This War of Mine

Fighting despair... 

This is a super cool survival game where you attempt to guide your group of civilians to have enough resources and survive a modern civil war. At night you can send one person to try scavenge or trade stuff but getting killed is pretty easy to do if you aren't careful. More dangerous than bullets and raiders is the winter though, and simply getting sick due to the cold and not having enough medicines to stave of death is a tough one. Your people also have moral compasses so while you can go steal and kill others it almost always ends up breaking your morale towards uselessness and or suicide.  

It's a grim and bleak game but one done so very well. The lack of a tutorial works here, and the difficulty levels come from the groups of people you unlock per play through. My starting trio was pretty good as they all could contribute some special thing (though I think 2 out of 3 were suicidal towards the end) while I had a much harder time when I only had an elderly couple or a group with a pregnant lady (who can't run or leave the base). This might be the only survival type game I've played multiple times. Highly recommended.

Undying, Turmoil and Neko Ghost Jump

A trio of Epic freebies.

Undying

This zombie crafting survival game features a twist in that you play a mother already bitten in the intro, who must teach her young (and annoyingly useless) son how to survive in this apocalypse. Show him how to dismantle difficult machinery and defeat zombies, sure... but also show him how to get water from a fountain into a plastic bottle, how to water plants, and how to scavenge? He also whines A LOT.

While the game play is kind of ok but the stylistic character art is poor and it becomes readily evident that your main enemy in this game aren't the zombies - it's your own backpack and the lack of space there in. If you aren't keen on inventory management then this is not a game for you. Or me.

Turmoil

This 2D oil barony "almost" idle game is one with simple controls and simple decisions: after winning your desired plot of land from your competitors you send forth your hired dowsers to give you a hint of where to dig, then build the oil pumps to (hopefully) get the oil out and hire wagons to transport said oil to sell to the shops (where the price constantly fluctuates) or store in your own warehouse while waiting for prices to be more favorable.

Most of the action is automated, which lets you focus on how many things you have, where to place new things and if/where to selling to. Excess funds can be used to upgrade pretty much everything and that's the game loop. Surprisingly fun but gets repetitive fast.

Neko Ghost Jump

In this super silly platform game you play a cat on the cat planet trying to rescue his cat bride from scurvy space dogs. The main gimmick is that you must switch from 2D and 3D platforming because there might be tunnels you can only access in 3D view and then impossible diagonal jumps that become easy in 2D view.

I assume there's also some ghost mechanic as hinted by the title and intro cinematic but I never got that far as the game crashed on tutorial level 3. Not recommended.

Elevation and The Mountain Between Us

Movies about being high up.

Elevation

This post apocalyptic action film stars Anthony Mackie as one of the survivors who lives high up in the mountains where the "horrible creatures who killed every one else" don't go because they have a hard limit to stop at 8000ft elevation. Of course, he soon has a reason to go back down the mountain because stories need conflict! :P Despite the simple story and low number of cast members, the action is decent as is the critter CGI (when they get to it). An ok watch but one that could have been better / feels like a missed opportunity.

The Mountain Between Us

When a pair of impatient travelers (played by Kate Winslet and Idris Elba) decide to book a small charter flight that crashes in a mountainous wilderness, they can only depend on each other to survive. Good thing they also packed some plot armor! This survival drama is much slower paced than Elevation but is alright if you're looking for a less actiony film that focuses on the relationship of the pair. Obviously I preferred Elevation because it has monsters and guns but that's a personal preference. 

Dredge and LOTR: Return to Moria

Games about inventory management!

Dredge

This was a surprise for me: a fishing game that managed to hold my attention for over two weeks! But its not really just fishing is it? Each critter has a slightly different reeling in mini-game which goes a long way to keeping it interesting and some only come out at night and in certain parts of the map. Then you also need to upgrade your boat which gives you more space not only for fish, but to also get different rod types so that you can fish deeper or in more tangled environments.

The best part is the game isn't really about fishing at all. Bad stuff lurks in the dark depths, and making sure they don't get you while intentionally going into their territory is quite the blast. Awesome game - recommended!

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria

The dwarves have decided to reclaim their greatest territory long fallen to evil forces and when trying to get in (because speaking "friend" to enter isn't working anymore) you (and possibly your co-op allies) are the only one(s) to make it in with basically nothing.

