They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

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Sly Boots
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They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Sly Boots » Fri Jun 07, 2019 9:35 am

I've not played since the early days of EA, largely as I didn't want to spoil it for myself when it was finally released - and that day will be coming soon. Not only that, but it'll launch with a massive 60+ hour campaign, which is great news as I'm not sure how long a horde mode would keep me interested.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/0 ... june-18th/

Hopefully you picked it up during EA if you were interested, as the price has already gone up.

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Lee » Fri Jun 07, 2019 10:57 am

Yup I I bought it way back and never could get off the flipping first level on normal. Then put it out of mind till release. Looking forward to trying out the campaign and see how much it has changed since then :)
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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Rusty » Fri Jun 07, 2019 8:40 pm

Spent a lot of time on this. It really clicked with me.

Can't wait for the campaign.

Edit: Oh blimey. 53 hours!
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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Sly Boots » Tue Jun 18, 2019 6:41 pm

Out now!


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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Sly Boots » Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:13 pm

Played the first level of the campaign.

This is nice, I thought, a gentle introduction seeing as it's been months (maybe years?) since I played the EA and have forgotten most of the mechanics and strategies.

Five minutes later a swarm arrives and wipes me out in about 30 seconds :lol: I'd built walls, had a dozen soldiers to defend them... it was not enough.

Second time around, this time I was spamming soldiers as soon as I'd unlocked the barracks, had about 40 by the time the swarm arrived and just about held them off... was down to the last layer of inner wall (I'd built double-strength walls this time in an inner and outer layer, with triple-thick gates so I could fall back when they started to break through).

It is nice to have more guided objectives in the levels, but it still isn't fucking around.

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Lee » Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:28 pm

Oh that does sound like fun now with the campaign :)
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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Sly Boots » Wed Jun 19, 2019 1:57 pm

Ooh, the new hero exploration missions are a nice addition. At the beginning of the campaign you select a hero... he/she doesn't appear on the main survival mode missions, instead every so often you get the option of exploring a lost bunker. You then control your hero (and any reinforcements you discover within) as they travel through an underground base, taking down zombies and scavenging resources you can then use to learn new technologies.

Just did my first one... only took 6 or 7 minutes total but it was a lot of fun. I'd probably play a full game of that, tbh! :)

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Rusty » Wed Jun 19, 2019 2:00 pm

Right then, I'd better make sure this has updated from steam then I'm in. I was reading a few reviews on steam and lots of peeps were complaining about the style of the campaign. They made it sound pretty much like survival/horde mode but episodic.

Either way I'm still in.
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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Strudel » Wed Jun 19, 2019 2:15 pm

This does look quite fun. I'll have to add it to the list of Things To Get When I Have Free Time Again

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Maturin » Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:57 pm

It does look interesting. I'm just slightly curious about what variety there might be in the campaign.

Also, very unforgiving time limits on missions going on what a lot of people are saying.

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Sly Boots » Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:21 pm

To be honest I've had more stress from the time limits so far than the zombie hordes (bar the unfortunate first colony shambles)... that said I haven't failed either of the two missions I've played on the timer. In fact, for the second mission, I completed the objectives with 7 of the 36 days still remaining.

I've played the second abandoned base exploration and... I get what people have said about the pixel hunt. What should have been a (fun!) 15-minute dungeon turned into a 30-minute slog through the same rooms umpteen times looking for the couple of bits I've missed. Which then turned out to be in a secret area totally separated from the based behind a fence that it didn't look like you could traverse (there was a hidden bit you couldn't see)... in the end I only found it in desperation when I clicked on that part of the map and rather than say he couldn't get there my hero happily trundled over into the fog of war.

If any of you guys playing the campaign are struggling with the last couple of items on that mission, this will save you a lot of time/frustration:
Spoiler

First one you'll probably miss is the pocket watch at the end of the kitchen room (the one with the fat chef), hidden on the ground near some boxes.

The second two items are in the same spot, to the west of the large area with the satellite dishes. There's a wooded area with some fog of war, you can get over there and find a hidden campsite.

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Sly Boots » Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:24 pm

I am having fun so far. I'd say if you bought the EA then definitely give it a go, without any reservations.

At the launch price though, then based on what people have said about some future missions I've still to encounter, then it feels a bit steep and I'd say hold off for a sale.

Worth stating as well that if you're put off by the campaign mode, the survival mode doesn't have any of the restrictions that people are finding fault with in the campaign. It's worth playing for that alone.

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Sly Boots » Wed Jun 19, 2019 10:30 pm

Oh wow, this has started to get quite nasty on the Steam store page and forum. It started with people complaining about aspects of the campaign, and one of the devs (or their community spokesperson anyway) proceeded to pour a lake's worth of petrol on that fire by basically telling those people to 'git gud' and acting like a bit of a dick honestly, which did not go down at all well... a few hours later threads are being deleted, users are being banned and the game is getting review-bombed. In the space of one evening the recent reviews have gone from very positive to mixed.

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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Lee » Wed Jun 19, 2019 11:08 pm

PR is a delicate thing. I might stream it on Friday for a laugh and see how it goes though from a first time experience :)
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Re: They are Billions - shambling out of EA on June 18th

Post by Rusty » Thu Jun 20, 2019 7:15 am

Cruised through the first level but may have played it on easy plus being a veteran of survival mode it was pretty straight forward with no upgrades to worry about.

I wasn't sure where the horde was going to come from as several parts of the map looked like potential gaps but it ended up being a straight hit from the north.

I won the game straight after the horde arrived as I'd hit the pop cap and also pre cleared the map. So finished on day 22 out of 33.
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