Widelands review how to#
Widelands review free#

Wildlands’ standard enemies may not be special, but it does a fine job of turning cartel bosses into more than just targets. Some of those moments are made memorable by the boss characters. These are the moments I talk about when people ask me how I’m liking it. The madness that ensues is what saves Wildlands, and what compelled me to keep playing well past the hours a human being should normally be awake. But most of the time things don’t go the way you’d planned. Yes, the missions are too similar in design. Just when you think you’re home free, you’ll get spotted. Then, maybe next time you’re on an extraction mission enemies may take out your escape vehicle and you’ll have to run through the woods at night, holding your target by the neck and taking out pursuing enemies with only a pistol. Now you’re running downhill to check on your VIP passenger, all while shouting at your friends to find a new escape vehicle. but this time, what if you throw your target in the trunk of a car instead of lifting him out by helicopter? That seems like a good idea, but before you can get into the driver’s seat an enemy truck rams that car down a hill. Yes, you may be on your umpteenth extraction mission. When you’re a kid and you only have four action figures, what do you do with them? You fire up your imagination, go outside, and make your own ridiculous fun. These issues might have doomed Wildlands if not for its highly satisfying sandbox antics. Even the variety that comes from the diverse locations isn’t enough to mix it up.

Widelands review how to#

They definitely crank up the intensity, but you’ll quickly learn how to deal with them, too. Sometimes you’ll face other obstacles, like an enemy chopper or a jammer that keeps you from using your drone. Even common video game mainstays like The Flamethrower Guy, The RPG Guy, and The Guy With The Big Shield don’t make an appearance. There are standard enemies, heavily-armored enemies, and snipers – that’s about it. It doesn’t help that enemy variety that stands between you and your objectives is almost non-existent. That’s not a major ask, but the missions are usually a rote combination of the following: blow up an inanimate object (cocaine cache, equipment), extract and interrogate a high-value target (an assistant, a family member), steal or photograph something (a car, documents), or just kill some stuff. Each province has a boss, and to learn that boss’ identity and draw him/her/them out from hiding you need to complete four to six missions. Until I switched to playing co-op, it descended deeper and deeper into repetition. For the first five or so provinces everything felt exciting. Wildlands’ main issue, however, is poor mission variety. These situations take an already uneven driving and piloting system and push it to its frustrating breaking point. Also, it’s very common for high-priority targets to jump into a vehicle and flee, and if they get too far away you’ll often lose them and fail. And, because the map is so large, you’re forced to spend a ton of time in vehicles to get to locations between fast-travel points.

After 15 or so hours I was able to pilot anything without much trouble, but it took far too long to nail Wildlands’ “feel.” Choppers, in particular, take a while to break in: once you’re cruising, you’re good, but building up to that speed requires a weird dance of tipping the nose up and down and easing up on the throttle. Even on a bone-dry dirt road, some cars and jeeps feel like they’re skidding around on slick ice. Speaking of vehicles, yes, the chatter is true: many of them don’t control well. Wildlands leaves the strategy up to you, and because vehicles and fast travel points are so plentiful, the wide-open Bolivian landscape feels like a land of opportunity, not a burden. In the mountains, with a bit of leg work, you can usually hike to the high ground and assault your enemies from above. Deserts have little or no cover, so fighting from range works well and having an escape vehicle ready is imperative. Areas thick with foliage are perfect for hit-and-run guerrilla warfare. These biomes aren’t just eye candy they have a major impact on how you play.

Widelands review free#

From the get-go, you’re free to roam the entire map, which includes jungles, mountains, deserts, salt flats, lakes, swamps, quarries, and caves. “No matter which part of the map you explore, Ubisoft’s in-game version of the South American country of Bolivia looks great.