Badlands Crew Review Summary

Extensive vehicle customization: The game offers a high level of vehicle customization, allowing players to tailor their vehicles to their play style. This feature is highly praised for its depth and variety.

Fun and engaging gameplay: The game is widely described as fun, exciting, and entertaining. Players appreciate the enjoyable combat and overall fun mechanics.

Unique and innovative gameplay: The game stands out for its unique perspective and innovative gameplay mechanics. Players find it refreshing and different from other games in its genre.

Large and explorable map: The game features a large, open-world map that encourages exploration. Players enjoy the vast areas and the opportunities for discovery.

Good value for money: Players feel that the game is worth the price tag, offering good value for the cost. It is seen as a reasonably priced game with plenty of content.

Unintuitive and difficult controls: Many players find the controls unintuitive, difficult to get used to, and poorly designed, especially for vehicle handling. The default key bindings and control scheme are often criticized for being unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

Poor driving mechanics and AI: The driving mechanics are widely criticized for being problematic and poorly designed. Additionally, the AI drivers are often seen as needing significant improvements due to their erratic behavior.

Game abandoned by publisher: The publisher has reportedly abandoned the game, cutting further support and development. This has led to a lack of updates and bug fixes, leaving the game in a state of disrepair.

Excessive grinding: Players find the grinding mechanics excessive and chore-like. The grind can become annoying and pointless, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.

Game feels incomplete and unrefined: Players report that the game feels incomplete, unrefined, and poorly balanced. Some find it boring and too easy, while others feel it is overly long.

In-depth vehicle customization: The game offers extensive vehicle customization options, allowing players to build and design their vehicles in various ways with different weapons and balancing options. This includes battle trucks and battle wagons.

Deep crew management mechanics: Players need to manage and multitask with their crew, including leveling, specialization, and real-time management during combat. Crew members have unique abilities and limitations that add depth to the gameplay.

Extensive progression systems: The game features a comprehensive progression system that includes campaign, story, and character progression, as well as unlockable parts and gear. Players can see their progress and face varying difficulty levels, although it may require some grinding.

Structured mission design: Missions have a clear structure with preparation phases, objectives, and boundaries. The mission save system and flexible gameplay add to the experience.

Expansive map exploration: Players can explore a large, open-world map with various areas to discover. The exploration is tied to lore and leveling, providing a rich environment to traverse.

Frequent game crashes: Many players experience frequent game crashes, particularly during specific events like storms. However, some players report no crashes at all.

Poor Steam Deck performance: The game has significant performance issues on the Steam Deck, with reports of low FPS and poor optimization. However, some players report that it runs well on the Steam Deck.

Graphical and control issues: There are reports of graphical issues such as chromatic aberration and blur when speeding up. Additionally, there are issues with mouse inversion and controller support.

Specific hardware issues: The game is reported to be unplayable on specific hardware configurations. There are also reports of significant input lag and resolution issues.

Mixed performance reports: There are mixed reports about the game's performance. Some players report that it runs well on aging laptops, while others report abysmal performance. There are also reports of performance dropping and then picking back up.

Wait for sale: Many reviews suggest waiting for a sale to purchase the game, indicating that while the game is worth playing, it might not be worth the full price.

Recommended for specific fanbases: The game is highly recommended for fans of custom vehicles, intense combat, post-apocalyptic settings, and tactical gameplay. It is also suggested for fans of series like Mad Max and MechWarrior.

Positive feedback on game value: Several reviews highlight the game's value, especially when purchased at a discount, and recommend it for fans of specific genres or series.

Mixed recommendations on purchase: There are mixed feelings about purchasing the game, with some strongly recommending it and others advising against it due to various issues.

Recommendations for specific audiences: The game is recommended for fans of certain genres or series, such as Mad Max and MechWarrior, but not necessarily for newcomers.

Community fair range: $13.00 - $17.00.

Game completion: 40.0h.

Story completion: 25.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

The game starts fun immediately due to easy controls and quick action, with the core loop of customizing and upgrading the vehicle and crew becoming addictive and satisfying over time.

Reported time to anchor: 5m.

Friction: Repetitive missions; Slow progression in some areas; Tedious resource gathering.

Build-Crafter Grinder: Enjoys building and customizing vehicles, strategic planning, and resource management. Motivation: Customization and strategic management. Stance: buy.

Casual Gamer: Prefers short, manageable missions and a slower, more relaxed gaming experience. Motivation: Relaxation and casual gameplay. Stance: sale.

Hardcore Strategist: Seeks high difficulty, enjoys permadeath and no-save modes, and appreciates deep strategic gameplay. Motivation: Challenge and strategic depth. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback reveals several significant issues with the Steam Deck experience. The most prominent problems include controller support issues, performance issues such as low FPS and frame drops, Proton compatibility issues, resolution and UI issues, and frequent bugs and crashes. These issues collectively contribute to a suboptimal gaming experience on the Steam Deck, requiring attention and improvements to enhance user satisfaction.

Monetization: The user reviews indicate a mixed sentiment regarding the DLCs. While some users express concerns about the value and necessity of the DLCs, others show anticipation and willingness to purchase future DLCs. There is also a strong desire for more content DLCs, indicating enthusiasm for additional in-game content.

Integrate Workshop support: Players are asking for Workshop integration to allow for easier sharing and downloading of custom content.

Add sell function for items: Players want the ability to sell parts and clothes they no longer need. This feature would help with inventory management.

Improve fast play mechanics: Players suggest enhancing the fast play feature, particularly during attacks, to make it more efficient and user-friendly.

Adjust lighting and particles: There are requests to add more light and decrease particle options to improve visibility and performance in the game.