HUD (Sci-Fi FPS GameLit)

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

HUD: Contact War (Book 2) Synopsis

A year has passed since the events of Planet Nereus. Nic and his squad are now on the frontlines of a flesh-and-blood war the likes of which humanity has never seen. Team Scarlet wants to run out the clock on their contract with Red Battalion and the Galactic Defense Force, but the Hexadians won't make their survival easy. It seems like humanity is on the verge of winning the Contact War. Nic has built his life on following orders to the letter, but deeper truths about the Hexadians will test the limits of Nic's obedience... and his sanity.

HUD: Wargame (Book 1) Synopsis

In the future, everything is a game. Even war. 18-year-old Nic Siegfried wants the high score.

Virtually piloting a real-life robot, he'll face off against his peers with the help of his AI guidance system, RTIFIS. The prize? New worlds across the galaxy that are ripe for human conquest and terraforming. It sounds glamorous on paper, but this job might be more dangerous than he thought...

Praise for HUD: Wargame

★★★★★This is a good one!"This is one of those stories where you read the first few paragraphs and can just tell that the author has the chops to tell a story. It's engaging and the rules are well thought out and clearly explained. The action is punchy and exciting. Anyway, read it."-HonourRae

★★★★★UNFRIGGENBELIEVABLE!!!!!!"HUD: Wargame is a sci-fi GameLit worth reading."-TienSwitch

★★★★★Rock-solid FPS GameLit."Nic - the main character - is an ambitious, hyper-competitive perfectionist, and the story fortunately handles him correctly in that it does not push these traits too far."-Akaso

HUD: Wargameis the first of a five-part sci-fi series featuring GameLit elements. HUD: Wargame contains some (simulated) violence and very sparing PG-13 profanity. HUD: Wargame is currently available exclusively on the YONDER app.

HUD: Contact Waris the second book in the series and features more realistic violence as well as some profanity, still mostly in the PG-13 range.

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2022
Author: Raz Scrivens

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 3.8/ 5.0
Followers: 110
Views: 25,444

What readers say about HUD (Sci-Fi FPS GameLit)

“Just a first chapter for now... but it leaves you wanting more! I like the premise and the author seems to have a plan. I am not the biggest fan of letters and numbers as designations for plantes and so on... but that is the only this I could complain about…”
VeritasVinoRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“This is one of those stories where you read the first few paragraphs and can just tell that the author has the chops to tell a story. (For example, telling the reader the phonetic spelling of an acronym. I'm ashamed to say I wouldn't have gotten it otherwis…”
HonourRaeRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

VeritasVinoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Just a first chapter for now... but it leaves you wanting more!
I like the premise and the author seems to have a plan.
I am not the biggest fan of letters and numbers as designations for plantes and so on... but that is the only this I could complain about - which i won't, because that would be the ultimate nitpick.
I found no spelling or grammar mistakes.
HonourRaeRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This is one of those stories where you read the first few paragraphs and can just tell that the author has the chops to tell a story. (For example, telling the reader the phonetic spelling of an acronym. I'm ashamed to say I wouldn't have gotten it otherwise. ha.) I've read through five chapters (so far!) and stopped for a review.
Basically, we're in the arc where students play a FortNite-type battle as a final exam. (Side note to author: Fingers crossed for an Among Us type game in the future. ;)) Joking aside, the story leaps into the action practically from the word go. It's engaging and the rules are well thought out and clearly explained. The action is punchy and exciting.
The author does use some flashbacks and to my surprise they actually add to the story instead of distract from it. That's hard to do. Again, it all comes off as clean and damn near professional.
Didn't notice any big grammar errors. At least, nothing to distract from the story.
I took half a star off the character score. The characterization is STRONG with his obvious and immediate drive for perfection, but perhaps a touch too anime tropey for a grounded sci-fi? Eh, I may be too harsh on him.
Anyway, read it. Like the title says, this is a good one.
KingadentRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
By realistic of course, I mean you don't have to have a massive suspension of disbelief like a lot other stories.
The world they live in could easily have come from ours.
The characters aren't exaggerated tropes, or bland and faceless. It feels like you're reading well thought out characters rather than caricatures.
The story itself is interesting, and every question answered brings on more interesting questions. Just enough mystery to hook you without making you feel lost.
5/5, keep going author!
RaeOrcinus93Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I am not the biggest sci-fi fan but this was definitely an exception! HUD is all about Nic, the main character, fighting in a futuristic kind of simulated battleground. It’s heavy on the action. But you also get to see inside his head with some flashbacks and there are some cool character interactions later on. To be honest the first few chapters are chock full of action but we don’t really see more of the expanded world until 10 or 11 chapters into it and after the “battle royale” style game. That’s when the book really starts to take shape. My biggest criticism is it takes a while to get going past the action. But it’s worth it once you’re in it! Nic, Jarek, and the other team mates are all very different from each other and sometimes butt heads which makes for interesting dynamics. HUD is the kind of book you have to delve deep into to see a lot of the characters learn and grow over time. Chapter 37 was fun, it was interesting to see team Scarlet bickering a little bit but also getting along with each other and having fun on their holiday. You really get the sense they’ve spent some time together and grown closer. I’m interested to see where the book goes from here and I think you should give it a chance!
TienSwitchRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Oh, a GameLit, huh? About a 18 year old who plays video games "FOR REALZ" in order to claim planets "FOR REALZ"? Whoop-dee-doo. It's a GameLit, and GameLits suck. Just a bunch of people who suck at playing video games writing dramatic stories about how they win the video games they can barely play. First we started with Let's Plays, and now we're writing stories of the Titanfall games we wished we played. Jeez, how far literature has fallen.
Alright, let's read this terrible story from an author who is probably as terrible at writing as he is at video games, and then we can all laugh at him together.
**Reads 36 chapters.**
..................I wish to recant my earlier statement.
THE REAL INTRODUCTION
I should hope that the fact that the intro was in jest was pretty clear right off the bat. Obviously I'm reviewing this story after reading the entirety of it so far. Right now, that includes 36 chapters, spread across 3 Parts.
The "punchline", for lack of a better term, is that I don't like GameLits or really any of the genres that are massively popular on Royal Road. My immediate thought of it is self-insert power fantasies where diehard video gamers (and I myself am a gamer) conjure up their fantasy worlds where their 100,000,000 hours of World of Warcraft somehow becomes necessary for humanity's survival. You know, essentially the gamer version of a Marty Stu "my mundane and uninteresting talent now makes me beloved by all and desired by scores of women" sort of thing.
You know scores of authors are writing that exact story right now.
So I was thoroughly and pleasantly surprised by how much I really enjoyed the story. While the characters play "video games", for lack of a better term, the video games have stakes that feel real in a well developed sci-fi setting that speaks to me not just as a gamer, but as a politically engaged person.
Wait, where did that last part come from? I won't spoil anything, but I'll address it as the time comes.
STYLE
The style is simple a
AkasoRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
>Style
Third-person limited, seated so tightly inside the MC’s POV that it’s more or less First-person adjacent as far as perspective goes. The actual writing style is clean and slick, if a bit jumpy at times and not quite as descriptive for setting the scene as I like, though this is just a matter of preference..
>Story
The introductory arc, which made up the larger part of what I’ve read so far, is a VR Battle Royale with an extraordinarily long TTK. Despite being a BR, and my dislike of that specific trope, it’s handled too well for me to find any real fault with it. The plot layout behind the BR sequence reminded me somewhat of the new-game sequence in Fallout 3, the “Final” being a test to earn the right to leave and go colonize other planets.
As for the flavor of the world, it’s… Hardspace Shipbreaker, kind-of? Perhaps only because the aesthetics and feel of that setting are fresh in my mind, and because the main cast’s job is somewhat similar in that they are both high-risk, high-pay, while still being in the “boss makes a dollar I make a cent” realm due to the supermassive profit margins of their employers. It’s an era of space exploration with ultra-corporatist cyberpunk tones, anyhow, where conflict is waged over terraforming rights, between megacorporations, using “proxybots”, effectively sanitizing and gamifying warfare. It’s a concept explored in a few other settings, and I feel that (what little of it I got to see in my 15-chapter sampler) was very good.
