This War of Mine brings the reality of being a civilian in a warzone into the comfort of your computer chair, quickly making you forget yourself and pulling you into the stories of the "colony" of survivors that you are tasked with managing. This is a game built on atmosphere, so keep that in mind when purchasing. There will be no "badass soldier kicking ass" here, only despair and a tiny sliver of hope that the war will end before you die of hunger. The gameplay consits of two distinct parts: 1) Colony management 2) Resource collecting The colony management is where you will spend a large chunk of your time building and reinforcing your shelled out building to be at least a passable dwelling place. Your survivors will be hungry, cold, wet and it will be your job to get them through one more day. The resource collecting takes place in the form of nightly ventures into locations in the town to scavenge whatever you can. The game does a good job of giving you a variety of choices ranging from low-risk low reward to high-risk high reward. While the low reward places will get you by in the early game, as time goes on, the places will get depleted and you will have to take more risks. While it is possible to kill any who oppose your nightly raids, there are two problems with that. Obtaining weapons is difficult and killing people does bad things to the psyche's of your survivors. For me personally, the game doesn't suffer from many flaws of its own, but rather from the over-saturation of the market of these types of games. There are many games like it and there will be many more in months and maybe years to come. Thanks to this, the core gameplay can get tiring quickly, as it is not particularly innovative anymore. All in all, the game is a morosely beautiful colony management game that can at times leave you sitting in your chair wondering how the world can be so cruel. I suggest picking this up if you are into colony management and want a tear-jerking game.
Klei Entertainment has brought the world of gaming some truly wonderful gems. Invisible Inc. is one of those gems. The gameplay consists of 2 distinct parts: 1) Management of your spy network (upgrading, choosing missions, selling/buying equipment) 2) Tactical turn-based missions While the meat of the game lies in the second part, it is worth to mention the management aspect, as it gives a lot to the atmosphere of the game. You resource management at higher difficulties will get taxing and sacrfices will have to be made. This ties in nicely to the theme of a broken organization on the run. The tactical turn-based missions are the meat of the game as mentioned and the meat is wonderful. Stealth is highly encouraged, as enemies remain knocked out for only a few rounds and killing them raises the alarm level, making every turn spent on mission more dangerous as the timer keeps ticking up each turn. Thankfully the stealth system is good and your agents get a generous amount of gadets and skills to use. In spite of that, the gameplay can get repetative on longer playthroughs, as the mission variety is not stellar. The visuals of the game are wonderful and have the distinct Klei Entertainment style, with everything having a handdrawn look to it. Often times it feels like watching/being a part of a visual novel. The game is set in the not so distant future and has a great cyberpunk aesthetic. The campaign is very short, as in you can complete it in a few hours. However, it is important to note that the game is built around replayability, with modifiers that can be added or substracted to tweak your experience. In addition the game does have an endless mode. In conclusion, Invisible Inc. is a very good tactical turn-based action game with RPG elements and a classic cyberpunk story and setting. I suggest picking this game up if you are looking for something to play in short (0.5-2h) bursts e.g. while travelling.
Did you ever watch Firefly and think to yourself, "Man I wish they made a video game out of this?" Well, Rebel Galaxy is that video game. If you don't get that reference, let me outline the feeling of Rebel Galaxy for you. The moment you load up the game, you are hit with the opening notes of a country song out of a dark western. It sets the mood for a space frontier game where you do what you have to in order to survive and make a living. Outrun space pirates and local militia alike and strike unstable alliances as you make your own way in the galaxy as a trader, a scavenger, a smuggler, a pirate, a miner or a bit of everything After a brief introduction you are given a ship and purpose and from there on out, you do whatever you see fit. Follow the main storyline or just set out for the stars, doing odd jobs at remote space stations. You start off with a dingy cargo ship that barely holds up in combat and through earning credits, you work your way up to massive battleships that strike fear into the heart of your enemies. While you can plow straight through the game's storyline, ignoring all the optional missions and contracts, you will be tight for credits in terms of repairing and upgrading your ship. The upgrade system is deep and interesting, requiring you to remember where to acquire certain parts and leaving room for slightly different playstyles. Do you want to be a fast devil, dodging through combat and engaging in borderline dogfights? Or would you rather captain a slow moving hunk of metal with enough firepower to wipe out a small star system? While the game suffers due to the fact that all movement is done only on the X axis, exploration and combat still feels satisfying. Additionally, the game's storyline is not particularly strong or innovative. It is a fun experience and has interesting ideas, but holds little to no surprises for avid gamers. Recommended for any scoundrel who ever wanted to roam the open skies as a free man.
