Shadow Watch

I have to say that Shadow Watch was a real surprise. The premise is ok, the action was slow and the look of the game was kinda simplistic. But i didn't expect it to be so much fun! The turn-based gameplay reminds me of X-COM with troopers wandering over an isometric map of a building interior. Each character is extremely unique in terms of ability. They're also pretty different visually as well, making identification really easy. Archer is the leader and his ability to influence morale and initiative are extremely important. Lily, the martial arts expert, is good at killing people silently. Bear is the point man. He can absorb a ton of damage before he goes down and his shotgun makes short work of anything in his way. Maya the sniper excels at "incapacitating" shots but is limited in movement. Gennady is the sensor man, and although he has no weapon, his ability to detect enemy presence through walls and closed doors makes him a valuable member of the team. Who you pick to take on the missions is vitally important. Rafael and Bear kill lots of people very, very loudly so they're best for straight assault or defense missions. Excellent game.

pretty good game for its age ...

I had never heard of this little gem before, don't know how I missed it first time around. Excellent turn based stealth action or guns blazing strategy with a few RPG elements. Quite a bit of random in the campaign which makes it quite replayable. All in all a good package.

I bought this one on a vacation in Australia and could hardly wait to get back to Germany to play it. It is a really well designed tactics game with a nice atmosphere and comic-style look. The LOS-system takes some getting used to, but it is quite realistic and it makes sense once you figure it out (at least most of the time :-) ) Good voice acting and sound effects together with some skill-tree tree character developement make for a well rounded experience I had missed for a long time. Thanks to GOG for making it available.

Pros: Good looking comic book style artwork. The conversations leading up to campaign missions are detailed and decently written. Voice acting is alright, nothing special. Cons: The game pace is really slow and gets boring quickly, when combined with a 30 second loop of music it is torture. When I went looking for mission objectives in Raid and Theft missions I couldn't find them after exploring the entire map, there was nothing highlighted anywhere. I kicked open a door in frustration and instantly lost the mission, even though everyone was KO'd I guess it set off a security alarm somewhere. Line of sight is buggy in some areas, an enemy soldier saw a character through a wall (no windows, only 1 door open) and shot a character to death. I was actively scanning to figure out where this guy was with Gennedy but could not find him anywhere beyond the door. Although there is good artistic style in this game, the game-play falls flat on its face, I do not recommend buying this game.