That's ok because this is a crafting survival game and there's loads of material just lying around for you to make everything you need like axes, pickaxes, weapons, armor, food, and your very own base. Good luck trying to carry all of it at once though! Excellent idea with some items being overpowered (insta wooden platforms to avoid enemies? Yes please!) and other things just being stupid like cooking forces you to wait 30 seconds while making a pick axe is instantaneous. Huh? As a player you really feel that idle time.

Alas that type of game loop is boring for me but if you enjoy things where you need to build up to advance a bit then harvest and build up again then this is a game for you! Literal walls of "you need the next level of pick axe" determine how far you can scavenge so enjoy the long dark of Moria!

Empyrion - Galactic Survival

Scavenging everything to make everything!

Do you like things that are complicated? Was Bear and Breakfast too simple? If so then by golly this first person survival game for you. Just from the tutorial mission where you begin on a space ship to get your bearings on how food, medicine and anti radiation showers work which are then followed by short space walks to mine an asteroid followed by the ship blowing up so you have to claim ownership of the ship to use the teleporter which puts you on a remote planet where you can kill wildlife for food and disassemble pretty much everything, claim and build buildings and manufacture hover bikes for 5 stones while working towards creating another spaceship with warp capabilities... WTF? Information overload.

But on the flip side, you can do all that stuff. And you can do it cooperatively if you have a server to play on. Gameplay wise (excluding the crafting bit) it reminds me a lot of Project Entropia: beautiful environments and structures coupled with odd looking people and insects. Not one for me but I'm sure this would fill the building/survival itch for someone.

Callisto Protocol

Locked in with the monsters!

This single player sci-fi survival horror sees you imprisoned on what turns out to be the worst planet to be incarcerated as soon after the facility is overrun by humanoid monsters who are out to make you die in very violent and gory ways. It's especially cool since the graphics are really detailed! The voice actors and story are decent too!

While this is very reminiscent of Dead Space complete with an LED health tracker on your back (just ... why?) its not so much horror apart from the gore and jump scares for one simple reason: outside of a few set instances that you can sneak and stealth kill, you will be forced to hand to hand these things A LOT and win (or die in very specific and detailed ways).

Combat is pretty simple too, and these things drop currency that you need to create or upgrade tools, weapons and ammo so... the "horror" part really leaves the building when you are intentionally hunting the monsters down for loot. It's still a fun ride though and one I can recommend.

Damsel and Society of the Snow

Movies that like punishing their protagonists.

Damsel

Princess Elodie (played Millie Bobby Brown) accepts an arranged marriage to a wealthy kingdom only to find that it is a most cruel double cross. Can she survive and get some payback? Well, it wouldn't be much of a movie if not so while you never actually fear for her life this very physical fantasy movie certainly puts her through the ringer with damage and feats that I don't think many non-plot armored characters could pull off. Other than the obviously fake horse riding, a predictable plot and sometimes just "ok" special FX, this was actually a decent watch for us as it was well paced and almost always exciting. Surprisingly good! Recommended and one I wouldn't mind watching again.

Society of the Snow

In 1972 a plane crashed in the Andes, and this movie depicts the true story of what happened to the survivors who lasted 72 days with limited resources in terrible conditions. While my wife had to "nope" out early due to the food issue (mmm cannibalism), I kept on with this pretty long film which keeps the roller coaster of hope and despair going with almost every scene. Alas, some other scenes are just too long for their own good even when sped up by 1.5x. While this means its not as attention gluing as Damsel, I felt it was still a pretty decent flick all up and especially cool with the ending credits. Worth a watch, but I'm probably not going to watch it again due to its length. 

The Evil Within 2

After all the horrifying experiences from the first game, our protagonist decides to go back in to experience MORE HORROR!? Alas all those upgrades you worked hard on are gone (like his accuracy) and so you must build it up again but this time in a more "open world". Well, not so open - but there are some decently large areas where you can easily miss side quests and the like. You can also craft ALL forms of ammo this time (not just crossbow bolts) and the standard mooks are easier to deal with to. For one, you don't have to keep setting them on fire to make sure they stay dead like last time. :P

Can't see us if we're crouched! Lol

There are also far less insta-death mechanics this time around (or at least more spaced out) resulting in a less terrifying game as it progresses, as you'll be going carefully and slow at the start while not really giving a crap later on once you are loaded with weapons and ammo (but stealth kills are just so satisfying!). Obviously I enjoyed this one despite the game not seeming to know who the main villain should be. Is it better than the first game? Yes. Is it scarier than the first game? No. Do with that what you will.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows and The Evil Within

Scares with janky controls.

