Recent reviews by Arasa

Great game! Where most games say "Here's how you do A, now do A" this game says "we've given you the tools to do A, figure out how"
Not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but for people who like to wrestle with a problem instead of typical "monkey see, monkey do" educational content, this is a great way to spend an afternoon.

Great game. Worth every penny and then some. Gears go on the bus.

How is this different from factorio or dyson sphere? great question! The answer: Immersion
Between sound effects and reactive environments, you do actually feel more involved in the world you've landed on.
Also, instead of setting up endless science pack machines producing entire spectrums of colors, you're fulfilling order-based milestones to unlock your new toys, sometimes forcing you to scrap and rebuild your inevitably hideous contraption. Why is it hideous? because you don't know how to make straight lines without a gridline right in front of you.
Want to build a logistically perfect factory? Go for it! Or you can slap something together in 10 minutes and go explore the world while your machine [VERY AVOIDABLY] slowly sputters its way towards your next milestone.

TLDR: 5/5
I've enjoyed this series since its inception, and CW4 introduces what I've wanted for years: terrain transformation.
For anyone looking at maybe getting this game, I'd describe it as a horror survival game for the first 5 minutes, and a relaxing tower defense game for the rest of however long it takes you to win. If you survive the first 5 minutes, you'll likely win the level eventually.
There's also a lot of room for handicapping yourself when you've figured things out and want more of a challenge (e.g. no air weapons or no terrain modification). Campaign, daily levels, additional challenges, and player-created levels means you won't run out of content any time soon.

Asymmetrical strategy games are few, far between, and very difficult to balance. They can also intimidate a lot of new players because you're not just learning one game- you're learning several.This game could have had a very complex learning curve to it, but the developers walk a new player through the game very graciously.Just as Clank! is a gateway drug to deckbuilders, so too is ROOT a gateway drug to asymmetrical strategy games.5/5 for anyone reading this in the future, once the bugs surrounding online and local play are fixed.