secrets, I think they make great additions to the mystery already.
Three, the absolutely deceiving trailer. It is absolutely great, hiding away all the real terror the game actually instills...
Four, I think that each of the nights were well made, where the gameplay is challenging and so much different from the original games. It kind of feels like Sister Location, where the nights (except for the secret room) are Objective based instead of Survival based, and the night is just about endless until you either complete your objective or die.
Five, the sound department is VERY nice, the ambience/background noises are really cool (VERY IMPORTANT: You should always play the game with Headphones or some other ear device, as sounds played through either ear is extremely helpful for locating Animatronics and dealing with them)
Six, the animation during the game (Especially during the nights) is very smooth and easy to run, even with a "Business" laptop like mine (It doesn't exactly have the best Graphics or Storage device), and the Jumpscares are pretty cool with their individual animations for each animatronic.
Seven, speaking of jumpscares, the jumpscares, like the other games are the only thing I really don't like about the game.
Like the other game, it's scary when you are first surprised by it, but otherwise, it's very repetitive and can't really keep you fearing for long.


Otherwise, I REALLY like this game, and I'm very grateful that even a free game like this one (and UCN) had all of Scott's effort put into it.

I definately recommend this game, as many people do.

CS2D: The Top Down "Counter-Strike"
- Hawk Studios Gaming

Personally, While it is a direct copy of Counter-Strike, Whether it be Global Offensive or Source, It is a very very accurate one, and while all of the guns, gamemodes, and characters were scrapped from the original game, there is still a LOT of fun to be had with the game, especially with the new map editor, which I really enjoy using.
I also like the Lua programmed bots that you can play with, as they are well programmed so that they aren't stupid and can actually complete the original team's objective, such as planting/defusing the bomb themselves meanwhile eliminating any and all opposition, which I think is better than a LOT of team AI that I've seen in other games.
The multiplayer, while strikingly similar to the original Counter-Strike, is still very fun to play, especially for a free game. Surprisingly, while Counter-Strike (Source AND Global Offensive) have been (and still are) the top played games of all time, there are still lots of servers that are open, and for me there are usually lots of players on those as well.

To sum it all up, If you really want a game similar to Counter-Strike that is FREE, isn't Pay-To-Win (In fact there are no purchases), and has lots of players, I would consider CS2D as an excellent choice.

WARMODE: The Free Online Tactical Shooter.
WARMODE is an online FPS game that focuses on CQC battles similar to the base gameplay of Counter Strike, Left 4 Dead, and Call Of Duty depending on the gamemode you choose.

There are two teams on every mode, the WarCorps, and the Mercs. They don't really have Lore, but I will describe them anyway.

Mercs: Mercenaries for hire. Essentially they are terrorists, and there isn't much to say about them other than the fact that they will attempt to use only the most brutal forces to eliminate their enemies. They work against the WarCorps from now on and their orders are to eliminate the WarCorps by any means.

WarCorps: A government funded organization (Pretty much a fictional National Guard) That acts as a sort of "Military" corporation whose orders are to eliminate the Mercs by any means.

Many weapons exist in the game, including various "Classes" of weapons:
Assault Rifles, Submachine Guns, Pistols, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, and Heavy Weapons (Light Machine Guns), and Grenades, each with many different options that operate differently with recoil patterns and accuracy (I normally choose the ASVAL or the AK47 if you want a small tip)

I will describe each of the different (3) Gamemodes currently installed: Confrontation, Deathmatch, and Zombiematch, each with a gameplay tied to the base gameplay of multiple other games.

Confrontation: Likely based off of Counter Strike.
Confrontation mode is probably the easiest to explain.
Each round the players on each team, the Mercs and the WarCorps, will start off with a Pistol (Glock 17 on all modes) and a very limited amount of cash (800 at start). When everyone on one team dies, the other team who has surviving members Wins the match. There are 10 matches each game, and at the end, one team will be deemed victorious. When a team wins, they are given a set amount of cash, which they can use to buy better weapons, armor, or various types of grenades.

DeathMatch: Call Of Duty/Counter Strike
Much like Confrontation, except there are no rounds, each player will have their own set of cash depending on how many players they eliminate.

Zombiematch: Left 4 Dead
Much like the base gameplay of Left 4 Dead, there are two teams, which are the only ones that are different from the WarCorps and the Mercs. There are the Zombies, and the Survivors, the Zombies' job is to infect/kill all of the Survivors, and the Survivors' job is to stay alive and eliminate the Zombies.

Personally, I recommend this game if you are looking for an FPS that is free. There are better free FPS games out there, but I figure the very little disk space that the game takes up is a worthy tradeoff for me. The weapons except for the ones I mentioned have very insane recoil patterns, and really need to be reworked. The game is skill based, and there are no ways to gain an advantage outside of a round, meaning a low level player could be much better than a high level player, and that's just about exactly what I've been hoping the future FPS generation looks towards.