Tandem: A Tale of Shadows

In Tandem you control both a little girl in top down view and a teddy bear in platforming view at the same time. I think they intentionally made the bear bad at jumping because most of the time he instead relies on the shadows cast by the little girl's lantern as he can walk on them. This makes for a somewhat painful experience as you need to often switch back and forth to get the shadows the bear needs at the right time so the pair can open doors for each other. To my earlier question I don't like this sort of puzzling so I opted out of this once I hit the spiders (so now you need to switch quickly so the girl can escape the creepy crawlies) but you might still enjoy it, if you enjoy puzzles.

The Evil Within

In this horror survival game, you are a detective attending a murder spree at a mental hospital who soon finds himself trapped in the shared mind space of the crazies there - or something to that extent. I've won it and I'm still not sure what the hell is going on! Besides that, being randomly teleported for what feels like a third of the game and some "sluggish" controls I actually quite enjoyed this one.

While most enemies are deformed human zombie things they are decently tough and enjoy playing dead (unless burned or beheaded). There are also a variety of actual monsters to hide or run away from, as well as traps - so many traps that you'll want to disable to get parts to make into crossbow bolts. Ammo is scarce and while you the player might be a crack shot you'll soon find the detective isn't unless you level up his accuracy. All up if you want a game that makes you feel uncomfortable the entire time then the Evil Within might be for you.

Waiting for Duviri: The Frightening Fifth

After all that fighting it's horror time!

Slain - Back from Hell

This pixel platformer beat em up is basically the same plot of Altered Beast, but with a more metal backing track and less impressive graphics and game play. That's kinda sad as Altered Beast was released in 1988.

Rising Hell

Another pixel platformer with a very vertical slant as you need to escape from hell by going UP while taking souls on the way. Interestingly you get a power up shop to spend said souls almost every 30 seconds which is awesome and goes a long way in breaking the tedium of doing the same thing over and over. Now you get to do the same thing over and over... with breaks!

Darkwood

A top down horror survival where you must scavenge for gear and can only see active threats the direction your character is looking. This means checking your pack and crafting lets you see NOTHING. The lack of color is certainly a stylistic choice, but one that makes the game very bland to look at. That said if you like skulking around dangerous places and having to board up your doors and windows at night (because that's when they come for you) and don't mind a non-intuitive interface and clunky combat this might be for you.

Hell is Others

In this top down horror shooter (which has the same visibility constraint as Darkwood), you need to feed your bonsai with blood while doing a bunch of fetch quests in the horrifying city streets prowled by monsters and "others" (other people: because PvP is easier content to create). Luckily bullets grow on plants because you'll need them... if the matchmaking ever finishes loading. LOL. Should be renamed, Hell is Matchmaking.

Doom64

Ever miss the days in a FPS where you didn't need to reload guns that were smart enough to shoot up and down without you looking up or down, where pistol ammo was the same as chaingun ammo, and where pushing on every wall was the way to open secret passages? If so this nostalgia trip is for you. It's just Doom, with new maps.

Ring of Pain

This is a strange game that displays your encounters as a ring of cards and you can either deal with or try skip a card on the left, or a card on the right which rotates the entire ring. Finding the exit card brings you to the next ring and so forth, provided you are still alive by then as the monsters get very dangerous quickly - and you'll probably only be wielding a bent spoon and have rainbow socks for armor when you meet them. Props for a different idea and art style but not one that could hold my interest for long.

Amnesia: Rebirth

It's time to forget again! After Dark Descent and A Machine for Pigs, this new protagonist suffers the same memory loss as the previous ones but her story has much better graphics, much better dynamic lighting and ... much more boring!? What? Yep, a stupid protagonist and way too much walking to make space for narrated exposition doesn't help - to the point that I lost interest in it entirely. If you are looking for short and sharp horror, this isn't it - instead go for the original game with the Justine DLC which remains my favorite, proving again that simple and elegant will always beat something fattened with filler.