I especially like the plastic-faced corpo sycophant that meets the main group after the BR and how Nic recognizes the “celebration” of his squad’s success as little more than a glorified pizza party.
>Grammar
No mistakes as far as I can tell.
>Character
Nic - the main character - is an ambitious, hyper-competitive perfectionist, and the story fortunately handles him correctly in that it does not push these traits too far. His motivations especially help to justify his victory-oriented nature, being roo
CapwallcroftRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A world of corporate expansion through simulated combat, HUD: Wargame is an action-packed, brilliant scifi novel, brimming with strategy and emotion. Following the tale of Nic and the plight of team Scarlett I would definitely recommend this fiction for action lovers. Amazing work overall. Great combat descriptors, world and style. I can't wait to read more honestly. I am at around chapter 30, and the story is solid.
The character of Nic is quite interesting, good backstory there with the flashbacks etc. Flawless grammar, writing, everything! I really am impressed. Overall what can I say besides great job! Good development of overall characters Jarek etc. It reminds me of the Enders game but without the aliens and with corporations competing over territory along with gladiatorial combat. Some strategy elements involved however mainly just learning to work as a team. I can definitely foresee some form of great betrayal and crazy plot changes, especially in the corporate environment. In terms of style, nothing much to complain about, fantastic editing and pace, it vividly portrays the author's skill and technique. The concept is quite original and the story is well developed, it is mainly combat of course so the characters are still panning out however all have select traits and attributes which are unique. The story is good if you like action, sure it doesn't bring up immense philosophical points but it serves the purpose well. Now here are some flaws, the battle elements can be quite repetitive, now that is the nature of the novel so it does make sense, but still, good combat descriptions make up for this aspect. The beginning chapters are rough in style, writing however it smoothens out quite fast. One can see professional editing in this story, there are absolutely no flaws whatsoever in terms of grammar and the flow is tuned to perfection.
In terms of the character score, there are some flaws, side characters are slightly cliche, however, they become more develop
ChipcarverRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
This story is off to a great start! Good character detail, and nice balance of action/relational scenes. This story is similar to Ender's Game/Ender's Shadow, but in no way is it a copy. I especially like the way the author shows us each character's quirks/flaws without over emphasising them, allowing them to improve over time.
RazzMaDazzRoyal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
STYLE
What was done well:
HUD: Wargame has an excellent, minimal style that suits its purpose. My litmus test for style, first and foremost, is if it's easily readable and flows well. This series definitely meets that criteria. I barely found myself pulled out of the text to figure out what was happening. Everything was sharp, concise, and succinct, which is important for a series that deals in heavy amounts of action like Wargame does. Descriptions are done well in the later chapters, and the 3rd person limited perspective was consistent, following the main character Nic exactly the way it should.
Where it can improve:
The beginning of the story is rough, and a bit disorienting. We are dropped into this world with almost no establishing shots/description and jump nigh straight into action. Minimal descriptions are given at best, and large backstory exposition dumps feel like they're shoehorned in. I would've liked to see a more structured approach to the first five chapters to ease the reader in. It gets the job done, but was jarring and taxing for me to read. I would suggest giving the first couple chapters an editing pass at some point, perhaps writing an extra one or two chapters into the begining to help introduce Nic/the world.
GRAMMER
What was done well:
This story has fantastic grammer. I only saw a couple of things that gave me pause and one section that pulled me out of the story. Even then, it wasn't an issue for long and it was swiftly corrected by the author when I notified them. Anyways, 'nuff said.
Where it can improve:
N/A
STORY
What was done well:
A lot of the concepts that are explored in HUD have been done to exhaustion in Sci-fi, what I think makes it interesting is how the author decides to tell it. Ostensibly, HUD: Wargame is a simple wish fulfillment YA GameLit. It has everything, battle royal, a "maladaptive perfectionist" MC with a scar... I could go on but that's besides the point. What is important is that the story on its surface carries
BeverlyyRoyal Road
★★★★ 4.0
It’s one of those stories you see very rarely on RR—the book whose technical competence is quite high, pretty much at a professional level editing-wise, but only goes about that far. This is not to say all the other elements of the story aren’t done well—they are to a degree—it’s just that the technical competence it the biggest takeaway from the story, the biggest standing feature; not the characters, nor the pacing or structure or overall originality: the technical writing skills are good.
This story also pretty much gives you what it says on the tin, although I would argue that this story uses hard Gamelit elements, not light ones. But I’ll get into that.
It should be noted before reading this review that this is from the perspective of a reader who normally reads traditional science fiction, but who has also dabbled with genres such as Gamelit, Isekai, Progression Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, and all that web-novelly stuff.
Where this story falls short, at least for me, is everywhere else: characters, style (a big part of style), story development and structure, as well as some hidden categories like thematic relevance and ability to imagine. This is of course a shame for me, and it likely won’t be for a lot of regular readers since I’m fully aware that the web community can just about read anything that includes any of the following: wish fulfilment, LitRPG, GameLit, Isekai, etc. But particularly wish fulfilment. This story has just about every wish-fulfilment trope in the gallery: Battle Royale, lightning-quick development, straight into the action with no more worry than a head of cabbage, occasional backstory snippet to soothe the pickier readers, and so on.
It was immediately noticeable from Chapter 1, when the mountain of cliches came in fighting for space, and none of them got developed at all. We get insight into this possibly awesome world of a terraformed planet, this Spacepunk Star-Trek-esque education system, this Battle Royale which turned out to be ver