Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations review by Out of Eight

[Philkian]

Command: Modern Air/Naval Operations has been just released and we want to share with you a video Review of the game!

It has been made by Out of Eight. You can watch it HERE.

[Primarchx]

As I listen to this I get the feeling the game is being played by Badger from Breaking Bad...



[:D] [:D] [:D] [:D]

[Temple]

Good video to show the actual game as it is played, but I think he should have started off small to show the concepts rather than jumping into a huge scenario and filling up the screen. Also, not being catty, but to me this is a rather amateurish review; there should have been more preparation as to what was going to be shown and maybe some more rehersal. And the reviewer seems to not have spent enough time with the game to understand the nuances of the interface.

[Primarchx]

I didn't think it was cool for him to show (his only?) crash in Command in his released demo. I can understand if crashes have been frequent but he even said it hadn't happened before. And yes, do First Contact or something, dude!

[Temple]

And I'll add one other observation. He noted that while you can call up the database entry for a single unit on the display, he noted as a fault that you cannot do this for units in a group. Well, unless I'm misreading the manual, you can press "9" on the keypad and switch between group view and unit view and in unit view you can indeed access the unit's database entry. This is an old Harpoon feature as well, IIRC.

[mikmykWS]

You can also do it by going to the unit status display on the right, pressing the group composition button and then can select the entries that appear below.

[maxstrike]

Good video to show the actual game as it is played, but I think he should have started off small to show the concepts rather than jumping into a huge scenario and filling up the screen. Also, not being catty, but to me this is a rather amateurish review; there should have been more preparation as to what was going to be shown and maybe some more rehersal. And the reviewer seems to not have spent enough time with the game to understand the nuances of the interface.

I have been an out of Eight follower for years. His reviews are generally spot on. James Allen reviews so many games, that he doesn't have time to do a slick production.

[abe1927]

Gotta agree with you, maxstrike. Out of eight is the first place I go looking for a review of a game I am considering. Often, he is the only place I check.

[Jymdf]

First, that monstrous price, second, the lukewarm manual... And now this so called review. Someone is trying to kill the sales for this simulation?
I mean, come on... The guy never saw NTDS symbols in his life and needed hours to adapt to them? You can't be serious... Or having a whole bunch of Sizzlers inbound and making the time compression switch to the 5 sec setting. These are just a few, but enough reasons to stop watching it prematurely. If he is a good GAMER, doesn't mean he can do any good review of a serious product like this or Harpoon ANW. Please, Matrix, remove it at least from the "game"'s main page as soon as possible. The "review" won't convince any gamers to get it even for free, yet it can totally ruin it for those who actually appreciate this kind of simulations.

By the way, I bought the boxed version, but I'm really disappointed about many aspects of CMANO. It seems to be stable enough, but it's more of an "early access" at a price of a "collector's edition". But I'm pretty sure the community will make it a better tool for modelling naval warfare. If there will be enough of the community, that is...

[JaguarUSF]

Hello everyone. Figured I'd respond to a couple of the things stated in this thread about my video review.

First, I've had the beta for about two weeks before recording the video with the release version and played almost every scenario in the game in that time. Keep in mind that I play a lot of games for my reviews and have not logged 350 hours playing Harpoon, so some things that should seem to be obvious might not be to me (especially regarding the interface).

I wanted to record the video on Wednesday after release and post it Thursday so that it was up close after release. Because I have a full-time job and a family (this is also why I don't do lengthy written reviews anymore), I have a narrow window to record my videos and I reserved about an hour for this one. I was very disappointed that it crashed while I was playing (as I stated in the video, that had never happened) but didn't want to waste the ~20 minutes of record time I had done before then, since I honestly did not have time to do it over again. Incidentally, my daughter also interrupted me twice during recording, so the encoding process took 3 times longer since I had to split it up into three different videos before combining it into one. I do not do reviews for money and do it in my spare time, so hopefully you can emphasize with my time constraints.

I wanted a scenario that featured all three platforms (air, sea, sub) just so I could show off the different mechanics in the game. Usually for my videos I try to show things off rather then play "properly", much like a written review, so that I can inform the audience better.

So there you go. I did like the game and would have given it a high score (say, 7/8) if I still gave scores. Also, thanks for the kind words about my past reviews. I wish more review outlets would take on Matrix/Slitherine products so people can have views in addition to my own for a more balanced assessment.

[mikmykWS]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. We really appreciate it.[:)]

[Jymdf]

Blaming a fault on the job, the family or children is a very poor practice. Unless that job is making reviews, of course, and was highly pressing with time constraints (or was a review a prerequisite for getting a beta?).
The review itself is outright unprofessional and should never be coming from someone from the beta team, who played almost every single scenario and had enough time to get to know even the MIL-STD-2525C, not to mention the NTDS symbology...
And one more thing. Children are very sensitive to an attention deficiency. Thus, instead of playing (and reviewing) heaps of games all the time, one should consider spending more time with his daughter and family.

It's not a rant or anything. Just an attempt to open people's eyes on the question of quality, professionalism and priority. I personally believe that one should do it right or never at all.