The Last Stand: Aftermath

A well designed hamster wheel.

Following on from games that you need to "start from the beginning if you die" is this apocalyptic zombie survival game where you play as volunteers from a human stronghold who are sent out further and further afield in search of... anything really. These volunteers are all infected (so maybe "voluntold" instead of "volunteer") which means you are fighting a time limit on each run and as expected, the further distance you get away the worse things become.

However, these designers were clever in sprinkling story missions so that there is actually a plot to the game - even if it is experienced piece meal by different player characters. Also, when you collect knowledge you can unlock and improve skills for ALL the volunteers, current and future as well as incrementally better gear for them to start with and find.

Tip: Unlock knowledge & level boosting skills first.

This net gain per death does a decent job to keep my interest, even though it is grinding (bleh), as my initial people were struggling to get through the first area but now each of them are breezing through to area four which is appropriately titled "Hell". LOL.

It also helps that all the systems work well together. Crafting, Scavenging, Stealthing and Fighting are all good. You can be sneaky and throw things to distract mobs away, but it takes longer to do that (and your infection will worsen) instead of just going guns blazing... but might you need the ammo later? I do wish they'd just put extra gas in the back seat rather than ditching the can though.

All up it's a decent game, just not one I play in large chunks of time - basically one survivor per session. Worth a look if this sounds like your sort of thing.

Dauntless Windbound ARK

Three games on lost lands.

ARK Survival Evolved

In this multiplayer game players must first find or create a server to play on which can either be PvE or PvP. Once you create some degree of horrible looking character you spawn on an island teeming with decent looking dinosaurs who you can later click bash to hunt (good luck). As a survival game you will be focused primarily on gathering, hunting and crafting. Unfortunately there interface is terrible and there's no real tutorial that even tells you that you need to punch trees to get wood to make an axe (to again, get wood). And somehow pterodactyl things like stealing your pants. What? It definitely lost my interest at that point.

Dinos are pretty big.

Windbound

This survival game is far better in the crafting and collecting side than Ark. In it, you play as a woman stuck in a strange ocean dotted with islands that you need to explore to unlock the gateway to the next set of islands. Building is very intuitive and easy as components are labelled appropriately. Want a gorehorn crest? Kill a gorehorn. Combat is still a bit clunky but it's better than ARK, and building and sailing a boat is great. Now is a good time to mention that this is single player only though, and if you don't like sailing or the idea of having to tack against the wind it's best to avoid this.

Dauntless

This PvE focused MMO takes place in a broken world where everyone lives on flying islands which gives the nice excuse of making everything instanced. Because some big monster once threatened a village everyone now goes and hunts them as the national past time using a variety of traditional hunting weapons including swords, chained sickles, and brass knuckles - then once you harvest your kill you use its guts to make better gear to hunt bigger monsters and so on.

This is the first game I've played that has no gender selection in the character creator which was new and it also has an interesting take on quest grinding using its bounty system. While there are some NPCs that do give you quests most of your progress will be from these bounties that you yourself design from simple multiple choice. Be rewarded for killing 3 things with an axe? Or killing 6 things with anything? You can customize three of these to be active at any one time.

The best part of the game is its naturally cooperative especially on harder islands where beasties (or events with beasties) really need hunt teams and in an example of excellent design - you don't need to bring one yourself. In my experience somehow people just naturally show up where they are needed as rewards are mostly shared. Definitely my favorite of this bunch, because of the cooperative aspect AND because it's not a survival game (no food meter). It is severely lacking in story though, but that doesn't stop people from just going out and killing things.

Prey (2017)

Illusions everywhere.

In this gorgeous first person shooter you must pit your wits and skill against an alien threat, and the brilliant part you often can choose how you want to handle every situation. Stealth, fight or use the terrain to avoid / defeat your enemies. Crafting is a decent part of the game too as you can disassemble AND assemble so many things in the game (even corpses). Don't like that pacifist foam launcher? Recycle it into a shotgun. Shotgun too loud? Recycle it into a silenced pistol.

You need to be close with a shotgun, but maybe not that close.

You can also gain out of this world abilities if you so choose, or be like me and go for mundane things like hacking, engineering, and bonus to sneak attacks (you can tell how I played it). On top of this the maps are fun to explore with zero gravity areas being both scary and beautiful. Good voice acting and a solid story tie everything together to make a complete package. Very awesome game, highly recommended!

Steam Discovery Queue - Crusade of the Free XXXI

Continuing freebies from last time... the one in bold is the best of this set.

25 Layers of Pain: Bland 2D pixel platformer that requires precision jumps.

Captain Bones - Prologue: This action survival game starts out with you washing up on an island where you are lucky enough to have someone teach you the ropes. Combat is pretty clunky. I didn't get very far though as any game that needs you to balance hunger, HP and thirst (and you get thirsty if you eat) is too much work for me.

Demon Turf Trials: Cool 3D platformer with 2D sprites where you are trying to beat all the demon gangs into submission. Lots of loading screens and recommends a controller though, which is kinda shit.

EFO - Escape from Outerworld: Student made 2D puzzle platformer where you are an alien who has telekenisis that can move ruin blocks while under time pressure to reach extraction before the beacon expires. Fun for awhile but making your own staircases gets old fast.

From the Grave: Silly first person shooter where you must survive waves of zombies while stuck in a castle. Earn money by killing then buy guns and couches (to unblock passages). Bleh.

Go Home, Mr. Fisk!: A 2D platformer with intentionally bad controls since you are a fish trying to make its way out of a cooking pot and back to the river. Garbage.

Hair of the Dog: A short and funny point and click adventure game which is fully voiced but has lousy art. Still worth a look for the laughs if you have nothing better to do.

Project Exhibited: A student made first person sneaker. Only one map and pretty challenging too. Very good.

Don't get caught!

Project Hive: 3D shooter where you are trapped in a space mine and your worst enemy will be the unfriendly camera and controls. Also crashed my PC when trying to quit.

Rogue Planet 1 - Golden Hour: A first person shooter that has way too many loading screens and not enough shooting. Lolzor at the voice acting too.

Squid Game (Korean TV Series)

Might make you want to try Squid Game. :P

Drowning in debts and desperate for money, Gi-hun decides to join a mysterious game that involves hundreds of others who are in the same financial situation. To win a massive cash prize, all they have to do is pass six games. The only catch is being eliminated means you die.

There is a lot of elimination.

Backed by a high budget, good acting and a really great script this has easily become one of my favourite series. Obviously this also means there's a fair bit of violence, gore and a high body count but it makes for some excellent viewing. Highly, highly recommended and I would definitely watch all this (currently) one season show again. Four squid games out of five.

Pine (PC Game) vs Valheim

All about heroic labor for explorer-crafters.

Pine

With their cliffs having become too unstable, it is up to you - a human from a small tribe, to find a new home on this island which you soon learn is shared by five other races who are also running around gathering, trading and warring with each other.  You too can be friends with them, but not all at the same time since helping one usually angers a few others.

Elephants never forget!

This Unity built game has a decent story, quite pretty to look at, and is fun to play due to the interactivity with the other races. There are also some hard puzzles to be found here, and while melee combat isn't so great (it's probably the weakest part of the game) there's plenty enough to do without it. Definitely for explorer crafters (in that order, more about exploring than crafting) I give it four sparkler traps out of five.

Insight: Do the two pouch quests ASAP.

Valheim

With his enemies gaining strength Odin sends the best warriors he can find to defeat them on their world and to make it entertaining he ensures they only arrive in rags and are suffering from severe amnesia. "Welcome to Valheim idiot!" is not really an exaggeration as even basic tasks like running and jumping need to be leveled up upon arrival.

This survival game takes place on a randomly generated world where you (and up to nine co-op buddies) must craft, hunt, and ultimately slay the five big bads wandering the world. While the graphics aren't the sharpest they are quite serviceable especially when you take into account that you can cut down every large tree you see and turn mountains into deep pits if you so desire.

 

Pants get in the way of fighting!

I beat the first boss solo with minimal grind, but even that was already pushing the limits of my patience. Would I recommend this to my Friday night co-op group to potentially spend the entire evening doing mundane stuff like chopping trees, mining minerals and hunting game? Definitely not, especially since it is lacking in the story and variety department. If your crew enjoys those activities then you should try it out. If your team is more action orientated or you don't have a team, I think you should just stay away from this one.

Insight: The bow is very strong. Go for that as your first goal once you've got a workbench.

Hunters in the Snow: Hold the Dark Grey Wind River

A trio of movie mysteries involving hunters and canines.