[Maesphil74]

ORIGINAL: 3M45

Blaming a fault on the job, the family or children is a very poor practice. Unless that job is making reviews, of course, and was highly pressing with time constraints (or was a review a prerequisite for getting a beta?).
The review itself is outright unprofessional and should never be coming from someone from the beta team, who played almost every single scenario and had enough time to get to know even the MIL-STD-2525C, not to mention the NTDS symbology...
And one more thing. Children are very sensitive to an attention deficiency. Thus, instead of playing (and reviewing) heaps of games all the time, one should consider spending more time with his daughter and family.

It's not a rant or anything. Just an attempt to open people's eyes on the question of quality, professionalism and priority. I personally believe that one should do it right or never at all.

Excuse me?
You clearly have not read/viewed his reviews; they're excellent. When interested in a game, I always go to his site to check if has reviewed it and it's Always spot on.

Now, if somebody takes the time and effort to review a game so others can see if it's worth their money/time (let's face it, with a premium priced product as this, you need reviews if not a Harpoon addict/beta tester), I can only applaud him and thank him for his efforts.

But not here. If the review doesn't check in with views of some of you, you just get personal with the reviewer. Yeah, he has kids. Wow, big deal. The guy even came here to explain his methods and gets flamed.
Maybe you should be as critical of the proffesionalism of the devs? They are charging big bucks for litte bang for the moment. James is doing his reviews free of charge. (but you did had to imply he was in it for the free beta play).
Maybe you could do the review?

The other review (simhq) was even pulled from their site because it was written by a guy who had problems with the devs in the past. Who cares? If his claims are correct, it's still a valid review, no? If he is the Joseph Goebbels of the naval combat scene (dixit a dev on another site), maybe you can prove his review wrong point by point. That would be good PR and would have made clear he was just making things look bad 'to get even'. You had chance to make the game look good. But no, just get if removed from the site, seemed a better idea. I wonder why? Maybe his critical remarks were correct?
Also says a lot about simhq. I imagine the review was proofread/edited and approved for publication by someone in charge?

I'm sorry but this is getting surreal. 'Premium game' 'Premium Price'
And then if the reviews don't agree, just get personal and censor them.

Really dissapointed in all this as I really thought this was a game for me.
Now awaiting the release of Flashpoint Campaigns: Red Storm.
Let's hope this one is priced according to it's value.



EDIT: and btw this;

Children are very sensitive to an attention deficiency. Thus, instead of playing (and reviewing) heaps of games all the time, one should consider spending more time with his daughter and family.

is very, very low.

[mjk428]

ORIGINAL: JaguarUSF

Hello everyone. Figured I'd respond to a couple of the things stated in this thread about my video review.

First, I've had the beta for about two weeks before recording the video with the release version and played almost every scenario in the game in that time. Keep in mind that I play a lot of games for my reviews and have not logged 350 hours playing Harpoon, so some things that should seem to be obvious might not be to me (especially regarding the interface).

I wanted to record the video on Wednesday after release and post it Thursday so that it was up close after release. Because I have a full-time job and a family (this is also why I don't do lengthy written reviews anymore), I have a narrow window to record my videos and I reserved about an hour for this one. I was very disappointed that it crashed while I was playing (as I stated in the video, that had never happened) but didn't want to waste the ~20 minutes of record time I had done before then, since I honestly did not have time to do it over again. Incidentally, my daughter also interrupted me twice during recording, so the encoding process took 3 times longer since I had to split it up into three different videos before combining it into one. I do not do reviews for money and do it in my spare time, so hopefully you can emphasize with my time constraints.

I wanted a scenario that featured all three platforms (air, sea, sub) just so I could show off the different mechanics in the game. Usually for my videos I try to show things off rather then play "properly", much like a written review, so that I can inform the audience better.

So there you go. I did like the game and would have given it a high score (say, 7/8) if I still gave scores. Also, thanks for the kind words about my past reviews. I wish more review outlets would take on Matrix/Slitherine products so people can have views in addition to my own for a more balanced assessment.

This is my first exposure to your reviews and I'm now subscribed to your Youtube channel. As long as you're providing honest information I couldn't care less how slick the presentation. Thank you for taking the time to do this for the rest of us.

All the best to you and your family.

[henri51]

First, that monstrous price, second, the lukewarm manual... And now this so called review. Someone is trying to kill the sales for this simulation?
I mean, come on... The guy never saw NTDS symbols in his life and needed hours to adapt to them? You can't be serious... Or having a whole bunch of Sizzlers inbound and making the time compression switch to the 5 sec setting. These are just a few, but enough reasons to stop watching it prematurely. If he is a good GAMER, doesn't mean he can do any good review of a serious product like this or Harpoon ANW. Please, Matrix, remove it at least from the "game"'s main page as soon as possible. The "review" won't convince any gamers to get it even for free, yet it can totally ruin it for those who actually appreciate this kind of simulations.

Well note that reviews are not written for grognards only. The average player needs a review that corresponds to his interests and capabilities, so a review should not be addressed only to players who have been playing Harpoon for 15 years or who have done 20 years in the Navy.