Let's shoot some stuff!

Hold the Dark

A hunter (Jeffrey Wright) is called into a remote Alaskan village to track and kill a canine that took a child but soon learns he's actually stepped in the shit once he finds what he is looking for. Now this action mystery is pretty decent at holding my attention, especially since there is a surprisingly high body count.

My biggest complaint is the cinematographer took the title too literally though, as most shots have poor (or in some occasions ZERO) lighting. Other than that the acting is ok, the plot actually puts enough hints so that you can see the ending by the time you get there, and the action pieces - though few and far between - are quite good. Can't recommend it as it's not your standard type of movie, but I enjoyed it and would probably watch it again. Two duct taped rifles out of five.

The Grey

When a plane goes down in some remote and snowy mountains it is up to the resident hunter (Liam Neeson) to try keep the survivors alive against both the elements and a pack of vicious wolves.

While this survival film does a decent job at giving each survivor a personality and nice sets, the CGI wolves are very large, mean and script driven which is only found in the mutant Hollywood breed. :P Still an entertaining watch, but one I wish didn't end so abruptly. Two and a half boom sticks out of five.

Wind River

When hunter (Jeremy Renner) working on the titular Indian Reservation finds a human corpse, he quickly gets recruited to aid the authorities (who are severely low on man power) to assist.

Apart from one segment early on with way too many cuts and some whispered poems this murder mystery is a pretty decent one that keeps a good pace and has decent action pieces. Also, it really does feel like it could be a Longmire episode at times so if you like that show you will probably enjoy this (and vice versa). I give it three lions out of five.

A Test of Survival: Stranded Deep in the Long Dark

Hope you like farming!

Stranded Deep

Island survival is annoying.

Surviving a plane crash is the least of your concerns as now stranded on a small cluster of islands in the middle of nowhere. While that place is certainly pretty, you'll need to keep busy by farming materials to construct things to survive, a water still being perhaps the most important right off the bat.

... and not a drop to drink.

While it would be nicer to have better inventory management, the controls are pretty good once you get the hang of it but expect to sail around to the other islands shortly after day one as you won't have enough material to last. The place is also dotted by shipwrecks which can contain useful stuff, provided you can survive the dives to them.

Really though, your two biggest enemies here are hydration and poison. Expect to restart after stepping on your first urchin. For those that like this survival theme, this one is actually pretty good - and certainly looks great. It's just too grindy for me. Also, why can't I distill sea water? Seems pretty obvious. Anyway, I give it two inflatable life rafts out of five.

Insight: You can craft a coconut flask by going into the craft menu then click on the word "consumables" right up the top to get a different menu. Took me ages to find that.

The Long Dark

Great until it isn't.

Apparently surviving plane crashes is the easy part. This time you are stuck in a remote snowy mountain and must survive the freezing cold and hungry predators in addition to fulfilling requirements of food, water and sleep. While the art style is not as impressive as Stranded Deep, everything else is better.

The tutorial, interactivity, choice of game modes (from sandbox survive as long as you can to defeat a slender man type creature hunting you) and most importantly the campaign story. It helps that you aren't alone here, and the people you encounter really give purpose to the game. That is, until it decides to become a walking simulator.

Just wait until you get a gun to see how bad a shot you are!

Yup, while it was going so well up to that point at around Chapter 2 it becomes a silly exercise in inventory management and point to point travel across vast distances committing the cardinal sin of too much space and not enough game. Just got too boring for me at that bit so this one gets the same score of two stunned rabbits out of five.

Insight: If you get stuck for ideas, press space bar to get some options.

The Revenant

Never get in between a mama bear and her cubs.

Due to a string of unfortunate and painful events, Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) finds himself struggling to survive the wilds and to return to civilization. Now while I had some trouble understanding Tom Hardy's character, acting was great across the board and it had to be.

There are many shots that just keep going and don't cut (or cut obviously), which is something I really enjoy in film and TV. This means everyone has to do their bit perfectly or the whole take is ruined! Having fantastic cinematography and locations to shoot also helps as does the decent plot.

A bear springs from hiding!

My only negative is that it doesn't end as strongly as it starts, but it still gets my recommendation to watch. I'd certainly watch it again, though maybe not so soon, and give it 3.5 maulings out of 5.